Need help choosing a laptop.

By Colin.B
in Hardware Hangout

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Colin.B

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Posted (edited)

So my fiance is getting a laptop for Christmas. One has already been purchased for 499 from Futureshop, and it is this one here:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...1605&catid=

The main specs are as follows:

GMAX3100 video

2gb DDR2 ram (can be upgraded to 3gb)

160GB HD

Intel Dual Core 1.8 gigs

I'm wondering if I should take that laptop back and get this one for 599. The main difference is a 2.0 cpu speed and the new GMA 4500M integrated graphics. (The 599 laptop also has 250gb of HD space.)

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai..._Flyer_Tracking

Now keep in mind this is for her final year at Uni and for when she goes for her masters. She will also be playing World of Warcraft on it, but really that's about it. I did a google search for the GMA 4500M Vs X1300 but really I couldn't find anything.

I appreciate any input.

Edit: I should note money is somewhat tight, which is why I'm asking if a hundred dollars is worth it for that newer gpu and more HD space in your opinions. I really have not seen any comparitive benchmarks.

Edited by DigitalManifestations
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hawker1986

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Posted

Well what I would do is install WOW and see how it runs on the one you have, if its acceptable then keep it because in terms of work related stuff (eg word and the like) there wont be much difference and you might as well save the cash if its tight. If however you cant play WOW happily and thats a problem then get the other one with the better GPU.

Hawker

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Colin.B

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Thanks for the quick responses.

Yeah, I may just do that Hawker. It isn't like she'll use up all 160 gigs of HD space or tax the cpu typing up a thesis. I also doubt she'll be loading up Crysis or anything. It's too bad the laptops with even an 8600 are so high priced. (For us they seem to be anyways.)

Grand Master

fix-this!

Posted
Posted
So my fiance is getting a laptop for Christmas. One has already been purchased for 499 from Futureshop, and it is this one here:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai...1605&catid=

The main specs are as follows:

GMAX1300 video

2gb DDR2 ram (can be upgraded to 3gb)

160GB HD

Intel Dual Core 1.8 gigs

I'm wondering if I should take that laptop back and get this one for 599. The main difference is a 2.0 cpu speed and the new GMA 4500M integrated graphics. (The 599 laptop also has 250gb of HD space.)

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetai..._Flyer_Tracking

Now keep in mind this is for her final year at Uni and for when she goes for her masters. She will also be playing World of Warcraft on it, but really that's about it. I did a google search for the GMA 4500M Vs X1300 but really I couldn't find anything.

I appreciate any input.

Edit: I should note money is somewhat tight, which is why I'm asking if a hundred dollars is worth it for that newer gpu and more HD space in your opinions. I really have not seen any comparitive benchmarks.

no offense but toshiba are garbage imo. go for an hp or a dell.

Grand Master

Yusuf M. Veteran

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Don't take the laptop back. You said yourself money is tight. It isn't worth the increase in CPU speed and HDD space. The integrated GPU should handle World of Warcraft reasonably well.

Grand Master

SojIrOu

Posted
Posted

well you'd be getting a better CPU (in terms of speed and bus speed), better GPU, more HDD space and wireless n (if its any use to you). to me that would be alright deal. i've read that the x3100 can run WoW at 1024x768 at medium but no idea how decent the fps would be.

Grand Master

Farstrider

Posted
Posted
no offense but toshiba are garbage imo. go for an hp or a dell.

Sorry to say, I happen to sell Toshiba Laptops and you are talking drivel, they are excellent laptops! The quality is top notch and out of the 300 or so that I have sold I have had not ONE come back without any major problems!

Proficient

nonick

Posted
Posted (edited)

you wouldn't get such a good performance from that integrated chipset... she'll probably run the game at low settings and barely pass 20fps..

also you might wanna read this:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.h...56615&sid=1

Edited by nonick
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Colin.B

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Thank you for all the replies. Really, it's much appreciated.

I've decided though after all things said here and all things considered to keep the other laptop. A hundred dollars, as lame as it sounds just isn't in the budget right now considering there's other presents to buy and we need to fork out a lot of money for my US residency and our wedding.

Concerning Toshiba being crap and HP being crap though I think it's like buying a car. Everyone has it's lemons. Our current laptop is an old Compaq Presario using a G0 440M gpu. It runs WoW fine. (Altt may not be integrated.) I have faith the new one will and she doesn't care too much about the graphical bells and whistles. (I'm replacing this one for her though since it's showing signs of aging in other ways. It's around four years old I do believe. Maybe a bit newer.)

Anyways, thank you for all the input. Don't think I ignored your advice. I just did some mulling over it and the one I already picked up seems to be the one to go with. (If we didn't have a desktop for all our multimedia stuff - music, movies, photos - I'd consider the other one more.)

One thing I'm definitely doing though is formatting the HD to wipe out all that preloaded crap they put on.

Wow. Talk about over explaining things. :p

Grand Master

tsupersonic

Posted
Posted
Sorry to say, I happen to sell Toshiba Laptops and you are talking drivel, they are excellent laptops! The quality is top notch and out of the 300 or so that I have sold I have had not ONE come back without any major problems!

Toshiba's are junk, bad build quality, its all just looks, and horrible tech support. When my backlight broke, I called tech support and they said it was a virus and they told me they would fix it over the phone for $40.

Proficient

hawker1986

Posted
Posted
You're welcome. I think you made a smart choice. I'm sure your fianc?e will be more than happy with that laptop. Good luck with the wedding and everything else.:))

Quite right, your most welcome and good luck with everything. In the end I think you probably made the right choice and I hope your fiance enjoys the laptop. As for toshiba/HP on here you can pick any product you like and someone will have had a bad experience to voice. Neither brand is bad by any means.

Hawker

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