2 Laptop Questions (Left/Right click buttons - GTA IV)

Hey all,

Looking at buying a laptop at the moment and have been messing around with a few friends laptops. One thing I've noticed immediately is that on some laptops, the left/right click buttons are impossible to press. They're practically flat and require you to lift your hand or put a lot of pressure on the button to press it (was using a SONY VAIO the other day and the buttons on that were very tough to press). On others, the buttons are smooth, pressing them is easy and they don't take your attention at all (friend has a HP Pavilion and they were grand).


My question is, is there a name for this? Is it a "soft touch" feature or something on some laptops? Or is it just completely random?



I know this isn't exactly a massive deal regarding laptops, and doesn't affect their performance or anything, but it would wreck my head to buy a laptop online or something and when it came it had the above-described buttons. I'm sure some people prefer them (they'd make typing easier i reckon, as you are much less likely to accidentally click them?) but they'd wreck my head.






Also, may i ask, on a completely different note; generally speaking, would this laptop be able to smoothly play a copy of GTA IV do you think?


http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/9732963/Toshiba-Satellite-L300-25H-Intel-Pentium-Dual-Core-T4200-2-GHz-3GB-250GB-15-4-DVD-SM-Vista-Home-Premium-Laptop-Notebook-PSLB8E-0TK00/Product.html?cur=258

• Operating System: Vista Home Premium
• Processor: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 / 2 GHz ( Dual-Core )
• Memory: 3GB
• HD Capacity: 250GB
• Graphics Card: Intel GMA 4500M

From www.gamesforwindows.com (GTA)


MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4 Ghz
RAM: 1.5 GB Vista / 1 GB XP
Hard Drive: 16 GB Free Space
Video Card: 256 MB Nvidia 7900 / 256 MB ATI X1900


(I have no real knowledge of graphics cards or processors, etc. )

Huge thanks to anyone able to help out!

Voodu Child

Deleted User wrote: »

Also, may i ask, on a completely different note; generally speaking, would this laptop be able to smoothly play a copy of GTA IV do you think?

Its not going to run it at all.

You'll need a dedicated card to run GTA, and unless you're talking about a 9800M GT or better (and a high-end CPU), I wouldn't bother.

voodoo_child

voodoo_child wrote: »

Its not going to run it at all.

You'll need a dedicated card to run GTA, and unless you're talking about a 9800M GT or better (and a high-end CPU), I wouldn't bother.

Is there any such thing as a laptop in the €500-€700 range that would be able to play it, or would you need to be going over €1,000?



I don't know about graphics cards, so... :o

Kwekubo

First things first, you will need a laptop with a discrete graphics card. Intel GMA are integrated graphics accelerators which are built into the motherboard and share memory with the rest of the computer, so their performance is woeful. Like voodoo_child said, you'd want a high-end discrete card to play GTAIV comfortably. Focus on the clock speed of graphics cards (the number in MHz) when comparing different cards from different manufacturers. But you might struggle to find a laptop with the right specs at the €500-700 pricepoint.

Cheers for that Kwekubo. I'll live without the use of GTA IV then, I suppose. I could just as easily settle with Sonic 1 to be honest, but I thought i'd just be greedy.


Can i ask one final question please. Something that has been bugging the crap out of me!


I've been looking at laptops a little lately, and I can't get my head around the amount of laptops with glossy screens. Very frustrating.

I hate the glossy finish on the screens (I'm sure they benefit greatly to people in the right environment, but they don't seem to offer anything that a matte-finish laptop can't offer). A friend of mine has a laptop with a glossy screen and i think it's terrible. More often than not, he's just looking at a reflection of himself.

Does anyone know of any decent, yet not-too-expensive laptops that have a matte screen?


Alternatively, to anyone here who uses a laptop a lot that has a glossy screen; is it easy to get used to? Are they better used in dark areas or bright areas, and are they any cop when it comes to outdoor use?

If i buy a laptop with a glossy screen, is there any coating or anything that you can buy to try and kill the reflective nature of it?



EDIT: Sorry about this, but does anyone know which of these would be better? Both seem very similar (similar prices, too)



One is in Ireland

http://cgi.ebay.ie/New-HP-Compaq-CQ60-214EM-laptop-notebook-Dual-Core_W0QQitemZ220411069249QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Computing_Laptops_EH?hash=item220411069249&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A50



The other is in the US:

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-HP-Pavilion-G60T-Laptop-Notebook-16-HD-LCD-2-CORE_W0QQitemZ280345525964QQihZ018QQcategoryZ177QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Voodu Child

Glossy screens give a more vibrant or 'rich' image (not a technical term ). They are perhaps more suited to entertainment uses (videos, games etc) rather than serious stuff.

They are suited to use in mid/low light conditions. If you try to use them in bright surroundings, as you rightly say, they are like looking at a mirror, very difficult and distracting. They are definitely crap outdoors, no question.

Although I should say that all glossy screens are not created equal, and the maximum brightness of a glossy screen plays a very important part in how reflective it is. If you crank the brightness all the way up on a good screen, it will help reduce the reflectivity. So look for one with a high maximum brightness (measured in nits or cd/m^2), particularly the newer LED-backlit ones.