Noob Help

[MindoverMaster]

For a laptop, 5400rpm is best. It saves battery life. 7200 would eat battery life like a pig. For a hdd, upways of 160GB to 250GB is plenty.

I'm not sure on the current gfx card implementation, but:

x1xx = first number is the model, second is the performance, last two are variations of the card

The second number in that sequence:
1-4 is low performance
5-7 is middle
8 and 9 are high

(thats as far as i remember, if anyone wants to correct me, please do)

 

[Underdog]

Ok, So I've looked through a few laptops, and here's what I've found so far.
1) Alienware M11x (11.6" screen, 1.3 Ghz Pentium SU4100, 2 Gigs of DDr2 Ram, 160 gig 5400 rpm harddrive, NVIDIA 335M graphics card)
2) Toshiba Satellite M505-ST5408 (14" screen, 2.13 Ghz i3 processor,4 gig DDR3 ram, 320 gig 5400 rpm harddrive)
3) ASUS A52JR-X1 NoteBook (15.6" screen, 2.26 ghz i5 processor, 500 gig 5400 rpm harddrive, $800)
4) MSI CR620-033US (15.6" screen, 2.13 ghz i3 processor, 320 gig harddrive, Blu-Ray!!!!, 4 gig DDR3 ram, $700)

Personally, right now, I'm leaning towards the ASUS or MSI. What do you guys think? I know these are just a few randomly specific models, but they're a decent start in my hunt for a laptop. If you have any other suggestions, let me know. Can someone explain what the DDR2 and DDR3 mean in a laptop's RAM specs?

 

[MindoverMaster]

Good boy!

Alienware is overpriced.

Toshiba or ASUS are my top two. I own both brands, and they work great!

As for MSI, I am unsure. For their desktop motherboards, I hate them. That was 5 years ago, so I don't know how well they are doing.

 

[Underdog]

Could someone please explain RAM to me. Like, for instance... What does DDR3/DDR2 mean? What is a good amount of RAM to look for? How does RAM effect your computer? etc. Just the basics so I know what I should look out for. Thanks in advance.

 

[MindoverMaster]

DDR2 and DDR3 are a different architecture. They have faster clocks/speeds.

These days, 2GB is the lowest. There lower GB DDR2, but 2GB is the standard. 4GB is better. For that you need a 64-bit Operating System.

DDR3 is for Intel i3, i5 and i7 motherboards. I'm not sure about the AMD side.

Other than that, I am not sure. I'm sure someone else can explain it better.

 

[IsabellaWinTeam]

Thanks for the explaining some key differences, MindoverMaster.

Here is another helpful resource that clarifies how RAM amount will affect your laptop (and how it relates to the processor) : Windows PC, Notebook, and Laptop Scout: Speed Fast Facts.

The chart is especially helpful!

Isabella
MSFT Windows Outreach Team

 

[Underdog]

How would a gaming laptop like this one, MSi GX630-037CA ( 2.0 ghz Dual Core Amd Athalons, vista (unfortunately : ( ), Geoforce 9600 Graphics card) perform with normal tasks, because I would really like a laptop that plays Starcraft 2, maybe Diablo, when it comes out, and other similar games.

 

[Underdog]

Also, what is a laptop's system bus/front side bus, and cache memory? Thanks again.

 

[MindoverMaster]

The 9600 is a mid-range card. You won't be playing at high settings.

Front-side bus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Underdog]

I was just wondering, should I go for an i 5 processor and a normal drive, or a Pentium T6600 Core 2 Duo and blu-ray. I really like the idea of having a blu-ray drive, but I do not know anything about that Laptop's processor.