Pc vs. Laptop

[Sure Valla]

Ok so you guys I got a Pc at my place which is 15 years old

I'm buying a new one but got to the point if i want a Pc, of a Laptop.

Personally I have absolutly NO idea what i should pick!

I would to spend 600 EURO's on it, no more no less.!


What would you guys prefer?
What are the adventages or disadvantages?



Thanks you guys!
Vallla

[Kalah]

Stationary if you want it at home, laptop only if you'll be moving it between houses.

[theLuckyDragon]

Laptops and gaming. Tricky question. They heat up fast, that's for sure. Also laptops tend not to have exceptional graphics cards by default, so you'll have to look up something appropriate.

[Pol]

If you aren't hard gamer -- Which usually means that you are not playing highly graphically demanding games, such as Crisis or games requiring DX11, which i btw pretty splendid -- go for notebook. Additional portability is an extra plus

However let pick something with a better card inside, dedicated ATI or Nvidia card from the middle range should serve just fine. (note: nvidia 105 is almost like nothing)

The ideal size is around 14.1". Go for Lenovo, HP or MSI(?), Toshiba, FS or Dell in theory, cuz it's most expensive. Price will be a problem through, these usually start from 700$ and above.

And!

Prefer W7Pro combined with processor bearing VT support. For your gaming pleasure. Exact spec. will be in details, from middle to better Intel processor it's almost a standart, AMD is the same. Avoid CULV, atom, SULV, via - these bear different aim.

Examples:
NSP27MC - SL410 with ATI 4570 mobile and P7570 processor, W7Pro (hard to get, usually 953$ and less
NVP3RMC - TP Edge i5-430, better and more costly, significantly
HP ProBook 4425s

PS If you want to save, go for 15.6 but they are cumbersome. The price tag is however very reduced and it's from what to choose. Theirs only problem is usually weight, more than 2.7kg.

Avoid Acer(Packard-Bell) or Asus if you require a precious workmanship. If not, go for them - there's a difference in prices but wouldn't be surprised in case of troubles. For many Acer models you can get spare parts from other vendors, most noticeably from whitenergy (replacement for batteries and power adapters).

More examples:
HP ProBook 4525s (WK394EA)

The links are hard to get as offers differ from region to region. And some vendors do not even support to access pages created for other countries directly.

Myself I'm planing to get notebook, at the end of this year. The best time to buying nb (or everything) is usually at summer vacations or slightly before or around Christmas. With that you can save a small fortune equal to money gained from average temp. job, sometimes. Look for coupons and free shipping as well. (Sometimes there's a bargain on Microsoft Office too, Basic is recommended.)

Of course, price is a factor but I'm not sure if our most rich counterparts visitors will need to consider it at all. The regional scissors' gap is huge.

I cannot lower my requirements and will be looking exactly for 14.1 with dedicated graphic and long time battery power. Don't need to playing games on it though, even if that always stays as a plus.

[TheUndeadKing]

Well, forget "3D gaming" if you intend to spend that much to buy a laptop. In that price range most laptops offer terrible integrated graphics chipsets that will let you play only old non-3D games.

But you can build a cheap PC that will have a real "video card", which will actually let you play most 3D games (excluding high end 3D games, of course, such as Crysis, Modern Warfare 2, etc).

OR, you can buy a cheap computer with a very weak video card and upgrade the video card later.

In conclusion, for gaming, definitely get a PC.

[ScarlettP]

You get twice as much 'computer' for the money buying a Desk top PC.

The ONLY thing good about a Laptop is it's mobility. If you compute or game on the go, then you need a Laptop. This would allow you to work or play while traveling. If you do not plan on using it in multiple locations, then they are a total waste of cash. They normally don't have the faster processors (unless you spend mega bucks), the screens suck (again, unless you hand over favored body parts), they make you sit in awkward, back breaking positions to try to balance them and still see the crappy screen, they are fragile - DO NOT DROP one! - they over heat - DO NOT USE one on the bed!

A PC can only be used at home. Once you get that sucker hooked up and wired, you cannot move the SOB. However, you can easily upgrade Ram and Video cards at a later date. Flat screens are da-bomb. If you really want to get rock'n, you hook up TWO or more flat screens and a quad core is a whole new world of computing / gaming.

(I don't have the quad core and duel HD flat screens. My no good, over paid son does. *sigh*)

[Pol]

Yes, with a PC you will get within your price range, lets calculate a bit:

Intel i3 Based
gra ATI Sapphire 5450, pasiv HM 1200,-
mb GA-P55-US3L rev. 2.0 and up(board for i3/5/7 processors) 2390,-
cpu i3-530 3000,-
hdd WD6400AAKS 1300,-
mem 4GB DDR3 2700,-
dvd LG GH22NS 480,-
case Modecom Logic Line B21/500W 1311,-
os Win7 Pro (64bits) 3738,-
------------------------
16 119,- 624€

Pentium Dual Core Intel
mb MSI P41-C31 1450,-
cpu E6600 2402,-
-------------------------
14 581,- 565€

AMD AM3 Triple Core
mb GA MA78LMT-S2 rev 1.3 1411,-
cpu Athlon II X3 440 2004,-
-------------------------
14 144,- 548€

PS Don't forget though that you will be needing LCD panel and keyb+mouse combo. That will pill up additional 111€. And I guarantee that you will be needing them. Also I do not recommend the cheapest components, so they are not considered in the calculations. Cooling off the PC is usually another area to invest but it can wait. Some Arctic tower should do on cpu just fine

There's more to say but it really depends on what do you want to do with it

[Mirez]

There's more to say but it really depends on what do you want to do with it

this, I had the same dilemma not too long ago, I got a very good pc deal (special action) so I'm glad with the decision I made since I am a gamer and I need a decent graphics card

[Shyranis]

Avoid Acer(Packard-Bell) or Asus if you require a precious workmanship. If not, go for them - there's a difference in prices but wouldn't be surprised in case of troubles. For many Acer models you can get spare parts from other vendors, most noticeably from whitenergy (replacement for batteries and power adapters).

I think you mixed up Asus with HP

Acer and HP have the highest within 3 years defect rate (up to 25%!)



The only one worse than Acer is HP, Asus is lowest, Dell is only lower than Apple (instead of roughly the samelike they used to be) because of the sheer number of netbooks they sell. (Netbooks have a much higher failure rate than normal laptops)

My hubby and I have laptops. Mine is not used for gaming much (AMD Athlon64 single core processor and integrated Ati 4200? graphics). My hubby's laptop though has a nice midrange video card (Radeon 4570 512mb) and Turion64 dual core processor (2.2ghz) with 4gb of ram. His is an Asus K50AB. All Asus laptops I see come with 2 years warranty and the first year even has built in accidental damage protection. He got it for 800 dollar after some crippling taxes and fees. Here's one with half the RAM and a slightly weaker processor than my hubby's playing Wolfenstein. Street Fighter 4

We have a desktop too. It was made 3years ago for price/performance. Intel Pentium Dual Core processor (1.8ghz) with midrange Nvidia 8600GTS 512mb.

If you plan on using Windows 7 Xp mode, you need a processor with virtualization. Intel processors are very selective and you will need to research them before committing to buy. AMD processors all have virtualization built in (even my crap single core).

(I don't have the quad core and duel HD flat screens. My no good, over paid son does. *sigh*)

You know what to ask for for Christmas then ^_^

[Pol]

Shyranis I didn't mixed up nothing. I'm one of these people creating such graphs so I know the truth which you cannot see through just this one. Hundreds of these laptops had come through my hands and I was dealing with repairing them for our customers by sending them to appropriate service center. And taking care if they weren't repaired properly. So this is my personal experience.

[ThunderTitan]

Unless he plans to use a 64bit OS he probably doesn't need 4GB of RAM from the start. And as most programs are still getting installed in the x86 Programs folder (meaning 32bits) he only reason to get 64bits is if you want to see what DX11 can do... and i'm not sure a 550E computer can even run games on Ultra settings without slowing down too much.

And he can always use his old monitor and key+mouse, obviously he didn't mind that before, so he'll be fine.


As for Laptops, the only reason to get them over a PC is if you care more about mobility then price (aka bang for buck).

[Shyranis]

Yes agreed. Buy a desktop if you want it to stay powerful enough to play semi-modern games for much longer.

[Sure Valla]

mmmm, I'm thinking about getting a Pc.

But still not 100% sure, but I think i go Pc, i still got a week or two to decide.

[Ethric]

I've just had the very same debate, like I had 3 years ago too. Then I bought a desktop, this time I'm getting a laptop. Looking at it, I can't see that the difference in value for money performance wise is that big. Significant, yes, but still. So I'll be shelling out for a 17' laptop with one of those newfangled turbo quad core cpus and a decent graphics card.

So much more convinient when moving, and more significantly, when like me you live in a not overly large apartment it's nice to not have a huge desktop pc in the living room while having people over. It just takes too much space.

[ScarlettP]

So much more convinient when moving, and more significantly, when like me you live in a not overly large apartment it's nice to not have a huge desktop pc in the living room while having people over. It just takes too much space.

I had not thought of that. But then, I'm old and settled.

[Ethric]

Right. If I had space for a separate room for a PC and I didn't see me moving anywhere in the foreseeable future, it would be different.

[Kalah]

So much more convinient when moving, and more significantly, when like me you live in a not overly large apartment it's nice to not have a huge desktop pc in the living room while having people over. It just takes too much space.

Hang on, hang on ... you're having people over? Doesn't that mean interacting with, you know, other people? When did you become such a socialite?

[ThunderTitan]

Someone mensioned it, Am I able to play Modern Warfare 2 on a 550 Euro Pc? (non-lag, highly grapics etc?)

If you can play it on a console it should work on a 300$ PC...

So much more convinient when moving, and more significantly, when like me you live in a not overly large apartment it's nice to not have a huge desktop pc in the living room while having people over. It just takes too much space.

Hang on, hang on ... you're having people over? Doesn't that mean interacting with, you know, other people? When did you become such a socialite?

What he really needs the room for is the skinning... Skeleton archers are just so much better then Zombies after all.

Looking at it, I can't see that the difference in value for money performance wise is that big. Significant, yes, but still. So I'll be shelling out for a 17' laptop with one of those newfangled turbo quad core cpus and a decent graphics card.

Well as the price range gets higher the difference does get smaller... of course the laptop also tend to have worse heat problems, on of my friends keeps his on cigarette packs and whatnot so it won't shut down on him when he's using it for games.

But 17" blows... hook it up to the TV or something instead.

[Ethric]

Wouldn't be room for all the hardware I'm getting under a smaller screen

[Sure Valla]

But if you want a game laptop then you get a price of like 900+