buying laptop need help

trmcgovern

Hello everyone,

I am going to be purchasing another laptop. I need advice to make sure I am getting what I need. I found this forum and thought it would be best since one of my bigger concerns in the graphics card. I am not a big gammer, but I would like to be able to play a game like Call of Duty 4 without any problems. I also will not be able to replace this laptop for four years because I will be in a remote location.

Here are the specs of a laptop I am building over at toshiba.com

Satellite P200/P205
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T7500 (2.2GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (1024MBx2)
17.0" Diagonal Widescreen WXGA+ TruBrite® display (1440x900)
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 2600 with 256MB GDDR2 discrete memory
+ up to 255MB allocated shared graphics memory using ATI HyperMemory™ technology
160GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti (+/- double layer) drive (in one optical drive),
supporting 12 formats
Bluetooth® Version 2.0 +EDR
harman/kardon® stereo speakers

What are some of your thoughts as to this configuration

Thanks
Terry

Judas

overall.. i think that's a pretty damn solid system.... the HD-DVD drive by itself has a nice advantage (watch some HD movies )

toshiba is my 2nd recommended laptop maker that i sell.... Acer however is my top...

I'd suggest seeing if you can get an estimate on a acer model.. just to compare...

Vikingod

Welcome to DH

Thats a nice system, you should be happy with it. I don't know what else you do with your computer, but i'd maybe look into some more hard-drive space.

I'd personally go with a Toshiba over an Acer. I've got a toshiba at the office thats been running for probably 10 years without trouble.

Judas

typically.... i found on average.. most... call it 95% of the people never use more then 20gb of space... knowingly...... in the rarer of occasions.. i've seen the exceptions where they've gone crazy with downloading music/movies and pictures...... but i've yet to see a single case myself where it's gone over the 100gb barier...

while more room is nice, it's not absalutely nessary....

hardrive space is currently at a point where we haven't got the programs or things to load them up without having a TON of them...

now ripping HD-DVDs will consume room quickly

trmcgovern

Thanks for the help.

Is the graphics card a good one on the configuration I gave?

Judas

It's midrange.... about 10-15% slower on average then a x1900 series graphics card.....

Vikingod

If its the XT model, the reviews I've seen show performance in line with the 7800gtx go. Nothing to shake a stick at for a laptop.

Feel free to check out our AMD HD2400 and HD2600 roundup, which will give an idea of how it's Desktop counterparts runs.

Bottom line, the system will run COD4 quite well.

trmcgovern

Thanks for the help and the link. I founf the info very helpful, although somewhat over my head.

Terry

Vikingod

Glad to help. Make sure you let us know how you like the laptop!