Best laptop for sl?

I'm about to purchase a laptop to keep the sanity in my home lol. 2 computer users, 1 computer.... not good. I'd like to get a laptop that I can play sl on... I mean work and need to know which is the best. Thanks!

Basically for a sl laptop there is *mostly* one and one thing only to look at... Which is the video/graphics system. You want to steer clear of anythign that has 'intel' or 'sis' graphics, neither are guaranteed to run sl and though scattered variants of them may technically be able to none of them will run them *WELL*.

You want a laptop with a dedicated nvidia or ati graphics solution. For nvidia anything in the 6xxx or 7xxx series will work absolutely fine (at least if you don't run with fancy graphics options like fsaa etc).

Secondary to that is the processor, steer clear of 'budget' processors like celerons etc, they will cost only marginally less, but will perform, especially for SL, significantly worse.

The last thing to keep in mind is memory... SL really needs a minimum of a gig to run well, and most laptops on the low to mid end still come with 256 or at best 512 default...

Unfortunately most laptop manufacturers still DRASTICALLY overcharge for memory, but its not quite 100% of them anymore, check what the upgrade to a gig would cost directly, when purchasing, and then check the notebook model on a site like www.crucial.com to see what the upgrade would cost there, go with whichever is cheaper. (sometimes the difference can literally be hundreds of dollars for the exact same ram, though again that is slowly changing).

So basically you want something that say, has an intel core duo, a gig of ram, and a nvidia 7300 video chipset... you can actually get that at around $1200, and believe it or not it may very well *OUTPERFORM* your desktop machine heh, i know my laptop actually did when i first got it and it certainly suprised *me* heh.

Thanks eltee!! This info. helps greatly!

It's a tricky concept, because people have different ideas of what a "laptop" is.

In the heavyweight class, you can get machines that are nearly the equivalent of desktop machines. These beasts will have high-end graphics chips like NVidia 7900 or ATI X1900, 17 inch or larger displays, and a dual-core processor of some sort. Dell, HP, and other companies make them; Alienware even makes one with SLI graphics (dual graphics interfaces). Any of them will run Second Life very well. These things will weigh 8 pounds or more, and will be difficult to use on an airplane seat tray. Battery life varies; check if you care. All of these beasts will run SL very well.

In the middleweight class, you have machines wth 15 inch displays, dual-core processors, and mid-range graphics chips (ATI X1600 or NVidia 7600, mostly). These will weigh 6-7 pounds, and again, there are many makers (Dell, Acer, HP... and the Apple MacBook Pro also qualifies). These run SL well, though not QUITE as fast as the big boys, but they are a bit easier to carry.

In the bantamweight class, there are systems with 12-14 inch displays, dual-core processors, and lower-end dedicated graphics (ATI X1400 or NVidia 7400). Here we're down into the 4-5 pound range, making them much more portable. Pickings are slimmer, but there are a few good examples, including the Sony Vaio SZ series, the Dell XPS1210, and a system from ASUS. These systems are the objects of my personal laptop lust; easy to carry, and yet able to run Second Life pretty well. And when you're offline, such as on an airplane, they also serve as great DVD players.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no lightweight laptops (under 4 pounds) with the necessary graphics hardware. If somebody out there knows of one, I'd love to hear about it.

Things to avoid:

Systems that don't have one of the graphics interfaces mentioned above (ATI FireGL is a maybe-avoid; they evidently don't work with the standard drivers, but do work with hacked Radeon drivers. Current FireGL chips are essentially identical to the cheaper Radeons, but come with drivers optimized for workstation graphics applications.) Most especially, avoid systems with integrated graphics (Intel Extreme Graphics, Radeon XPress) or anything with a graphics interface from a manufacturer not mentioned.

Systems without a dual-core processor. It's just too much of a performance benefit, and doesn't cost much extra.

If it's your only computer, make sure to get a DVD burner. If you have a desktop system and you're going to use the laptop on a network, you can make do with a combo CD burner/DVD-ROM drive.

Final buying hint: you want your system to have at least 1GB of RAM, and 2GB is better. But you don't have to buy it from the manufacturer; it's often less expensive to buy a low-end RAM configuration and upgrade it yourself, even if you end up throwing away the smaller memory modules. (If you can sell the removed memory for a few bucks on Craigslist, even better.) If you want a big hard disk, it's also sometimes cheaper to buy the system with a small one and upgrade it... and as a bonus, you can buy a cheap external USB case (they're less than $20 now) and put the old small drive in it.

Most importantly..

Make sure it has excellent cooling abilities!! Seriously, I've seen a good number of laptops get fried because the cooling system was inadequate for continously cooling a CPU generating maximum heat for prolonged periods of time.

sony S series, s-460 actually, its under 5 pounds, has a 6200, a pentium M, and was upgraded to a gig of ram.

It is small/portable enough to be handy and allow me to carry it around most places, and is also able to run SL better than many people's sligtly older, or low end desktops... i.e. i can get 10-15 fps in busy areas, and 20-30 fps or more in more empty ones. It just can't do fsaa/aniso for 'polish' but then for a notebook, i can live without.

The only 'nag' is that SL is really *REALLY* unusable with a trackpad, at least for building purposes, so if you intend to actually *WORK* in sl with it you will need to get some kind of mouse or dedicated trackball. (and the little eraser nub pointers ibm is so fond of are far worse still)

I have this series of laptop as well, and it runs SL well. I can easily run Photoshop and SL at the same time. I have also upgraded mine to a gig of RAM. Very nice lappy, and a great travelling companion, doesn't take up a lot of room, is relatively light and has good battery life. I highly recommend it. A good wireless or bluetooth mouse is a must. I was just back home for two weeks and with a portable hard drive with my required files for my SL business I didn't miss my deasktop much at all save for my big LCD screens.

One nice thing i've found is its multi display system, which works slightly different than the nvidia defaults, and lets you hit both the internal screen and an external screen (or projector) simultaneously with exact mirrors, including the overlay layer, which generally desktop cards don't do.

What i've found it really useful for is hooking up to a projector, great for SL presentations at cons and the like, and even better for getting some 200 inch wide screen SL action hehe ^.^

LOL no worries... I can barely make a pillow or a box... so I'm good!

I believe that the SZ series that I mentioned is the successor to your machine. 4 to 5 pounds depending on options (like the size of battery; there is a standard one and an extended-life one), and it comes with an NVidia 7400 and a Core Duo processor (which might get updated to the Core Duo 2 soon). I tried one out in the store (downloaded the SL client and everything, naughty me) and it ran SL really well, plus it was small and light. The 6200 was a bit on the light side for SL, but the 7400 is good.

Now if only I had $2000 to spare...

After reading Shirley's post a lighbulb went off in my head, and I went and checked my lappy. It is in fact the SZ series, a VGNSZ260PC to be exact. Fairly new, bought it after my last VIAO was stolen, which I think was the S series. Everyting I said before applies to this lappy, its totally kick ass. I have had people complain about VIAOs before, but this is my third one and I have loved them all.

From our friends at NewEgg . . .

SpecificationsModel
Brand ASUS
Model A8Jm-H019H
General
Operating System Windows XP Home
CPU Type Intel Core Duo T2400(1.83GHz)
Screen 14" WXGA
Memory Size 1GB DDR2
Hard Disk 100GB
Optical Drive DVD±R/RW
Graphics Card NVIDIA Geforce Go 7600
Video Memory 512MB
Communication Modem, Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card slot 1 x Express Card
Dimensions 13.18" x 9.64" x 1.37-1.46"
Weight 5.25 lbs.
Tech Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology
CPU
CPU Type Intel Core Duo
CPU Speed T2400(1.83GHz)
CPU FSB 667MHz
CPU L2 Cache 2MB
Chipset
Chipset Intel 945PM
Display
Screen Size 14"
Wide Screen Support Yes
LCD Features Color Shine Glossy Panel & Splendid
Display Type Wide XGA
Resolution 1280 x 800
Operating Systems
Operating System Windows XP Home
Graphics
GPU/VPU NVIDIA Geforce Go 7600
Video Memory Dedicated 512MB
Graphic Type Dedicated Card
Hard Drive
HD Capacity 100GB
HD RPM 5400rpm
HD Interface PATA
Memory
Memory Slots 2 x DIMM
Memory Speed DDR2 533
Memory Size 1GB
Max Memory Supported 2GB
Memory Spec 1GB x 1
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD±R/RW
Optical Drive Interface Integrated
Optical Drive Spec 8x DVD-RW Dual Layer Drive
Communications
Modem V.92 56K
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN 802.11a/b/g Wireless LAN
IRDA Yes
Ports
Card Slot 1 x Express Card
USB 5
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port 1 x VGA, 1 x DVI, 1 x S-Video TV-out
Audio Ports Headphone-out jack (SPDIF)
Microphone-in jack
Audio
Audio Built-in Intel High Definition Audio
Built-in mono microphone
Speaker Internal Speakers
Input Device
Touchpad Yes
Keyboard 19mm full size 88/89 key with MS Windows function key
Supplemental Drive
Card Reader 8-in-1: SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro (adapters)/XD
Webcam Built in VGA WebCam
Power
AC Adapter Output: 19 V DC, 3.42 A, 90W
Input: 100—240V AC, 50/60Hz universal
Battery 6-cell 4800mAh battery pack
Battery Charging time, 4hrs (System On/Off) to 100%
Battery low warning message
Physical spec
Dimensions 13.18" x 9.64" x 1.37-1.46"
Weight 5.25 lbs.
Warranty
Manufacturer Warranty 1 year GLOBAL warranty, upgradeable to 3 years total

You can actually get about what the older sony s series is (pentium m and 6xxx nvidia) for under a grand on newegg now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834152019

$849 after rebate and it'll handle sl *VERY* well

I don't know about other people, but my VAIO works fine with SL. My problems are, in fact, all about my internet conection. Here the principal specs:
Intel Pentium® M 750 1.86GHz 1GB RAM (1GB max) 100GB HDD 15.4 WXGA TFT with XBRITE. Graphics card: Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128MB Dynamically Shared Video RAM.
For more details: http://www.clearanceclub.com/depot/quelle_showroom.cgi?sku=4733
Hope this help.
Gabs