Which Laptop to buy???

DocO

I'm aware there is many threads like this but with the constant change in technology i hope no1 minds repeating or refreshing information already passed on.


I am looking to get a laptop in the sales this month, but dont really have a clue what i am looking for. I will be using it to play poker on, aswell as all other everyday uses one uses a comp for (nothing specific)

im looking to spend between 700-1k preferably the lesser figure but would pay more if valid reason to do so.

What am i looking for, high definiton? large memory? high battery? which brands to people recommend?
Where to buy it, dell outlet? online ? or just in pcworld or something??

Thanks in advance!

Donal

kinaldo

I recommend Acer but you should probably try the laptop forum.

DocO

i tried posting there about this ages ago, but to no avail.

Also my reasons for using the computer are mainly poker based, and id be very interested in what everyone here uses . . .

Thanks though

ntlbell

DocO wrote:

i tried posting there about this ages ago, but to no avail.

Also my reasons for using the computer are mainly poker based, and id be very interested in what everyone here uses . . .

Thanks though

If the main reason is to play poker and you multi table you should be looking for a decent screen size that can do decent resoloutions.

If you're going to go down the windows vista route make sure you get a LOT of RAM 2GB+

Scotty #

Just bought this one 2 hours ago. Its the bees knees but even at 1490X900 res I still can't get 2 tribeca screens up without overlap.:(

ianmc38

I've a Dell XPS Gen II which has WUXGA resolution of 1920x1200 so 4 tabling is no problem. The screen is 17", really quick processor, 2GB RAM and a sweet graphics card. They are uite expensive but well worth the investment if you do any gaming or play a lot of poker.

The Snapper

ntlbell wrote:

If you're going to go down the windows vista route make sure you get a LOT of RAM 2GB+

Looking at Sony vaio with vista. think its only 1gb ram, is this a problem and why

Sparky1808

I bought a Sony Vaio about 10 months ago, built in webcam/microphone - 1gb Ram, 1.8ghz Intel Pentium Processor and 80gb Hard Drive, it was top of the range of its time and is still pretty well up there in terms of the technology market.

...but myself and a few mates of mine all swear by Sony Vaio's.

Ollieboy

with the new window upgrades and operating systems ram is the most important item along with screen size, also do you really need a laptop? Desktop computer is far better value, also processor speed is more important, but remember, poker software doesn't need much to run, its mostly everything else that does.

The more you invested on a standard machine, the longer it will last, thats the general rule. I bought a dell 2 years ago and its due for change now, I got all the extras, but the new window upgrades etc have f.... it up, so need to upgrade or wipe it and re-install the system

ntlbell

The Snapper wrote:

Looking at Sony vaio with vista. think its only 1gb ram, is this a problem and why

It's not a problem if you're willing to purchase more RAM.

The reason is Windows vista takes up a lot of RAM after boot leaving you with very little for other applications.

I've seen it take up to close to 1GB after booting.

You can disable a lot of features to reduce this, but then you may aswell just get windows XP in the first place.

2GB RAM is the bare minimum really.

ntlbell

Ollieboy wrote:

with the new window upgrades and operating systems ram is the most important item along with screen size, also do you really need a laptop? Desktop computer is far better value, also processor speed is more important, but remember, poker software doesn't need much to run, its mostly everything else that does.

The more you invested on a standard machine, the longer it will last, thats the general rule. I bought a dell 2 years ago and its due for change now, I got all the extras, but the new window upgrades etc have f.... it up, so need to upgrade or wipe it and re-install the system

If you're a normal user and your daily use is mostly browsing, email word processing etc the processor speed is probably the least important.

phantom_lord

ntlbell wrote:

I've seen it take up to close to 1GB after booting.

:eek:

i was reading up on it just there, seems like a bit of a resource hog to say the least. So much for my top of the range laptop

ntlbell

phantom_lord wrote:

:eek:

i was reading up on it just there, seems like a bit of a resource hog to say the least. So much for my top of the range laptop

Just don't install Vista

2k is still fine imo

Ruu_Old

Look at getting a Dell, from very basic and cheap laptops to expensive ones. Buy the RAM elsewhere though as to upgrade it with Dell is a ripoff. If you buy a computer with XP, 512MB is the bare minimum you should get it with. I don't play poker so I'm not sure of the requirements maybe an Inspiron 1501 or 6400?

DocO

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

How many "extras" would i need to make sure i was ordering aswell, extra ram, wireless card etc (wasnt exagerating when i said i didnt have a clue!!)

Any specific model for my price range (up to one grand!)??

Thanks Donal

ntlbell

DocO wrote:

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

How many "extras" would i need to make sure i was ordering aswell, extra ram, wireless card etc (wasnt exagerating when i said i didnt have a clue!!)

Any specific model for my price range (up to one grand!)??

Thanks Donal

If you're getting Windows XP get 1GB RAM.

If you're getting Windows Vista get 2 GB RAM.

If you have a wireless router/Acess point or plan to get one then get a wireless card.

Go on to the Dell website and see what's on offer for your price range.

mewso

If all you want it for is for poker then get the cheapest laptop you can find with a good screen size. Thats it imo. Forget about Vista for now. It's a bad idea to move to it now if you ask me.
If you plan to play games other than poker then you need to start worrying about RAM and CPU speed, graphics card etc. but if you only want it for poker and office type stuff then save yourself some money.

luckylucky

ianmc38 wrote:

I've a Dell XPS Gen II which has WUXGA resolution of 1920x1200 so 4 tabling is no problem. The screen is 17", really quick processor, 2GB RAM and a sweet graphics card. They are uite expensive but well worth the investment if you do any gaming or play a lot of poker.

If money isn't a problem, then you don't want to be pfaffing around, so as a good screen resolution is paramount for poker, ians recommendation sounds like a good un to me. I don't use my own laptop much for poker but if I had thought about it more i would have made sure it had at least 1600x1200, tbh I didn't even know that 1600x1200 were available in laptops.

I really think if you are going to do something, do it right, it's better to have all that you want more than covered rather than scrimping, so go for plenty of ram too if you can do it so you can install Vista too, at least that's my take on it.

Dark Hair

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055024127&page=3

Get one of those... if you still can. total bargain. Worth a drive to Cork/Galway

If you are going for screen viewing area... the 17" is probably better. Though I can mutli table on me sony 13.3 no bother.

@750 it is a steal.

DeadParrot

i got one of these bad boys while living in canada for $800 (or thereabouts) nearly 2 years ago.
It can handle multitabling 4 stars tables no hassle and I could probably manage six.
You could pick one up on ebay cheap enough I imagine

ionapaul

Last month I bought a standard Dell Inspiron 1501 for my poker playing here in Oz. 512 MB RAM, runs Windows XP fine and surprisingly good for some light gaming with a crappy onboard ATI gfx chip. Only cost 700 or so in euro (same in Ireland, I checked in the hope I was getting a good deal down here!) so won't break the bank. Can multi-table 4 stars or party tables no prob (what with their sweet table re-sizing software).

Unless you plan to play NEW games or encode DVDs or such like, be a cheapo like me and save yourself some dosh! If you want a ninja gamer monster, just build a desktop...

Imposter

If you use it (and you should), pokertracker is quite a resource hog and I had problems with just 2 tables open using it on my old PC (not on all networks but definitely on Prima). So if you datamine or anything like that a fast processor and 2gb of ram (with XP) would make a lot of sense imo.

As for a screen go for 1600*1200 resolution if you can. That's usually a 20" monitor though and they are a bit pricey. Not all sites have resizeable tables yet.

Tar.Aldarion

Do you really need it to be portable, as in a laptop?
A desktop would suit you much better.
But if you really need one, for that price, just get something with a gig of ram and a decent enough proessor, most lower range laptops have that these days.

DocO

Ruu wrote:

Look at getting a Dell, from very basic and cheap laptops to expensive ones. Buy the RAM elsewhere though as to upgrade it with Dell is a ripoff. If you buy a computer with XP, 512MB is the bare minimum you should get it with. I don't play poker so I'm not sure of the requirements maybe an Inspiron 1501 or 6400?

thanks everyone for all the very helpful advice, in the end i got an in inspiron


http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/notebooks_Q4_W8_inspn_6400_N01646?c=ie&cs=iedhs1&l=en&s=dhs

hopefully that link works, but if not i got the inspiron 6400, for a total of 1080- saved a few hundred on it. upgraded the battery and few other small things, but to upgrade ram to 2gig cost extra 450 (if i rem correctly)

ill know soon enuf if its too slow, but how to i go about buying more ram seperately like advised above?? will it save much?

thanks again

Donal