Out of Pod Experience

Ok so next payday I'm picking up a laptop from walmart. I know it's not going to be all that fast, about 300-400 in price. The gateway fx I was using is worth about that much now, although it was 3000-2000 when it came out.

Now checking out the bargain pcs instead of picking up that Lenovo I wanted I have some things to consider. Integrated graphics I hope will be enough for eves shaders. So the glare effects don't cut through things like the engines and whatnot (it drives me nutz) then there is the screen resolution to fit all of the windows I will need.

The reason I come here is there seems to be a worse computer for 100$ more between the two. Yet the cheaper one seems to be better?

Here is the one I was considering.
http://imgur.com/rZecBvl

Here is the more expensive one, it has slightly worse VRAM by like .1 and a dual core, but has 6gb ram.
http://imgur.com/w9It2TJ
You can't tell me a little more ram is worth 100$ more?

Someone is also going to have to tell me if the quad core somehow isn't as good as the dual core. 1.9x4 seems a lot more than 2.4x2 and I don't know too much about this stuff.

Side note: battling between apples spellchecking and dealing with eve forums eating my posts is infuriating.

Ok that's some good info. I've never liked acer computers anyways XD ill google the specific parts

I am not finding google to be of much help

Here is what I was previously using. The CPU bottle necked way to much, but the GPU was somewhat nice.

http://www.cnet.com/products/gateway-p-7805u-fx-edition/specs/

I am assuming these two laptops will have better processing, but I'm worried about the graphics. I really don't want another laptop where some chip underneath the touchpad (integrated graphics) decides to cook itself again, or have to choose low detail on eve. I already mentioned how the lighting effects of engines will drive me mad if it's cutting through things.

The other laptop that fried itself had an integrated AMD chip overheating. Even if it's integrated you would think they might have concidered adding a heatsink maybe? The CPU sure had one, don't see why it couldn't have been the CPUs neighbor.

The gateway that I recently had is my own fault though. I broke that one, and it had been one of the better lasting laptops I've owned.

Okay. But this is about as helpful as the guy playing need for speed most wanted on 800x640 resolution. I am looking up specifics, trying to gauge how bad it will be.

Eve on the maximum resolution the computer will allow, then how high can I get it and keep at least 25 fps.

I can run eve with an ok fps on this.
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2367#ov
But I guarentee it's almost unplayable due to the resolution. It also doesn't look very nice, I need a budget computer that runs ok.

Opps. I am sorry then, I have grossly overestimated you as I were under the impression that you had done some research on your own and had reached the conclusion that neither were a good option.

My advice to you is to browse Ebay, type in laptop and Geforce. Find something that suits your budget and take it from there.

From those two I'd take the Satellite, it'll run EVE fine. My satellite, I took out the crappy mechanical HDD drive and replaced it with an SSD drive, 1000% better. It's almost a joke they still sell HDD drives with laptops ...maybe to sell you another after the laptop you buy burns up. Now if you can find one with an SSD already in it, or option to upgrade, all the better (not a hybrid HDD/SSD drive). In fact, if it didn't have an SSD, or I didn't plan to put one in, I just wouldn't get a laptop. At any rate, you'll probably find a better deal elsewhere than walmart.

edit: oh and yes, the common argument is for the price you can have a much bigger HDD. 1. a laptop isn't really a mass storage device to store huge GB's of useless data. 2. use external storage for that useless stuff. The benefits of using SSD far outweigh the HDD.

Pretty much the same, being a little higher in the specs compared to my HP laptop. Difference is I bought the satellite a couple years ago, had win7 and less memory (though put better memory in right away). Right now I just have Ubuntu on it's SSD drive. Ran EVE from windows7 on a HDD for over a year, playing mostly on that rather than my desktop. HDD failed of course, it's a laptop. Even the slightest bump can destroy the hard drive, and it's inevitable for a portable system. How much did I pay? probably around a grand, with all the upgrades... or more if counting accessories & peripherals. Base price I think it was $600, little more, got it at bestbuy on sale. CQ was a bit slow, at high settings, but ran the space game quite well, full settings. I might get around to installing EVE again, run under Wine. Not worried about it tough, probably get a new laptop next year, such as a convertible.

As for the HD, the difference is: no heat. There is a little warmth around the memory panel, but marginal (I have a lot of memory anyway). The fan hardly ever runs, or it does but at very slow speeds after being on a while. Before, it would get near blistering hot, fan spinning at full speed, very bad for a system. Also lower power requirements, so the battery lasts longer. Then access speed is literally 10x faster than the old HD, pretty much loading most apps instantly. Such as Blender 3D would take 10-15 seconds to start, now it starts as fast as I can click the shortcut. Ubuntu would take about ~13 seconds to start, now the system boots in about 1.5 seconds. Windows would take about 30 seconds to boot, but haven't installed it, but would probably boot in under five seconds. Windows also uses virtual memory, so performance upgrade there too. And as for DDS, I can pretty much drop the laptop and not worry so much, which would mean possible instant death for the mechanical hard drive. I wouldn't really worry about a more expensive touch screen unless you could fold the keyboard under and use it as a tablet like a convertible laptop.