# Laptop And Programs.



## SilverKhajiit (May 27, 2013)

Alright guys, I am suppose to be getting a laptop towards the end of this year, and with it intend upon gaming the absolute crap outta myself and being productive by making music, writing stories, etc. and posting on FurAffinity. I plan on digitally drawing on the side as well. I will also digitally edit the music I plan on making, or I will just make it from laptop. Can you guys please tell me which laptop is best for these things and which programs?
(I am a computer novice so take it easy please)


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## Runefox (May 27, 2013)

Well, gaming will definitely be the most strenuous task you're looking at doing. Before I can recommend any specifics, I'll need to know what kinds of games you're looking at playing (some examples!), what your budget is, and whether you have any brand preferences between AMD/Intel, or between manufacturers.

Some general advice on brands (in no particular order):

*Good* / Reliable


ASUS 
HP 
Samsung 
Sony 
Toshiba 
Lenovo 
Acer* 
Dell* 
MSI 
Sager 
Apple 

*Bad* / Unreliable


Acer* 
Gateway 
eMachines (do they even still exist?) 
Compaq 
Dell* 
Alienware 
CyberPowerPC 
iBuyPower 

* = Low end are bad, midrange-high end are good (this is generally true of all brands but these are especially subject to this). Acer in particular though has stepped up their game recently.


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## Seekrit (May 27, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Acer in particular though has stepped up their game recently.



Have to agree here, very happy with the Acer E1-531 I got recently. It managed to play Skyrim fullspeed at lowest settings, not bad for integrated graphics. Single player games like that are fine on it but multiplayer (like Chivalry:Medieval Warfare for example) are just unplayable. In saying that Source games run fine, even CS:GO.


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## SilverKhajiit (May 27, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Well, gaming will definitely be the most strenuous task you're looking at doing. Before I can recommend any specifics, I'll need to know what kinds of games you're looking at playing (some examples!), what your budget is, and whether you have any brand preferences between AMD/Intel, or between manufacturers.
> 
> Some general advice on brands (in no particular order):
> 
> ...



I don't plan on playing any needy games, I plan on minecraft, game tycoon, and that sorta stuff.
I really have no brand preferences but I have a Dell desktop that's amazing. Aside from that I have no preferences between anything.


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## Seekrit (May 27, 2013)

SilverKhajiit said:


> I don't plan on playing any needy games, I plan on minecraft, game tycoon, and that sorta stuff.
> I really have no brand preferences but I have a Dell desktop that's amazing. Aside from that I have no preferences between anything.



If that's all then grab a moderately priced laptop from the 'Good' section of RF's list. Any dual-core laptop with an integrated graphics card will do. Which is all of them.

I would advise considering a more capable one, unless you're certain your needs won't change in the future.


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## ToeClaws (May 27, 2013)

I'd agree with the RuneFox advice as well.  I have an ASUS as my primary and it's been rock solid.  I also have an HP Ultrabook, which has also been excellent (nice change for HP as 3 or 4 years ago they were making horrible systems).


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## Runefox (May 27, 2013)

In your case, I'd probably recommend something with an AMD A8 APU. They can be had for around $400-600, and generally provide a great bang for your buck with good graphics and processor performance. Ideally, 8GB of RAM should be your target, which most computers around that price point should come with, and the hard drive size should be whichever you're most comfortable with, keeping in mind that 500GB is about the minimum you'll get nowadays.

If you can get a good deal on an Intel i3- or i5-based machine which also has dedicated graphics (NVidia or AMD), then go for it, since it will almost certainly outperform the AMD offerings in CPU power, which is somewhat important to you for audio editing. That said, you won't need super high end graphics for Minecraft and Game Tycoon, but the integrated Intel graphics won't do the job.

A higher end model I'd recommend would be the ASUS N56VJ-DH71. It's pretty decked out with a 1080p screen, i7, 8GB of RAM and decent dedicated graphics, and it should handle anything you can throw at it.

A more basic model I'd recommend would be the ASUS K55N-SA80403V. It's modestly-specced with a 1366x768 screen, but the A8 APU will provide adequate graphics and processor performance. The RAM is lacking, but can be expanded to 16GB later on (they say 8GB, but this is incorrect). 

The N56VJ is lighter, thinner, much faster in every respect, has a backlit keyboard, Bluetooth and four USB 3.0 ports (versus 2 3.0 and 1 2.0), double the storage and RAM, and has a far higher quality screen than the K55N. It also has a more durable all-metal finish.

If you're looking to get something even more portable, Ultrabooks are a good way to go. They're thinner, lighter, and have far better battery life than most other laptops. They're more expensive, and don't come with a CD/DVD drive, however. If you'll be moving around a lot with the computer, you might find that an Ultrabook is a better way to go.


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## Teal (May 27, 2013)

Just to let you know, laptops suck.


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## SilverKhajiit (May 27, 2013)

Runefox said:


> In your case, I'd probably recommend something with an AMD A8 APU. They can be had for around $400-600, and generally provide a great bang for your buck with good graphics and processor performance. Ideally, 8GB of RAM should be your target, which most computers around that price point should come with, and the hard drive size should be whichever you're most comfortable with, keeping in mind that 500GB is about the minimum you'll get nowadays.
> 
> If you can get a good deal on an Intel i3- or i5-based machine which also has dedicated graphics (NVidia or AMD), then go for it, since it will almost certainly outperform the AMD offerings in CPU power, which is somewhat important to you for audio editing. That said, you won't need super high end graphics for Minecraft and Game Tycoon, but the integrated Intel graphics won't do the job.
> 
> ...



They all sound decent enough, I pretty sure it all just comes down to money, thanks for the help!! Now it's time to confuse the new BestBuy employees.


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## Runefox (May 27, 2013)

Teal said:


> Just to let you know, laptops suck.


Eh, not entirely true, unless you're a gamer. If you're a gamer, laptops are disposable and often aren't good enough at dissipating heat to do high-end gaming. Alienware, high-end ASUS, etc all have issues. But general gaming? Multimedia, web browsing, art, music, whatever? Laptops are more versatile. Just don't get the cheapest ones available.


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## SilverKhajiit (May 27, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Eh, not entirely true, unless you're a gamer. If you're a gamer, laptops are disposable and often aren't good enough at dissipating heat to do high-end gaming. Alienware, high-end ASUS, etc all have issues. But general gaming? Multimedia, web browsing, art, music, whatever? Laptops are more versatile. Just don't get the cheapest ones available.



I had a feeling I would like Runefox

EDIT: By the way Rune (or anyone for that matter) are there any good music mixing programs or is that included in the laptops?


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## Teal (May 27, 2013)

Runefox said:


> Eh, not entirely true, unless you're a gamer. If you're a gamer, laptops are disposable and often aren't good enough at dissipating heat to do high-end gaming. Alienware, high-end ASUS, etc all have issues. But general gaming? Multimedia, web browsing, art, music, whatever? Laptops are more versatile. Just don't get the cheapest ones available.


 With every laptop I've had they always get a overheating problem. I can't even use more than one art program at once on this one without it trying to melt. Forget about the games I want to play.


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## Runefox (May 27, 2013)

Teal said:


> With every laptop I've had they always get a overheating problem. I can't even use more than one art program at once on this one without it trying to melt. Forget about the games I want to play.


Perhaps you'd like to stop bundling your laptop up in blankets. If you've got it on a flat surface, so long as you've dusted the vents out regularly, it shouldn't overheat unless it's a really crappy machine. My MacBook Pro and my friend's HP Envy m6 both handle pretty much everything without blowing up. That said, gaming laptops that are purpose-built for gaming? Ironically enough, they're usually the ones that overheat all the damn time.


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## Teal (May 27, 2013)

It takes it a little bit long to get to hot but not by much. I just keep getting shitty laptops. ;_;


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## AshleyAshes (May 28, 2013)

Laptops are not supposed to overheat.  There isn't supposed to be such a thing as a laptop that when you run a high CPU load on it that it will over heat unless there is something wrong with it.  Manufacturing error, cooling system assembled wrong, tonne of dust clogging the vents.  If it's new and have this issue you should return it for repairs or replacement.  If it's not new, you should clean out the vents with compressed air or something.  Every laptop is supposed to be able to sit, running the CPU at 100%, 24/7 without overheating.

I'm actually surprised with how complacent people frequently are with these things.  I mean, if you bought a CHEAP car and it would die if you drove 65mph for more than 3hrs, would you just go 'Aww shucks' or would you go back to the dealer and say 'WTF DUDE?  FIX IT. D:'?

That also said, what's 'hot' to a human being isn't necessarily hot to a laptop.  Laptops actually can get up to 70-80'C, sometimes even more in the higher end models, but this is fine.  Most have a limit around 95-100'C and they WILL shut themselves off before they fail.  So even if it seems really hot to human touch, it's fine for the CPU.  It's made of metal instead of weak fleshy-flesh.


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## Teal (May 28, 2013)

It gets hot enough that I can't touch the trackpad, and gives off a weird odor. It's not a new laptop, and there's not really any dust in it. :/


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## Drake Ukkonen (May 28, 2013)

Asus Republic of Gamers, IMO.

Please don't shell out half your life's savings for an alienware, whatever you do.


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## Runefox (May 28, 2013)

The ASUS G-series systems tend to be pretty impressive, but also pretty unreliable I find. They have issues with thermal management, but at the same time they're better at it than Alienware.


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## -SHINY- (May 30, 2013)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+Geek+Squad+Certified+Refurbished+13.3%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+Silver/6867971.p;jsessionid=07A684ACDBC66720DA018AF8B2EFC2D5.bbolsp-app01-165?id=1218810021928&skuId=6867971
In my opinion this is a good deal for 8g ram etc......


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## Saga (May 31, 2013)

Got a budget?


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## DMAN14 (Jun 1, 2013)

Runefox said:


> A higher end model I'd recommend would be the ASUS N56VJ-DH71. It's pretty decked out with a 1080p screen, i7, 8GB of RAM and decent dedicated graphics, and it should handle anything you can throw at it.



My laptop is actually a ASUS N56VZ-RB71. For the price and size it has some serious power. It can run alot of my power hunger engineering programs and does it pretty well. It is built great and I love the keyboard, screen, and (after a while) the touchpad. It has great internal audio. It also VGA which is still important for me and set it up to have a external HDMI, and VGA monitor and still use the screen. However, its not the slimmest thing out there and more importantly the battery life is subpar.

I kinda wish I got the samsung I was also looking at. I think it was like a series 7. Where I went wrong is I was looking at 15" laptops, I wanted a keypad and I thought 17" would be too big. What I didn't realize is the ASUS has such a big bezel that the 17" samsung was really similar sized. The 17' also had VGA and everything else I wanted. 

This laptop did crash earlier this year. Not sure why, but I am partly to blame as I don't use anti-virus and I'm a 19 male... Installed ubuntu and got my old info off and reinstalled windows. ASUS provides an amazing CD with every driver you will need. There is also this weird problem where I often have to reconnect to the web manually when it awakes from sleep.

I think asus has some nice, new windows 8 touchscreen laptops if you like W8/touchscreen too.


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