Time for a new laptop!

Help me out. I have searched several places, but I trust my SL family the best. I am ready to buy a new laptop. THE most important thing that it will do is run SL. I would really appreciate feedback on which laptop will work best without burning a whole in my leg (yes... I really use it in my lap), not to mention my wallet.
I do not mind spending a little more now if it will been better performance. I have a bit of a bias to the Dell line, but I am willing to listen.
If you have a serious opinion feel free to email me at [email]socaldavel@hotmail.com[/email] or reply here.

The thing is that you want to set the thing on something before you sit it on your lap. I do the same thing too. Before I used to just set it on the bedspread but the fan will suck in the world, clog it up then heat it up and burn a big hole in your leg. Broke my fan too . I have a piece of board that came out of a serving tray that I sit mine on. I also blow it out every day with canned air and clean it with eye glasses cleaner. Really dont have any problems with it now. I find those writing matts way too big. Hope that helps somewhat.

they make laptop coolers... I suggest getting one. Runs on USB. I have an old toshiba that heats enuff to fry bacon,... but if I use the cooler it is fine..

uh, that toshiba can't go online.. it's about 10 years old.. but.. um good luck

Currently using a Dell Latitude D810 with single processor running 2.26 Ghz, 2G RAM, ATI Mobility Radeon X600 video a/128 MB memory and it does pretty well. They are currently building me a D830 dual core with similar specs, if you want to wait and see how that works.

Go ahead and skip the Vostro line. Definitely upgrade the base (Intel) video.

Hi Dave! I don't think you know this alt's name, but you were a real prince one day to my main lo these many many moons ago. So welcome to the forums! *hugs*

Here's a thread that has some detailed specs for a laptop that should work:
/111/83/246268/1.html

The essential things that I've gleaned from threads like this are:

-- people make the Dells work, but fans of the HP Pavilions seem a little more rabid.

-- Take a GOOD CLOSE look at the system requirements on SL's support page.

-- Get a Gig of RAM, preferably on one card, so you can upgrade to 2G. I don't care what the system requirements say in that regard.

-- XP, not Vista. Not yet. The graphics drivers for Vista are still evolving.

-- Get a laptop that can take a video card (preferably nvidia). The more memory on that card, the better.

-- The USB coolor things are very lightweight, pretty small, and really really help. If you do overheat your machine, don't give up on it completely ... sometimes SL eats just the RAM.

Good luck!
.

Tarina, my old (now backup) laptop is a Toshiba. What fool put the cooling fans on the bottom right where your legs go. If I forget to keep the bottom clear, it gets so hot, it shuts down. Thats why its a backup.

Also - Dedicated video RAM is better than shared!

I've waited nearly 3 months to get it but it's finally arrived.

It's a Rock: http://www.rockdirect.com/?gclid=CMeB5Ne90JACFQZDEgodpUt8Ww

and it's like what I imagine driving a Ferrari must be like!

I believe Asus are another reputable source for gaming laptops - and they may have a faster delivery time.

(Yes - I use a laptop cooler- Kira has given good advice. I busted an HP Pavilllion that way - the one thing about laptops is that you must never use them on your lap!)

I have been looking at several computers, but I am really interrested in an Asus M51Sn-A1 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220277
Price is great. 512 GRAM.... any input?

The latest crop of Dell laptops are very nice. Lots of options to choose from. Great warranty options, including accidental damage. XPS's

Hi Deira,

Mine arrived too!! Can't wait to get it fired up with SL. The Fastest Laptop on the Planet - yay!

For those who don't know what we are talking about, go to www.rockdirect.com, the specs are as follows:

Intel® Core 2 Extreme Edition X9000 processor (2 x 2.8GHz)
– 6MB Level 2 Cache
NVIDIA 8800M GTX 512MB (DX 10) GDR3 High Performance Graphics
17" WUXGA+ X-Glass TFT Screen (1920 x 1200)
4GB DDR2 RAM (800MHz)
7200rpm Hard Drive as standard – 33% faster than 4200rpm drives
Blu-Ray HD drive as standard
Built in Finger-print reader
Intel Pro 802.11a/b/g/n Integrated Wireless LAN
Gigabit 10/100/1000 LAN
1 x IEEE1394 Firewire
4 x USB 2.0
1 x COM port
Bluetooth
Express Card Slot
7 in 1 Card Reader( MS / MS Pro / MS Duo / SD / Mini-SD / MMC & RSMMC)
S-Video out & DVI Port (VGA Converter Included)
Webcam with video recording
SRS WOW Surround sound
7.1 Surround Sound Output
Microsoft® Windows® Vista Home Premium
Roxio Creator™ 7

and that is before the extras I added on!!

I will give a report on the performance later. Hope you do too Deira

Rock (no relation)

DHL has mine "out for delivery" now, so I should have more fun tonight as well.

Dell all the way, for me!

I did loads of research into it, before I bought a Dell Vostro (running XP), last year.
They might be a bit more expensive than some others, but it's a great laptop

Yeah, what's up with that? I have an HP Pavillion "invent" and it took them two hours just to take it apart and find the fan. The mother board wraps around the thing.

I have a question about the cooling pads. Does it mean that you don't have to plug it into a wall outlet, but you can just plug it into the laptop and it will work? I also turn the thing upside down and rock it gently to get any dirt and grit out of it. I did that in front of the repair guy only I shook it a little too hard for him and he nearly had a heart attack. I did see him use some very strong pressurized air to blow it out. From a compressor and not a can. It's a wonder it didnt blow the guts right out of it. I suppose we could all take our laptops to the gas station now and then. Put our 25cents in the tire air thing and blow them out, it would pretty much be the same thing. Please raise your hand if you want to give that a try before I do.

I'm a huge fan of ASUS laptops. I had a G2S-A1 for about 6 months, and it ran SL fantastically well. Plus, it looked like it was designed by Darth Vader, which was kind of cool. People used to wow over it all the time. I really miss it. I had to send it back to the company I used to work for after they laid half of us off. I haven't gotten around to buying a replacement, since I don't travel much these days.

ASUS makes the nicest screens I've ever seen on laptops, and they tend to deliver a lot more bang for the buck than just about any other brand. And why shouldn't they? They, after all, make many of the components that other companies buy.

If I had to pick one now, I'd go with one of the newer models in the G2S series. Unfortunately, ASUS's website seems to be having issues at the moment, so I can't recommend a specific model. The only two minor shortcomings of the A1 (which were barely noticeable) were a relatively slow hard drive (5400 RPM) and a lower end video card than what is commonly available now (GeForce 8600 256MB). I believe they've corrected both issues in the newer models. You can now get a G2S with a 7200 RPM drive and a 512MB GeForce 8700.

You're not going to get the performance out of it that you would with something like what Rock has, but at 1/2 the price, it's no slouch. The range for the series is around $1700-2400.

I so pleased to hear yours has arrived too

It's quite something, isn't it? I'm still setting mine up - fun, fun fun.

The cooling pad I have, has two USB ports and a USB connector that can plug from the cooling pad to one of the USB ports on the laptop. So there is no separate power supply and you don't lose a USB port because there is a spare one on the cooling pad. (Hope that makes sense.)

/me giggles, yes it does honey. Thank you

New laptop arrives, had a dinner date after work, finally get home at 9:30, crack open the laptop and ... "In-world problems ... Including logins ..." :: sigh ::