Laptop choices

[Purplelizard]

Hi,

 

My husband and I are looking to buy a laptop. It will be mainly used while we are on the road in an RV. The basic use of it will be browsing the internet, checking emails

finding places to see in the area we happen to be at the time, maybe a game or two also.

 

Now what we need in it...

WIFI capable

4 gigs of memory

the hard drive doesn't need to be too large

DVD ROM

touch-pad is optional

 

 

all for around 500 dollars........Any suggestions?

 

 

Thanks

[Pronam]

It's not that it's not possible, but 4gb is usually uncommon at 500 dollars. (Although it gets there more and more.)

What do you mean with 'Games', as for that price it can be tricky to get a good video card.

I don't think you'll have any problems with Wifi, the dvd-rom, a touch pad, or the size of the hard drive.. as they are surely always all on it at places you can trust..

 

One thing is sure, your really have to watch out with video cards as they all promise a lot at advertises and do so with videos but can't do a thing at games again. (Intel cards) It's good already that you're searching for options as they are really nifty at selling you nothing for a high prices. Dell is very good at that, although if you watch carefully they do have some good deals.

 

Tell us some games and we'll find something for you :).

[Purplelizard]

It's not that it's not possible, but 4gb is usually uncommon at 500 dollars. (Although it gets there more and more.)

What do you mean with 'Games', as for that price it can be tricky to get a good video card.

I don't think you'll have any problems with Wifi, the dvd-rom, a touch pad, or the size of the hard drive.. as they are surely always all on it at places you can trust..

 

One thing is sure, your really have to watch out with video cards as they all promise a lot at advertises and do so with videos but can't do a thing at games again. (Intel cards) It's good already that you're searching for options as they are really nifty at selling you nothing for a high prices. Dell is very good at that, although if you watch carefully they do have some good deals.

 

Tell us some games and we'll find something for you :).

 

 

I am currently playing Fallout 3, Oblivion and Two Worlds.

[Illiad86]

You could get a laptop that can play those games for $500, on Black Friday :P lol. A Dell at that price would not even play those games on low....a good "gaming" laptop can cost from $750-$3000 depending on what kind of graphics card they put in there. I guess it all depends on how you want the games to look.

[Vagrant0]

As much as I hate to say it (and trust me, I do) for the usage you would have, I think the best bang for your buck might be a Mac laptop.

 

Although you said you wanted to play games, you have to really ask yourself how much game usage you'll be getting from it. Although a PC laptop might be more geared for gaming and eventual upgrading, you probably won't find one that can run those games particularly well for $500. Especially if you have to buy a wifi card aswell. But a Mac in that pricerange might be capable of handling those games as well as having an onboard wifi.

 

But I really don't know for sure. I havn't done much looking at laptops, but Mac has usually always been the more practical way to go on that end if you're working within a budget and aren't planning to do anything too exotic with it. Now a days, most software and filetypes are compatable for both, so the major issue is the fact that it's a Mac.

 

*feels dirty now* *goes to wash hands*

[Thor.]

If you search newegg or your website of choice you would come across some amazing deals, here is an example.

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?...0-638-_-Product

 

its only a dual core but has 4gb of memory.

[alex2avs]

Here's a secret : XP SP3 , Ubuntu(and other linux OS) and also win7 , allow you to use a part (up to 4096 mb) of your hard disk as RAM.

 

For example , I have 1 gb of RAM.

I created a special partition 5gb just for this , activated the thing above , and now i have 5021 mb of RAM :biggrin:

 

Here's how :

 

Windows OS (XP SP3):

 

right-click My Computer ---> Properties ->>> Advanced(tab) ->>> Click on Performace ->>Advanced (tab) -->>

 

now , down low you have or should have a Virtual memory section

 

click on the change button

and make the settings you want.

 

 

http://i453.photobucket.com/albums/qq254/alex2avs/Extendedmemory.jpg

 

 

So the memory problem is solved ;)

[JimboUK]

Here's a secret : XP SP3 , Ubuntu(and other linux OS) and also win7 , allow you to use a part (up to 4096 mb) of your hard disk as RAM.

 

For example , I have 1 gb of RAM.

I created a special partition 5gb just for this , activated the thing above , and now i have 5021 mb of RAM :biggrin:

 

Here's how :

 

Windows OS (XP SP3):

 

right-click My Computer ---> Properties ->>> Advanced(tab) ->>> Click on Performace ->>Advanced (tab) -->>

 

now , down low you have or should have a Virtual memory section

 

click on the change button

and make the settings you want.

 

 

So the memory problem is solved ;)

 

Using the hard drive is far slower than actual ram, apps and games will keep stopping as windows pages out.

[Pronam]

Indeed, using more than double your real ram has no use anyway.

 

I am currently playing Fallout 3, Oblivion and Two Worlds.

Thanks for the reminder! There seems to be a Two Worlds 2 is underway! Two worlds was a nice game when most of the bugs were out. (after 7 patches............)

 

Well, oblivion and TW are going fine. Fallout is going to be tricky. The one from Thor. is nice, but 150-200 above your budget..I've seen dual core with 4gb for less on newegg.

This one looks good too: Link

 

I don't really see anything good really...I have no idea what integrated cards are capable of AFTER you've bought them if you know what I mean. I can't really find anything else on newegg...any other sites maybe?

[Purplelizard]

You could get a laptop that can play those games for $500, on Black Friday :P lol. A Dell at that price would not even play those games on low....a good "gaming" laptop can cost from $750-$3000 depending on what kind of graphics card they put in there. I guess it all depends on how you want the games to look.

 

 

Hi Illiad,

 

We aren't looking for a laptop to drive the RV..:P It will be used mainly while traveling so at home it will be on downtime. I thank you for your suggestion.