Help! New computer - how long will it last?

[Roman]

I am not sure this is the right forum for this, but I don't know where else to turn to for such advice...

In any case, I am considering getting a new high-end notebook computer with the following characteristics:

CPU: Pentium M 2.0 GHz
RAM: 2 GB
HDD: 120 GB
Graphics Card: ATI 128 MB
Optical Media: CD/DVD Reader/Burner

Now, my question is: Given that apart from work, websurfing and similar tasks I also intend to use the computer for gaming... If I did get this notebook how long could I expect it to last me (assuming no future upgrades)? I am, of course, hoping that it would last a long time as the price tag is considerable, but I know that computer technology changes fast, so I would prefer some educated estimates on how long it would remain a good machine. Thank you for your advice!

[Enigma_Nova]

It's already outdated.
(Points to the 128 MB on the vidcard)

[Roman]

Originally posted by Enigma_Nova
It's already outdated.
(Points to the 128 MB on the vidcard)

Ouch~ They now use 256 MB even for notebooks?!?!

[RalphTrickey]

Originally posted by Roman


Ouch~ They now use 256 MB even for notebooks?!?!

The high-end ones, yes. Mine's got 256.

Which ATI card is it using?

[Zoid]

Roman check out snoopys thread http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showt...hreadid=141405

I would recommend at least a GeForce Go 6800 or better. I don´t know if ATI´s doing stuff differently, in that case 128 Mb might be enough.

[Roman]

Originally posted by RalphTrickey

The high-end ones, yes. Mine's got 256.

Which ATI card is it using?

It uses ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 with 128 MB of Video RAM. So... I can see that it is no longer completely top of the range, but how long could I expect it to remain a good machine capable of dealing well with new games?

[Roman]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg
Roman check out snoopys thread http://www.apolyton.net/forums/showt...hreadid=141405

I would recommend at least a GeForce Go 6800 or better. I don´t know if ATI´s doing stuff differently, in that case 128 Mb might be enough.

I don't know whether ATI does things differently either. I would guess, though, that ATI and NVidia cards of the same 'level' are most likely roughly comparable in performance.

[Roman]

Also, I forgot to mention that the notebook in question has a widescreen monitor. This is supposed to be good for movies, but I a little worried about whether it will not be bad for gaming. The max. resolution of the monitor is 1280x800, which seems somewhat non-standard to me (and is probably the result of the fact that the display is widescreen) and I wonder how games would deal with that?

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Roman


It uses ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 with 128 MB of Video RAM. So... I can see that it is no longer completely top of the range, but how long could I expect it to remain a good machine capable of dealing well with new games?

I´ll give it 2 years, but it depends on the games as well.

[Zoid]

Originally posted by Roman
Also, I forgot to mention that the notebook in question has a widescreen monitor. This is supposed to be good for movies, but I a little worried about whether it will not be bad for gaming. The max. resolution of the monitor is 1280x800, which seems somewhat non-standard to me (and is probably the result of the fact that the display is widescreen) and I wonder how games would deal with that?

The size doesn´t matter so much as the response time. My new TFT screen has a response time of 8 ms, which is good. If you have a high response time the picture lags, which is bad. In fact I would advise against having a laptop as a game comp in the first place unless you don´t have obscene amounts of money. It´s also a real hassle upgrading laptops and it costs so much more it´s not worth it IMO.

[Roman]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg
I´ll give it 2 years, but it depends on the games as well.

Hmm, 2 years for new games... it is a considerable investment for 2 years, but the price is very good compared to other notebooks of similar specs in Malaysia. Would I be correct in assuming that it will be able to run pretty much all games even relatively long time after that, even though they will probably be slow (but at least will still run) or is it likely that after this time it will have problems even running new games?

Also, the display can 'only' have 16.7 million colours, which I believe is 24bit colour. I know that many displays are capable of 32bit colour, so I wonder if games will not require this amount soon.

Just in case anybody is wondering, the notebook concerned is Acer Aspire 1690 (Malaysian model - I don't know they may or may not differ in different countries) - with 2 GHz processor, the 15.4" widescreen display and upgraded to 120 MB HDD and 2 GB RAM.

[Roman]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg
The size doesn´t matter so much as the response time.

Fair enough, but what I am worried about is that the size and resolution do not seem to be standard (normal resolutions seem to be 800x600, 1024x768,... 1600x1200, etc. but I have not yet seen the strange 1280x800 - perhaps games will not utilize the edges of the screen?) .

My new TFT screen has a response time of 8 ms, which is good. If you have a high response time the picture lags, which is bad.

This is very interesting. It is a pity I do not know what is the response time of the monitor in question.

In fact I would advise against having a laptop as a game comp in the first place unless you don´t have obscene amounts of money. It´s also a real hassle upgrading laptops and it costs so much more it´s not worth it IMO.

This is very true, but a notebook is really the only option for me due to reasons of travel. While I am in one place I generally use the notebook as I would a desktop, but I do move frequently, sometimes with very little weight allowance. As much as I like desktops, I simply need the easy transportability of the notebooks.

[RalphTrickey]

Originally posted by Roman
Also, I forgot to mention that the notebook in question has a widescreen monitor. This is supposed to be good for movies, but I a little worried about whether it will not be bad for gaming. The max. resolution of the monitor is 1280x800, which seems somewhat non-standard to me (and is probably the result of the fact that the display is widescreen) and I wonder how games would deal with that?

I run at 19200x1200, and I haven't seen any issues. Most games either accept the resolution or stretch the image to fill the full screen. The stretching isn't enough to bother me. The video card probablly has an option to do the black bars on each side if I wanted to look into it. It's also possible to adjust the desktop resolution which should deal with most games that have problems.

Having said that, I'm not sure what effect stretching a 1024x768 image might have with that resolution, and whether it might blur the text if the game doesn't accept that resolution.

[Roman]

Originally posted by RalphTrickey


I run at 19200x1200, and I haven't seen any issues. Most games either accept the resolution or stretch the image to fill the full screen. The stretching isn't enough to bother me. The video card probablly has an option to do the black bars on each side if I wanted to look into it. It's also possible to adjust the desktop resolution which should deal with most games that have problems.

Having said that, I'm not sure what effect stretching a 1024x768 image might have with that resolution, and whether it might blur the text if the game doesn't accept that resolution.

Ok, this is very important and pretty much dispelled my worries about this particular issue of the notebook. I can deal with some stretching. Thanks!

[RalphTrickey]

Originally posted by Roman


Ok, this is very important and pretty much dispelled my worries about this particular issue of the notebook. I can deal with some stretching. Thanks!

You also might see if Acer has a forum for owners of their notebooks. I know that Dell does, and I researched my notebook there to see what problems people were having before buying it.