[EasilyConfused]

Don't even know if AdventureRaider is still there, but I feel like with most products there are pros and cons (and certainly with some products as Dusty pointed out inherent probs, though I've never had this problem at all). All of the computer makers we are naming are reputable firms that make acceptable products. So then it's back to DesertRose's good questions at the beginning--what features does a person want and what combination can he or she afford? Design and personal preferences also come into play here--weight, size of screen, mouse design, etc., are all things that don't necessarily have a right or wrong answer but are more things that AdventureRaider is going to have to look at and choose.

If you want to use the internet and play games into the future, what do you guys think are the minimum specs? I'm interested because my Dell is under a year old and is already starting to get pushed to some of its limits . . . especially the videocard. If you had to pick something to skimp on thinking you'll upgrade relatively inexpensively if necessary in future, what would it be?

Re: The Centrino, as I understand it it's a pentium chip that lets you use wireless without buying a wireless card or having one factory-installed, as the salesperson said. I actually bought and returned a Dell that had a Centrino (along with my present Dell, long story) and thought it was MUCH slower . . . I think (here I'm revealing my utter ignorance) that the Centrino is a Pentium III rather than a Pentium IV chip ("110, 120, whatever it takes"), but in any case it's a slightly slower processor. My father claimed that it should not have been enough for me to notice the difference, and it may have been that that computer had more factory-installed software that it was trying to get up and running, but anyway--something to consider about the Centrino technology. Then again, I don't know if folks who have wireless find their computers slower in general when they're using it . . . might be a big benefit if you're still in school and have free access to a network.

[TigerShard]

Centrino are not slow! Centrino notebooks scale the processor, meaning that the more power is needed, the faster the chip will go. This is done in order to extend battery life. Why have the processor running at 100% if you don't need all that power? You may not ever get full speed unless you have it plugged in to an outlet. Also, a Centrino is much more efficient than a pentium 4. A 1.6ghz Centrino has as much power as a 2.4ghz P4. My centrino notebook runs circles around my desktop 2000+ Athlon XP

[Wormsie]

This thread has convinced me that my next PC will be a laptop. Uses a lot less space, too. And I've kinda got bored of building my PCs from scratch.

[EasilyConfused]

Originally Posted by TigerShard

Centrino are not slow! Centrino notebooks scale the processor, meaning that the more power is needed, the faster the chip will go. This is done in order to extend battery life. Why have the processor running at 100% if you don't need all that power? You may not ever get full speed unless you have it plugged in to an outlet. Also, a Centrino is much more efficient than a pentium 4. A 1.6ghz Centrino has as much power as a 2.4ghz P4. My centrino notebook runs circles around my desktop 2000+ Athlon XP

Hunh. Well, maybe that particular notebook just sucked then!!!! I'm extra-glad I got rid of it and kept the supposedly accursed Inspiron.

Wormsie, I've always had laptops . . . love em. I'm probably dumb for never really consdiering the alternative, but I love the fact that if I need to rearrange my environment it's a cinch. Until recently I moved at least every 9 months and sometimes more often--it's been a great advantage if you have any kind of wanderlust!

[gillyruless]

Me thinks buying a laptop if you are a man who's planning to have a family someday might not be such a good thing.

Study: Laptop heat a threat to fertility

There's a very funny joke here somehwere but I'm not witty or creative enough!

[Wormsie]

Yeah, IF you use your lap to support it. (That's what I understood from the news item.) That probably isn't the most ergonomical way anyway.

[Wormsie]

Originally Posted by EasilyConfused

Wormsie, I've always had laptops . . . love em. I'm probably dumb for never really consdiering the alternative, but I love the fact that if I need to rearrange my environment it's a cinch. Until recently I moved at least every 9 months and sometimes more often--it's been a great advantage if you have any kind of wanderlust!

The upgradeability (I love that word) of laptops isn't so great, so I haven't bought one because I want to save money. Of course, updating the whole system once in a while instead of just a few components can save from lots of incompatibility issues and speed issues (new soundcard being too fast for old motherboard, old hard drive slowing down the whole PC), so maybe it actually IS worth spending a few hundred euros more.

Not to mention that laptops are the most hip kind of computers in existence. 8-)

[possum]

i love my mac laptop (i have a GA powerbook, just got it for Xmas a bit early, wahoo! I had a g3 ibook for 3 years which never once had a virus or needed anything to be reinstalled.)

And I am just getting back into gaming a bit but am a little bummed to see that a few of the cool mac games say "G5 Recommended"

anyone else have that problem?