Laptop

[Chris]

Hi, because I'm getting fed up sitting behind my stupid computer in my room, I would like to get a laptop for my school work and designing websites. I have never had a laptop and do not know much about the different range of CPU's and other hardware.

What the laptop must be able to do:
Run
- Photoshop CS5 (smoothly)
- Dreamweaver

It must also have Wifi, which I doubt any new laptops won't have. Have good battery life. Be quite portable, so no overly sized laptops. Have good screen resolution.

I noticed that laptops now have really good CPU's like i7s, but they're all to expensive.
My budget is anything up to €500.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

[Jackolantern]

I recently bought a Gateway laptop, and have been very happy with it. It was pretty cheap (about $650) and came with an Intel i5 processor, a 17.2" high-resolution monitor (very nice for doing complex GUI work like in Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, etc., but kind of difficult to lug it around), 4gb RAM, and Windows 7. They don't sell the exact model I got anymore since it was about 5 months ago, but from the major laptop retailers it just seems like you get more from your money through them.

However, for running Photoshop CS5 smoothly, I think you would need a dedicated video card on it, which mine doesn't have. Here is a page of some Gateway laptops with HD Radeon video cards. The processors aren't the i3s or i5s, but it can be expensive to get a video card in a laptop, and these are all pretty well-priced with them.

[Chris]

EW, ATI Does Nvidia make graphics cards for laptops?

[Joey]

May I suggest a sony vaio?
They are a little expensive, but Nvidia do graphics cards for them. Also, they are very powerful

[Jackolantern]

You will be getting much less power for the euro with Sony Vaio. Like, almost half the computer. Sony, Dell and Alienware are all the most expensive PC laptops you can buy.

But to answer your question, I don't think Gateways come with nVidia. However, these are not gaming cards anyway. They would just bump up your Photoshop performance, so you would likely see little difference between ATI and nVidia. The only brands that I know of that come with nVidia are extremely expensive (the above mentioned brands), and I doubt you would be able to get one with a dedicated video card for 500 Euros. However, some decently priced brands (like Gateway, HP and Compaq) would allow you to get a dedicated video card, a good processor, nice size screen, plenty of RAM and a good sized HDD. But they only have ATI. Heck, my laptop is able to run Photoshop CS4 and Dreamweaver CS4 no problem and it is using on-board Intel graphics. Even with an ATI, a rig like this would blaze those programs.

EDIT: To clarify, what I meant by "these are not gaming cards", is that laptop graphics cards are much more simple than desktop cards. They are not designed, nor able, to pump out millions and millions of polys. For these smaller, lower performance laptop cards, you would likely see very little difference with an ATI card vs. nVidia, and you would get about 2x the computer from one of the brands that offers them.

EDIT2: Ouch. I just looked at the Vaios, and the cheapest they have that includes even a low-end nVidia card option is $1000 (or $811 Euro).

[hallsofvallhalla]

You will be getting much less power for the euro with Sony Vaio. Like, almost half the computer. Sony, Dell and Alienware are all the most expensive PC laptops you can buy.

simply not true. Vaio's are beasts. They are also built to last.

If you buy a laptop get one with Nvidia! I have 4 laptops. 2 with Nvidia and 2 with ATI. The ATI ones are garbage. Can't find decent drivers and won't even play Assault cube!!

The current Nvidia card I have in my "gaming" laptop will smoke any ATI I have ever used and it is not a new card.

These are only my opinions and I am not trying to start a argument between ATI and Nvidia. Nvidia is very developer friendly whilst ATI is like Mac. It is not. Wii's have ATI cards if that tells you anything

Only my opinion though. Problem is you are going to pay more to get one with Nvidia card because Nvidia is just that good.


Laptops are cheap but have went up in price recently. Do not go overboard. I recently paid $250 US for a laptop for my girlfriend and it does awesome. TigerDirect is your friend.

HP pavillions are complete GARBAGE

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4935

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=4935

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834220757

[Jackolantern]

You will be getting much less power for the euro with Sony Vaio. Like, almost half the computer. Sony, Dell and Alienware are all the most expensive PC laptops you can buy.

simply not true. Vaio's are beasts. They are also built to last.

Specs are specs. For example, 2.2 Ghz Dual Core will not out perform a 2.6 Ghz i5 no matter what plastic is on the outside of it. I can't speak for HP, as I don't have one, but my $600 Gateway out performed an $1100 Vaio on every test we performed because it actually had better specs. You are paying for the name, its advertising campaign, and its stylish looks. For the power, they are very over-priced. And Gateway also lasts quite nicely as well. I know someone with a Gateway laptop that never had a problem over 5 years of rough use. But regardless, you cannot buy a Vaio that will run Photoshop CS5 well for 500 Euros.

As far as the ATI vs. nVidia thing, I won't be commenting on that, because you have already shown yourself to be an nVidia fanboy who would likely dismiss anything they make without looking in to it. Except I have to comment on the ridiculous Wii comment: The argument that Wii has ATI cards and that reflects badly on ATI is pretty sad, Halls. Wii was built from the ground up to be almost $200 cheaper than the 360 and the PS3 for the casual market. Just because ATI makes lower-end cards doesn't reflect on them at all. Does it say anything bad about nVidia that their cards dominate the ~$300 PC market and those PCs can't play Crysis?

[Chris]

Is this going to be another one of those fart moments again? Please don't let it be a watery one.

Thats Asus one looked pretty interesting Halls, I wouldn't go for the first one you posted. My sister once had a Celeron, it was CRAP!

What I don't understand is why it's that difficult to make a decent laptop without it being so big and expensive. For example the new iPhone has a 1ghz CPU and from what I've heard it has 512mb RAM. But yet the thing that stagers me is the fact that while it may have like half the specs of a decent laptop or computer, it fits into a laptop about 20 times, doesn't need any cooling... for a while anyway and you can do nearly anything you want on it, if your fingers arent as chubby as mine.

[hallsofvallhalla]

I paid $80 for my 8800GT and it plays Crysis just fine.

The video cards in the Wii are crap. Read about the developer issues. I could care less a bout the system or about that it is in the Wii. It is just that I have read in tons of forums and blogs how much trouble they give developers. Figured others have too, A Wii is after all a GameCube.

Would not say I am a fanboi but just a hater of ATI. I was a network Tech for many years, have owned literally hundreds of computers and have never once had a good ATI card. Not once. The best card I have ever owned was a BFG 6600GT. IS still running from several years ago and can still run many games today.

But I understand everyone knows my affliction with that company so I will drop it there.

@ Chris I have a 1.8ghzt 1 gig Laptop that runs win7, dreamweaver, photoshop, and even T3D. Does everything I need as a developer. I paid $100 off of craigslist for it. Nothing wrong with saving money and going cheaper. Especially if you are just coding websites and such.

[Jackolantern]

What I don't understand is why it's that difficult to make a decent laptop without it being so big and expensive.

Unless you have a very specific reason for needing a small laptop, I would get a big screen if I were you. You don't know frustration like trying to use Dreamweaver or Photoshop on a 14" screen. You have to set the resolution up so high it is hard to read text, minimize all of the tools and basically have an aggravating UI just to have enough of a working field to get by. I got a 17.2", and while it can be difficult to lug it around, I was able to find a backpack to carry it easily. It is a Godsend for working in Dreamweaver or Visual Studio for me. Unfortunately, larger screen = larger, generally heavier machine, but I have never regretted it for a moment.