Getting Laptop on Wednesday....What should I do?!

Well I've been looking on laptops for a while. I looked at Dell and decided to buy the dell 6400. I spoke to my dad about it and he totally agreed. When my dad told my Uncle (who owns approximately 100 brand new laptops so the people who work for him can use them for construction blue prints) that we're getting a laptop. Then he said, O dont waste ur money...I'll check if I have any extras. He did. 17 of em. He chose the best 1. Apparently its an acer. I dont noe wat Acer it is but it new...so it could be travelmate 8200, or aspire 5670/5680. Since IM using an old computer that is almost impossible to set settings or use programs for better performance what do u think I should do. All i noe about programs is anti-virus, defragmentation, and how to reformat a hard drive. How can i overclock a gpu (i noe the bad things that can happen), how do i set the processor to maximum, the webcam to maximum or anything else u think will speed up the computer. Help is appreciated.

EDIT:The sad thing is I don't even know how good the computer is. If it as an integrated graphics card then i cant overclock it. The computer could possibly be a single core instead of dual core (hope not, knock on wood).

 

Don't worry there's nothing wrong with single core processors except for the newest games at the moment imo.

 

And then maybe not even that.
I got my before x-mas and its single core. And I don't use it to its max, its set at 97% of the time, the other 3% is when I play games.

I mean, I even use photoshop on 800mhz.
and I can have loads and loads of the things, and don't worry.

I thought the dualcore singlecore was gonna be a problem, but its not. All depending on what you plan on doing also I guess.

But I'm most likely sure single will be enough.

Also, to answer your question, my Acer is fine, other then the fact that its not as strong in the center as I'd like it, but nothing to worry about it.

 

Thanks I guess that takes a load off...but what about overclocking etc etc..

 

Never done it, nor had to do it.
So I'm sorry, I can't really answer your question.

 

Download AtiTrayTools and set the clocks depending on what card you have.

 

I've had my Acer for over 6 months and it's been a great machine. Your laptop performance is going to depend on the configuration of the laptop and the programs you want to run. If it's a new laptop with a single core, core duo or C2D, no worries there. These CPU's are more than powerful enough to run almost anything the casual user will throw at them.

Next up, the GPU. If you want to run games, you really should have a dedicated gpu, the more dedicated ram the better. I believe some games can run on an integrated gpu, but it extremely limits their performance.

Here's a excellent source of info about notebook GPUs:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

As far as overclocking, Like Mat27272, I use Ati Tray Tools. Be careful, overclocking can damage your laptop. Make sure you do some research that is specific to your laptop and gpu.

 

Is your Uncle giving you this machine for free???

If that's the case, gee.
How could you possibly ever decide???

Hmmmm....lets see: Should I go out and spend a ton of money on a Dell, or accept this *free* Acer???

Gosh, that's tough....man!
I sure wouldn't want to be in your shoes.

Decisions, decisions.