Fed up with Big bulky pc....Need some Recommendations for a Laptop

[tobeloy]

My Pc is 5 years old and takes up too much space in my living room, plus its noisy and cant really handle todays needs. I dont want to upgrade as I prefer having a lot more space as I can do away with the huge desk it is on in the corner. I want to buy a laptop but am unsure so I could do with some help, I basically surf the internet a bit and use my pc for online banking an general things but also I do like my games and therefore need a laptop that will last me for a good 3 years maybe longer as it is a big investment for me. I am just concerned because of the technology going into games now that I will end up having to keep upgrading the gfx card (if this is possible with a laptop?)and I cannot afford to do this every year. This is where you guys can help me. If you have any recommendations for a good all round system that you think would be suitable for my needs then I appreciate your ideas or if you can point me in the right direction is great. I am not fussed about wireless an bluetooth as I say its more of a gaming machine and for watching the odd DVD and a space saver, so any one know of a good system to suit me? all advice is greatly appreciated....Thanks

[zharniwhoop]

Hello,

Hold off purchasing a Laptop just for now. Wait until Apple release Leopard, then buy an intel G5 iMac. Then you can have the best of both worlds. The tons of stuff from M$ and all the benefits of an Apple. ie no crashing no viruses no spyware etc etc

Cheers

Z

[fo3nix]

an intel g5 imac? what's one of those? ;)

tobeloy: if it wasn't for the games factor, i'd strongly suggest you buy an Apple iMac. they fit all your other needs entirely. they do have a fair amount of games on them, and in fact you could also get windows XP and dual-boot to play other games on it, but it's not as good as a regular windows PC.

you generally can't change the graphics card in a laptop; if you really want a laptop, make sure it has a good graphics card right now. in fact, i'd suggest you just buy a regular desktop PC if games are really important to you.

or a separate games machine, like an xbox?

[zharniwhoop]

Whoops!

Zharniwhoop does a Whoopsie.

My bad....

An intel iMac.

Apologies.

Z

[wideboy]

Look at the laptops from Acer and, as fo3nix says, get one with a good graphics card.

The alternative would be a 'shuttle' PC - very compact (or even a Mac Mini?).

[tobeloy]

Thanks people for your help, does anyone know which laptop at present has a decent graphics card that will stay the course of a few years?

I really dont want another desktop

[wideboy]

tobeloy, it depends on how much you want to spend (as usual). Again, some of the Acer models have decent graphics cards (my son got one for games). Mesh are good but a bit pricier. Do you know the models of graphics cards available? ATI did an new X700 which was OK but I think they might have X1300 or better in laptops. Then of course there's NVidia.

Why not buy What Laptop magazine - the �5 or �6 would be well spent and save you a lot of grief?