New Laptop

RustySpoon · August 2008

<div class="IPBDescription">Tablet or Performance?</div>I bought a new laptopt last week. It's decent I suppose; dual cores, 4gis of ram and a ATI MobilityTM Radeon X2600HD 512mb. Problem is; it's average. Why pay big money for something that can only be used for surfing and watching movies, when I can buy an old computer from the XP era that does the exact same?

Now I'm a gamer. Haven't played anything for a the past year or so because I didn't have the hardware, and I thought since I'm gonna be needing a laptop, might as well buy one I can play on. The problem is, that for the price I'm paying for a laptop, I could get a 2x more powerful desktop, so that's a little frustrating. Also, I tried Bioshock, and honestly, it's not the second coming. Maybe it's the fact that I haven't gamed in so long, or maybe it's just not a fun game, but it made me reconsider anyway. So I returened my new laptop, and after consideration, I've boiled down my options (It's in finnish, but specs are universal, right?):

- <a href="http://www.gigantti.fi/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/store-gigantti-Site/fi_FI/-/EUR/El_DisplayProductInformation-Start;pgid=D6ez6oZKCVlSR0EjF5FBwx1q0000sXA_TpMi?ProductID=917D4QFHyw4AAAEa72JtzLUh&CatalogCategoryID=eWjD4QFH5rsAAAEO0lg03xil&Selected=Specifications#tProductTabcontent" target="_blank">A 17", powerful "gaming" laptop</a>

- <a href="http://www.gigantti.fi/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/store-gigantti-Site/fi_FI/-/EUR/El_DisplayProductInformation-Start;pgid=D6ez6oZKCVlSR0EjF5FBwx1q0000sXA_TpMi?ProductID=0z_D4QFHYcUAAAEaWYhtzLUh&CatalogCategoryID=" target="_blank">A 12" touchscreen "entertainment" laptop</a>

So what I need from you guys; is your experiences in gaming with a laptop, VS your experiences with touchscreens.

My main concerns are:

- Would a 12" laptop be to small to watch movies with (I can watch movies on my ZEN:V alone, but most times I watch with someone else, so there's that.)

- They both cost exactly the same, so I'm a little frustrated with how much more powerful the 17" is for the same price.

- I really don't play all that much, but I would like to give all the hyped games from 07 and 08 a go. Will the fujitsu perform with Crysis? What about CoD4? Regularly I play (or used to play) DoW and WoW. I suppose both machines will perform well with these?

- How useful really is a touch screen? How much wear can it take?

I won't be using them for commuting. The main reason I need a laptop is because I live in three different places, so weight and battery life isn't an issue. Also, I won't be taking suggestions for alternatives, unless of course you find them on the same site, for under 1000â‚¬. I don't really have the possibility to shop elsewhere.

Thanks a bunch in advance.

locallyunscene · August 2008

Go for the one with the bigger screen. If you don't need the mobility, then you might as well get the biggest screen for movies/ web browsing. The touch screen seems like a gimmick with the usage scenarios you're talking about.

I don't think you'll enjoy gaming on either laptop, but at least you'll have the option with the one with the larger screen.

remi · August 2008

Tablets are not very good for watching movies on, the screen gets all smudged up... They are super portable though...
I think gaming on a laptop is a complete utter waste of money though...

Those two said, I barely ever use my laptop that has a 17" screen because it is too big and my desktop is more powerful. My tablet has a 12" screen and is super light. I bring it everywhere and love it dearly. The tablet features don't get much use but it is nice every once in a while when i'm lazy and just want to poke the screen instead of use the mouse. (My tablet has both passive and active touch capabilities... so it has a wacom pen but also picks up my finger)

Yup. So if you want something fun in a laptop, go for super-portable. If you want to play games, get a desktop.

Kouji_San · August 2008

Been doing the same kind of research (only between tabletpc and cintiq12")

Here's my 2 ct..

Some TabletPc's (Gateway C142XL and HP tx2500) can run games like CoD3, WoW, Tf2/source, farcry etc... But the screen is quite glary in the sun, due to the digitiser in there (which is an active/pressure sensitive one from Wacom). Wacom, you know the guys who are the standard of drawing tablets (and cintiqs).

If you get a tablet PC wacom-pen from wacom you get more pressure levels at 256levels (vs intuos3/cintiq of 1024). however I've tried a tablet PC wacom-pen for the HPTX2500 and I can't seem to notice a difference in pressure levels between a Cintiq. Cintiq does have a higher res (dpi) for the pen though, which is slightly noticable. Cintiq screen is very nice though compared to a tablet PC with its 24bits.

Anyway I'm rambling, the gest of that Wacom stuff I said is that a tablet pc vs Wacom Cintiq is that you only see the difference in pressure/res if you zoom in on VERY large artwork. And is only interesting if you actually want to draw stuff <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

<b>PS.</b>
Next thing is Mobility vs performance. Big screen laptops may have awesome screenage and performance *drool* but you need a forklift to move it <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />

Also gaming on a laptop (even with the power) is overated. RTS or MRPG might work out, but FPS or Racing... I dunno...

<b>PPS.</b>
4Gb of ram is only usefull if you have a 64bits os, also going for 2Gb instead of 3Gb seems more logical... I mean doesn't one lose the dual channel feature if you have 3Gb (1+2) instead of 2Gb(1+1)?

-----
I am torn between the tabletPC and Cintiq for a few reasons:
TPC:
+++ mobile, can play games/movies (is a laptop), pretty nice wacom active digitiser
--- Windows vista, glary screen (does not really matter for indoor use)
Cintiq:
+++ high quality drawing system and pen tilt (not sure if I need all that), goooooood screen, CINTIQ!
--- Not as mobile as advertised (needs pc/mac and a wirethingy to connect to that pc/mac)

You might want to make a similar list and as a result not being able to make up your mind like me <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />

RustySpoon · August 2008

Thanks for the replies, opinions duly noted.

Since gaming is a lost cause on a laptop, I think I'm gonna go for the tablet. I'll use the S-Video out to watch movies then.

remi · August 2008

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kouji_San @ Aug 25 2008, 02:54 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1686616"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><b>PPS.</b>
4Gb of ram is only usefull if you have a 64bits os, also going for 2Gb instead of 3Gb seems more logical... I mean doesn't one lose the dual channel feature if you have 3Gb (1+2) instead of 2Gb(1+1)?</div>

I know windows 32bit can't use all of the 4 gigs, but it can use more than 3 gigs. My computer has 4 gigs installed and is using 3.25 GB. It all depends on what other hardware you have I think. 4 gigs is definitely the limit for a 32 bit in terms of number, but the limit between 3 and 4 is a lot fuzzier. Just depends on your setup.

I also got 4gigs because I figure eventually I will go to 64 bit, and I wanted to be able to have that upgrade option... plus RAM is cheap and is sold in 2GBx2 packs.

Drfuzzy · September 2008

Tablets are generally slower, and the touch screens are really blurry and have very poor contrast. I'd only suggest getting one if you like to freehand a lot, and even then its bad for showing vivid colors.

New Laptop

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