What is your main purpose for buying a laptop?

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 10:47 AM

For those of you who have a laptop or are contemplating buying one, what is your main criteria for the purchase?

is it for gaming? meaning high end mobility card and fast cpu, is it for general use or for design work or office production?

Logla · Aug 21, 2004, 11:26 AM

Office work comes closest for me.

Really only gets used to do a little bit of websurfing as its only a little PII 300Mhz w 64Mb RAM.

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 11:39 AM

I think im in a minority I really like Dell's laptops. very corporate looking, no frills design. Some nice monitors they use as well. After playing with the dell inspiron 9100 I reviewed the build quality is wonderful. If I was ever buying one I have to say I doubt id go for a desktop replacement primarily due to the fact battery life is terrible and they are too bulky.

Something small with wireless, a nice screen 1280+, fastish cpu (around 1gig+), 512meg of ram+ (for photoshop work) and a DVD player would be nice enough for me.

Logla · Aug 21, 2004, 11:42 AM

Me too - I'd be able to play Championship Manager and keep the wife company at the same time

LeanWolf · Aug 21, 2004, 12:47 PM

I use mine for everything, 3D modelling and gaming, though it's 2.5 years old now so i can't play the newest games. This bothers me less than i'd thought as gaming is just a waste of time

Dell i8100, PIII 1GHz, 512MB ram, 15" UXGA(1600x1200), MobRad9000 64MB

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeanWolf

This bothers me less than i'd thought as gaming is just a waste of time

ive felt like that all through 2004, apart from a few games like farcry CM4 and perimeter ive gamed very little,

The_Neon_Cowboy · Aug 21, 2004, 01:52 PM

I just wish I had one

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Neon_Cowboy

I just wish I had one

well if you had the chance to buy one, and money was no object would you go for a top of the line gaming laptop or a top of the line slimline/high battery life all purpose machine.

Zelig · Aug 21, 2004, 02:23 PM

My laptop's mostly for school work... I network it, and let other people use it when we play older games multiplayer though.

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelig

My laptop's mostly for school work... I network it, and let other people use it when we play older games multiplayer though.

Whats the spec?

IronChisel · Aug 21, 2004, 06:20 PM

My experience would get a thumbs up.I bought a Dell Inspiron 9100 a few months ago with the following specs:

3.2 GHz CPU
1 GB DDR 400 MHz RAM
60 GB 7200 RPM Hard-drive
128 MB ATI Mobility 9700

It has been great for gaming and everything else I have put on it. It played KOTOR at 1280x1024x32 and I have yet to find a game that won't play at that resolution, if supported. And the fact that I can now browse the net, game, or whatever else, anywhere is a definite advantage to a laptop.

Dom · Aug 21, 2004, 07:40 PM

I'd use one for word processing and browsing the Internet.

digitalwanderer · Aug 21, 2004, 07:46 PM

Main purpose in buying a laptop?

Two words, chick magnet.

Bart1987 · Aug 21, 2004, 07:51 PM

Haha. My parents bought one just before going on vacation. Now we could game some on vacation

. And my dad could change photo's on vacation. That's what we bought it for. And to have another oc where we could game on at home. My dad's 8500le and 1800+ are getting a bit slow

No_Style · Aug 21, 2004, 07:58 PM

School work. 2-D fun. Light 3-D fun. Visiting DH and browsing the net.

I'd say all around

I have an HP ZE4560. HP is alright. They have good laptops for low prices.

Criteria for buying a laptop.

1) Battery life.
At least 1.5 hours of battery life is required. Just enough to get through one lecture.

2) Mobility.
Buying a monstorous laptop is in my opinion defeating the purpose of buying a laptop. Sure you can carry those, but trust me you'll hate lugging some wide screen mofo around all day at the campus.

3) Noise level.
When gaming, laptop fans go whirring like a mini jet engine, and you don't want that to happen if you're trying to game while in a lecture.

4) Durability.
Will the laptop last? Some do, but some have very flimsy designs and smaller pieces may literally fall off.

Dom · Aug 21, 2004, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by digitalwanderer

Main purpose in buying a laptop?

Two words, chick magnet.

Word.

No_Style · Aug 21, 2004, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

ive felt like that all through 2004, apart from a few games like farcry CM4 and perimeter ive gamed very little,

I've gamed immensely this year, but primarly playing the older games which I've skipped over the last year or two. I'm currently playing Halo (again because I left half way due to immense boredom) and I'm hating it.. But I want to see the end of the game.. I won't rant on about it, but I'll say this: the game was already mediocre in terms of gameplay, but it's even worse when it performs like a snail.

I'm also playing BOF4 on the PC. Decent RPG from Capcom from way back in 2K2.

Zelig · Aug 21, 2004, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zardon

Whats the spec?

Dell Inspiron 2650. P4 1.6Ghz, 256MB ram, 16MB Geforce 2 Go.

Not great, but it's fine for what I do, which is usually just note taking, some web browsing and other light use.

This one will probably last me a few more years. I doubt I'll get a Dell next time though, since I probably won't be bothering with Windows, which is mandatory with Dell (and many other

) laptops.

Zelig · Aug 21, 2004, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by No_Style

I've gamed immensely this year, but primarly playing the older games which I've skipped over the last year or two. I'm currently playing Halo (again because I left half way due to immense boredom) and I'm hating it.. But I want to see the end of the game.. I won't rant on about it, but I'll say this: the game was already mediocre in terms of gameplay, but it's even worse when it performs like a snail.

I'm also playing BOF4 on the PC. Decent RPG from Capcom from way back in 2K2.

Way back in 2002... I'm playing Half-Life for the first time these last few days.

Zardon · Aug 21, 2004, 08:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IronChisel

My experience would get a thumbs up.I bought a Dell Inspiron 9100 a few months ago with the following specs:

3.2 GHz CPU
1 GB DDR 400 MHz RAM
60 GB 7200 RPM Hard-drive
128 MB ATI Mobility 9700

It has been great for gaming and everything else I have put on it. It played KOTOR at 1280x1024x32 and I have yet to find a game that won't play at that resolution, if supported. And the fact that I can now browse the net, game, or whatever else, anywhere is a definite advantage to a laptop.

I reviewed that model recently (with the 9800), good laptop. a little large and heavy on the batteries but powerful for sure.

wealthykoh · Aug 22, 2004, 01:11 AM

i am seriously considering a laptop as i travel alot and like to game. because of travelling, i was considering a P-M chip or a new 35w a64 mobile for size and battery life issues. since the graphics chip is pretty much the bottle neck of all systems, and i won't really be doing anything super processor intensive, i'd rather have 3-4 hrs of battery with a mobile proc rather than 90-120 min with a full blown desktop proc. being a stickler with money, i am considering ording a barebones model from an odm, and just building the sucker myself (already have everything picked out and priced, just waiting to actual order it). however, i've been holding back, waiting for the 9800 mobile chip to become more widely available and the alviso chipset/sonoma platform to take advantage of pci-x, higher fsb, etc.

Lchevy79 · Aug 23, 2004, 04:57 AM

well ive thought of a laptop for vacation.

1st a dvd drive to let the kids watch movies and shutup durring the trip

2nd to pull the photos off my digital camera

3rd to pull video off the camcorder

4th just all around use , no gaming thats what this rig is for

kemet64 · Aug 23, 2004, 02:40 PM

Zardon, I agree with you here. I really like dell's Laptops too. They are very nicely built, not to mention have excellent deals and prices. The Customer Service and repair is also top notch.

I did choose a desktop replacement, mainly because im going off to college...my dorm is already going to be crammed with crap. While it is unfortunate in size, weight, and battery life. I do love the upgradable Radeon 9700 and 3.4ghz intel processor. I love my Dell Inspiron XPS and dell all together.

Gotta love the "if you run your laptop over with a car-drop it in a pool-drop it off a 4th story balcony-shoot it-blow it up-accidental replacement care.

GutterPunk · Aug 24, 2004, 04:43 PM

i need 1 for my school work so when i head back to nebraska from colorado i dont drag my desktop around which in turn that much moving may cause a crash or soemtin

Fatality_ · Aug 24, 2004, 06:46 PM

laptops are just plain cool & handy

Rasta Monsta · Aug 24, 2004, 07:54 PM

I got my wireless laptop for a couple of reasons:

So my wife & I could watch movies in bed (fun!)
So I could surf in bed at night (the geek version of reading before bed)
So I could surf anywhere I wanted throughout the house.
So my wife could have a computer to use while I am immersed in games on my main rig.

rasta

Zardon · Aug 26, 2004, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

I got my wireless laptop for a couple of reasons:

So my wife & I could watch movies in bed (fun!)
So I could surf in bed at night (the geek version of reading before bed)
So I could surf anywhere I wanted throughout the house.
So my wife could have a computer to use while I am immersed in games on my main rig.

rasta

sounds good to me

GutterPunk · Aug 27, 2004, 03:40 AM

now thats a plan rasta!

midnilux · Sep 24, 2004, 06:18 AM

If you look at my sig, my Laptop is a Desktop-Killer.

I got it a while ago so it's not that good anymore, but it used to be quite the beast.

The reason I got it was just to kill my Desktop, I hate big bulky desktops with big square monitors and so many wires and crap. It was expensive but worth every penny I would never go back to a desktop again.

I got it for gaming, internet, and school work.

MajestacaL · Oct 1, 2004, 04:45 PM

I just ordered this Laptop from Dell specs are in my sig just waiting on it to be shipped

Aug 21, 2004, 10:47 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	What is your main purpose for buying a laptop? For those of you who have a laptop or are contemplating buying one, what is your main criteria for the purchase? is it for gaming? meaning high end mobility card and fast cpu, is it for general use or for design work or office production?

Aug 21, 2004, 12:47 PM	#5
LeanWolf alpha male Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Skyrim Posts: 5,702 Rep Power: 80 System Specs	I use mine for everything, 3D modelling and gaming, though it's 2.5 years old now so i can't play the newest games. This bothers me less than i'd thought as gaming is just a waste of time Dell i8100, PIII 1GHz, 512MB ram, 15" UXGA(1600x1200), MobRad9000 64MB __________________

Aug 21, 2004, 01:52 PM	#7
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 90 System Specs	I just wish I had one __________________

Aug 21, 2004, 06:20 PM	#11
IronChisel DriverHeaven Addict Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: With the Winds Posts: 263 Rep Power: 0	My experience would get a thumbs up.I bought a Dell Inspiron 9100 a few months ago with the following specs: 3.2 GHz CPU 1 GB DDR 400 MHz RAM 60 GB 7200 RPM Hard-drive 128 MB ATI Mobility 9700 It has been great for gaming and everything else I have put on it. It played KOTOR at 1280x1024x32 and I have yet to find a game that won't play at that resolution, if supported. And the fact that I can now browse the net, game, or whatever else, anywhere is a definite advantage to a laptop. __________________

Aug 21, 2004, 07:46 PM	#13
digitalwanderer Colour Commentator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Highland, IN USA Posts: 5,620 Rep Power: 0	Main purpose in buying a laptop? Two words, chick magnet. __________________ WTF is up with the sigs?

Aug 21, 2004, 11:26 AM	#2
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 62	Office work comes closest for me. Really only gets used to do a little bit of websurfing as its only a little PII 300Mhz w 64Mb RAM.

Aug 21, 2004, 11:39 AM	Thread Starter #3
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 177	I think im in a minority I really like Dell's laptops. very corporate looking, no frills design. Some nice monitors they use as well. After playing with the dell inspiron 9100 I reviewed the build quality is wonderful. If I was ever buying one I have to say I doubt id go for a desktop replacement primarily due to the fact battery life is terrible and they are too bulky. Something small with wireless, a nice screen 1280+, fastish cpu (around 1gig+), 512meg of ram+ (for photoshop work) and a DVD player would be nice enough for me.

Aug 21, 2004, 11:42 AM	#4
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 62	Me too - I'd be able to play Championship Manager and keep the wife company at the same time

Aug 21, 2004, 02:23 PM	#9
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	My laptop's mostly for school work... I network it, and let other people use it when we play older games multiplayer though.

Aug 21, 2004, 07:40 PM	#12
Dom DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 12,940 Rep Power: 0	I'd use one for word processing and browsing the Internet.

Aug 21, 2004, 07:51 PM	#14
Bart1987 DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 634 Rep Power: 0	Haha. My parents bought one just before going on vacation. Now we could game some on vacation . And my dad could change photo's on vacation. That's what we bought it for. And to have another oc where we could game on at home. My dad's 8500le and 1800+ are getting a bit slow

Aug 21, 2004, 07:58 PM	#15
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	School work. 2-D fun. Light 3-D fun. Visiting DH and browsing the net. I'd say all around I have an HP ZE4560. HP is alright. They have good laptops for low prices. Criteria for buying a laptop. 1) Battery life. At least 1.5 hours of battery life is required. Just enough to get through one lecture. 2) Mobility. Buying a monstorous laptop is in my opinion defeating the purpose of buying a laptop. Sure you can carry those, but trust me you'll hate lugging some wide screen mofo around all day at the campus. 3) Noise level. When gaming, laptop fans go whirring like a mini jet engine, and you don't want that to happen if you're trying to game while in a lecture. 4) Durability. Will the laptop last? Some do, but some have very flimsy designs and smaller pieces may literally fall off. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Aug 22, 2004, 01:11 AM	#21
wealthykoh DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 8 Rep Power: 0	i am seriously considering a laptop as i travel alot and like to game. because of travelling, i was considering a P-M chip or a new 35w a64 mobile for size and battery life issues. since the graphics chip is pretty much the bottle neck of all systems, and i won't really be doing anything super processor intensive, i'd rather have 3-4 hrs of battery with a mobile proc rather than 90-120 min with a full blown desktop proc. being a stickler with money, i am considering ording a barebones model from an odm, and just building the sucker myself (already have everything picked out and priced, just waiting to actual order it). however, i've been holding back, waiting for the 9800 mobile chip to become more widely available and the alviso chipset/sonoma platform to take advantage of pci-x, higher fsb, etc. __________________ [color=yellow]P4 2.4b \| 512 MB Kingston PC2700 \| MSI 648 Max \| MSI RX9800 \| SB Audigy \| Western Digital 100 GB SE \| WinXP Home SP1[/color] [color=yellow]My mom thinks i'm cool - Milhouse Van Houten[/color]

Aug 23, 2004, 04:57 AM	#22
Lchevy79 -=[DHzer0point Team]=- Join Date: Nov 2003 Posts: 725 Rep Power: 0	well ive thought of a laptop for vacation. 1st a dvd drive to let the kids watch movies and shutup durring the trip 2nd to pull the photos off my digital camera 3rd to pull video off the camcorder 4th just all around use , no gaming thats what this rig is for __________________ msi K7N2 delta2-AMD 2800xp@2083-1gig of pc2700ram -ati x850xt 256mb -Audigy mp3+ - 1 80gig maxtor 8mb and 1 250gig 16mb maxtor -48x24x48 buslink burner-and a lite on 4x +/- dvd burner xp home samsung lcd (19") 930b monitor

Aug 23, 2004, 02:40 PM	#23
kemet64 DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 457 Rep Power: 0	Zardon, I agree with you here. I really like dell's Laptops too. They are very nicely built, not to mention have excellent deals and prices. The Customer Service and repair is also top notch. I did choose a desktop replacement, mainly because im going off to college...my dorm is already going to be crammed with crap. While it is unfortunate in size, weight, and battery life. I do love the upgradable Radeon 9700 and 3.4ghz intel processor. I love my Dell Inspiron XPS and dell all together. Gotta love the "if you run your laptop over with a car-drop it in a pool-drop it off a 4th story balcony-shoot it-blow it up-accidental replacement care. __________________ Inspiron XPS Intel 3.4 ghz 1gb Corsair XMS DDR PC3200 60gig 7200 HD 128mb Radeon Mobility 9700 Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 NX Logitech z680 Speakers

Aug 24, 2004, 04:43 PM	#24
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	i need 1 for my school work so when i head back to nebraska from colorado i dont drag my desktop around which in turn that much moving may cause a crash or soemtin __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Aug 24, 2004, 06:46 PM	#25
Fatality_ DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 86 Rep Power: 0	laptops are just plain cool & handy __________________ AMD64 3200+, 1024MB RAM, X800 XT PE

Aug 27, 2004, 03:40 AM	#28
GutterPunk I = Greatest Dood Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Nebraska Posts: 5,949 Rep Power: 70	now thats a plan rasta! __________________ Rock On \m/ Thank you Mousey for the Sig! --------------- Intel Core2Duo E6660 (3.4GHZ) ~ Tuniq Tower 120 ~ Enermax Galaxy 1000W ~ Corsair Dominator @ 1090MHZ 5-5-5-15 (OCZ XTC Modded Cooler)~ EVGA 8800GTX W/ HR-03 Plus 120MM ~ Asus DVD-RW LiteScribe ~ LG DVD-RW ~ Corsair Voyager 2GB ReadyBoost Drive ~ Vantec Nexus Fan Controller ~ ThermalTake Armor 25CM fan ~ Personal Finance Blog: Dent Your Debt

Sep 24, 2004, 06:18 AM	#29
midnilux DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 66 Rep Power: 0	If you look at my sig, my Laptop is a Desktop-Killer. I got it a while ago so it's not that good anymore, but it used to be quite the beast. The reason I got it was just to kill my Desktop, I hate big bulky desktops with big square monitors and so many wires and crap. It was expensive but worth every penny I would never go back to a desktop again. I got it for gaming, internet, and school work.

Oct 1, 2004, 04:45 PM	#30
MajestacaL HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 68 Rep Power: 0	I just ordered this Laptop from Dell specs are in my sig just waiting on it to be shipped __________________ DESKTOP Antec Nine Hundred, Asus P5N32-SLI Deluxe, Intel 805D 2.66ghz OC @4.00ghz Corsair Water Cooled, Raidmax 630 PSU, 2gig PC4200 @533, 2- 150gig WD RaptorX Raid0, 2- 300gig SATAII Raid0, Evga 8800GTX @576/1.80, SB X-Fi Fatality Edition