Laptop What Do I Need?

[kevc]

Looking to buy a cheap laptop around 20,000 baht I'll use it for internet, using photoshop, playing dvds, and maybe the odd game if I ever progress from Space Invaders. What should I look for is it worth paying a little more for the Duo Core, I've been looking at Acers but someone told me theres some sort of restriction on adding software also they seem to be bringing out a new line so maybe the older models may have a good discount.

Any help much appreciated as I haven't a clue about processors and video cards.

[DragonQuest]

i made a mistake buying a laptop with 16 MB video card, and couldnt play any of the 3d games i like, if i were you, look for something like a 128MB or 256MB video card, i think they actually have 512 MB out now though check it out, goodluck

[DamianMavis]

Kevc, sent you a pm.

Damian

[bkk_mike]

I picked up a TCL laptop, new in Pantip back in April for just under 19K (inc. tax) for one of my daughters.

Core Duo (not Core 2 Duo), 60Gb hard drive, 512Mb of RAM.

So far, I've had no issues with it. Only thing is it's only got the integrated Intel graphics, so not really up to 3D gaming, but my daughter isn't into FPSs, and you're not going to get a fast notebook with discrete graphics for that price. (that I know of - I will admit I haven't been looking at prices much since April.)

P.S. You may not have heard of TCL, as they mainly contract manufacture for others. But they're big enough to have bought Thomson (a French TV manufacturer).

[Firefoxx]

Dragonquest, NEVER judge a video card by looking at how much memory it has. Granted, it's valid for certain things, but usually it's only a VERY rough indication of what the card can do (as in HUGE ballpark). There are 512MB cards out there that are a lot slower than 128MB cards. Not only that, the integrated graphics usually have the option of increasing their ram by using system memory, sometimes from 64mb up to 256mb... yet it has hardly any effect on performance. The main indicator of a graphics card (or GPU's) performance is its model. Get a good model, and get good performance.

A 20k budget will only get you the lowest tier brands, or the lowest models of the low tier brands. Don't expect much, since it's extremely marginal for buying a Core 2 Duo (even for a desktop, it's marginal). You usually only get things like a Celeron or Sempron (AMD's Celeron) with this kind of cash. You can forget about the graphics card... you just don't get anything other than integrated graphics with a budget like this.

I don't know what you mean by adding software, Acer has the same policies as any other brand. Use whatever software you want.

[dominique355]

Does it have to be a laptop? Because for the same money you would get a 3 times better desktop with all the goodies and a great graphic card as well. Also, most laptops don't have really high resolution screen, unless you go into the price range of 40'000 THB. up.

Stay away from Windows Vista. Many programs are not (yet) compatible. I had some nasty surprises when I bought an ACER Travelmate with Vista. I cannot HotSync my Palm Treo 650 anymore.

But ACER is a good choice in my experience. Twice I had a problem and sent their support center and e-mail. Next day I had an answer and right to the point. Very efficient, I must say. An important point to consider when you buy a computer.

[kevc]

Thanks for the help, I think the thing with Acer and the software may be untrue as a the woman who told me got pushed to buying an HP compaq by the salesman (maybe better commision), I've already got a desk top at home so this is for when I'm away to stop me getting bored, and I think I'll stick with XP as Vista doesn't seem very settled at the moment.

So once again thanks for pushing me in the right direction,I'm off with my 20 grand to Pantip.

[Firefoxx]

Never, ever believe salesmen. Their job is to get a sale, so they'll say anything. They might tell the truth, but they'll just as easily tell an outright lie or twist the truth.