Laptop Q's

[mokarr]

I am looking to purchase a new laptop, leaning towards IBUYPOWER.com since their laptops seem to be cheaper than any other main brand (HP, Sony, Dell etc). Was wondering if anyone has purchased from these gaming companies and if they are any good. Also never having a laptop before i have a few questions:

-Are there any cables allowing me to connect my laptop to a moniter while using at home?

-Will leaving my laptop on overnight/days be bad or cause problems to my laptop's life span or battery life. (Heating Problems?)

-Im thinking of using my laptop as more of a tower system at home, connecting a keyboard, mouse, moniter; while still able have the convenience to take and use it on vacations. Will this be viable?

 

[penfold]

I have an HP dv8000.

You *can* hook up to an external monitor, but I (personally) find it easier to *not* and just use my laptop's screen.

I leave mine on all the time, except when rebooting. Haven't had any heating issues.

This is my *own* and *only* computer... I use it at home and take it with me. I do, occasionally, use an external mouse, but the laptop's keyboard works great for me But with some laptops, you can get a docking station that hooks to the keyboard, mouse & monitor, so you just insert your laptop and have - essentially - a desktop.

 

[sprtnbsblplya]

Check out geared2play.com, they sell the exact same Asus line laptops as ibuypower.com, and its usually a tad bit less too and the owner has amazing customer service.
There are reviews of all the laptops they sell at the shop's forum at asusforum.com.

 

[saltynay]

Dont leave the battery in when you use it as a desktop as it overcharges and gradually runs down I had a 3 hour battery under moderate load e.g. playing low end games, when i first bought my laptop 3 years ago now that original battery last 10minutes lol because I just left it charging constantly and it overcharges like all lithium batteries. but you can easily buy a new battery so it doesnt matter much. I find dual monitor set up is best with a laptop thats what I use whilst at home and it works well and i recommend using the built in keyboard rather then an external as its useful to learn where the keys are on a laptop even though it takes awhile to get use to.

Matt

 

[Jorsoft]

If you're going to leave it on a lot I recommend getting one of those laptop cooling pads, a good one runs $20-30 on Newegg.

For notebooks, pay the most attention to the graphics card if you'll be gaming. It's the most important thing for that kind of laptop as it impacts gaming performance the most. A geforce 7600 or radeon 1600 will run current games pretty well and still allow the notebook to be thin and light and won't kill your battery life.