Need a Laptop

I have a friend who wants to get a laptop that is good enough to run SL. Does anyone have one out there that works? If you would be so kind as to send me an IM in game, I would be happy to talk toyou, or you can post it here.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Samhain Broom

What is she looking for in a laptop besides the ability to play SL? Primarily: will the laptop spend most of its time on a desk, or does she want the laptop for traveling? What's the most she's willing to spend on it?

I'll assume that she's a Windows user, because if she's a Mac person, the clear choice is the Apple Powerbook.

If the laptop is going to sit on a desk most of the day and if money is no object, she might look at the various gameing laptops out there, such as Alienware...the later give you the ability to upgrade the graphics card without taking it to a technician (but I forget if they use nVidia or ATI or both).

If she wants a laptop that's truly portable (light weight and good battery life), that might be harder. I've lusted after machines like the ultra-light IBM Think Pads (and it's generaly hard to go wrong with a Think Pad) but they tend to have less powerfull processors and I dunno a thing about the graphics chip except that it's probably Intel-something.

If she IS looking for a laptop to mostly just sit on a desk, I bought a zd7000 by HP. The damn thing is massive, and heavy, but it kicks ass and it has a 17" screen.

I did a lot of research before settling on it, comparing the various laptops with 17" screens, and for my purposes I found it to be the best all around (price/features).

But, this monster weighs about 15lbs in a backpack with the power cable, extra mouse, and wacom tablet, so it's not something I'd want to lug around for any length of time.

If you are going to buy one, the main thing it should have is a video card which is NOT integrated such as those intel graphics cards, not only do they share system ram but MANY games do not support them. As for brands any brand will work as long as it has a dedicated video card such as, Radeon Mobility 9000, or GeForce from the nvidia side.

The second thing to keep in mind is the CPU speed, while not all games require a very powerful CPU some do Intel Centrinos are nice because they use less battery power due to smaller die sizes, but if this is to sit somewhere you might spring for the beefier Pentium 4 chips.

Finally RAM, ram matters especially with Windows XP, less than 512 is a gimpy machine, If you can afford it spring for 1 GB.

If you need some specific examples such as a Dell line or what not feel free to write back.

I have no idea what their current specs are - and you will want to be aware of all of the issues mentioned above - but I just wanted to put down that I've had great experiences with Sony's "VAIO" line of Laptops. They're usually pretty powerful, lightweight, and good with battery-life... but they are NOT cheap!

Take care,

--Noel "HB" Wade
(Tread Whiplash)

So general concensus has it at the zd7000 HP. Cool. I'm also sensing that GeForce is the way to go, and 1GB or better RAM and XP-pro for the op/sys.

Weight is not really going to be a problem, it's nothing a couple of wheels can't cure. Primary use will be SL, secondary will be building textures, and learning either PSP or PhotoShop, chat and e-mail should not be a problem if all of the above has nicely been taken care of. Thanks for all the help!

I'll also have her come and read here, and feel free to send me an IM and I will introduce you to te nicest person in SL!

http://www.zd7000forums.com/

This site is great - a forum for people who have the zd7000 (or 8000), or who are looking to buy one. If you have a question about it, the answer is there!