Looking for a New Laptop. Need Suggestions.

[Vern5]

It's been around 5-6 years since I got this Inspiron 1520 and it's seen me through a lot. It's finally starting to show its age and I'm looking to upgrade to something newer and hopefully better.

What I'm looking for is something relatively cheap (preference around $400 - $800), somewhat similar in design to this Inspiron and with a little more power to it so I can play some of the more intensive games.

Please note that this laptop does not need to be a perfect, "Graphics set to Ultra High", gaming powerhouse. It just needs to be able to make the Bare Minimum requirements for the most recent games.

Any suggestions? I'm all ears.

 

[sarkeizen]

Any suggestions? I'm all ears.

Wow that'a a Core 2. I had the 1720 years ago. There's so much stuff in the sub $1000 range these days that it's hard to make a specific suggestion. However I'd recommend some of the following:

i) Non-Intel graphics. While the Intel chips get better every year they still lag behind even a low-end gaming system. I have the Intel HD3000 which can playback even Blu-Ray video over the network but it stumbles on playing Starcraft 2 even on the lowest graphics setting. By contract my work laptop has an NVIDIA graphics controller - a year older - and plays SC2 just fine.

ii) If you're planning to do full disk encryption then make sure your CPU supports the AES-NI instruction set.

iii) I find Laptop Magazine's reviews pretty helpful. http://www.laptopmag.com/

 

[Vern5]

Any suggestions? I'm all ears.

Wow that'a a Core 2. I had the 1720 years ago. There's so much stuff in the sub $1000 range these days that it's hard to make a specific suggestion. However I'd recommend some of the following:

i) Non-Intel graphics. While the Intel chips get better every year they still lag behind even a low-end gaming system. I have the Intel HD3000 which can playback even Blu-Ray video over the network but it stumbles on playing Starcraft 2 even on the lowest graphics setting. By contract my work laptop has an NVIDIA graphics controller - a year older - and plays SC2 just fine.

ii) If you're planning to do full disk encryption then make sure your CPU supports the AES-NI instruction set.

iii) I find Laptop Magazine's reviews pretty helpful. http://www.laptopmag.com/

Would you say that the Inspiron r17, while now necessarily new, could handle a game like Dragon Age: origins or Brutal Legend at a competent level? Because that would be enough for me.

 

[sarkeizen]

Would you say that the Inspiron r17, while now necessarily new, could handle a game like Dragon Age: origins or Brutal Legend at a competent level? Because that would be enough for me.

Sorry I've been off for a while...

I can't say about those two games because I don't game much more than SC2 and portal. Portal works fine, SC2 kind of bites. Otherwise the 17R (I think that's the model name) is probably sufficient.