How much can I expect to pay for a laptop for school and games?

[Envergure]

Hey guys.


I want to get a laptop to use for school projects (like slideshows and videos), gaming (H2V, CS:S) and surfing the web (do people still say that?) and I'd like to hear from someone who knows more about it than me about how mush it would cost.

Here's an extensive list of what I'd like it to have:
- Windows Vista Home Premium (there's $300 already)
- At least a 3Ghz CPU
- Mid- to high-end graphics card (GeForce 8600 maybe)
- A good sound card (nothing fancy)
- At least a 120-160GB hard drive, reasonably fast (say 7200 RPM, is that fast?)
- At least 4GB of RAM
- A relatively small screen size (18-21") so I don't have to be carrying around a huge bag
- Decent networking capabilities (good enough to download stuff, play games online and use my school's wireless)


I hope I didn't miss anything. I don't know much about laptops so any advice or insight is helpful.

On Apple's website there's a thing where you can play with upgrades and a few other settings to customize your computer, and it tells you how much it would cost. But Macs are lousy for gaming so I tried to find a thing like that for PC laptops but had no luck.

Thanks!

 

[thewoosterisroot]

Dude, how much are you planning on spending? Those are some pretty heavy specs for a lappy. I really don't think you need quite that specs for basic gaming (though definitely get someone else's opinion, I only know from what I've looked at and such). but try Dell, they've got some pretty good deals. however, if you really do want even higher specs, you might wanna try something like Alienware.
Again, I'm no expert, but for a lappy those are some pretty high end specs.

Oh yeah, lol. BTW, if I understood you right...you're talking 4-5 grand.

 

[Ph30nIX]

lol "A relatively small screen size (18-21")" thats pretty big for laptop, and 4gb ram is a bit overkill. I dont think it would have a huge advantage over 2gb. And with all those specs you'd be draining the **** out of the battery, so unless you plan on using it always plugged in consider getting a desktop or revising your specs to what you 'need' not what you think you need

 

[halo71]

Are you serious? 18-21 inch screen? I have a laptop with a 17" screen and it seems huge. With specs like that for school projects?

 

[Envergure]

To nathanskywalker,
Wow, I never expected it to be that high! Maybe I should have done more research.

To Ph30NiX,
I read Windows Vista takes 2G of RAM just to start up, and many new games take up to 1G of memory also. But I guess games' minimum specs include system overhead (just thought of that now). Maybe I should tone it down. I've heard that doubling your RAM can cut load times by three, or even four though.

To halo71,
I have a friend who has a laptop that I thought seemed tiny, and he said its screen was 21". But I guess he could have been mistaken; He and I, like 96.6% of the rest of the world, don't live in the US so we're used to thinking in Metric.


Thank you all for your input! I definitely should have done a bit more research. By the time I can afford to get a new computer I should know enough about them to not sound so stupid .

 

[LinkedKube]

lol Sounds like someone wants to spend 4k usd for a laptop. Not only a laptop, a flat top stove, because that's what its going to feel like with all that hardware, and gonna sound like a f 22 at take off.

 

[utra]

Windows Vista requires only 512 to run but its recomended to have 1 gig or more , half the specs your listing there and you will still have a laptop that could esaly run most games and programs.

 

[thewoosterisroot]

Hey, np. I guess we're supposed to be helping and not just criticizing your dream specs But yeah, you probably want to tone down the specs a little bit there. I don't know what your friend told you, but half those specs are pretty nice on a lappy (thought personally I would preffer a 17" screen- that's quiet adequate really).

 

[Envergure]

I may have found the solution to my problem.

Take a look at this (you don't have to read the whole thing):
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/chowfamily/lego/
I know this is kind of far-out, but maybe I could build a computer like this guy did; It could pass for a laptop if I could get it small enough and put a screen on it, and it probably wouldn't cost too much more than an equivalent desktop PC! (Too bad I suck at lego though.)

 

[halo71]

You are joking right? Seems to me like you may not be all that sure what you want. But that is kinda a cool project though!

 

[TCool]

I may have found the solution to my problem.

Take a look at this (you don't have to read the whole thing):
http://home.hawaii.rr.com/chowfamily/lego/
I know this is kind of far-out, but maybe I could build a computer like this guy did; It could pass for a laptop if I could get it small enough and put a screen on it, and it probably wouldn't cost too much more than an equivalent desktop PC! (Too bad I suck at lego though.)

LOL!!! That thing is freaking cool!