3270 and World of Warcraft

im thinking about getting the averatec 3270. i would like a laptop thats capable of running world of warcraft. im not concerned about it running WoW with the graphics turned up, i dont care if its looks like crap and i gotta turn all the options down. id just like something i can bring to work and play WoW. anyone have one of these laptops with WoW installed on it? how does it run. How does this system perform with other high demanding games? and where would you recommend i buy an averatec, i have noticed some ppl on the forums say they got theirs for 800

 

If you are looking for a budget gaming notebook, I would look at this:

http://store.yahoo.com/saveateaglestore/emm6noat6434.html?ovchn=PGR&ovcpn=Price+Grabber&ovcrn=M6811&ovtac=CMP

I think eMachines offers better quality than Averatec. Plus it has a much better graphics card. It is about $100 more. Here is a review if you want to look:

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2170

Good Luck.






I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T41:
* 1.6Ghz Pentium M * 768Mb Memory * 40Gb Hitachi 7200RPM * Panasonic UJ-845-B DVD+RW *

 

Well...Circuit City periodically puts the AV3270 on sale for $800, and Sam's Club has it for $900 all the time. I'm certain it can run WoW, because my friend has a 3220 (with the Athlon XP-M 2000, 256MB RAM, and 32MB of VRAM) and it can run WoW just fine on low graphics.

I wrote fairly comprehensive review (shameless plug, yes, I know) of the 3270 here.

And about that eMachines - it's basically a Gateway 7422GX with half the RAM. And while I'm therefore certain it can run WoW on very high settings - it will be heavy, heavy, heavy. Not exactly a computer you want to ferry to work every day, trust me. And it's an eMachines...*shudder*

Note: Oh yeah, and the hinges on the eMachines will most likely devolop major cracks, since it seems to be using the same case as the Gateway 7000 series, all of which have hinge-cracking issues (mine has a nice crack starting already, and it's not even 4 months old.)

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

Yeah, but you have to pay tax at Circuit City and Sam's Club, plus wait out the rebates. The m6811 was $999 last week, maybe it will go back down. If it is sitting on the desktopmost of the time, the weight will not matter. Emachines did very well in PC World's reliabilty survey ahead of even IBM. While some eMachines get the case crack, it is not a forgone conclusion that it will happen and emachines will fix it for you. You can add the extra memory later, that is usally cheaper. Good Luck.






I know things, things that could get me killed


Thinkpad T42:
* 1.8Ghz Pentium M * 1.5GB Memory * 60GB Hitachi 7200RPM * 15" SXGA+ Flexview * CDRW/DVD Combo *

 

ive heard the emachine 6811 gets so hot that it needs a seperate cooler, is that true? and do all the emachines have the case cracking issue?

 

I'm not really sure where you can get a 7422 anymore, the 7426 has completely replaced it, as far as I can tell. I got mine at Best Buy for $1249, but I don't think they have them in stock anymore. And besides, it's has most of the faults of the eMachines 6811, just more memory, so if heat, size, and weight aren't big concerns, I'd just go with the eMachines and upgrade the RAM later if you need to. I still think the AV3270 would be fine for the purposes you described, though, and it's cheaper, weighs less, and gets much better battery life.

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

As for the heat, I can't really say, my Gateway 7422 (which is essentially the same) does get fairly warm, but I doubt it would really need a seperate cooler, although I have one. As for the case-cracking, again, I can't tell you for sure, but it is a persistent and well-documented problem in the Gateway 7000 series, which certainly looks like it uses pretty much the exact same case, down to the keyboard layout, LEDs, shape, everything.

--------------------
Gateway 7422GX: AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1024MB DDR RAM, 64MB Mobility RADEON 9600

AVERATEC AV3270-EH1: AMD Mobile Sempron 2800+, 512MB DRR RAM, 64MB (shared) S3G Unichrome

 

where is the best place to buy a gateway 7422gx? i saw a 7426 at bestbuy but it was around 1500. the averatec is only 800. thats a huge difference i really dont want to spend more than 1000. any other recommendations for under 1000? tiger direct has 6811 for rather cheap, but they are refurbished. a reburbished machine which is known to have case cracking issues is not something i want to take a risk on.

 

I was playing Carmageddon 2 on my wife's 3220 no problem, some details tuned down but the sound was always going...it has a killer sound track so it wasn't near as much fun to play it without. If I had turned the sound off, it probably would ahve worked fine.

We got both the 3220 and the 3270 for 800 bucks in the end and staples (where we bought both) has a kickass online rebate process that got us our rebate in a couple weeks from purchase. We didn't have to send anything in because every rebated item they sell has a unique number now so you can authenticate your rebate with that online.

Sweet.