Buying a Laptop

Olimarman · 01-08-2009, 11:25 PM

I'm looking to buy a laptop mainly to play World of Warcraft on. I really can't spend more than $1000, and somewhere around 800-900 is probably best. I plan to not play further than 30 feet away from my router wirelessly. The one I'm looking at now is the Dell Inspiron 1525 with the following:

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
Intel Pentium Dual CoreT4200 (2.0 GHz/800 MHz FSB/1MB Cache)
3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms) (3 GB of Ram really)
250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (With this computer, this is unchangeable)
CD / DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW Drive) (I don't think this makes a difference but I'll post it anyway.)
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-Card
High Definition Audio 2.0
As well as a 9 cell battery.

I know that I greatly surpass the specs required to play, but I just want to make sure that I could effectively play World of Warcraft with minimal lag, as well as having other things open such as Skype, Vent, a web browser maybe, whatever. Without software, this would total to roughly 800, which would
be a great price.I don't need stellar graphics, I just want to know if I could run wow effectively with decent graphics and a playable FPS.

The link to the computer builder can be found here:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...ps_great_deals

If theres anything I left out just post, and if for some reason I put this into the wrong forum I do apologize.

I'm open to suggestions too, so anything you need to say please do. Thanks!

Washrag · 01-09-2009, 12:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olimarman

I'm looking to buy a laptop mainly to play World of Warcraft on. I really can't spend more than $1000, and somewhere around 800-900 is probably best. I plan to not play further than 30 feet away from my router wirelessly. The one I'm looking at now is the Dell Inspiron 1525 with the following:

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1
Intel Pentium Dual CoreT4200 (2.0 GHz/800 MHz FSB/1MB Cache)
3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms) (3 GB of Ram really)
250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (With this computer, this is unchangeable)
CD / DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW Drive) (I don't think this makes a difference but I'll post it anyway.)
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-Card
High Definition Audio 2.0
As well as a 9 cell battery.

I know that I greatly surpass the specs required to play, but I just want to make sure that I could effectively play World of Warcraft with minimal lag, as well as having other things open such as Skype, Vent, a web browser maybe, whatever. Without software, this would total to roughly 800, which would
be a great price.
The link to the computer builder can be found here:
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...ps_great_deals

If theres anything I left out just post, and if for some reason I put this into the wrong forum I do apologize.

I'm open to suggestions too, so anything you need to say please do. Thanks!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152073

That's a good deal and beats the pants off the Dell.

Olimarman · 01-09-2009, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Washrag

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152073

That's a good deal and beats the pants off the Dell.

Alright, I don't necessarily need a perfect computer, just one that will run WoW as near perfect as possible. Does anyone have any experience playing WoW on an inspiron?

ZeroWing · 01-09-2009, 01:24 AM

wow sucks, also if your playing that clsoe to router you should just get an ethernet cable so you have a faster connection in arenas and such

DMGrier · 01-09-2009, 02:16 AM

Zerowing, he didn't ask for your opinion of the game did he? I believe it was about a laptop. Dell makes awsome laptops and but I am worried about your graphics card, Get a Dell Inspirion 13. This is what I configured it to for your price.
SYSTEM COLOR Pacific Blue edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty and Mail In Service
DISPLAY AND CAMERA Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800) w/o Camera
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
MEMORY 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
894$. And the graphic card is far better.

Olimarman · 01-09-2009, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMGrier

Zerowing, he didn't ask for your opinion of the game did he? I believe it was about a laptop. Dell makes awsome laptops and but I am worried about your graphics card, Get a Dell Inspirion 13. This is what I configured it to for your price.
SYSTEM COLOR Pacific Blue edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty and Mail In Service
DISPLAY AND CAMERA Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800) w/o Camera
VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
MEMORY 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms)
HARD DRIVE Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive)
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell)
894$. And the graphic card is far better.

I checked this one out, seems pretty nice. Is 128 mb card good enough? And could I always buy a different card?

Olimarman · 01-09-2009, 03:16 AM

What exactly will a new graphics card do? Will it actually make the game run smoother, or just have relatively better graphics?

DMGrier · 01-09-2009, 02:38 PM

It will do both. With the original set up you had with the intel x3100, with wow on it's lowest setting your going to lag (it's a bad graphics card for gamming at all). With the set up from the Dell Inspirion 13 the NVIDIA 8400m GS Will do far better in wow on the lowest graphic setting and you might be able to increase the graphics a little before you start to see lag.

jljhlhl · 01-10-2009, 02:09 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115539

First notebook on newegg I looked at under a quick look there, and its better/cheaper. I'd take a look at everything newegg has to offer before going for a dell with a mediocre vid card.

Olimarman · 01-10-2009, 03:10 AM

Yeah, I don't think I'll be getting an inspiron, but I kind of like the previously mentioned dell 13 with a 512 mb nvidia 4670 card.

Could anyone tell me if I can change the video card on this comp besides the 2 offered? http://www.dell.com/content/products...en&s=dhs&cs=19

01-08-2009, 11:25 PM	#1 (permalink)
Olimarman Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 36	Buying a Laptop I'm looking to buy a laptop mainly to play World of Warcraft on. I really can't spend more than $1000, and somewhere around 800-900 is probably best. I plan to not play further than 30 feet away from my router wirelessly. The one I'm looking at now is the Dell Inspiron 1525 with the following: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium Edition SP1 Intel Pentium Dual CoreT4200 (2.0 GHz/800 MHz FSB/1MB Cache) 3 GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms) (3 GB of Ram really) 250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 (With this computer, this is unchangeable) CD / DVD Writer (DVD+/-RW Drive) (I don't think this makes a difference but I'll post it anyway.) Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800) Dell Wireless 1505 Wireless-N Mini-Card High Definition Audio 2.0 As well as a 9 cell battery. I know that I greatly surpass the specs required to play, but I just want to make sure that I could effectively play World of Warcraft with minimal lag, as well as having other things open such as Skype, Vent, a web browser maybe, whatever. Without software, this would total to roughly 800, which would be a great price.I don't need stellar graphics, I just want to know if I could run wow effectively with decent graphics and a playable FPS. The link to the computer builder can be found here: http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...ps_great_deals If theres anything I left out just post, and if for some reason I put this into the wrong forum I do apologize. I'm open to suggestions too, so anything you need to say please do. Thanks! Last edited by Olimarman; 01-09-2009 at 12:50 AM.

01-09-2009, 01:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
ZeroWing Gold Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mahopac, NY Age: 17 Posts: 477	wow sucks, also if your playing that clsoe to router you should just get an ethernet cable so you have a faster connection in arenas and such __________________ Mah Specs: http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Pu...Number=9184946

01-09-2009, 02:16 AM	#5 (permalink)
DMGrier Gold Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Port Orchard, Wa Posts: 404	Zerowing, he didn't ask for your opinion of the game did he? I believe it was about a laptop. Dell makes awsome laptops and but I am worried about your graphics card, Get a Dell Inspirion 13. This is what I configured it to for your price. SYSTEM COLOR Pacific Blue edit PROCESSOR Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache) OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1 OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty and Mail In Service DISPLAY AND CAMERA Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800) w/o Camera VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS MEMORY 3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms) HARD DRIVE Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE 8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive) WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card BATTERY OPTIONS 85Whr Lithium Ion Battery (9 cell) 894$. And the graphic card is far better. __________________ ASUS EEE 1005HA OS: Windows XP CPU: Intel Atom 1.6 Ghz RAM: 1 GB DDR2 667MHz GPU: Intel XGMA 950 HHD: 160 GB

01-09-2009, 02:38 PM	#8 (permalink)
DMGrier Gold Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Port Orchard, Wa Posts: 404	It will do both. With the original set up you had with the intel x3100, with wow on it's lowest setting your going to lag (it's a bad graphics card for gamming at all). With the set up from the Dell Inspirion 13 the NVIDIA 8400m GS Will do far better in wow on the lowest graphic setting and you might be able to increase the graphics a little before you start to see lag. __________________ ASUS EEE 1005HA OS: Windows XP CPU: Intel Atom 1.6 Ghz RAM: 1 GB DDR2 667MHz GPU: Intel XGMA 950 HHD: 160 GB

01-10-2009, 02:09 AM	#9 (permalink)
jljhlhl Gold Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Calgary, AB, Canada Age: 17 Posts: 359	http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115539 First notebook on newegg I looked at under a quick look there, and its better/cheaper. I'd take a look at everything newegg has to offer before going for a dell with a mediocre vid card. __________________ Dell Vostro 1500 Laptop Intel Core 2 Duo T5470 (1.6GHz) 4GB DDR2 667MHz RAM 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 80GB 5400RPM Hard Drive 250GB WD Passport External Hard Drive Windows XP Home

01-09-2009, 03:16 AM	#7 (permalink)
Olimarman Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 36	What exactly will a new graphics card do? Will it actually make the game run smoother, or just have relatively better graphics?

01-10-2009, 03:10 AM	#10 (permalink)
Olimarman Bronze Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 36	Yeah, I don't think I'll be getting an inspiron, but I kind of like the previously mentioned dell 13 with a 512 mb nvidia 4670 card. Could anyone tell me if I can change the video card on this comp besides the 2 offered? http://www.dell.com/content/products...en&s=dhs&cs=19 Last edited by Olimarman; 01-10-2009 at 03:16 AM.

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