Laptops, suggestions

[wisdomseyes1]

Hey guys!

Long time no see (assuming you still remember me that is)

I was looking for a laptop for a friend, but the issue is.... neither of us know anything about computer stats. can anyone recommend a good laptop for gaming and media, without going bankrupt (so like a 4-600 dollar range).

Thanks! Sorry I haven't been on in.... a long time.

[wisdomseyes1]

I have lost your love D,:

A friend of mine suggested the only thing that matters, really, is if it has a dual or quad core processor since the rest tends to fall into place. Is that true?

[Overread]

I don't know enough about the market to suggest an option - though I would say go for the highest budget you can with a laptop. You generally have to pay more on a laptop to get the same power as a desktop so the more you spend the more your getting. Gaming is sadly expensive if you want to play the latest games and some in the future. $400 I don't think would cut it - $600 might get you something halfway good. Media I'm assuming is DVDs and netflix which isn't as demanding

[Squire]

Just don't get Windows 8. Try to avoid this piece of garbage if possible.

[wisdomseyes1]

Mar 31, 2014 8:30:40 GMT Squire said:

Just don't get Windows 8. Try to avoid this piece of garbage if possible.

"innovation is the death of profit"

[Bot]

I don't know enough about the market neither, So I can't really suggest any products. But most of my friends (who are all gamers to some extend) are whining about Dell products and Windows 8... So yeah, just try to avoid any of that I guess. ^^

[Overread]

Windows 8.1 is NOT THAT BAD. Actually its very pleasing to use, as an OS system. It's been stable; the User Account Control actually works without breaking software; its got automatic compatibility settings for some software (Games) that might not run without it; mine starts up in something like 15 seconds (granded I'm using 4 cores, but part of that is how the OS shuts down and restarts).

The only problem is that htey lost the start-button. And honestly you can get that back; just find the folder in windows and stick a shortcut on the desktop for it - or there are several freeware options to restore it too.

The only other problem is no Minesweeper. (unless you buy it on the windows store thing).

Oh and be careful - I didn't register my copy to an email/windows live account. If you do its perma linked to that account so you can't multi-account. But you can still download desktop versions of things like skype so its no real worry

[Inquisitor Stingray]

Wisdomseyes!

I agree/disagree, Windows 8 is horrible for the purposes of gaming, at least in my humble, anecdotal experience. Having said that, I find that the more, eh, exclusive the brand, the better the performance. By that I mean that generic brands like HP, Acer, Asus and Dell rarely get much, if any praise for their products, whereas companies who specialize in tailoring computers to your need usually do much better. Stating the obvious here, I know. Truth be told, I don't know how much you can get in the States(?) for that kind of money. As Overread said, you're paying around twice the amount of money for the same hardware, only its mobile.

When I was at boarding school I unintentionaly became the tech expert (not due to me being a pro so much as everyone being incompetent) and whenever people purchased/were looking to purchase a laptop, there seemed to be two approaches:

The expensive approach: Buy a high-end computer from a more exclusive brand with good service, ratings and so on. This computer will cost you an arm and a liver, but will, if taken care of, last for a very long time.

The inexpensive approach: Buy a low-end, cheap laptop from say HP or Acer with little to no expectations of its performance. It's just there to be a browser, word-processer, etc.

This is probably a false dichotomy, but I found that the people who bought into the 'medium-end' computers found themselves wanting for either stronger hardware, or greater mobility. And very few laptops allow you to switch and upgrade the hardware.

[wisdomseyes1]

Thanks guys for all the input

Also, I was talking with my friend yesterday. According to him, the new tyranids book made them worse because they nerfed things and left most other things the same. Is that true or is he over-exaggerating (I know it is a bit offtopic but I didn't feel I needed to make a new thread for it)

[Inquisitor Stingray]

No, his pretty right on the money. Feel free to dig through the past 10+ pages of the General Tyranid Board, 99% af filled with complaints, criticism or simple rage. People are making the most of it, but it's certainly the worst codex in this edition so far.

[wisdomseyes1]

Apr 1, 2014 21:02:39 GMT Inquisitor Stingray said:

No, his pretty right on the money. Feel free to dig through the past 10+ pages of the General Tyranid Board, 99% af filled with complaints, criticism or simple rage. People are making the most of it, but it's certainly the worst codex in this edition so far.

Yea I had been looking through some of the things people were saying and commenting and I could swear that the army lists and suggestions had not changed at all.
It is quite a deterrent to getting back into the game, unfortunately.

[Bot]

Although Khorne did get a jaw crushing kick in the face, Daemons are still a lot of fun IMO. So if Tyranids may not be your thing anymore, you could just play daemons, right? (unless you sold them of course... Or perhaps my memory is toying with me and you never had any daemons).

Regardless, there's only like 4-5 years before the next tyranid codex. Perhaps less with the speed they are releasing things nowadays.

[Inquisitor Stingray]

But by then I'll be an old man ! I can only pray that my gout-induced hand and fingers will be able to paint and assemble new models, let alone that I can find someone to play with at the nursing home. But yeah with this pace of releases it might not be that long before a new one arrives. In the meantime we can hope for a supplement and/or a rulebook change in our favor. At any rate, people are making the most of it and they might as well.

[PumpkinHead]

Not sure if you have gotten your answer yet about a gaming laptop. It all comes down to what setting you want to play your games at. High res, medium, ultra? That will dictate the hardware you need. The issue with gaming laptops is heat dissipation. The more you cram into them, the better your heat dissipation needs to be which makes the price go up. In the 4-600 range I am not sure you are going to find a rig that will readily handle games. 900$ is about as cheap as you are going to get for a decent gaming laptop. As far as operating systems go, Windows 7 is pretty much bullet proof now. Windows 8 / 8.1 are annoying, but you can get 3rd party programs to make it look like windows 7 so you don't have to mess with all the tiles. That's my quick 2 cents.