laptop

[swamp_child]

hello all, i will be a new student to camp caen this year.:D
I am planning to get a new laptop for camp (i dont have a laptop, let alone a windows computer). So i was looking for a good computer on tigerdirect and i found this one

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2108768&CatId=0

Is that a good laptop for games/whatever you need a computer for at camp.

I'm an apple person so i dont know how to tell how good it is based on specs.

[nova]

Personally I always go with Dell laptops. Dells warranty is second to none, and if you watch bargains you can get INSANE deals. For example this week:

Inspiron E1405 Dual Core 1.66GHz 14.1" $699 :
Dual Core 1.66GHz, Windows XP MCE, 14.1" XGA, 512MB DDR2, 80GB Hard Drive
8x DVD+-RW Burner, Integrated Video, 10/100 + 56k + 802.11g, 1-Yr Warranty

Inspiron B130 1.8GHz 1GB 40GB 14.1" $476
P-M 1.80GHz, 14.1" WXGA, 1GB DDR2, 40GB Drive, 24x DVD/CD-RW

10/100 + 56k + 802.11a/b/g, 4-cell Lithium Ion, XP Home, 1-Year Warranty


If you need help with these deals try bensbargains.net or another deal site.

For example here is a link to the first one:
http://www.bensbargains.net/ktalk/1150294964,34127,.shtml

[swamp_child]

aren't those not great for video games, because the both have integrated graphics cards?

[nova]

Well i suggest you look at some of the other dell deals many have the cards by nvidia or ATI. but you dont want a desktop for a laptop or else it will weigh 8 pounds and have 0 battery life.

[GPeszek]

*comes out of the woodwork*

I just got an e1505 (very similar to the e1405 linked above, bigger screen is about all) and I'm really happy with it. It has an ATI x1600 card in it which is a huge jump from the integrated junk that usually comes in laptops. The card isn't the greatest for gaming but I can play WC3 on it perfectly fine ant a modest resolution and detail level. The reviews I've read spec the card performance wise close to the old Radeon 9800 PRO cards. The weight and size is pretty middle of the road, not too heavy and not too thick but not a "thin and light" model (I do a lot of traveling so the size is right). I get a crazy company discount on it, so I paid $1100 in total: $2200 laptop, $750 coupon (from a site similar to the one above), $250 off through the company and a $100 mail in rebate. Free shipping, can't beat it ;)

[Nebula]

Macbook Pro! With Boot Camp, you're good to go with anything the icky Windows world could throw at you.

Regaining seriousness though. From past camps, you don't *need* a computer. It's definitely nice to have one with you (especially if you're staying in the dorm), but one isn't needed, per se. Nightly pilgrammages are made to the computer labs, which I hear are going to be much much nicer (http://forums.caenage.com/showpost.php?p=2871&postcount=20) than the pierpont labs we used last year. But if you want one for the dorm, we need to know what you'll be using it for. Anything you buy today will be able to tackle CS without a problem, but CS:S might be a little bit tough if you go the integrated graphics route. The x300 mobility isn't a powerhouse by any means, but it isn't horribly recent either -- holiday season 2004 (right around HL2's release date). Definitely try and track down something with a better GPU than that if you want to do more gaming than normal CS. Gateway doesn't sell that computer any more, which should set off some warning flags -- I like to buy direct from the company, instead of through middlemen like TigerDirect for that purpose. That way, you know you're getting the most recent stuff.

Plus, if you're going to want to use this after camp (I'm sure you will), you may want to chip in some additional money, and make it so it'll last you better in the long run. If you aren't planning on doing much gaming though, that config should be fine. Just know it's fairly heavy for a laptop, so you might not want to be lugging it around that much.

[swamp_child]

Macbook Pro! With Boot Camp, you're good to go with anything the icky Windows world could throw at you.

believe me if i could afford it, that would totally be what i was getting. I am a total mac man, all i have ever had.

right now im looking at a compaq v500z with the upgraded 128MB ati graphics card, and either the 2 ghz turion or semphron processors.

BTW what's the diff betweeen these 2? other than one is 64 bit????

[swamp_child]

i should also point out i am thinking of a macbook, with bootcamped windows. It can run WOW which is all i really need :) and thats in mac.

[swamp_child]

PS i i do ths, is there anyone here who would let me borrow a copy of windows??????? (im in session 3)

[ThsTorturedSoul]

lol, I have some piece of crap Dell laptop that is about 5 years old. XD

[kram 2.0]

Macbook Pro! With Boot Camp, you're good to go with anything the icky Windows world could throw at you.

Regaining seriousness though. From past camps, you don't *need* a computer. It's definitely nice to have one with you (especially if you're staying in the dorm), but one isn't needed, per se. Nightly pilgrammages are made to the computer labs, which I hear are going to be much much nicer (http://forums.caenage.com/showpost.php?p=2871&postcount=20) than the pierpont labs we used last year. But if you want one for the dorm, we need to know what you'll be using it for. Anything you buy today will be able to tackle CS without a problem, but CS:S might be a little bit tough if you go the integrated graphics route. The x300 mobility isn't a powerhouse by any means, but it isn't horribly recent either -- holiday season 2004 (right around HL2's release date). Definitely try and track down something with a better GPU than that if you want to do more gaming than normal CS. Gateway doesn't sell that computer any more, which should set off some warning flags -- I like to buy direct from the company, instead of through middlemen like TigerDirect for that purpose. That way, you know you're getting the most recent stuff.

Plus, if you're going to want to use this after camp (I'm sure you will), you may want to chip in some additional money, and make it so it'll last you better in the long run. If you aren't planning on doing much gaming though, that config should be fine. Just know it's fairly heavy for a laptop, so you might not want to be lugging it around that much.
Wait a few months, and wait for Leopard. No need for Bootcamp - it's part of OS X Leopard, supposedly :D. No seriously, those things look too nice to pass by.

[swamp_child]

Wait a few months, and wait for Leopard. No need for Bootcamp - it's part of OS X Leopard, supposedly :D. No seriously, those things look too nice to pass by.
i need one for camp