Choosing a laptop

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Skilhgt9

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#64596 18-Jul-2010 19:24

I am trying to choose a laptop for me to use that is $1000 or bellow that is 15" or under.

I would use this for gaming

Emailing

Internet

School

DVD's

Music

I was looking at the HP Mini 311 as people say it is great for gaming and its small.
Do you have any other recommendations for me?

Thanks

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#353216 19-Jul-2010 08:22

The HP Mini 311 only has an Atom Processor N270, which isn't really great for gaming.

An Asus Eee PC 1201PN Seashell Netbook, Atom N450 1.6 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 12" TFT, Nividia ION gpu
Would could manage some gaming but not aw well as a non atom system.
Or the cheaper Asus Eee PC 1005P Seashell Netbook, Atom N450 1.6 GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 10" TFT. But it hasn't got the nividia GPU of the 1201.

None have DVD drives, including the HP mini, but you can connect an external one if needed.

I like netbooks as they are light and have great battery life but they are not gaming machines, you might want to get a more powerful (non atom cpu) laptop machine. Like a Asus K50AD-SX008V Notebook, Athlon II Dual-Core M320 2.1 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.6" TFT, DVD writer, WLAN, Win 7
Which has a dedicated ATI HD4570 with 512MB DDR2 VRAM and could play COD II.

Batman

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#363902 5-Aug-2010 20:46

this is nearly perfect for you
http://www.noelleeming.co.nz/computers/notebook-computers/pc-notebook-computers/compaq-cq42-134home-...

for modern gaming you need a dual core processor and this one is 2x 2.3GHz vrrrrrooooom
and a dedicated graphics card. very very very few under $1000s have a graphics card. old games (4-5yrs ago) or modern low end games can be played on this notebook's built in graphics

lostangel

163 posts

Master Geek

#364007 6-Aug-2010 05:45

All I can say here is stay away from Acer laptops, I bought a cheap dual core amd one and 7 repairs later I've given up on fixing what seems to be a manufacturing fault on their motherboards as the drive controller always dies. So now that laptop is only able to run linux via a usb key, seeing as the hd and dvd drive cannot function without the controller. Look for a cheap Toshiba or Asus. Don't expect miracles in the gaming dept though.

CADMAX

274 posts

Ultimate Geek

#364020 6-Aug-2010 07:51

buy a alienware laptop they are so good for gaming, http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/alienware/topics/en/ap/nz/laptops?...

they have been good for me :)

Ragnor

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#364124 6-Aug-2010 11:04

Re: Gaming

If by gaming you mean farmville, website flash games or very old pc gaming titles then any laptop will do.

If you want to play new modern games like Starcraft II etc $1000 is going to be no way near enough.

Batman

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#365011 8-Aug-2010 15:23

hey this IS perfect for you http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4c5e23f200b68c702740c0a87f3b06e7/Product/View/XC8834
it will do everything you want.

vinnieg

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#365054 8-Aug-2010 17:26

hellonearthisman: The HP Mini 311 only has an Atom Processor N270, which isn't really great for gaming.

An Asus Eee PC 1201PN Seashell Netbook, Atom N450 1.6 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 12" TFT, Nividia ION gpu
Would could manage some gaming but not aw well as a non atom system.
Or the cheaper Asus Eee PC 1005P Seashell Netbook, Atom N450 1.6 GHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HDD, 10" TFT. But it hasn't got the nividia GPU of the 1201.

None have DVD drives, including the HP mini, but you can connect an external one if needed.

I like netbooks as they are light and have great battery life but they are not gaming machines, you might want to get a more powerful (non atom cpu) laptop machine. Like a Asus K50AD-SX008V Notebook, Athlon II Dual-Core M320 2.1 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD, 15.6" TFT, DVD writer, WLAN, Win 7
Which has a dedicated ATI HD4570 with 512MB DDR2 VRAM and could play COD II.

If you can find a N280 version of the Mini 311(they have the Nvidia Ion as well :))
It's actually faster than the 1201PN in terms fo graphics score(3dmark) and CPU score(PCMark), but yeah most Atoms systems will be pretty bad at games, the 4570 sereies system above would be good as woudl the 5470 system mentioned in Jokers reply

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Skilhgt9

19 posts

Geek

#366898 12-Aug-2010 18:19

Ok, well I have chosen to get a netbook. But before I ask about which one is best, what is the difference between these two laptops:
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=389350
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=387898

The ones above I think are the same but the keyboard looks different and one has a bigger hard drive, but I just want to check.

Which ever one is better, I am choosing between one of the above or
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=389920

Thanks

hellonearthisman

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#366916 12-Aug-2010 19:16

The Asus Eee PC 1201PN Seashell Netbook, Atom N450 1.6 GHz, 2GB RAM, 320GB HDD (Black http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=389350) looks the better as it does have a bigger HDD.

It looks like the charge a little more for the Silver cased version of the 1201PN with a small HD.

Nice machine.

Skilhgt9

19 posts

Geek

#367329 13-Aug-2010 19:19

I have chosen between the Hp mini 311 and the Asus Eee PC 1201pn. But which one should I choose, don't forget I am using this for music, internet, email, word, and gaming (maybe gta san andreas or call of duty or something)
Here are the links for the laptops:
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=389920
http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?ItemID=389350

Thanks

hellonearthisman

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#367362 13-Aug-2010 21:10

I think the HP don't have dual touch on their touchpads.

Batman

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#367371 13-Aug-2010 21:20

wow before this thread i didnt know there are dual core netbooks with graphics capable of driving modern games! still i'm a bit skeptical :)

eracode

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#367443 14-Aug-2010 03:24

What about this?:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=309116231

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Skilhgt9

19 posts

Geek

#367498 14-Aug-2010 11:20

Ok, well I chosen to get a Asus netbook. But there are two for me to chose from, the Asus Eee PC 1201n and the Asus Eee PC 1201pn. I have read that the pn model is later date and has better graphics card but the n has dual core but the pn has single core, I read this here: http://gdgt.com/discuss/pn-vs-n-i-was-very-73q/ and here: http://www.liliputing.com/2010/03/asus-eee-pc-1201pn-with-next-gen-ion-graphics-benchmarked.html

I would use this laptop to play gta san andreas and iv. I have seen on youtube that the n can play iv and san andreas but the pn has just been released so there are not many videos yet. Which one is best, pn with better graphics but single core or n with lower graphics but dual core.

Thanks

hellonearthisman

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#367560 14-Aug-2010 14:39

eracode: What about this?:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=309116231

Nice specks, but how long would it last running off batteries 1hr max.
Seems really cheap.

The PN does say it has CPU: Intel Atom 450 Dual Core processor

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