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[evil solrac v3.0]

Any particular Asus laptop? The VX5 is too expensive and only has a GT130M, the G60Vx seems discontinued/out of stock at many retailers.. got any recommendations that are available in the UK?

do you honestly need a laptop for three weeks? that money would be better spent upgrading your desktop.

 

[Smash88]

whats the problem with ASUS? they are quite good.

Sure, if you want terrible tech support, faulty hardware, and a number of other problems. Go for it.

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Anyways I came here to post that some have tested NVIDIA's Fermi video card. And it beats the 5870 hands down.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4193724&postcount=734

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Statistically, it does not account for certain things (such as tech support and other things), it only accounts for pre-assembled systems. Which doesn't say anything about their individual parts, but hey, what do I know. Statistics are the law!

Although, overall, garbage is still garbage, no matter what way you try to spin it.

 

[Druz]

ASUS is fantastic. Their desktops and laptops are the best along side Toshiba. Statistically projected the least likely to break over the course of 3 years. HP being the worst and Dell a little higher.

 

[Stantron]

Hey guys. I'm looking into buying a new PC desktop soon. I checked out the custom build sites from the OP, but none of the boxes are appealing to me. The new HP desktops, on the other hand, look nice esthetically, so I'm kind of leaning towards just going this route to make things easy. That is unless I can learn about better deals/options from this thread.

Here's the HP Pavilion Elite HPE-170t (custom build)

• Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-860 processor [2.8GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• 8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
• 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 640GB
• 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
• Premium Wireless-N LAN card and Bluetooth(R)
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner)
• TV tuner, ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote
• Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
• HP stereo speakers with subwoofer and remote 30W
• HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
$1,615
good deal?

I noticed advice to stay away from HP laptops on the previous page. Same for HP desktops? My current PC is an HP, which has been reliable, so I don't have any personal reasons to dislike them. Though maybe I'm just lucky.

I don't game much on PC, but I plan to buy SSFIV in the future and maybe mess around with FPS games (BC2). I also want to start doing video editing work. Other than that, I typically use my PC for music/video streaming/internet.

 

[kmfdmpig]

Hey guys. I'm looking into buying a new PC desktop soon. I checked out the custom build sites from the OP, but none of the boxes are appealing to me. The new HP desktops, on the other hand, look nice esthetically, so I'm kind of leaning towards just going this route to make things easy. That is unless I can learn about better deals/options from this thread.

Here's the HP Pavilion Elite HPE-170t (custom build)
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
• Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-860 processor [2.8GHz, 1MB L2 + 8MB shared L3 cache]
• 8GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
• 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 640GB
• 1.8GB NVIDIA Geforce GTX 260 [2 DVI, HDMI and VGA adapters]
• LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
• Premium Wireless-N LAN card and Bluetooth(R)
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner)
• TV tuner, ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote
• Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
• HP stereo speakers with subwoofer and remote 30W
• HP multimedia keyboard and HP optical mouse
$1,615
good deal?

I noticed advice to stay away from HP laptops on the previous page. Same for HP desktops? My current PC is an HP, which has been reliable, so I don't have any personal reasons to dislike them. Though maybe I'm just lucky.

I don't game much on PC, but I plan to buy SSFIV in the future and maybe mess around with FPS games (BC2). I also want to start doing video editing work. Other than that, I typically use my PC for music/video streaming/internet.

It looks to me to be about $200 more than what you would pay for similar parts if buying on your own or using NCIX. Also that approach would let you OC if you wanted to, where the HP likely won't.

 

[brain_stew]

$1,615
good deal?
t.

What!!??

No, good deal is the last thing I'd use to describe that. There's an endless amount of PC case designs you can choose from.

 

[brain_stew]

. Other than that, I typically use my PC for music/video streaming/internet.

Then why in the hell are you even contemplating spending a grand and a half on a PC when a $600 rig would deliver way more than you'd need?

 

[Smash88]

Then why in the hell are you even contemplating spending a grand and a half on a PC when a $600 rig would deliver way more than you'd need?

I agree. Although he did state he wants to play SSFIV and Bad Company 2 later on.

Oh and 1.8GB of VRAM for a GTX260 is hilarious. :lol

 

[Stantron]

What!!??

No, good deal is the last thing I'd use to describe that. There's an endless amount of PC case design you can choose from.

Ok, good to know I'm way off. :lol
That HP case looks kinda sleek though. Much better than most of the generic hard edged boxes that I see when I search for custom builds. Maybe I just don't know where to look. Could you recommend a case you think looks good.

 

[vocab]

Considering you can get better stuff for $1600, it's not really a good purchase. Hell you can easily get something under $1000 that would play any game out right now.

 

[Smash88]

Ok, good to know I'm way off. :lol
That HP case looks kinda sleek though. Much better than most of the generic hard edged boxes that I see when I search for custom builds. Maybe I just don't know where to look. Could you recommend a case you think looks good.

ANTEC 900

 

[scitek]

I've put together this so far:

Powercolor Radeon HD 5770 PCs 875MHZ 1GB 4.9GHZ GDDR5 2XDVI HDMI DP DIRECTX11 PCI-E Video Card - $153 before $15 rebate

MSI 770-G45 AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard - $79.99

AMD Phenom II X4 925 Deneb 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Processor - $140.99

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - $97.99

Lookin' to spend ~$500-600 total, and I'm at $471 now before shipping.

What case would you guys recommend? One with a 450W or higher PSU, I'd assume. I need a HDD too. Already have DVDRW and all that, so I hope I can just carry it over.

 

[Owzers]

I was looking at ATI 5770 graphics cards on newegg and there are several manufacturers for them and types, what's the best one, and what's the differences between them?

 

[Stantron]

I agree. Although he did state he wants to play SSFIV and Bad Company 2 later on.

Oh and 1.8GB of VRAM for a GTX260 is hilarious. :lol

Hilarious as in piece of crap? As you can obviously tell, I'm not that up to speed with the latest in PC tech, so sorry if I'm asking dumb questions.

 

[Firestorm]

Ok, good to know I'm way off. :lol
That HP case looks kinda sleek though. Much better than most of the generic hard edged boxes that I see when I search for custom builds. Maybe I just don't know where to look. Could you recommend a case you think looks good.

Different people like different types of cases. Some love LED lights and shit everything, I hate them. I love my Antec 300 but to others it's too plain:

This is one of the cases I'd love to have given the cash, but might again not be to your liking: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129061&Tpk=p183

I just wouldn't spend $600 more for lower specs just because you want a nice case.

Hilarious as in piece of crap? As you can obviously tell, I'm not that up to speed with the latest in PC tech, so sorry if I'm asking dumb questions.

As in way more than any game needs. Especially on what is now a lower-mid range card.

 

[Stantron]

^^^ Hmm. Not bad. I tend to like the more simple/elegant designs too.
I'll do some more searching on my own till I find one I like.
Thanks for the input guys. Good to know I don't need to spend that much for my needs.

I just wouldn't spend $600 more for lower specs just because you want a nice case.

As in way more than any game needs. Especially on what is now a lower-mid range card.

got it, thanks.

 

[brain_stew]

^^^ Hmm. Not bad. I tend to like the more simple/elegant designs too.
I'll do some more searching on my own till I find one I like.
Thanks for the input guys. Good to know I don't need to spend that much for my needs.


got it, thanks.

Have a look into cases from Lian-Li, they usually have quite simple and sleek designs and they're built like tanks.

Edit:

NCIX will let you pick custom parts and they'll put the build together for a $50 fee. Its a good option if you're not confident enough to put it together yourself.

 

[Danj]

- The HP Envy 15 is now for order with Core i5 processors and the Mobility 5830, so beware buying the outdated model. The new refresh is also cheaper.

Damn. Doesn't look as if this refresh has hit the UK yet: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF04a/321957-321957-3329744-3995710-3995710.html

 

[Danj]

do you honestly need a laptop for three weeks? that money would be better spent upgrading your desktop.

Right, but I'd like to own a laptop that isn't a low-spec £400 machine for once, also if I get a new laptop then it means my old one can go to my mother.

 

[Firestorm]

Right, but I'd like to own a laptop that isn't a low-spec £400 machine for once, also if I get a new laptop then it means my old one can go to my mother.

If it's for light gaming, that Asus might be good. I got a "gaming laptop" from Toshiba (Geforce Go 7600, in January 2007) and the most gaming the batteries last an hour max on high power nowadays even if I'm just surfing the web =/

 

[Stantron]

NCIX will let you pick custom parts and they'll put the build together for a $50 fee. Its a good option if you're not confident enough to put it together yourself.

Not bad, I'll keep this in mind. thanks.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

^^^ Hmm. Not bad. I tend to like the more simple/elegant designs too.
I'll do some more searching on my own till I find one I like.

I'm in the same boat, check out the Antec Sonata III, doesn't get much more simple and elegant than this sexy box ;D

 

[brain_stew]

Something like this?

http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=40435&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=48581&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=43094&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42499&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42530&promoid=1061 x2
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=7842&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/34286/WD6401AALS/Western Digital WD/

That's ~$1000 (after rebate) including construction, OS setup and a 1 year warranty on the build. Feel free to change that case to anything you want, there's 100s of options.

Edit: :lol The Sonta 3 is actually the case I chose for this build, I agree, its perfect.

 

[Hazaro]

You will also have to pay shipping from Canada.
But since you are in CA it's probably cheaper than tax :lol

*Under the impressions that NCIXUS still ships from Canada, Last time I ordered was when the 8800GT launched.

 

[scitek]

Something like this?

http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=40435&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=48581&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=43094&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42499&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42530&promoid=1061 x2
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=7842&promoid=1061

That's less than a $1000 (after rebate) including construction, OS setup and a 1 year warranty on the build. Feel free to change that case to anything you want, there's 100s of options.

Edit: :lol The Sonta 3 is actually the case I chose for this build, I agree, its perfect.

Can you put together a setup for me like that? ~$500-600 is what I've got to spend.

 

[chuckddd]

Hey guys. I'm looking into buying a new PC desktop soon. I checked out the custom build sites from the OP, but none of the boxes are appealing to me. The new HP desktops, on the other hand, look nice esthetically, so I'm kind of leaning towards just going this route to make things easy.

I almost bought one of those HP mini towers for an htpc just because I really liked the case design.

 

[brain_stew]

Can you put together a setup for me like that? ~$500-600 is what I've got to spend.

Where from? You building it yourself? You should if you possibly can, it makes life much easier when it comes to future upgrades if you know the insides of your PC.

 

[Hazaro]

I remember someone mentioned a BSEL mod for their Q6600 here.

I just wanted to say I guided someone in doing that today.

Went perfectly fine and they had little computer knowledge.
Running smoothly at 3.0Ghz from 2.4Ghz.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

I built my PC 2 years ago, a Mac user with absolutely no knowledge of PC parts beforehand- as long as you do a little bit of research beforehand to make sure all your parts are compatible (aka asking here), you'll have no problems. Also, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about computers in the process.

 

[brain_stew]

I remember someone mentioned a BSEL mod for their Q6600 here.

I just wanted to say I guided someone in doing that today.

Went perfectly fine and they had little computer knowledge.
Running smoothly at 3.0Ghz from 2.4Ghz.

Nice to here, leaving a Q6600 at 2.4ghz seems such a waste and at 3ghz its still a mighty fine chip. Mine should be here within the week!

 

[brain_stew]

I built my PC 2 years ago, a Mac user with absolutely no knowledge of PC parts beforehand- as long as you do a little bit of research beforehand to make sure all your parts are compatible (aka asking here), you'll have no problems. Also, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about computers in the process.

That's why i'd always recommend building it yourself if you can, by all means have some as "backup" but having that skill really is quite useful. Means you'll be able to diagnose problems in future and perform small cheap upgrades which means better performance and cash saved.

 

[scitek]

Where from? You building it yourself? You should if you possibly can, it makes life much easier when it comes to future upgrades if you know the insides of your PC.

From Newegg or somewhere. Yeah, I'll build it myself, I'm just totally out of the loop with new parts. Last PC I built was like 5 years ago.

 

[HappyBivouac]

If we're talking about laptop reliability, I know LOTS of people who have toshiba laptops they've had for several years, and not one of them has had any sort of hard drive failure. Hell, my mom accidentally spilled wine into the keyboard of hers and it was working perfectly a couple of days later.

 

[Firestorm]

$1000 Canadian Build (Updated January 14th, 2009)

Antec Three Hundred Mini Tower ATX Case - $53.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=29812

550W OCZ Z-Series PSU - $74.99 - $25 MIR = $49.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45235&vpn=OCZZ550&manufacture=OCZ Technology&promoid=1061

Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3 Motherboard - 145.18
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=46237&vpn=GA-P55A-UD3&manufacture=Gigabyte
http://www.peonline.ca/main.php/en/product/36327

Corsair DDR3 4GB Dual Channel Kit - $99.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/index....GX3M2A1600C9&manufacture=Corsair&promoid=1061

Intel i5-750 2.66GHz Processor - $214.97
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=42499
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4959973&sku=I69-0750

PC Assembly and Testing with 1 Year Limited NCIX System Warranty - $41.09
Scroll down and add Assembly Option on the i7 750 deal as a bundle [ If you can't find it ]

Western Digital 640 GB Caviar Black HDD - $63.96
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=34286
http://www.onhop.ca/catalog/product/10266997

Liteon IHAS124 24X DVD Writer - after Price Match it's $24.93
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45244&vpn=IHAS124-04&manufacture=Liteon
http://www.bedirect.ca/english/index.php?NoCategory=112413&SProdNb=0074-0021

Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 - After Price Match it's $259.99
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=45093
http://www.bewawa.com/sapphire-video-card-hd-5850-1gb-ddr5-f-rt-pci-e-ddvi-i-hdmi-dp-fan.html

Total
$979.09 - $25 MIR = $954.09 + $7.99 shipping + 5% to 14% tax.​

 

[Stantron]

Something like this?

http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=45271&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=24294&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=40435&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=48581&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=43094&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42499&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=42530&promoid=1061 x2
http://www.ncixus.com/products/index.php?sku=7842&promoid=1061
http://www.ncixus.com/products/34286/WD6401AALS/Western Digital WD/

That's ~$1000 (after rebate) including construction, OS setup and a 1 year warranty on the build. Feel free to change that case to anything you want, there's 100s of options.

Edit: :lol The Sonta 3 is actually the case I chose for this build, I agree, its perfect.

Add $68 hdd brings cost to $1,046. Holy shit, no taxes for US bound. Nice.

i7-860 is ~$105 more than the i5-750. You think for my needs it's not worth it? I may want to future proof it a bit since I typically don't upgrade for 3-4 years.

I also checked out a lower model HP (HPE-150t, but same case I like) with similar specs to what you recommend from ncixus. Cost is $960 --> with tax = $1039. However, ram is DDR3-1333MHz instead of DDR3-1666MHz, and graphics card is 512MB ATI HD4350 (a lot worse). :/ It has HD4850 for +$140, but no HD5770(a lot better).
Maybe I could gift the HD4350 to my sister's old PC, buy the HD5770 separately for $138 from ncixus and install as replacement. Probably a dumb idea, but damn I like that case. Sonta3 is cool but I'm not really feeling it.

$1000 Canadian Build (Updated January 14th, 2009)

Wow, ok this is a nice build for the money that may sway me from the HP.
Alright, I'm gonna take some more time to look into this. Thanks for taking the time to show me your recommendations, guys.

 

[Firestorm]

My build is for NCIX's Canadian site + price matching. NCIXUS has different prices (and stock) and doesn't price match so keep that in mind.

Edit: If you're going to do video editting, it i7-860 could be useful. I'd also personally just grab a 5850 instead of the 5770.

If you don't care what brand, get it for $260: http://www.ncixus.com/products/45221/AMD-ATI-RADEON-5850-1GB/NCIXPC/

 

[brain_stew]

Add $68 hdd brings cost to $1,046. Holy shit, no taxes for US bound. Nice.

i7-860 is ~$105 more than the i5-750. You think for my needs it's not worth it? I may want to future proof it a bit since I typically don't upgrade for 3-4 years.

I also checked out a lower model HP (HPE-150t, but same case I like) with similar specs to what you recommend from ncixus. Cost is $960 --> with tax = $1039. However, ram is DDR3-1333MHz instead of DDR3-1666MHz, and graphics card is 512MB ATI HD4350 (a lot worse). :/ It has HD4850 for +$140, but no HD5770(a lot better).
Maybe I could gift the HD4350 to my sister's old PC, buy the HD5770 separately for $138 from ncixus and install as replacement. Probably a dumb idea, but damn I like that case. Sonta3 is cool but I'm not really feeling it.


Wow, ok this is a nice build for the money that may sway me from the HP.
Alright, I'm gonna take some more time to look into this. Thanks for taking the time to show me your recommendations, guys.

The PSU in that HP won't be able to power a decent card so that means another upgrade to go along with that GPU. Its not worth it.

Have a look at different cases, there's plenty to choose from, that HP design is nothing special, really.

An i5-750 should be more tahn fine for your needs, if it isn't you can always OC it later down the line and get a ~40% performance boost for free, can't do that with a HP machine though.

 

[Firestorm]

I believe these cases may be more to your liking, Stantron:

http://www.ncixus.com/products/39592/RC-310-BWN1/COOLERMASTER/
http://www.ncixus.com/products/46481/RC-310-OWN1/COOLERMASTER/
http://www.ncixus.com/products/46482/RC-310-RWN1/COOLERMASTER/

Reviews
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1631
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/cm_elite_310/

 

[brain_stew]

From Newegg or somewhere. Yeah, I'll build it myself, I'm just totally out of the loop with new parts. Last PC I built was like 5 years ago.

Try this ($590 +$30 rebates, add code VGA181 for $10 off):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128392
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231277
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.312206
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811233058

Actually, Blizzard, can you add this to your post as the standard US budget build? Its a great deal imo. Quad core, fast DX11 graphics, 500w 80+ modular PSU, pretty much the fastest "standard" HDD you can buy, DDR3 RAM, excellent upgrade options, great overclocking potential. Its more than enough to fill the needs of the vast majority of PC buyers at a very reasonable price.


Recommended upgrades include:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.310962 - That's a 5850 + a quality 600W PSU for $300!!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...52185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product - 1TB Samsung F3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m_core_contact_freezer-_-35-207-004-_-Product - Great little cooler on the cheap, should allow you to get some serious OCs out of that Phenom ii.

"Case." Its a personal preference but investing in a premium case makes sense and is money well spent, not essential but not a bad way to upgrade either.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

Okay well I bought that Acer Aspire PC(M7720) that I saw a couple of days ago. I am about to start putting Windows 7 on it as I absolutely despise Vista.

I am pretty happy with what I got.

i7 920 chip
Radeon 4870 1GB
6GB DDR3
Blu-ray burner(can even burn DL!)
Nice case

Still not exactly sure what motherboard it is, and I dont want to open the case until its at least out of warranty.

Only problem I am having is setting up my sound. I have a denon 5.1 setup with a receiver and I don't know how to get full surround working with this computer.

It says HDMI support on the front case, but I was surprised to see no port on the back. Any have any idea as to why? it came with a DVI>HDMI adapter and that is what I am using to hook up to my TV. It can't carry sound though right?

 

[brain_stew]

Okay well I bought that Acer Aspire PC(M7720) that I saw a couple of days ago. I am about to start putting Windows 7 on it as I absolutely despise Vista.

I am pretty happy with what I got.

i7 920 chip
Radeon 4870 1GB
6GB DDR3
Blu-ray burner(can even burn DL!)
Nice case

Still not exactly sure what motherboard it is, and I dont want to open the case until its at least out of warranty.

Only problem I am having is setting up my sound. I have a denon 5.1 setup with a receiver and I don't know how to get full surround working with this computer.

It says HDMI support on the front case, but I was surprised to see no port on the back. Any have any idea as to why? it came with a DVI>HDMI adapter and that is what I am using to hook up to my TV. It can't carry sound though right?

Indeed it can, its standard on all ATI GPUs these days. Full uncompressed multichannel audio + HD video over the one cable, pretty nice. Be sure to download the ATI/Realtek HDMI audio driver from here:

http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/SOUND-CARD/REALTEK/Realtek-ATI-HDMI-Audio-Device-Driver-229.shtml

Then configure it through windows.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

So are you saying that it does carry audio over through the DVI>HDMI cable?

 

[rossonero]

I was going to buy a 5850+i5 750 rig for my CAD, 3D work and gaming but after thinking about it a little I think I'm going to go with the Phenom II 925+5770 route instead. I'm a student now and this autumn is going to be murderous with regards on school work so there isn't going to be a lot of time for gaming. The AMD rig should be sufficient in playing most games in a 1650x1080 resolution (maybe even 1920x1080 if I decide to go with the NEC and not the Dell monitor) and should be a lot better at CAD and 3D than my current Athlon XP 2800+ with 768 MB RAM right?

 

[Smash88]

Hilarious as in piece of crap? As you can obviously tell, I'm not that up to speed with the latest in PC tech, so sorry if I'm asking dumb questions.

As Firestorm said. Not dumb questions, better to ask than to be sorry later on. Pretty much no game needs 1.8GB never mind 1GB of VRAM. That much VRAM is usually used on those higher video cards for modeling textures in maya, 3dmax, etc...

 

[PoweredBySoy]

(maybe even 1920x1080 if I decide to go with the NEC and not the Dell monitor)

If you're talking about the EA231WMI, I'd highly recommend it. I've been using one for a few weeks now and it's gorgeous. IPS is the only way to go.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Every single one of my friends with an HP laptop has had to have it repaired. Not sure if it's recent but I'm pretty sure their build quality has been shit at least since they merged with Compaq.

So reassuring to hear shortly after I'd ordered a Compaq laptop :lol Ordered a cheap Presario 361 SO (I think that was the name) with an AMD something M100 2 GHz single core, 3 GB DDR2 RAM and an Nvidia 8200 M GPU. I don't really need an all-powerful laptop, as my desktop is sufficiently powerful enough to satisfy my PC gaming needs :lol

 

[rossonero]

If you're talking about the EA231WMI, I'd highly recommend it. I've been using one for a few weeks now and it's gorgeous. IPS is the only way to go.

That's the one. NEC is a better monitor company than Dell, so an inch bigger and with a much bigger resolution for something like $70 more sounds very tempting.

I think that correct colors are much important, so IPS>>>TN for me. Does your monitor has any problems? Like maybe backlight bleeding or something like that?

 

[scitek]

So are you saying that it does carry audio over through the DVI>HDMI cable?

DVI doesn't do audio, it'd have to be just a straight HDMI cable and it'd do both audio and video.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

I think that correct colors are much important, so IPS>>>TN for me. Does your monitor has any problems? Like maybe backlight bleeding or something like that?

There is backlight bleeding - I don't think any non-professional monitor out there will be free from that. But it's at a very acceptable level. This is my first IPS monitor, and I've noticed that the backlight bleed is quite different from other monitors I've seen. Typical bleeding looks like mini flashlights coming out of the corners, but on this NEC you instead get this lightened sheen to a larger area, which changes with viewing angle. It's kind of hard to explain.

Many people have reported color shifts as well - the left side of the panel being blue and the right side being pink, which is mostly being attributed to LG's (who produces the panel) quality control. I've seen some pretty nasty photos of this, but my panel doesn't look bad at all. There may be some slight color shifting, but perfectly acceptable.

I think the important thing to remember is you're getting an IPS panel for ~$320, which is pretty amazing. Prior to this I was using one of Samsungs nicer S-PVA panels, and even from that I'm seeing an improvement in colors and image quality.

I haven't calibrated it personally yet, and for now I'm using TFT Centrals icc profile for sRGB.

 

[K.Jack]

Right, but I'd like to own a laptop that isn't a low-spec £400 machine for once, also if I get a new laptop then it means my old one can go to my mother.

If your budget is £1200, this is a very decent mid-range machine from Acer for not even £700.

Thoughts?