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Developers, developers, developers, developers

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Twiggy said:
I know, right? A desktop can only dream about achieving an idle power usage of 10 watts or less :3



A lot of laptops will run all them just fine as long as it's not an ARM-based "tablet" or something running an Atom/Bay Trail Celeron/Pentium (Ivy Bridge/Haswell Celeron/Pentiums are OK). I'm willing to bet you want something better than "fine", though. If possible, aim for at least an Ivy Bridge/Haswell Core i5 (ULV processors are OK, and desirable if you want to use the laptop for a long time unplugged), and some sort of NVIDIA graphics with Optimus (again, battery life), of at least GeForce GT 630M level (I'd advise a 740M personally) (so you can play everything but Company of Heroes 2 and Metro: Last Light well enough at 720p (yes, a 630M is just fast enough for CoD: Ghosts and Battlefield 4 (!)). Aim for at least 4 GB of RAM, but some current-generation games won't run with such a configuration, so try for 8.

If possible, try to give a laptop a personal look. Try the keyboard and the trackpad, especially if you see yourself using the laptop outdoors a lot. The display resolution isn't terribly important - the display brightness, cover material (matte or glossy?), and whether any mottling exists is more important for a normal Windows laptop, since Windows desktop apps don't handle high-PPI displays well once you go beyond full-screen games and Microsoft apps.

If it comes with a replaceable normal 5400 RPM HDD, don't upgrade the HDD if there's no hybrid option. Buy a Seagate Laptop SSHD separately. You will never go back to non-SSD/SSHD solutions.
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I was going to buy one off of Amazon, but would going to somewhere like Best Buy be better then? That way I could get a "feel" for the laptop.
 
I'd definitely try everywhere for a laptop.. for now, just go to Best Buy or any retail store and try out the laptops and find what you may like. Then look at that laptop on other retailers to see if they offer it for lower price or if it's on sale, then settle. That's what I'd do at least.
 
Just remember that you probably want to take a look at the entire thing and what the competitors are offering. Last thing you want to get is a plastic horror that you regret buying :3
 
Those small little horrors that are called keyboards are a mess for me. I literally prefer the notions of typing on the screen then on a small PoS just to say I have a keyboard. Once you learn the positions on the screen its a perfectly fine input method. Faster even if you know what you're doing.
 
Zach said:
Hmm, so my fingers are getting more used to typing on my tablet's physical kyboard. Though the only pet peeve I have about it is having to make certain punctuation such as an apostrophe or a tilde with the function key, unlike a normal, full-sized keyboard.
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Not all keyboards are made equal, I suppose.

The Touch Cover attached to my Surface is more like a protective cover that happens to be able to be used as a virtual keyboard. Even though I can't feel the keys, I can type OK with it. I usually leave really heavy typing on my real laptop, so I didn't spend the extra money for the Type Cover, which is essentially "the ripped-out laptop keyboard".

One thing I do know, though - I really prefer my physical keyboards with full-size keys.

Evil Stud Muffin said:
Those small little horrors that are called keyboards are a mess for me. I literally prefer the notions of typing on the screen then on a small PoS just to say I have a keyboard. Once you learn the positions on the screen its a perfectly fine input method. Faster even if you know what you're doing.
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I really like how software keyboards work in Windows Phone and Windows 8/RT. They're just large enough, and they predict input on the keystroke level before autocorrect kicks in.
 
I'm old school. I gotta have a physical keyboard.

Bruce Banner said:
I was going to buy one off of Amazon, but would going to somewhere like Best Buy be better then? That way I could get a "feel" for the laptop.
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That's a good start. Doing you research is the best way to find your perfect computer. Usually computer websites like Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc., have special deals where you can get your computer for a bit cheaper than retailers (and with free shipping included at times). You could even build your own laptop to suit your liking.

A recommendation I have based on the specs you provided above: you should go for a laptop with at least an i3 processor and 3 GB or RAM. Most games require a good processor and 2 GB of RAM. Anything under that could fry up your new laptop.
 
Axeliira said:
A recommendation I have based on the specs you provided above: you should go for a laptop with at least an i3 processor and 3 GB or RAM. Most games require a good processor and 2 GB of RAM. Anything under that could fry up your new laptop.
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I think I'll make it a bit more specific.

The CPU should be either a "standard" i3 (ULV i3s are iffy) or any i5/i7 (ULV i5s and i7s are OK). 2 GB doesn't cut it for today's games - aim for at least 4, and preferably 8. (6 GB RAM configurations are sub-optimal compared to either 4 or 8, due to the way memory modules work.) You should also try to have a dedicated GPU of some kind, but if it's slower than an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 M, don't bother! (For good performance, try for a GT 740M at the very least.)

On another topic, I've been re-syncing music to my phone on a lower bit rate (128 Kbps Windows Media Audio), and it seems like I should be able to get away with it, since I'm not noticing any difference between what I'm hearing now and what I'm hearing before.
 
Twiggy said:
I think I'll make it a bit more specific.

The CPU should be either a "standard" i3 (ULV i3s are iffy) or any i5/i7 (ULV i5s and i7s are OK). 2 GB doesn't cut it for today's games - aim for at least 4, and preferably 8. (6 GB RAM configurations are sub-optimal compared to either 4 or 8, due to the way memory modules work.) You should also try to have a dedicated GPU of some kind, but if it's slower than an NVIDIA GeForce GT 630 M, don't bother! (For good performance, try for a GT 740M at the very least.)
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For clarity, ULV is ultra low voltage, which designates low-power versions of CPUs. Try are generally assigned "U" suffix, but if you stay over 2GHz, you're pretty safe. Come back to us with the specs when you think you've decided on something, Axeliira.
On another topic, I've been re-syncing music to my phone on a lower bit rate (128 Kbps Windows Media Audio), and it seems like I should be able to get away with it, since I'm not noticing any difference between what I'm hearing now and what I'm hearing before.
Click to expand...
I use 192kb/s, as the DAC in the iPhone 4 can't do much better and I'm pushed for space. Whether or not you can hear it also depends on the quality of your headphones.
 
The only thing I can say about integrated graphics is that I didn't realise that I was using the integrated graphics to play Deus Ex: Human Revolution: The Missing Link (an expansion) because of a misconfiguration.

Guess not all games are made equal, even those of the recent variety.
 
Zach said:
Sometimes it makes me wish that laptops were able to have external GPUs come with them, but I'd also imagine that these video game makers don't expect their games to be played on laptops at the same time.
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Some video game developers actually started designing their games with the HD 3000 in mind :)

Others still expect a powerful gaming rig.

In other news, well, phone, meet concrete. Looks like I'm going to have to repair or replace the phone soon.
 
It didn't crack, but it now looks really ugly :(

I was planning to service the battery anyway, but looks like there's one more thing to fix. At least I'm still able to use it until it gets sent for repair.
 
I got a giant 9300 mah battery for my phone haha. It takes twelve hours for the initial charge xD
 
CC said:
I got a giant 9300 mah battery for my phone haha. It takes twelve hours for the initial charge xD
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I have a 25 Wh (7000 mAh) Sony portable battery. Comes with two USB ports capable of providing their rated maximum current (2.1 A) at the same time!

It also comes with its own 10 W USB charger so that it won't take forever to charge. :)

I think I'm going to join the budget smartphone party whether I like it or not. :(
 
On a similar note to keyboards.
What do you guys think of mechanical keyboards?

Do you use them?
Do you think they're worth the hefty price tag?

I use a Corsair K95, and I think it's glorious. [With Cherry MX-red switches]
 
Zach said:
I guess what I have is a budget smartphone, then.. it was under $100 USD, and the line is under a year old. That's not a bad price if you ask me, especially for an unlocked phone.
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Good thing you didn't get a $100 off-contract Android smartphone, because that'd be torture... until someone sets things straight.

Somniac said:
On a similar note to keyboards.
What do you guys think of mechanical keyboards?

Do you use them?
Do you think they're worth the hefty price tag?

I use a Corsair K95, and I think it's glorious. [With Cherry MX-red switches]
Click to expand...

Seeing as I'm using a laptop right now, I can't give any opinions.

One thing I do know, though: scissor-switch keyboards, when done right, can have a great typing feel despite their short key travel. It's all in the "bounce" and spacing. As long as you don't have some weird layout with regard to the keys, or have keys with no gap between them (aside from arrow keys), it works very well.

Bonus: they're quiet!
 
Twiggy said:
I have a 25 Wh (7000 mAh) Sony portable battery. Comes with two USB ports capable of providing their rated maximum current (2.1 A) at the same time!

It also comes with its own 10 W USB charger so that it won't take forever to charge. :)

I think I'm going to join the budget smartphone party whether I like it or not. :(
Click to expand...

Mine isn't separate from my phone, though. It is now a monster.
 
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