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Jennifer Roundfield
Supersized Amazon
Join date: 7 Apr 2006
Posts: 176
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06-02-2008 15:55
It seems to me that laptops are a lot like dogs. You read the books and decide what kind of dog you want. You do some more research, go to the dog park, check out the shelter, and maybe take in a dog show. You become convinced a particular dog is for you and you acquire that dog. You take the dog home, learn it's habits, train it to do the things you want it to do and it seems ok and all is well. Until you get a second, similar dog, and compare the two, then the world changes...(none of this is meant to slander dogs in any way-dogs are far better than laptops
A friend tested a new Toshiba currently available from Costco.com with a core2 duo T8100, 3 gigs of ram, Vista and the new ATI graphics system using 256k of dedicated memory. She wanted to use it with second life. It looked nice, all the general reviews said it should function well and the graphics system was very well regarded. But on Second Life, it was a dog.
Then she got a new HP laptop from Best Buy (Hiss, Boo) for the same money, $1000. It had very comparable specifications, same, same, same but used the Nvidia 8400 graphics system with 256k of memory. On Second Life, it was a swan!
The moral?
If you really really want your new machine to run Second Life well, negotiate a reasonable return agreement with your vendor. With Costco, it can't get any easier: 90 days, no issue and no fee. Best Buy, very difficult to negotiate and a $150 fee (my friend was lucky).
If you want a nice 15.4" laptop to run second life on right now, the HP dv6885se is a nice machine. Actually any of the dv6800 series with T8100 & the Nvidia 8400 (or better) will likely work well for Second Life.
The Toshiba with the 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3470 graphics is a bad choice for SL.
Laptops come and go so quickly, you just know they are not made in Kansas!
~Jenni~
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Blot Brickworks
The end of days
Join date: 28 Oct 2006
Posts: 1,076
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06-02-2008 16:33
Did it piss on the carpet?
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 Blots Plot @ THE OLD MERMAID INN http://slurl.com/secondlife/Dunbeath /206/85/26 http://phillplasma.com/2009/05/01/blots-plot-the-old-mermaid-inn/
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Puppet Shepherd
New Year, New Tricks
Join date: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 725
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06-02-2008 19:20
From: Jennifer Roundfield A friend tested a new Toshiba currently available from Costco.com with a core2 duo T8100, 3 gigs of ram, Vista and the new ATI graphics system using 256k of dedicated memory. She wanted to use it with second life. It looked nice, all the general reviews said it should function well and the graphics system was very well regarded. But on Second Life, it was a dog.
By that, you mean that it was incredibly perfect, right???
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Come see my new 1-prim flowers, only $10 each! Lots of other neat stuff to find @ Puppet Art,
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Lilypad/200.092/210.338
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Jennifer Roundfield
Supersized Amazon
Join date: 7 Apr 2006
Posts: 176
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06-02-2008 20:58
wellllll,
she did not have the pleasure of a pet accident...
and the performance was such that only an owner with no experience would love!
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Tank Babii
Registered User
Join date: 2 Jun 2008
Posts: 1
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vigorgaming.com
06-02-2008 21:58
bummer....my laptop is great for SL...but I paid quite the price for that flexibility..vigorgaming.com beat the heck out of Dell and Alienware and HP and Toshiba and Gateway price wise for the quality received. Been running this laptop everyday in Iraq for at least 3-4 hours straight for the last 6 months and not a lick of trouble.
I bought a Artorious Pro model, 17" screen with the stand-alone Nvidia 8600M graphics card and 100gig hard drive and a 2.4ghz dual core processor (intel), again, not a single problem except the screen having a spot rubbed on it from my excessive lugging it around overseas. Paid $2,300..they have less expensive models, I just modified my order for more features. Also, they have the best reviews of any company at resellerratings.com and they work with you over the phone.
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Dagmar Heideman
Bokko Dancer
Join date: 2 Feb 2007
Posts: 989
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06-03-2008 11:18
After numerous compatability problems between ATI cards and graphics intensive online games on my prior laptop, I will never ever get a computer with an ATI card again. NVidia over ATI any day of the week for me.
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