Need help finding a laptop

[obliterate]

I'm looking for a new laptop right now but ain't that tech savvy At least not for my generation. I was hoping someone here could recommend me one.

Here's what I'm looking for:
Vista Ultimate (Is it worth it?)
minimum: 2GB RAM
100GB memory (I know its not much but I dont really need much more than that)
4-5GHz prcessor (that too much too little?)
preferably under $2000\

Basicallly what I'm looking for is an allround computer that I can play graphics and RAM intensive games and one that will also last at least 5 years.

So thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Mulholland]

Something like this should do you nicely for games. I know it's not Australian dollars, but I believe that the CAD and the AUD are never that far off from each other the Australian hardware prices shouldn't be that different either. You should see If you can find something like this on an Australian web site or in a local shop.

Edit: Assuming that a computer is going to be Future Proof I.E. not be outdated in two years is wishful thinking. Five years? That is nearly impossible, especially with a laptop in which you cant swap out parts with ease. In 6 months time there will be games released that will make this laptop cry. In two years it will not be able to play modern games at an acceptable quality. Further, in five years the system requirements for the new fancy OS will make this computer run like it was straight out of '88.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220403

 

[Aramazd]

4-5Ghz is way to much, you can't even get desktop systems with that much speed.

 

[Mulholland]

4-5Ghz is way to much, you can't even get desktop systems with that much speed.

Just to clarify a bit. 'Gigahertz' is an outdated method of determining a CPU's speed anyways. The standard used to be based on Pentium single cores. However, my very modest athlon x2 4200 is 2.2 gigahertz per core and is rated at about 6 gigahertz by Pentium standards. A quad core rated at 2.0 would be much faster than my Athlon. You get the idea. More cores usally means a faster processor despite slower clock speeds.

 

[obliterate]

Something like this should do you nicely for games. I know it's not Australian dollars, but I believe that the CAD and the AUD are never that far off from each other the Australian hardware prices shouldn't be that different either. You should see If you can find something like this on an Australian web site or in a local shop.

Edit: Assuming that a computer is going to be Future Proof I.E. not be outdated in two years is wishful thinking. Five years? That is nearly impossible, especially with a laptop in which you cant swap out parts with ease. In 6 months time there will be games released that will make this laptop cry. In two years it will not be able to play modern games at an acceptable quality. Further, in five years the system requirements for the new fancy OS will make this computer run like it was straight out of '88.

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220403

It is Vista Home premium. That isn't compatible with the school software, intranet or somthing. Is there anyway to get Vista Ultimate on it? Otherwise it sounds like a really good laptop.

Damn, the exchange rate is down to .84 canadian dollars to 1 AUD from .99 = 1

 

[Mulholland]

It is Vista Home premium. That isn't compatible with the school software, intranet or somthing. Is there anyway to get Vista Ultimate on it? Otherwise it sounds like a really good laptop.

Damn, the exchange rate is down to .84 canadian dollars to 1 AUD from .99 = 1

I'm sure it would run Ultimate as well you just have to look for a similar model that has it installed. Unfortunately I'm not exactly current on Australian suppliers. Azzaman might be able to point you in the right direction.

 

[obliterate]

What about this one? ASUS G70S A1. I can only find good reviews of it. Bit expensive but I can get it at a discounted wholesale price.

 

[Mulholland]

This one?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220364good laptop.

Very good laptop. Better processor than the one I recommended. I thought the video card seemed weak but it turns out there are two in SLI. It is quite a powerful computer and ASUS is quite a good brand. I'm not sure on the price you can get this thing for but It's a pretty nice lappy. I found a review that you might find helpful as well in making your purchasing decision.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=269794

 

[obliterate]

Helpful review. What is RAID and BIOS?

 

[Lord Neil]

Sager NP5793

The Sager NP5793 is a very powerful laptop for its price. It has the nVidia 9800 video card which is very powerful, dual core 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM, 200GB 7200RPM Harddrive (up it to 320GB for an extra $30), bluetooth, WiFi, 1.3 MegaPixel Camera, black case, fingerprint reader, and you can put whatever OS you want on it.

 

[Mulholland]

Helpful review. What is RAID and BIOS?

I'm no expert but RAID is a name for a multiple hard drive configuration. There is RAID 0 and 1 amongst other configurations each having it's own properties. You'd be best to look it up unless Zelig or Stickciv can enlighten you further. BIOS is the name for the motherboard firmware which allows you to access advanced options outside of windows. I don't mess with my BIOS unless it is absolutely necessary because it can really ruin your month.

 

[Aramazd]

Just to clarify a bit. 'Gigahertz' is an outdated method of determining a CPU's speed anyways. The standard used to be based on Pentium single cores. However, my very modest athlon x2 4200 is 2.2 gigahertz per core and is rated at about 6 gigahertz by Pentium standards. A quad core rated at 2.0 would be much faster than my Athlon. You get the idea. More cores usally means a faster processor despite slower clock speeds.

Not really. Single threaded loads are only able to use one core. More important would be IPC. Megahertz/Gigahertz is only a useful measure of speed if you are comparing very similar CPUs. I said speed because I wasn't sure what to put there.

Helpful review. What is RAID and BIOS?

RAID stands for "Redundant Array of Independent Disks". The main types are RAID 0,1, and 5. RAID 0 splits data across 2 disks to increase read speed. RAID 1 requires to disks and exactly copies the contents of 1 drive to another, so if one fails you have an exact copy. RAID 5 allows drives to be combined, but with redundency as well. All of these are unimportant for a consumer system, however.
EDIT: In a laptop RAID is even less of a factor.

The BIOS is used for changing hardware setting and overclocking. If you don't know what it is don't use it.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

The BIOS is known as "Built in Operating System" or "Basic Input/Output System." You also change it to boot from CDs and floppies. Can be useful, but don't mess with it unless you know what you're doing.