Thinking about buying this laptop

[UnatcoAgent]

Futureshop has a deal where you can make 24 equal payments for this, no interest, over 24 months

I want to use it for a lot of graphic design work, and some gaming, but mostly the graphic stuff. I need any thoughts or opinions, good or bad please!

 

[DaveSimmons]

What kind of gaming?

64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP

this is motherboard chipset graphics, not a real graphics card.

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
What kind of gaming?

64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP

this is motherboard chipset graphics, not a real graphics card.

Ugh, onboard video? This is why I'm glad I come here for advice. I would like to play games at the level of quake 3 or so, nothing too intense.

 

[SLCentral]

That should be fine for Quake 3, though probably nothing too intense at a too high resolution. If you plan on playing quite a bit or even some new games, I'd advise something else.

 

[mjuarez]

I want to use it for a lot of graphic design work, and some gaming, but mostly the graphic stuff. I need any thoughts or opinions, good or bad please!

It's a Pentium4-HT. Those are obsolete for laptops by now, this puppy will likely suck up as much energy as a desktop Pentium4. Not good. I'd get myself an Athlon64 Mobile, even a 3200+ will likely beat the laptop you posted in most benchmarks. It will also consume much less power. It's got 64-bits for the future (WindowsXP 64-bits is coming out in a few months). It's got Enhanced Virus Protection. It will also likely beat equivalently-priced Intel processor. And it doesn't need to break the bank.

Take a look here for some great laptops:

This one is a $1599 laptop from EMachines

Also take a look at this one from Compaq, starting at $800

Finally, a few pricey (but very nice) ones from GamePC

I'm sure there are more out there, but these are the best I've seen. Any Athlon64 above 3000+ will likely outperform that 3.0Ghz Pentium4. Take a look here if you don't believe me. AnandTech's own benchmarks show even a 2800+ Athlon64 beats the 3.0Ghz Pentium4.

Marcos

 

[UnatcoAgent]

Originally posted by: mjuarez

I want to use it for a lot of graphic design work, and some gaming, but mostly the graphic stuff. I need any thoughts or opinions, good or bad please!

It's a Pentium4-HT. Those are obsolete for laptops by now, this puppy will likely suck up as much energy as a desktop Pentium4. Not good. I'd get myself an Athlon64 Mobile, even a 3200+ will likely beat the laptop you posted in most benchmarks. It will also consume much less power. It's got 64-bits for the future (WindowsXP 64-bits is coming out in a few months). It's got Enhanced Virus Protection. It will also likely beat equivalently-priced Intel processor. And it doesn't need to break the bank.

Take a look here for some great laptops:

This one is a $1599 laptop from EMachines

Also take a look at this one from Compaq, starting at $800

Finally, a few pricey (but very nice) ones from GamePC

I'm sure there are more out there, but these are the best I've seen. Any Athlon64 above 3000+ will likely outperform that 3.0Ghz Pentium4. Take a look here if you don't believe me. AnandTech's own benchmarks show even a 2800+ Athlon64 beats the 3.0Ghz Pentium4.

Marcos

Ok that sounds like solid advice also, so really look for an athlon 64 then. Anything else ?

 

[mjuarez]

Just a word about graphics: Most of the laptops I posted have very good graphics cards, especially the GamePC and eMachines. The Compaq's GeForce 4 is not bad, but it's not that good when compared to the ATI's in the other laptops. If it was me on a budget, I'd choose the eMachines in a second. If I had a bit more money, I'd probably fork over for the GamePC one.

If I had oodles of cash, I'd probably get this Ferrari-red notebook from Acer.

With any of these machines (except maybe the HP) you would get excellent gaming performance (the Acer Ferrari has an excellent graphics card, with 128Mb) even in newer games like FarCry and Doom3, but probably not at the highest resolution and settings. Even so, they will probably be very playable. Not everybody needs 4x anti-aliasing to frag online.

All of those machines have 15.4" screens, which is more than adequate for a laptop. I seem to remember there was a Compaq/HP Athlon64 notebook with a wide 17" screen, but I don't have the link handy. Maybe a little time with Google will turn something up. OTOH, a 17" screen probably negates most of the benefits of a laptop, since it will weigh much more.

Just thinking out loud here.

Marcos