Toshiba a70-rw1

Hi i'm new here and I need help. I'm looking for a laptop I can use for college but also use for gaming and has decent speed. This is hard because usually you have either speed and graphics or efficency and portability. I looked at the a70 and it's good but I hear more and more bad things and it's not really good for battery life. The other laptop I looked at is the compaq R4125. I need third person advice because this is a big purchase thanks.

 

Gsr888,

The A70 has been reported by a lot of users of having a static shock problem and also having it lockup without reason. I see this unit as being big, heavy, poor on battery life, sub-par graphics and having an issue with heat (P4 CPU).

If you're looking for a notebook with good battery life, similar type of specs and a decent graphics card for game play, then you may want to look at some Pentium M (Centrino) based notebooks from either Toshiba or other brands.

You may think Pentium M's are slower because of the lower clock speeds, but that's misleading. The Pentium M's were designed to perform more operations per clock cycle vs a similarly clocked P4. So, a PM 1.6GHz will out-perform a P4 1.6GHz CPU. A 1.6GHz PM CPU is approx equal to a P4 2.7GHz-2.8GHZ CPU. PM's run cooler because of this and therefore the units are also thinner/lighter because of smaller cooling units.

Take a look at the Toshiba Satellite M40-JM3 as it's about the same price (I assume you're in Canada since you listed a Canadian model). Get something a good video card with dedicated video memory as this is what will slow down your games.

-Vb-

 

Thanks venombite your insight is appreciated and well said. What you said about the processor speed is totally true and I thought the larger the number is better but when I looked at the centrino models I noticed they packed pretty good graphic cards not to mention like you said that the pentinum m processors are pretty decent. I'll look into the laptop you recomended because you guys research in depth and I look forward to talking to you guys on a wide variety of computer related stuff.

Thanks.

 

You're welcome, just do a bit of research before purchasing a unit. Ask a lot of questions and I'm sure you'll end up with the unit you'll enjoy for awhile. You also don't have to stick with Toshiba, there's a lot of other brands in the market that may suit your needs better. I myself have an HP Compaq nx8220 business notebook. It's got everything a business user may want in a notebook as well as a powerful CPU, fast ram, a fast video card with dedicated video memory and a DVD burner which is also great for a consumer (home user).

In any event, good luck on the notebook hunt, I know it's gonna be tough. Especially with all the notebooks out in the market, but I'm sure you'll find the one that will fit your needs. Just remember, get more than you currently need in a notebook as this will allow the unit to go longer before it becomes obsolete. In the case of the graphics card, most notebooks can't upgrade the video card, so get yourself a very good card with as much video memory as possible. This will allow newer games to play in the future.

Good luck and drop a line if you have any questions.

-Vb-

 

Ya Venombite I just bought my new laptop it's a HP pavillion dv4000 with a pentium M 1.73 ghz, 100 gb hard drive, 128 intel graphics card, dvd burner cd burner 15.4 widescreen and 1 gb of ram. I spent around 2200 dollars and I think it's a good deal. In the end I thought the compaq satelite didn't look as nice as the HP and this computer I think will be as fast as I need it to be. The build quality looks good and the overal look and color suites me. Well after my purchase I guess i won't be talking in the Toshiba section of the forum and will be actively involved in the HP forum. Thanks again and I hope you can enlighten me on things I might need to know about my new laptop. :hp:

 

Hi i've never bought a laptop before but this was the model i was looking at. I would use it prett much as a PC never for games or anything. Any other suggestions or reccomendations in the same price range?

 

Kdullet,

You may want to put a post into the Hardware section as this is a better location for asking about suggestions for notebooks. You'll definitely get a lot more hits to your thread.

Also, in the Hardware section, there's a Sticky located at the top to help give us an idea of exactly what you want. Take a look at the sticky and then post your results.

In regards to other suggestions, you may want to take a look at the Satellite M series, or even the Presario/Pavilion series from HP. Gateway also has a few nice systems that might fit your needs.

-Vb-