Laptop buying advice

Sabara · 07-29-2015, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

I've had good luck with Dells (though Dell's Broadcom wireless fetish is annoying) and one of the members of my LUG buys only Lenovos.

The last three devices I've bought, though, have been Zareasons and I've been very happy with them. I can recommend my Strata laptop without hesitation.

Well, there are advantages to just broadcom, all the drivers are usually in one package

Timothy Miller · 07-29-2015, 09:04 AM

If you buy Dells business line (Latitude or Precision), you usually get Intel wireless. I think I've only ever owned 1 Dell that had Broadcom, and it was an Inspiron, not a Latitude.

brianL · 07-29-2015, 09:11 AM

I'm satisfied with my refurbished Thinkpads (T410 & X200) that I got off ebay. Both were bought from dealers, not private sellers. Both looked good as new.
I Thinkpad, therefore I am.

T410: i5-520M, 8GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, £210
X200: P8600, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, £83
I've increased the RAM in the X200 to 4 GB, another £30 (?).
Both running Slackware64 14.1 perfectly.

wh33t · 07-31-2015, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sabara

I don't know if this is the right place for this, but my Inspiron 1200 just died, and I need somthing new. I need a laptop that is under $400 and can run Minecraft with a crapload of mods, like 124 at last count. I don't care about the preloaded OS, if it's windows, than I'll either dual-boot or Virtualbox Ubuntu or Kali. A TPM to make Bitlocker or similar happy would be nice, but I can manage without. The under $400 is top priority as that's all I have in the budget.

Any suggestions? If this is the wrong section or there's a better forum to check on, please tell me.

For under $400. I think you're dreaming. You could surely get a desktop though for that price.

Timothy Miller · 07-31-2015, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wh33t

For under $400. I think you're dreaming. You could surely get a desktop though for that price.

Not at all. I recently bought a brand new Lenovo E450 w/ Core-i7 5300U, 8 GB, Intel AC Wifi, 500 GB drive, 1080P 14" LCD for $500 shipped (for my wife), so can definitely find something that fits his needs for $400.

wh33t · 07-31-2015, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

Not at all. I recently bought a brand new Lenovo E450 w/ Core-i7 5300U, 8 GB, Intel AC Wifi, 500 GB drive, 1080P 14" LCD for $500 shipped (for my wife), so can definitely find something that fits his needs for $400.

Link please, and please list your graphics card. He wants to play Minecraft, a horribly optimized game that runs on Java with 120+ mods. I'm not sure if you are aware of how demanding that cute little block game actually is.

Timothy Miller · 07-31-2015, 08:32 AM

He was playing it on an Inspiron 1200, that had a Intel 915 graphics, the integrated HD 6000 of the 5300U is a magnitude of orders more powerful than the ancient 915. If the 915 graphics can handle it, ANYTHING currently made (with the possible exception of the Bay Trail and whatever it's predecessor was) will be able to handle it.

wh33t · 07-31-2015, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy Miller

He was playing it on an Inspiron 1200, that had a Intel 915 graphics, the integrated HD 6000 of the 5300U is a magnitude of orders more powerful than the ancient 915. If the 915 graphics can handle it, ANYTHING currently made (with the possible exception of the Bay Trail and whatever it's predecessor was) will be able to handle it.

Valid points. I guess I'm bringing my own bias into play here where anything less than 60fps with max draw distance is unplayable. Ahh the PC master race.