USB Graphics Card For Laptops?

[~~~Cindy~~~]

Hey guys,

A friend of mine has a Dell Inspiron 1150 laptop. I just got off
the phone with Dell and they said that it's not possible for me to add
a graphics card to it. He mentioned a USB Graphics Card that may work.
I'm writting to ask if anyone has ever used one of these and would
either suggest or not suggest it. Also, how would it proform?

She needs a better graphics card (other than the chip set one she
has now) to run an online game called "morpg" or something like that.
The minimum requirments are 128 MB of ram (Which she has more than)
and a Nividia G'force Unit with 32 MBs. Could she meet this requirment
with the USB Graphics Card?

- itzadreamer

 

[Frank Jelenko]

Cindy - AFAIK, there is no such thing as a USB Graphics card. Graphics -
i.e., Video Adapter cards - work on in either a PCI slot for the AGP slot.

As Dell tech support said, you can't add a video adapter card to a
laptop/notebook.

Sorry.

 

[Jetro]

Cindy,

First, you should do the research yourself.
Second, a laptop is not a gamer machine.
Third, USB2.0 video cards went on sale last June only and they do not
support Direct3D.
Fourth, buy a dock or port replicator with good video adapter if you want to
please your girlfriend anyway.

 

[Guest]

Hey jethro,

Save yourself a whole lot of bother.

Buy the girlfriend a budget PC with a good video card. Any newer PC will
run rings around the laprop and also have support for any external gaimng
attachments. More thrill per dollar, for both of you.

The Desktop will cost less than any Docing Port, Video card etc
....combination.

 

[Jetro]

Uhm, neither Cindy nor her girlfriend is MY girlfriend...
Aside from the statement "laptop is not a gamer machine", you can find a
good dock/port replicator starting from $80 which is much less than any
budget box price.

 

[~~~Cindy~~~]

Thank you for your help Jetro. I was having a hard time finding the
information I was looking for. This is why I decided to post on google
groups. I'll check into the dockport/port replicator. Though I've
talked to her (Even before reading this) and told her she would be
better getting her game onto a PC instead of a laptop. She agrees.
Anyways thanks again for your help everyone.

- Cindy

 

[Jetro]

Sorry if it sounded a bit harshly ;o)