laptop/computer recommendation

[50 mission cap]

Hope you guys dont mind another inquiry about computers?

My laptop speakers/sound are going and its slow and needs new battery.
So, im thinking of getting new one.

I will use it for writing, photo storage not alot as not for work, streaming and downloading incl some sports probably(i dont have cable) some "lite" gaming, minecraft etc. , music, news surfing. Like to be able to hook it my hdmi tv.

Thanks.

[Cooper]

Looks like you're looking for a pretty standard laptop. I'd check around Ebay to see what you can get.

Brand opinions:

Avoid Dell. Horrible customer service, and their inspiron laptops have a motherboard problem. There have been constant reports of people who get another bad motherboard or get their old motherboard back when they turn in for a warranty repair. I had one experience where the whole family had gotten their inspiron laptops together. All the motherboards failed just after the warranty was out.

Toshiba is pretty nice, but I break the right hinge (right if the laptop is on your lap) within 6 months. Always.

I haven't had any significant problems (or experience with) Lenovo and HP.

Now, if you're going to get Windows 8 you will want a touchscreen computer. Pen or finger it doesn't matter (I prefer pen), but Windows 8 is designed to be handled with a touchscreen.

Outside of those, there are several things to look for:

What hard-drive do you want? You sound like you want around a 500GB hard-drive.

What graphics card do you want? Your gaming needs would likely work with an intel card (which is fairly bottom of the line.)

You should also be on the lookout for one that has full Office already installed.

[TheSHAD0W]

Minecraft is unfortunately not "light" gaming; due to its Java engine, it's not efficient at all. You're going to want a Core i5 CPU or its equivalent AMD processor. (Not sure which one that would be.)

Office Depot has a few models on sale right now. I recommend getting one with at least 4MB of RAM.

[Ophbalance]

I concur with the minecraft not being light gaming. I've got a 3 year old i5 Dell Studio that cannot play it in anything by window mode. And it's got an ATi discreet graphics card. It's spooky how many resources that game sucks up.

I just replaced that machine with an HP Envy. It functions and fits all my needs (it's got space for 3 total HDDs), but I don't think I would recommend the line. The 15" variant has a craptastic screen. I've got the 17", but it's only just a tad better than the 15". It's very easy to pick out the individual pixels at anything closer than about a foot away from the screen. And if anything goes wrong with that HP, it makes Dell look like a saint. I bought an extended care pack with a 3 year accidental damage, 3 day onsite repair option. The machine's mobo died within 24 hours of receipt, and even with the extended warranty, it was a week out of commission. Without the extended warranty? It least 2 weeks, and probably 3 for repairs as it HAS to go back to China.

Lenovo has a product refresh coming soon that's going to be decent on the 14" side. Asus and Toshiba have some decent offerings. I personally spent around a week on notebookreview.com before I decided on the HP. I don't typically mind working on my own stuff, when the HP was out for repair I got in a new mobo for the Dell Studio that the kids had killed, so I don't mind the odd hiccup. But my taste of HP was pretty crap for a first time experience.

[Chromatix]

Would that Dell Studio happen to be one with "switchable graphics"? It could be that Minecraft is running on the Intel graphics chip instead of the ATI one. Given that the game can run on a Raspberry Pi, I have no trouble describing it as "light".

For any type of gaming needs, I would recommend an AMD integrated system - unless you are aiming high enough to get a really powerful discrete chipset to pair with an Intel CPU. The AMD A8 or A10 series are the best ones for that, especially the very latest versions with 7000-series model numbers which have substantially better graphics and power efficiency than the previous ones.

[Ophbalance]

I'm positive the Dell only has a discreet graphics card, and was one of the main reasons I bought it in the first place. That and it had a touch screen (with a 17" display, almost unheard of 3 years ago.... totally worthless piece of tech in a laptop, but meh). Looking at the specs it's a i5 520M with a Radeon HD 5650. Not terribly fantastic, but pretty powerful when I had purchased it. I just noticed it's defaulting to the bare minimum on RAM during Minecraft startup so that may actually be the issue.

[50 mission cap]

super long day at work . thanks guys. good variety of info for sure. ill reread the thread and check out that review site when not so tired. I want something that will last for a bit hopefully.

[Cooper]

My opinion on Minecraft for graphics is: It's a really versatile game for graphics. If you turn down visibility (which I kinda like, gives the game atmosphere), particles, weather, clouds, ect, the game can run without too many problems.

[Moirae]

To play Minecraft, you need a gaming computer. The only Dell I'd suggest you buy is Alienware (and they are really good laptops).

I highly recommend i7 and at least 4 gigs of ram along with windows 7 (you'll be hard pressed to find that. Almost all new computers come with windows 8). Get at least a 500 gig hard drive and a dedicated video card (around geforce 600 level. There's several types). This will set you up for being able to play other games as well.

For me, I built a new computer a couple months ago. Windows 8 (which I kind of regret. It has serious issues with windows 7 games and earlier. Long story but I can't play The Sims 3), geforce 770, 16 gigs ram, 2 terabyte hard drive. I'm actually a bit ahead of the curve and it seems the software hasn't caught up with the hardware as yet. It was around $1400.

Just a suggestion.

[Aethian]

I suggest stay away from Alienware, your mostly paying for a brand name there. You can put together a computer cheaper then buying one through them.

[Moirae]

I suggest stay away from Alienware, your mostly paying for a brand name there. You can put together a computer cheaper then buying one through them.

Of course you can. I built mine (for at least half the price of retail built units), and I'd never go any other way. I'd never buy a laptop for gaming either. A desktop is the only way to go and easily upgraded. Laptops have a few things you can change out but they are by no means as customizable and they have a serious cooling problem that has yet to be solved. I actually burned out a laptop due to the intense heat of the games.

But most people don't know how to build one and are scared to try. And alienware has great speed and includes very good cooling functions where most laptops don't.

[Gizmo]

I'm not a desktop person even though I know for gaming they are better. I ended up with a Lenovo Ideapad because it has the nice mix of performance and graphics, sound etc. and wasn't exuberant on the price tag. It says its only supported to 8GB memory but I've just upped it to 16GB and I've forgotten what a loading screen looks like in Skyrim... lol (They were only a couple of minutes before though which wasn't bad).

I too have burnt out a laptop gaming - but it was a bargain basement Toshiba that was a little ancient. This Lenovo has lasted about 18 months so far with no issues except a slightly sticky mousepad due to the summer last year being sauna like. (and I wasn't gaming much during that period either). If I could be bothered to take it apart I could probably clear that though....

[Moirae]

Ahh, congratulations. I hope it gives you many hours of enjoyment.