buying a laptop for gaming but dont no what to look for :S

[oakley100]

im sorry if this is in the wrong section or there is a thread allready about this but im in a bit of a rush your advice would be much appreciated.
Im 15 and getting a laptop, nothing fancy nothing from alienware or anything and also i have no idea what is good or bad when it comes to getting a laptop for gaming so again i would be grateful for your advice.

http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/offers/58_6858.htm - this is the laptop im after, sorry if the link dosnt work.
Im a big fan of stratergy games and ill probaly play all my FPS games on my ps3
i am looking to buy the rome total war series and civilisation 4 those are the most important to me when it comes to what this laptop can play. The reason im going for this laptop is its on a deal and im well 15...... well here is some info on it

intel pentium dual-core processor T2390
(1.86 GHz, 1 MB L2 Cache, 533 MHz FSB)

intel graphics media accelerator X3100

250GB hard disk

3GB RAM

so again im a newbie when it comes to gaming p.c's and again sorry if this is in the wrong section but could you help me anyway

 

[Madxgraphics]

Hi Oakley and welcome to PCR...There are a few serious gamers on this forum that will point you in the right direction..In my honest opinion though I would stay clear of that laptop...

 

[oakley100]

thanks for the welcoming . I know this laptop isnt ground breaking and for a real peice of gaming equipment i would have to spend well over a grand but do you know what games this laptop would be able to play specificly the rome total war series and civilisation 4, i wont be playing anything like oblivion or COD4 on this. thanks for any advice

 

[Waynos_Face]

Hi,

Welcome to PCReview

A gaming laptop for £450 isn't gonna happen, especially one with integrated graphics like the one from ALDI, sorry but its true, last year i spent £1400 on a so called gaming laptop but due to the heat generated you can't get that much power in a laptop, there is no way to cool it properly.

You can get what i got for about £850 now.

Anyway here are some suggestions for about the same price, if i were you though i would find another £30 and get the last one or if you don't have the extra cash get the first one.

Top tip, Toshiba or ASUS for a laptop, Toshiba is best and most people here will support that

Another top tip, stay away from ACER and Packard Bell Easynotes.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Toshiba_Satellite_A200-244_PSAE6E-0E702YEN/version.asp

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_F5RL_Laptop_-_1.83GHz,_2GB,160GB_F5RL-AP295C/version.asp

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ASUS_F5SL-AP016C_F5SL-AP016C/version.asp

Hope this helps

 

[Waynos_Face]

Just don't buy that laptop, unknown make and its from ALDI, they sell food.

 

[oakley100]

thanks for the help . i was looking at the links to the laptop and the last one looked nice, i might start to sound a bit repetative here :S but would it play the rome total war series and civilisation 4? and a few other things
can i upgrade a laptop by myself like i could do with a desktop and my cousin was speaking about some thought of portable graphics card that they are making anyone know what that is about?

 

[Madxgraphics]

Just don't buy that laptop, unknown make and its from ALDI, they sell food.

I thought the name sounded familiar...haha can I have a bunch of carrots with me gaming laptop please..?

 

[Waynos_Face]

Yeah the first or last links i posted will play those games just fine, even Company of Heroes on low resolution, the only upgrades to be done on a laptop is the memory.

I think what he is on about is for supporting dual monitors, a plug in graphics card would be USB and the speed at which the memory would be used is too slow.

Hope this helps.

 

[oakley100]

Thanks alot for the help, advice and the welcoming (the only smiley i know). im sure i can find an extra £30 for that last laptop

 

[Waynos_Face]

Cool, thats the best one i can find for money, might be worth hanging on a day or 2 incase someone finds a better one.

 

[Abarbarian]

Just don't buy that laptop, unknown make and its from ALDI, they sell food.

I bought a monitor from Aldi way back when, its still running. Nice clear graphics, it was cheaper than anywhere else and as with all their products came with a two year guarantee. I recently bought a satellite system from them. It has all the features you would expect on a far more expensive set up, cost £60, works just fine on the five pre set sattelites.
So they may sell food but some of their kit is well worth buying even if it is not exactly enthusisat grade.

 

[Waynos_Face]

Okay i take that back about ALDI, but since having a look around that laptop is crap for the money, much better spec from ASUS or Toshiba for same or less.

Plus my good friend google has uncovered that some of the hardware used in that laptop model is shoddy at best.

 

[G~MAN]

Have a look at Dell, they sell some nice laptops. Look out for the XPS model.

I would try and save a little bit more money. I remember I was in your boat a few years ago when buying this machine, i'm 18 and this machine is a few years old now.

But wait a little and don't rush into things, save up some cash and get something a lot better

 

[JaLing]

Have a look at Dell, they sell some nice laptops. Look out for the XPS model.

I would try and save a little bit more money. I remember I was in your boat a few years ago when buying this machine, i'm 18 and this machine is a few years old now.

But wait a little and don't rush into things, save up some cash and get something a lot better

I agree here, check out DELL.
Just got me a Vostro with Dells version of MX slot GPU. Cost me like £550 and it even plays Crysis reasonably well.

The Intel X3100 wont be great on frame rate m8 however it does support Shader Model 3 etc so it will play newer games. But if you can try to get a GeForce in it.