Replacing a fried laptop =(

[nRRe]

Looking to stay in the $350-450 range.

Prefer 14-16", previous laptop was 15.6"

1366x768 resolution or higher

Battery life is no concern, it's always plugged in...if anything, an hour.

Only game I play is League of Legends, and i'd love to play it on High, previous laptop was at LOW and only managed 30fps.

I use Photoshop quite a bit

Previous laptop was 140gb and it was enough, but more is always appreciated.

Prefer a site like newegg.com

2 years at least.

Don't really need one, but would prefer a DVDRW.

Not sure on brands, previous was an Acer and held up very well for all the abuse myself and my 3 yr old put it through. Friend had an HP and it fell apart within 6 months. Mine gave me a solid 20 months.

United States of America

This is really just gonna be used for playing League of Legends for a couple hours a night, and internet browsing through other parts of the day, but I usually use my phone for that unless it's something too complicated for it.


Here is my old laptop:
Acer Aspire 5532
Was 1.6ghz single core, put in a 1.8ghz dual core processor.
ATI Radeon HD 3200 card
160gb HDD
3gb of memory(stole wifes 2gb stick and gave her my 1gb stick so I had 4 and she had 2)


And the laptop i'm currently looking at:http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215126
Acer Aspire 5552
Dual Core 3ghz
4gb ram(upgradeable to 8...plan on doing that)
320gb HDD
ATI Raden HD 4250


Just want to know if there is anything perhaps better than this one in my price range, i've been out of the 'loop' for a while. Been about 6 years since I built my last desktop.

 

[Ari3sgr3gg0]

Seems as though you have some computer savviness so I'd say check out some newegg deals or even wal mart has some good computers for that price range that would run LoL pretty well and meet your criteria

 

[Archean]

I think this Gateway is slightly better option then what you are looking at.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101253

It is over your budget by 30$ but I think it is worth it, beside it contains a better graphic core.

 

[nRRe]

Yeah I built a few desktops in the late 90s and into mid 2000s

I gave up and bought a laptop from best buy as my last desktop kicked rocks...in 3 years it ate 2 hdds, 2 power supplies and 3 graphics cards...and the final straw was the mother board fried...my previous 4 desktops I made never had a problem though.

Will look into that gateway and shop around besides online. All boils down to the wife saying ok...I make all the money, she is in college and will make it all in a few years. Haha

 

[nRRe]

http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/325906-33-2x3ghz-radeon-4250-6ghz-radeon-6310#bas

Posted another thread, probably should of just kept it in here but.

amd radeon 6310g w/1.6ghz dual core

vs

amd radeon 4250 w/3.0ghz dual core

 

[WR2]

BestBuy has a good deal at the moment: $450 Asus K53TA
AMD A6-3400M 1.4Ghz APU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6520G graphics.

It's a nice upgrade over the dual core A4 Gateway @ NewEgg listed above, and less expensive to boot.

 

[vocalists]

dell has 20% sale off today only.

and read this

http/shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/677/laptop-prices-drop-steeper-than-usual/

 

[WR2]

Also @ BestBuy for $480 Asus K53E
Core i5-2410M 2.3Ghz Sandy Bridge CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ Intel HD 3000 Graphics.
A much better CPU here with a weaker graphics option. That HD 3000 Graphics is roughly the same performance as dedicated Radeon HD 5450 or Geforce 310M graphics cards.

 

[nRRe]

Game requirements for good measure.


Minimum System Requirements

2 GHz processor
1 GB RAM
750 MB available hard disk space
Shader version 2.0 capable video card
DirectX 9.0 capable video card
Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (Mac OS is currently not supported)

Recommended System Requirements

3 GHz processor
1 GB RAM
750 MB available hard disk space
GeForce 8800 or equivalent video card
Windows XP with the latest service pack installed, Windows Vista with the latest service pack installed, or Windows 7 (Mac OS is currently not supported)
The latest update to .NET Framework from Microsoft



Would the Intel HD3000 run that okay?

 

[vocalists]

heres another good laptop

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+15.6%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Ebony+Black/2930088.p?id=1218364887693&skuId=2930088

450$ i5, 128 mb dedicated graphic card

 

[nRRe]

Was actually looking at that one as well.

Just too many options, ha.

Is a dedicated card with 128mb going to be better than an integrated card with "up to 1928mb" ?? Could I allocate memory to the dedicated card?

Ugh so many dumb questions, sorry. Just want to play at more than 20-25fps with settings on med-high.

 

[WR2]

Is a dedicated card with 128mb going to be better than an integrated card with "up to 1928mb"

VRAM makes less difference than the actual capabilities of the hardware.
Your question can't be answered as written.

 

[nRRe]

Welp, makes sense.

Does that i5 gateway he linked look good? 128mb of video memory just seems low when my desktop 4 years ago had 512.

 

[WR2]

What model video chips are you wanting to compare?

 

[nRRe]

lets just take the few i see everywher

Intel HD (integrated)
ATI Radeon HD4250 (or something like that, integrated)

and also the Intel HD 3000(dedicated 128mb)

i'm really digging that gateway since it is a dedicated card and a 2nd gen sandybridge

 

[WR2]

since it is a dedicated card and a 2nd gen sandybridge

It's an integrated video chip (with the CPU) that has dedicated VRAM and not a dedicated video card.

Review and performance benchmarks - check the World of Warcraft for example:
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 integrated into the motherboard
Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrated into the CPU itself

 

[nRRe]

It's an integrated video chip (with the CPU) that has dedicated VRAM and not a dedicated video card.

Review and performance benchmarks - check the World of Warcraft for example:
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 integrated into the motherboard
Intel HD Graphics 3000 integrated into the CPU itself

so it appears I should avoid the Radeon 4250...limits my choices in the price range i'm looking for now by quite a bit, ha.

 

[WR2]

Either the 480 Asus K53E or Gateway NV57 at best buy are looking to be better options.
Just be sure to visit the gaming forums for League of Legends and any other games you're interested in to make sure there are no 'gotcha' type issues with Intel HD 3000 Graphics. It supports DirectX 10.1 and Shader 4.1 so it exceeds the technical requirements. But it does fall far behind the recommended GeForce 8800 or equivalent video card. So you'll be checking to make sure there are no driver issues with the hardware that makes it a poor choice for your games.

 

[nRRe]

Well just about every computer listed is unavailable at best buy, either shipped to me or shipped to store for pickup...

Want this one - AMD Vision 8 APU, quad core 2.4ghz with 6gb of ram and a AMD Radeon HD6750M card.

Says it is too expensive =/

the search continues

 

[vocalists]

since were both looking for a cheapest gaming laptop ( well low end gaming only ) lets help each other.

so far here is the best option i found

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120&Tpk=acer%207551g

512mb dedicated vram. quad core . battery sucks though but not a big deal for the price cmon!

still looking for better option before i pull the trigger