Thread: Buying a new computer. I need a second opinion. Also, Windows 7?

So I'm finally sick of this crappy laptop and am looking to purchase a new, stronger computer to replace essentially both my laptop and my desktop.

I used my desktop to store my music and play games, while I used my laptop primarily for internet, watching movies, and school. My current laptop is small with a small hard drive and as such was bought mostly for function.

So I'm looking for a powerful new laptop that can merge the two functions, one that is at least decent for internet, music, and gaming, while still keeping under a $600 budget. There are a number of laptops at Wal-Mart that can serve this purpose, several HP brand and Toshiba brand laptops. Shopping online, I appear to have found my best deal yet.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6620861&Sku=T70-14121

The computer looks very powerful - 320 gig hard drive, 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM, ATI Radeon 4320 HD Graphics card and if I'm reading the Vision guide correctly, the ability to play Blu Ray movies (We do not have a Blu Ray player as of yet).

However I have no experience with this kind of computer, so I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Is this computer any good? Will I be able to play my games with reasonable settings? Are there better computers out there that are comparably priced?



And what of Windows 7? I've been lost in the muck of Windows Vista for years now, so I've got fairly low expectations. What is Windows 7 like?

I can't say how that laptop will run, but with Windows 7, it is much better than Vista. Let's say about three times better on a bad day.

That laptop is good for videos and internet browsing. The hdd is kinda small (but it can be upgraded easily), and the cpu and gpu are bad for gaming, however.

Consumer Reports tells me that the "best buy" for my money is the Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4033, a $450 computer.

Any laptop will give you tolerable performance for doing basic tasks like Internet browsing and Office work etc., but you're looking at spending 3-4 times as much on a laptop to get the same kind of gaming performance as you would from a desktop.

If you're looking to play games that came out in the past 5 years at a decent speed, I'd stick with your current setup of a laptop for basics, and a desktop for gaming as you'll spend less than half on those combined as you would on a sub-par all-in-one option.

If you have any games in mind that you want to play for certain, you should search around to find what other people have written about their performance on the different available laptops in your price range, but for $600 you could purchase a system/parts that would decimate any laptop up to $1500 in gaming performance.

Try a netbook, like one from Dell or HP. It has the funtioning to meet your needs for a computer, and it has Windows 7. And I've had expierience with one (That's because I hav one)

Originally Posted by Eredar Warlock

Consumer Reports tells me that the "best buy" for my money is the Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4033, a $450 computer.

Don't listen to what consumer reports says for PCs. That laptop that was "recommended" only had an amd sempron, a sluggish low-end single core CPU.

You could get more for your money with an HP.

The games I'm looking to play are games like WoW, Team Fortress 2, Oblivion and I think some other games that I can't recall right now. WoW isn't a terribly graphics intensive game but it does have a few parts that my desktop, which had a terribly low-end GPU for its time, had trouble with. Team Fortress 2 as far as I can tell isn't very graphics intense either if my friends are any indication, and I'm willing to play on low settings (Having played for three years on flat minimum settings on WoW).


Keep in mind: I don't really have a choice. My laptop was a POS from the beginning and continues to be so, and now appears to be getting near the end of its life. My desktop is an old refurb and I can't count on it for very long.

I've heard nothing but bad things about Dell, from both my friends and other online sources.

EDIT: I keep seeing stuff about buying an HP. What about this one?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6664036&CatId=2510

That laptop has a big (and fast) HDD for the price. The only issue is the ram is capped at 4gb, but then again if you game, you shouldn't need more then 4.

The GPU is still low end however. It will play those games, but not maxed out.

And one more thing: Skip macs. Unless you want to pay $1000 for a low end laptop, don't buy them.

If a NVIDIA GeForce 6150 can play WoW reasonably well at low settings, I would suppose that those GPUs can play them.

I found a laptop very comparable, same brand (Hewlett Packard), that is stocked at the local Wal-Mart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-XH058UA-ABA/15063370

It doesn't mention hard drive speed but it has a different memory set and a different GPU. I'd rather buy at Wal-Mart and not have to go through the BS I'd have to go through for shipping. The only deal breaker is the pre loaded Norton Internet Security -_- but my grandma has AVG 9.0 that she can load on 2 more computers, and I suppose I could splurge on Kaspersky's 2011 program.

Originally Posted by Eredar Warlock

If a NVIDIA GeForce 6150 can play WoW reasonably well at low settings, I would suppose that those GPUs can play them.

I found a laptop very comparable, same brand (Hewlett Packard), that is stocked at the local Wal-Mart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-XH058UA-ABA/15063370

It doesn't mention hard drive speed but it has a different memory set and a different GPU. I'd rather buy at Wal-Mart and not have to go through the BS I'd have to go through for shipping. The only deal breaker is the pre loaded Norton Internet Security -_- but my grandma has AVG 9.0 that she can load on 2 more computers, and I suppose I could splurge on Kaspersky's 2011 program.

It's newer then the other one, as it can support more ram. And you can always replace norton with AVG or MS Security Essentials. The only issue is the small hdd, but internal laptop drives are cheaper then ordering an upgrade from the company when you first buy your laptop.

And here I am, logging on with mah new computer. It's spiffy.

EDIT: The computer I bought is the one from Wal-Mart. It's fast and has had no freezes or lockups, unlike my last laptop. Only pain in the ass is redownloading all my addons as well as the Windows updates.