computer's dead

[eppie]

After 5 and a half years good service my laptop has crashed. Most of the time I switch it on there is just a black screen and it doesn't react to anything....when I switch it off (8 seconds on/off button) sometimes at the next switch on it says on of my hard drives has an error....after checking and going to the windows logon screen it gives me 1 seconds of view of my wallpaper and then goes black again.
I could ask for advice how to restore it but I think all hope is gone.....and after 5 and a half year it is probably time for a new one.
So here I could use your help. I have some general questions and appreciate any thoughts;
--what do you think is the best 'brand' (or brands)
--Value for money....same question
--I will not take a super machine but being able to run diablo 3 would be nice, does anybody have an idea what specs that game needs?
--why are vaio's so expensive? What gives the system its quality? I mean after having to recall so many batteries it doesn't seem worth to spend much on such a computer (altough I am sure they use good batteries now)

Really any help/advice/suggestions are welcome.


eppie

[kandrathe]

After 5 and a half years good service my laptop has crashed. Most of the time I switch it on there is just a black screen and it doesn't react to anything....when I switch it off (8 seconds on/off button) sometimes at the next switch on it says on of my hard drives has an error....after checking and going to the windows logon screen it gives me 1 seconds of view of my wallpaper and then goes black again.
I could ask for advice how to restore it but I think all hope is gone.....and after 5 and a half year it is probably time for a new one.
So here I could use your help. I have some general questions and appreciate any thoughts;
--what do you think is the best 'brand' (or brands)
--Value for money....same question
--I will not take a super machine but being able to run diablo 3 would be nice, does anybody have an idea what specs that game needs?
--why are vaio's so expensive? What gives the system its quality? I mean after having to recall so many batteries it doesn't seem worth to spend much on such a computer (altough I am sure they use good batteries now)

Really any help/advice/suggestions are welcome.
eppie

Where are you living now? Are you still in Italy? What is "good" also relates to where you can get good service.

[Concillian]

Well, gaming on a laptop is nearly impossible now if you want it to look good. If you have a standalone monitor, it's probably cheaper to get a cheap laptop for general usage AND a gaming desktop.

I'm not really kidding either, most games are pretty miserable with laptop integrated graphics.

We have no idea what Diablo III will require, it's still expected to take close to a year to come out, so any speculation now is even doubly speculative due to the amount of time available that can change things completely.

IMO, get something cheap with a dual core and plenty of memory, then put some in the piggybank and wait and see on DIII.

[eppie]

Well, gaming on a laptop is nearly impossible now if you want it to look good. If you have a standalone monitor, it's probably cheaper to get a cheap laptop for general usage AND a gaming desktop.

I'm not really kidding either, most games are pretty miserable with laptop integrated graphics.

We have no idea what Diablo III will require, it's still expected to take close to a year to come out, so any speculation now is even doubly speculative due to the amount of time available that can change things completely.

IMO, get something cheap with a dual core and plenty of memory, then put some in the piggybank and wait and see on DIII.

This is indeed a possibility. Probably any new computer available now can do what I want with it.

Kandrathe; I am in Sweden now but I am always interested in something that is available anywhere....and than especially the servicing. In the case of it breaking down while away for travel.

What are your ideas on Dell?

[kandrathe]

This is indeed a possibility. Probably any new computer available now can do what I want with it.

Kandrathe; I am in Sweden now but I am always interested in something that is available anywhere....and than especially the servicing. In the case of it breaking down while away for travel.

What are your ideas on Dell?

My wife just picked up an Inspiron 1721 for about $650 (US). It's a nice machine, but too big for lots of travel. Big screen, big keyboard which were her criteria for a laptop.

I like Dell, they are well engineered, and service took a dip a few years back, but they are better about it now.

[Thecla]

It's hard to answer those questions without knowing what kind of laptop you want or what sort of budget you're looking at.;)

In general, I personally prefer to get business laptops over consumer ones since they're generally more reliable and better built, though they will probably be more expensive. I think Dell, Hp, Lenovo all produce good models. You might also look at Asus, and laptops made by Clevo (branded as Sager --- I don't know what resellers you have in Sweden) have a very good reputation and are a good value for powerful machines.

I'm sure that DIII will have relatively low system requirements. The main thing to worry about is the graphics card. So long as you're not looking at, say, an ultraportable with integrated graphics, you'll be able to buy a laptop now with a decent discrete card that will play DIII just fine.

A good resource for notebook information and advice is

http://www.notebookreview.com/

There's a FAQ there you can post to get specific advice on what laptops would best fit your budget and needs.

[eppie]

A good resource for notebook information and advice is

http://www.notebookreview.com/

There's a FAQ there you can post to get specific advice on what laptops would best fit your budget and needs.

Thanks,

I don't have a specific budget, it depends on what I exactly want with it....and because I am not really an expert I asked it here. And your answer and also that of concillian are really helpful, they give me a different angle on the matter.
After concillians post I thought that buying something cheaper now would be a good thing...everything availbel now is good enought for what I do with (because my old computer was), then when there is diablo3 I can see if I want something new. But if you say system requirements will not be over the top, I might decide to buy a better machine now so that I can use it for several years.

I don't need an ultraportible, I have a laptop at work so for business travel I don't need to take mine.
I will keep in mind the comment about the graphics card.

On expensive brands, are vaio's and toshiba's really much better than other brands or is it just an image thing? And what about mac's? I think they are too expensive and I have never used one so I am not sure if I want to switch.

Thanks again.

ps I think I will look at dell's homepage a bit better

[Thecla]

I haven't used sony vaio's myself, but they have good screens and stylish design (like macs). If you're looking for something that doesn't cost a lot I think Dell (or some other machines) would probably be a better choice.

Without knowing what you want, I hesitate to give any definite advice, especially since Bliz hasn't announced the system requirements for DIII yet. And, anyway, it may not make much sense in buying a laptop now to worry about a game that will come out some time in 2012;). But, taking the optimistic view that, by some miracle, DIII comes out in 2009, and assuming, say, you want a relatively inexpensive mainstream notebook with a 15.4" screen and lower-end WXGA resolution (1280 x 800) something like a Dell Studio

http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...aptop_studio_15

configured with the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 video card (not the X3100 integrated graphics) should, I imagine, turn out to be quite capable of running DIII on lower settings.

There's a useful list of mobile graphics card benchmarks here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphi...List.844.0.html

[eppie]

http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...aptop_studio_15

configured with the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450 video card (not the X3100 integrated graphics) should, I imagine, turn out to be quite capable of running DIII on lower settings.

There's a useful list of mobile graphics card benchmarks here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphi...List.844.0.html

Seems like a nice machine indeed. It is going to cost me a bit more than in the US I think but that is how it is.
I hope they can give me the english windows instead of the swedish one.
And that 3 GB memory is enough to run vista.:blink:

[roguebanshee]

Seems like a nice machine indeed. It is going to cost me a bit more than in the US I think but that is how it is.
I hope they can give me the english windows instead of the swedish one.
And that 3 GB memory is enough to run vista.:blink:

Expect to pay 20-50% more. Most specialized retailers will let you choose which language you want, so that shouldn't be a problem. Vista runs on 1 GB with 2 GB recommended for gaming, so you should be ok.

[DeeBye]

Expect to pay 20-50% more.

If it's 50% more, that's over $1,200. If prices in Sweden are anything close to prices in Canada, you could get a utility laptop (~$400) and a decent gaming desktop (~$800) for that.

[Thecla]

If it's 50% more, that's over $1,200. If prices in Sweden are anything close to prices in Canada, you could get a utility laptop (~$400) and a decent gaming desktop (~$800) for that.

I guess if prices in Sweden are 50% more than in North America, then a utility laptop and a gaming desktop over there would actually cost ~$1800.;)

[roguebanshee]

If it's 50% more, that's over $1,200. If prices in Sweden are anything close to prices in Canada, you could get a utility laptop (~$400) and a decent gaming desktop (~$800) for that.

I keep forgetting how dirt cheap electronics are in the rest of the world.

$400 laptop will get you a low end netbook (if you're lucky an Asus Eee 901 instead of a 900). $800 gaming desktop will be low end as well, most likely capable of playing D3, but don't expect stellar performance. A $1200 desktop will be a good mid range gaming pc, if you can skip buying a monitor. Add $250-300 for an average 19" LCD.

[Concillian]

$800 gaming desktop will be low end as well, most likely capable of playing D3, but don't expect stellar performance. A $1200 desktop will be a good mid range gaming pc, if you can skip buying a monitor. Add $250-300 for an average 19" LCD.

If you build it yourself, you can put together a pretty decent "mid-range gaming PC" for about $600

p43 or p45 mobo
e7400
4 gigs ram

combined those are about $250ish

9800GT or HD4830 ~$125ish

~300-500 GB HD
keyboard / mouse
DVD Drive

$125 ish

case / 400W-ish PSU - $100ish

Vista $100

add it all up and you're around $600 plus shipping or whatever. That's in the US. I have no idea how things change where other people live. But this assumes access to a monitor. That can break the whole concept if you have only been using a laptop screen.

This is not anything near low end or incapable at 1280x1024. In fact, most modern games will run well at max or close to max settings.

The idea though, is that this dollar amount for a decent gaming machine probably won't change much. You can buy a cheap laptop now, and whenever Diablo III comes out, you can buy similarly priced desktop components and end up with Windows7, and likely a better CPU and video card.

[roguebanshee]

That's in the US. I have no idea how things change where other people live.

Which was the entire point of my two above posts. US prices are nearly pointless in this discussion, all you can reasonably do is add ~50% and make generalizations.

Anyway, PriceRunner has a Swedish site, which could be a bit helpful (using a translator for those with poor Swedish skills).

[DeeBye]

I guess if prices in Sweden are 50% more than in North America, then a utility laptop and a gaming desktop over there would actually cost ~$1800.;)

Prices in Canada are 20%-50% more than in the US.

[eppie]

Hi guys,

just to let you know, I ordered my notebook.

I went for a dell studio 15 inch screen.
It has a core 2 2,26GHz processor and 3 GB ram. For the rest mostly standard stuff, and of course 3 years warranty....it costs quite a bit but laptops often break, so a little insurance helps.
It cost me 1140 USD (converted). It is slightly more than I was planning to spend but it seems reasonably up to date so it will do for a few years. It shoudl arrive in 10 days (which is too long....but what can you do)

Thanks for all your input.

eppie

[Thecla]

Hi guys,

just to let you know, I ordered my notebook.

I went for a dell studio 15 inch screen.
It has a core 2 2,26GHz processor and 3 GB ram. For the rest mostly standard stuff, and of course 3 years warranty....it costs quite a bit but laptops often break, so a little insurance helps.
It cost me 1140 USD (converted). It is slightly more than I was planning to spend but it seems reasonably up to date so it will do for a few years. It shoudl arrive in 10 days (which is too long....but what can you do)

Thanks for all your input.

eppie

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy it. Now the question is whether or not your warranty expires before or after DIII comes out.

Speaking of which, I just saw that Runic games

http://www.runicgames.com/

(which was formed by Travis Baldree from the people who were making Mythos after they lost the game in the wake of the Hellgate:London debacle) now has, apart from the Schaefer brothers and Peter Hu, of all people Matt Uelmen. So, if nothing else, whatever they do should have some atmospheric acoustic guitar music.

[RTM]

Hi guys,

just to let you know, I ordered my notebook.

I went for a dell studio 15 inch screen.
It has a core 2 2,26GHz processor and 3 GB ram. For the rest mostly standard stuff, and of course 3 years warranty....it costs quite a bit but laptops often break, so a little insurance helps.
It cost me 1140 USD (converted). It is slightly more than I was planning to spend but it seems reasonably up to date so it will do for a few years. It shoudl arrive in 10 days (which is too long....but what can you do)

Thanks for all your input.

eppie

I just bought almost the exact same laptop for my wife, except with a 2ghz CPU and ATI graphics. I was able to get World of Warcraft running on it, which isn't saying much considering the 1280x800 resolution, but it did look decent and actually didn't run too badly. It seems like a well-built little machine. I think you'll like it.:)

[eppie]

I just bought almost the exact same laptop for my wife, except with a 2ghz CPU and ATI graphics. I was able to get World of Warcraft running on it, which isn't saying much considering the 1280x800 resolution, but it did look decent and actually didn't run too badly. It seems like a well-built little machine. I think you'll like it.:)

Well I received my computer. Although I have not ran any games on it ( I am not a hard core gamer) it is a nice computer. It has these very neat buttons that you just need to touch above the functions keys, to eg. switch the sound on and off.
Also the DVD drive is quite nice, no drawer just inserting the CD in a slot on the side.
Vista is not really my thing, but things run very smooth and installing new hard or software goes very quick and simple.