Hardware New Laptop

[Will]

Hello,

I will soon be going to University (physics, of course ) and will be getting a laptop. It will mostly be used for work however I would also like it to be able to run games, including (obviously Orbiter) and FSX (although I realise it is a very demanding program, especially with addons). The budget is £400.
Any ideas?

Thanks,
Will

 

[Urwumpe]

for 475€ (For us Eurozonians) not really. Running orbiter should work within the budget, because Orbiter is generally pretty hardware-economic. But I see dark for getting a GPU within the budget that handles FSX well AND also have some other details that you might need, like a SSD or a bigger battery.

Better focus on a good machine for university, you can easily get a useful 15.6" i5 notebook with the budget.

For running Orbiter and FSX, I recommend doubling the budget, if you want a laptop. I paid 1250€ for my current laptop (about three times your budget), but this also has a few power reserves left, especially when running Orbiter. (I wanted more power to handle SSU development better)

 

[Eccentrus]

get it up to $750 and you have the most bang for the buck

 

[Will]

Better focus on a good machine for university, you can easily get a useful 15.6" i5 notebook with the budget.

Like this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B009QZCYU4 (a tad expensive but I could probably stretch to it) or something else? I have also heard bad things about Windows 8.

get it up to $750 and you have the most bang for the buck

Such as?

 

[Urwumpe]

Like this? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-Laptop-Silver/dp/B009QZCYU4 (a tad expensive but I could probably stretch to it) or something else? I have also heard bad things about Windows 8.

Like that, but I would search for more alternative models there. 4 GB RAM is also pretty low, I would aim for 6-8 GB. Internal Intel Graphics is usually a bad sign for Orbiter or FSX, but the Intel HD 5000 series so far surprised me with the performance - its enough for running Orbiter, if you don't need high framerates. Often, you can find a slightly outdated model being sold for a lower price.

Also, I recommend paying the ~100€ for a SSD, it really improves performance a lot, though most machines are shipped with a rather poor setup, that has the user directories on the SSD.

In former Trizonesia, you can find quite many price-comparison-sites for laptops, which are no bad starting point for own selections.

I have also heard bad things about Windows 8, and failed to confirm any of them - the psychological factor is bigger, but you are better off with Windows 7, if you are not using a touch screen. But that is already discussed with some good arguments in another thread.

My mother is now more used to Windows 8 than Windows 7, despite being far from computer-affine.

 

[Will]

Ok, round two.
http://www.ebuyer.com/544655-acer-aspire-e1-laptop-nx-m09ek-015

To get an SSD AND decent RAM AND processor AND graphics always comes out over budget, even going up to £480. This one has a fair amount of RAM and an OK processor. It doesn't have an SSD and the graphics are only HD 4000 but like I said, I can't find anything better within budget.

 

[Quick_Nick]

I think you would do fine with something half this price:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonev...h-blu-ray-modular-psu-double-the-ssd-storage/

 

[n122vu]

The laptop you linked will run Orbiter 2010 quite nicely (especially if you use D3D9 client). FSX, not so much.

I have a 3 yrs old Lenovo G560 with a first-gen Core i3 running at 2.53Ghz, 4GB of RAM, Intel onboard graphics (not sure of the chipset). With D3D9 client in Orbiter 2010 and vsync disabled I have yet to drop below 80-100 fps. I wouldn't dream of loading FSX on mine. However, it did run FS2004 surprisingly well when I had it installed a few months back.

(note that the second laptop you linked is likely, though unconfirmed, running the third-gen i3, and would probably outperform my older chipset, especially from a power consumption standpoint)

Regarding Windows 8, most, if not all, of the gripes I have about it are purely surrounding aesthetics and functionality/productivity. This is based on personal use of my GF's Acer Aspire laptop.

My experience with it in a professional environment is a bit limited. But, what I've seen from a performance standpoint - t's blazing fast & very solid. A few in our IT dept. (including my boss) have been using Surface Pros for their primary machines for a few months now and they love them (and Win8).

 

[Cras]

FSX pretty much could care less about your GPU. You can get a 500 series GeForce and be fine. Its the CPU that you need to worry about. FSX is very CPU heavy so get the best CPU you can get if you want smoothness and frames in FSX.

 

[Koloss]

I got a S56C Ultrabook by Asus. Around 700 Euros...

Orbiter works like a charme (with the D3D9 Client). Also FSX is running pretty stable but do not touch the "Oh I'll turn on the Ultra-graphics!"-button. :lol:

 

[n122vu]

Look for online sales also. A lot of places might be running back-to-school deals or have excess inventory from the recent end of such sales.

I got a decent price when I purchased my G560 back in March of '11 ($479 USD, or equiv to about 360 Euros by today's conversion rate). TigerDirect was cleaning out their stock of this model, which they stopped selling shortly after.

At the time the MSRP was $649 USD. That same month PCMag reviewed my same model/SKU and it came in just under the Editor's Choice for its class (though it listed the i3-370M as the CPU. Mine has the slightly faster i3-380M).

Good luck, I hope you find something great that fits your budget.

 

[Pablo49]

No Newegg links? Okay. Newegg

I recommend not getting a laptop that only relies on Intel graphics if you intend to play games on it. Also, look for something that has accessible ram slots, extra PCIe slots, etc. You'll get more money out of your laptop if you are able to give it a couple upgrades over it's lifetime.

 

[Capt_hensley]

My reccomendation would set you back at least $5000.00 USD. Sorry! Let us know what you settle on.

Starts with this DELL Alienware

Ends with the maximum options you can add on. Although OS was Win 7 x64 not Win 8 as indicated. Most of my software isn't ready for Win 8.

 

[Quick_Nick]

My reccomendation would set you back at least $5000.00 USD. Sorry! Let us know what you settle on.

Starts with this DELL Alienware

Ends with the maximum options you can add on. Although OS was Win 7 x64 not Win 8 as indicated. Most of my software isn't ready for Win 8.

Ewwwww