Laptop Computer question for gamers

[Jarnhamar]

Im Looking at buying a new laptop but
Don't know a thing about them.

The criteria I'm looking for is the following (which is the recommended stuff for a game I play)



 System Requirements

CPU: Any Core 2 , Athlon X2, or better
Memory: 2GB RAM or higher (XP, Vista, Windows 7)
Video Card: 256 MB Video Card using Shader Model 3 (Nvidia GeForce 7800GT or any Nvidia GT200 series or better, ATI X1900 or any HD3600 series or better


This laptop caught my eye.  Does it meet the above requirements? 
http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.grp?lg=en&section=1&group=1&product=11936&category=


I'm a fan of toshiba so I'd like to stick with them, here is a list of the other available laptops I could look at. Would one of these better fit the roll?

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/products.grp?lg=en&section=1&group=1&category=&subgrp=Satellite_notebooks#Satellite%20notebooks

Thanks

 

[sapperboysen]

A couple things. First thing I'd ask is do you plan to carry the laptop around much? If so, a 17" screen adds quite a bit of weight and trying to find bags for them is a bit more difficult. The other thing I'd ask is how much do you plan to game? While the computer appears to meet the requirements, the adage "you get what you pay for" is highly applicable. Most decent quality gaming laptops tend to be priced around $1500 and up. If this something for casual gaming you should be fine. You may find this web site helpful. http://computers.toptenreviews.com/gaming-laptops/

 

[opp550]

May I ask what you are looking at playing and at what settings?

 

[Jarnhamar]

I've had a 17 inch before their pretty unwieldy but I found a case and bag for it.

I'm not planning on carrying it around too much.  Is there a 15 inch in the link above that meets the criteria too?

Maybe I'll drop Down to 15 inches

I don't need a true gaming laptop, the only game it needs to play is Dawn of War 2 (plus expansions).  Beyond that its just for school courses and email- I have an Xbox for all the high speed games.

Is there a big gaming difference between playing on a 15 inch and 17 inch?  I never had a 15 inch

I'm not sure what settings I'd play te game on, more higher end than lower.

 

[GAP]

check out Tigerdirect.ca

 

[Rogo]

Can always go the Dell route.  I have an Studio XPS 16 (years old now) and the machine is great.....however it's also a Dell which means you run the risk of having to send it in for repairs when things crap out on you.    Aside from reliability which is usually not too bad if under warranty then its a good machine.

http://configure.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=nxps152_f_1e&c=ca&l=en&s=dhs&cs=cadhs1&model_id=xps-l502x

 

[sapperboysen]

I currently have a 15" laptop and play similar games. Didn't really notice a difference between the 15" and 17". There are lots of 15" models out there that will suit your needs. I actually use a mac with windows on it. Runs faster then any PC I've owned. Taking a quick look at dell's site and there are a number of 15" laptops that would meet your needs for less $$.

 

[Oompah-Loompah@]

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_369&item_id=042644

This one's good, but a bit pricey.

 

[dapaterson]

Here's the ultimate portable gaming system.

 

[PuckChaser]

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_369&item_id=042644

This one's good, but a bit pricey.

Pretty decently priced for a gaming laptop.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Looks like I need to lower my budget

Will this set up run the above criteria?

http://www.toshiba.ca/web/product.grp?lg=en&section=1&group=1&product=11934&category=

It says it's only 1.5ghz but I'm guessing quad core means its a little faster?

 

[PuckChaser]

That's plenty of power for you. With the specs you posted, most new laptops are going to exceed them by quite a bit. A 7800GT video card was made about 5 years ago, as were the X2 and Core 2 processors.

Quad core only matters if your game supports multiple cores, it'll basically just share the load of the game across them instead of maxing out one.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

Most games do not use multi-cores......

 

[GAP]

Just got their flier for this one

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1751551&sku=T71-11037%20CA&SRCCODE=CANEM2399&cm_mmc=EML-_-CanadaMain-_-CANEM2399-_-email&utm_source=EML&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=CANEM2399

Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 0862-2JU Notebook PC - Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz, 8GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, Blu-ray Player/DVDRW, NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, 15.6" Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Black 
  $929.99

 

[PuckChaser]

I own an Asus G53SW, and its fantastic. Yours is slightly more powered though, Stacked. I think the hardware will fail due to old age before it becomes obsolete on your laptop.  ;D

 

[Jarnhamar]

So if the game doesn't support mult-cores the quad core 1.55ghz would still be able to play a game
Designed for 2.2ghz?

 

[Jarnhamar]

Just seen your other post, cool thanks!

I'll be saving up for a real monster

 

[Rifleman62]

I did a lot of research, reading reviews,price checking, buy in Canada or USA.

NCIX out of Vancouver was the cheapest option, CA or US, believe it or not. Paid for the upgraded shipping and received the product in West Kelowna, BC from Toronto (?) in 24 hours.

Similar to what I bought in Oct 11 is the following:

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=66340&vpn=G74SX-RH71&manufacture=ASUS

ASUS G74SX-RH71 17.3 FHD i7 2670QM Quad Core 750GB 12GB GeForce 560M 3GB BT WIN7 Prem Notebook

A very big laptop. Came with a backpack and mouse. Blue-Ray writer and 3D player.

 

[PuckChaser]

So if the game doesn't support mult-cores the quad core 1.55ghz would still be able to play a game
Designed for 2.2ghz?

Found the game you are trying to play (Google'd the specs you pasted in). A new 1.5 GHz realistically should be completely fine since the minimum specs require a Pentium 4 processor. For about $800 you'd get a laptop that can run it fine, for $1300 you'll be getting something that can play even more graphically intensive games. Intel i5, i7 at 1.5 GHz is going to have more horsepower under the hood than an Athlon X2 at 2.2GHz. Its like cars, sometimes horsepower just doesn't tell the whole story.

 

[Rogo]

So if the game doesn't support mult-cores the quad core 1.55ghz would still be able to play a game
Designed for 2.2ghz?

Not exactly but it depends.....the post above says why... ~1000bucks you can easily get over 2.0GHz.  Keep an eye on deals at future shop and various computer sites.  the Dell one I provided the link for earlier is a system for over 1000 going for 700 base.  Doing something like that could provide you a decent system and a good thing with brand laptops versus custom ones is that there are many components that are easily swapped should you want to modify your system.

Not to say that there aren't many pieces to swap out with other systems but at-least with brands such as HP, Dell, Toshiba  you can generally find that most manufacturers will say which systems are compatible with which components.