As some of you might know, my old laptop got fried due to water damage, so I'm now without access to a computer of my own.
I do have the money to buy a new one, but haven't got too much of a clue of what I need.
Therefore I'd like to ask your input and recommendations on the matter.
Here's some of my criteria:
- Large screen (17") like my last one (I don't carry it with me frequently, just back and forth to ze ship)
- Must be able to run Pirates of the Caribbean and Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships properly
- Quick response time (eg. I press a button and I don't need to wait five minutes for something to happen)
- Multi-tasking abilities (can run dozens of programs at the same time without the thing going "turtle" on me)
- Nice and large hard drive (though maybe using an external one INSTEAD would be a good idea... More water damage? UGH!)
- Long enough battery life to watch a movie before the battery runs out
At the moment, I'm looking into a Dell customizable laptop, but am confused on the following options:
PROCESSOR:
INTEL® CORE™ i5-520M (2,4 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 2,93 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
or
INTEL® CORE™ i5-540M (2,53 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 3,06 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
or
INTEL® CORE™ i7-620M (2,66 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 3,33 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
I have NO idea what the difference is!
MEMORY
4.096 MB 1067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2 x 2.048]
or
6.144 MB 1067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [1x6.144 + 1x2.048]
or
8.192 MB 1066 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2 x 4.096]
My previous laptop had 1.024 MB memory, which appeared to not be enough.
However, would 4x as much (minimum) be enough? Would I need 8x???
HARD DISC
Large internal HD vs. large external one? External ones would be safer from water damage, I imagine.
But you have to plug them in seperately. Must have at least my music collection + some game installations and programs on the internal one...
Any thoughts?
GRAPHICS CARD
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
It sounds pretty good, but can it run Storm-engine based games well enough?
And how about more modern games? Could it handle those?
MOBILE BROADBAND-CARD
Dell™ Wireless 5540 Mobile Broadband HSDPA Mini-Card – UK
What the *** is this? It's optional, apparently, but what's it FOR???
SUPPORT AND INSURANCE
It seems the Dell site only allows for "At Home" support.
But 66% of each year, I'm all over the place, but NOT at home.
International support would be good, eh? Do you even need insurance?
Last time I DID get insurance on my laptop, but then it got fried AFTER it expired.
USELESS!
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
I'd like Office 2007 (I think... only ever worked with 2003. ), but I need a version that has:
Word, Excel, PowerPoint AND Outlook. Seems that DOES exist, but Dell doesn't have it available.
What they DO have is one for Small Businesses, which includes that and more.
I DO intend to use my laptop on the ship and possibly occasionally for work-related things too.
It seems Microsoft now really cares about whether you have a commercial version or not.
And I don't mind actually being legal and paying for what they want.
So... do I need to get a Small Businesses edition?
As for a virus scanner, I still have a long-term license for McAfee,
so I should be able to install that after I'd receive the laptop, right?
And what does it matter if you get Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate?
Because I haven't the foggiest. All I need is an operating system that WORKS!
I do have the money to buy a new one, but haven't got too much of a clue of what I need.
Therefore I'd like to ask your input and recommendations on the matter.
Here's some of my criteria:
- Large screen (17") like my last one (I don't carry it with me frequently, just back and forth to ze ship)
- Must be able to run Pirates of the Caribbean and Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships properly
- Quick response time (eg. I press a button and I don't need to wait five minutes for something to happen)
- Multi-tasking abilities (can run dozens of programs at the same time without the thing going "turtle" on me)
- Nice and large hard drive (though maybe using an external one INSTEAD would be a good idea... More water damage? UGH!)
- Long enough battery life to watch a movie before the battery runs out
At the moment, I'm looking into a Dell customizable laptop, but am confused on the following options:
PROCESSOR:
INTEL® CORE™ i5-520M (2,4 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 2,93 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
or
INTEL® CORE™ i5-540M (2,53 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 3,06 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
or
INTEL® CORE™ i7-620M (2,66 GHZ, FOUR THREADS, TURBO BOOST TOT 3,33 GHZ, 3 MB CACHE)
I have NO idea what the difference is!
MEMORY
4.096 MB 1067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2 x 2.048]
or
6.144 MB 1067 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [1x6.144 + 1x2.048]
or
8.192 MB 1066 MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2 x 4.096]
My previous laptop had 1.024 MB memory, which appeared to not be enough.
However, would 4x as much (minimum) be enough? Would I need 8x???
HARD DISC
Large internal HD vs. large external one? External ones would be safer from water damage, I imagine.
But you have to plug them in seperately. Must have at least my music collection + some game installations and programs on the internal one...
Any thoughts?
GRAPHICS CARD
1 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650
It sounds pretty good, but can it run Storm-engine based games well enough?
And how about more modern games? Could it handle those?
MOBILE BROADBAND-CARD
Dell™ Wireless 5540 Mobile Broadband HSDPA Mini-Card – UK
What the *** is this? It's optional, apparently, but what's it FOR???
SUPPORT AND INSURANCE
It seems the Dell site only allows for "At Home" support.
But 66% of each year, I'm all over the place, but NOT at home.
International support would be good, eh? Do you even need insurance?
Last time I DID get insurance on my laptop, but then it got fried AFTER it expired.
USELESS!
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMS
I'd like Office 2007 (I think... only ever worked with 2003. ), but I need a version that has:
Word, Excel, PowerPoint AND Outlook. Seems that DOES exist, but Dell doesn't have it available.
What they DO have is one for Small Businesses, which includes that and more.
I DO intend to use my laptop on the ship and possibly occasionally for work-related things too.
It seems Microsoft now really cares about whether you have a commercial version or not.
And I don't mind actually being legal and paying for what they want.
So... do I need to get a Small Businesses edition?
As for a virus scanner, I still have a long-term license for McAfee,
so I should be able to install that after I'd receive the laptop, right?
And what does it matter if you get Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate?
Because I haven't the foggiest. All I need is an operating system that WORKS!