GW On Laptop

Ok, well I'm not too computer-technical as most of you all are, but that's why I'm here asking this in the first place. My question is:

What is a good laptop to play Guild Wars, and at the same time, won't ruin my budget?

Why a laptop? Well, because relatives are moving in soon, and they need to use the desktop computer, and use it a LOT. Also, I can't do very quick researches for my schoolwork with my desktop acting so slow because it's weighed down with all these bytes of game files. I need to move all my games off of my desktop, so it can be used as an "office tool", other than "entertainment".

Anyway, I've looekd to newegg.com many, many times, and found a certain laptop in particular.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115273

It's very cheap, and sounds that it could handle Guild Wars (Someone commented that they were able to run WoW fine on it, and I'm inferring that WoW takes up more computer specs than Guild Wars does).

If it's not the best deal, then can someone point me in the right direction? I need a second opinion on this because I don't want to end up spending $3,000 dollars on something and find out there were cheaper alternatives.

Hopefully your joking... right?....right?!?
:P

Anyways you have your 'jobs' for your desktop and laptop mixed up.
Usually people use thier desktop for entertainment and laptop as an office tool.

Why? Well desktop usually has more 'power' (loosely used) than a laptop.
Laptops are not upgrade-able (blah spelling). Usually to make a laptop light, powersaving, and at a cool temperature, the manufactures lessen the 'features' avaliable for a laptop.
For example:
-You are never going to have the most powerful video card with a laptop... only desktops will.
-The HDD is usually going to be limited to 1 (or 2 if you remove your cd drive) internally installed.
-Video card will _not_ be the same as a desktop (in terms of performance (comparing same gen video cards) ) Most laptops come with an integrated Video card
-Memory slots will be limited compared to the desktop
-etc, etc.


Now on to the heart of the question: What type of laptop to get?
Ok assuming your in the US (aka. US dollars): (please tell me your price range)

First off: your pick.
Not my favourite but it will work for what you are describing. I can't specifically tell you the ups and downs. When I try to click on 'manfacture's info it gives me an error page.
EDIT: I was surfing a bit and I think I found a similar (or even the same) laptop going for $499.00 at some other online store... which I found via. www.acer.com

My pick
First off let me tell you I have a bias towards acer and IBM ;P. Ok now on with my choice.
Assuming you have about $599.00 US price range. (Which is challenging btw :P)
I tried to stay away from retailer sites since the price is inflated (to create revenue). So I went directly to IBM's manufacture's site and this is what I found:

http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/notebooks/t...ies/index.html
This links to the IBM thinkpad R series... usually the homeuser chooses this model.. even though the other models get equal attention .

http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/st...-840&langId=-1
IBM refurbished laptops... probably your best bet.. if you want to spend around $1000 then I can suggest a good laptop (with gfx capabilities) but unfortunately you'll either be stuck with an integrated video card or a Radeon 7500 32mb AGP (if you look at the refurbished)
Nothing wrong with refurbished. I have one myself :P. (IBM gives free warrenty and does the routine checkup for any refurbished products)

Hope this helps.

Yeah, I know that Desktops are waay better for gaming, but I just don't have much room to have 2 desktops around. Reasons why I want a laptop is:

1) Portability. I'll be away a LOT of times due to overnight trips because I am a band(geek) member in my high school marching band (Looking to be in a college one aswell. It's so fun :3). I want to be able to catch up with my gaming and to bring easy-to-access MMORPGs while staying the night over at hotels and such.

2) Space. As I said before, I have nearly no room. Until about a year, we won't have much space around. Especially since I'm having relatives move in for a while (a long while). Plus, since my relatives are from out-of-country, they want to connect with their families without charging too much on our phone (e-mail, net-businesses, ect ect.).

3) It's just odd seeing my friends gaming with laptops and they run a LOT better than my desktop (probably because my graphics card is crap, but I don't really want to touch my desktop computer's parts. I'm a little under-knowledged on the technical computer talk for the most part).


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Anyway, I'll check into those links right now. If I can't find a decent laptop for Guild Wars atleast, I'll try and figure out how to fit a computer into my room (my current Desktop is being turned to an office-use only thing).

Personally, I wouldn't go for a notebook that listed for under $1k; nor would I go for one with a lower end graphics card if gaming were a big reason for getting it. Unlike desktops, laptops are somewhat of a static investment with little to zero upgrade potential - so it's worth investing more on the front end to get one that can grow with you over the years.

You'll likely be spending a lot of time with whatever you invest in, so rather than looking at what it can do today, consider your eventual needs and what'd you like to be able to do with it in three years, and then look for one that will be able to handle that. Laptops can become something of a friend, especially during college, and not something easily replaced.

There are certainly gaming laptops out there... ABS, Dell and Alienware all offer customizable notebooks designed for gaming, with real graphics cards. A budget laptop will get you in the mobility door, so there is a benefit to just getting a cheap one; however, this is the kind of investment where going for quality has a noticeable impact.

Imho, this is one of those few areas where there's really no such thing as a "cheaper alternative." A cheap laptop is usually a cheap laptop, and I've never worked with or owned one that wasn't a pita or a disappointment in the long run. A reasonable price range for a good, average quality laptop that can grow with you is in the $1200 to $2200 range. It may seem expensive, but it really isn't for this type of investment. My two cents.

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Some examples...

ABS Mayhem G3 Eclipse XT is a good quality, budget gaming laptop for $1299. It's a far better system than the one you're looking at, with a graphics card that can handle most current games. For $35 more, you can add a 7200rpm drive which will noticeably improve gaming performance.

Dell Inspiron E1705 is a budget system that has better specs than the one you're considering, and comes with a 17" monitor while still weighing in at less than $1k. By upgrading to a 7200rpm drive, more memory, or a better graphics card, one could design a pretty solid system while staying under the $1500 mark. The XMS M1710 is a pretty solid gaming laptop at $2299 without any customizing required - it's not cutting edge, but it's in the high performance arena for sure. Plus it comes with a pretty nice support package, always good for the non-technical gamer. The overall experience with this kind of system would be on a whole different level than with that $600 Acer.

Alienware Aurora can be had in the non-SLI version with 1GB of ram and a 7200rpm hard drive for just at $2k - that's a pretty serious laptop at a reasonable price. They offer a couple of "budget" gaming systems, but it's their mid to high end systems that really offer a solid, longterm investment.

Any of these would be worth considering. ABS systems regularly receive high marks at PCWorld, Dell is a solid company to go with for support, and Alienware knows how to make quality systems.

This site may help your search... http://www.pcworld.com/ic/laptops/

I can run the game with my Toshiba Satellite Pro 6000... granted, I upped the RAM a bit to 512.. and I have to put the graphics to the lowest.. but yeah.. it works.
Mine was free I have connections being a hardware geek.
Another great site to look at: www.spoofee.com.... they have good deals.
Anyway, gl with everything and have fun in band! Marching season is almost over, so enjoy it while it lasts (btw, College band is amazing!)

Aha, thanks xD

I absolutley LOVE marching. I'm lookign foward to joining in a State band as soon as I get into college ;3''

On-Topic: Instead of stressing my braisn out on this laptop ordeal, I'm making this easier on myself and finiding a good desktop. Granted, finding a good desk that'll fit is a problem too, but nothing a little saw and hammer couldn't fix.

Ok, with a new solution comes another confilt. What shall I get? Finding a good desktop is a bti easier, but it's the graphics card they have which is getting me all jumbled. I really do not want to open my computer tower and mess witht hings that I have no experience with, so I'm tryign to find one with a good card already in it (making this a little challenging aswell). I know the minimum and recommended specs, but it's tryign to igure out which is better or worse than the graphics card is hard. I get all confused trying to figure out if ones better or worse than the other.

I've stumbled upon very many computers, but none I can really put my finger on and say, "This is it. It's got everythign I need."

So once again, I beg all of you for insight. ^^"

First some laptops cannot run Guild Wars due to the video chipsets that they have. Getting that out of the way, I currrently own a Hewlet Packard Pavilion dv8000. It works flawlessly with both Guild Wars, RF Online and the other MMORPG which will remain unamed by me. It uses the ATI Radeon Express 200M chipset which runs Guild Wars quite well. I take it to work with me and use a Serria Wireless wireless modem to connect through Cingular's network(yes I do get a bit of lag but thats what you get when addicted to games and have to play at work). I work offshore and this unit fits the bill perfectly. It can be gotten straight through HP or from Best Buy. I have had this unit for several months and have had no problems.

Hope this helps some, just make sure the graphics chipset will run Guild Wars before you buy anything. Any laptop with ATI or NVIDEA chipsets should work nicely. There have been some problems with the Intel laptop chipsets so steer clear of those if you can.

Mega Mouse