Buying a laptop

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Smack

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So I'm looking for a new laptop to replace my current desktop, which is 6 years old and pretty much obsolete. Though it works perfectly fine for web browsing and chatting though, so can't have any complaints about not getting value for money.

Now I'm using Ebuyer at the moment to look for computers, and I've found this one here that doesn't have an operating system. Now thats fine, since as a student I can get Windows 7 for £40. Now this is the laptop I'm looking at. It will cost £410 in total with Windows 7, which works out at about $660, give or take a couple of dollars.

And this is the system:
Product Description
This superb performance Intel based Laptop PC is ideal for use anywhere. Optimised for high performance computing requirements, this system utilises high performance components suitable for this size of chassis.

The motherboard at the heart of this Intel Core2Duo T6600 system provides onboard LAN, built in stereo speakers and integrated Vista Premium ready 2D/3D graphics. A 250GB SATA hard drive provides ample storage, whilst the 4GB of DDR2 RAM will be plenty to handle most software applications.

Please note that this laptop PC does not come with an operating system. Ebuyer recommends using genuine Microsoft Software and is Windows Vista compatible.

Processor
* Intel T6600 Core 2 Duo Dual Core Processor 2.2Ghz,
* 2MB Cache
* Intel GL40 chipset

Memory
* 4GB (4GB Max) DDR2
* Memory Slot: 2 x SO DIMM

Hard Drive
* 250GB SATA II Hard Drive

Optical Drive
* Super multi DVDRW

Software
* No Operating System
* Includes drivers
* Compatible with 64bit

Display
* 15.4” Diagonal Size Screen

Audio
* Integrated Speakers

Input Devices
* Keyboard and Touchpad

Networking
* Network Interface: 10/100 LAN
* Wireless LAN 802.11b/g

Dimensions
* Width 268mm
* Depth 359mm
* Height 37mm (front) 41mm (rear)
* Weight 2.5kg

Power Supply
* 6 Cell Battery

Interfaces
* 3 x USB 2.0 ports
* 1 x VGA port
* 1 x Headphone port
* 1 x Microphone port
* 1 x S/PDIF output port
* 1 x RJ-11 port
* 1 x RJ45 LAN port
* 1 x DC-in jack

Expansion
* 7 in 1 Card Reader

Warranty/Miscellaneous
* 1 Year Manufacturer warranty
* 1.3mp Webcam

Now my questions are firstly, is this worth the money? And secondly, the only games I play are Football Manager 2010, requirements here, and Dawn of War 2, requirements here. Will this laptop be able to play both those games too?
 
Alright then. How about this graphics card?


NVIDIA GeForce G210M - with 512MB

will that be good enough for the previous stated games? I'd link it to you but I'm on my itouch and it's a pain to copy and paste too much, sorry
 
Alright then. How about this graphics card?


NVIDIA GeForce G210M - with 512MB

will that be good enough for the previous stated games? I'd link it to you but I'm on my itouch and it's a pain to copy and paste too much, sorry
That GFX card should do the trick for the games you stated above :). It's ok about the copy and paste :p.
 
Alright, so I've been looking about some more and found a laptop for £499 with this graphics card:
* ATI Mobility Radeonâ„¢ HD 4570
* 512M-DDR3 (64*16*4)

Now I checked the Laptop graphics Card Ranking Lists thread, and this is a good mid-range graphics card, correct? Will it also play the requirements for Warhammer: Mark of Chaos, purely because I found the game randomly in a drawer upstairs, with these requirements:

Windows 2000/XP - 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 or equivalent AMD Athlon - 512 MB RAM - 3GB HD Space - 128 MB Nvidia GeForce 6800/128 MB ATI Radeon 9200
 
Alright. Thanks guys. I've got one more question for you, which is to compare these two laptops and to tell me which one is better, or which one I should buy. They are both pretty much the same price, one is £20 ($33)cheaper, which isn't much really.

Processor
* AMD Athlonâ„¢ II X2 processor M300 2.0GHz,
* 1MB L2 Cache
* AMDRS880M

Memory
* 4 GB RAM
* Configuration: 2GB + 2GB

Hard Drive
* 500GB 5400rpm

Optical Drive
* DVDRW SuperMulti DL Drive

Display
* 15.6" HD Acer CineCrystalâ„¢ LED LCD

Graphics
* ATI Mobility Radeonâ„¢ HD 4570
* 512M-DDR3 (64*16*4)

Audio
* Integrated Speakers

Networking
* WLAN: Acer Nplifyâ„¢ 802.11b/g/n

Power Supply
* 6-cell Li-ion battery
* Up to 3 Hours battery life
All for £499.99 ($803).

OR

Processor
* AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual Core Mobile Processor ZM-82, 2.2GHz
* 2MB L2 Cache
* AMD M780G Chipset

Memory
* 4GB DDR2 667MHz
* Upgradeable to 4 GB using dual soDIMM modules

Hard Drive

* 500GB SATA

Optical Drive
* 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer (There was more stuff about what it could read and write but I didn't think it was important enough to take up even more space.)

Display
* 17.3" HD+ Acer CineCrystalâ„¢ LED-backlit TFT LCD
* Resolution: 1600 x 900 pixel,
* high-brightness (220-nit),
* Supporting simultaneous multi-window viewing via Acer GridVistaâ„¢
* 16:9 aspect ratio
* 8 ms high-def response time
* 60% color gamut

Graphics
* ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570
* 512MB of dedicated DDR2-memory

Audio
* True5.1-channel surround sound output
* High-definition audio support
* S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) support for digital speakers
* MS-Sound compatible
* Acer PureZone technology with two built-in stereo microphones, featuring beam forming, echo cancellation, dynamic gain control (TBC), and noise suppression technologies

Networking
* WLAN: Acer InviLink™ Nplify™2 802.11b/g/Draft-N Wi-Fi CERTIFIED® network connection, supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology
* LAN: Gigabit Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
* Modem: 56K ITU V.92 with PTT approval, Wake-on-Ring ready
For £479.19 ($770). I can also buy Windows 7 for £40 ($65) since I'm a student if I buy this one, which I probably will.

I deliberately left a few things out that I deemed unimportant, since I'm trying to not copy and paste massive posts that aren't really needed. Both laptops have a load of software included, then theres information on imput devices, dimensions, interfaces, expansion and 1 year warranty for each one too.

Again, sorry about the large post. :/
 
I'll go with the second choice, one for £479.19 ($770). I'm just curious though why it's cheaper when basically they're both the same but this option seems to have better parts :umm:. Also no prob about the posts :p, without the info we won't know :p.
 
I'd go with the second as well. It has a bit beefier CPU and bigger screen.

As long as you don't post a huge picture you're fine.
 
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