Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Ok, my old laptop is on its last legs, and I'm thinking about replacing it. Totally can't afford to do so but hell, that's what credit cards are for, right? Since sE is about the only game I play on my PC at home, I want to get a system that will run it nicely. It has to be a laptop because I have nowhere in my house for a dedicated computer desk.

Therefore, I'm asking for some help from the beta testers and from anyone else. I know that se5 is being made to run on a relatively low spec system, but I like my games large (big galaxies, lots and lots of ships) and I need to know what sort of specs I should be looking at. I also know that NDAs might comeinto effect, but I was hoping for some kind of hint.

1- What sort of spec do you think is likely to be the *bare minimum* for se5?
2- What sort of spec do i need to run se5 comfortably?
3- Given that se5 is only a few months away and that with Windows Vista out soon we can expect (or at least might hope for) a lot of clearance PCs to hit the shelves before too long, should I try to back up my data and keep my old beast running a little longer?
4- I am, quite frankly, sick to bloody death of windows. What are my chances of getting a linux machine and running se5 under emulation? I know se4 will run quite happily that way. I have no Linux experience but I think I'm ready to give it a try. Is the emulation software available for free?
5 Any other laptop-purchasing advice is welcome. In particular, brands or models to avoid/ consider. As long as it runs se5 well, has built-in wifi and more than 40gig HD I think it will do me. I'll pay whatever it takes, but obviously less is better=-)

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I'd go with a recent processor, 1Gb RAM, and a decent card of at least 128Mb. The bare minimum would be like those for Star Fury (P3-500+, 256Mb+, 32Mb+) . I also wouldn't expect it to run smoothly with emulators in Linux.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Thanks Spoogy, that's what I needed to know. Those are pretty steep requirements for a laptop, so no chance of a budget model, but at least it gives me an excuse to buy something really nice.

Just ordered me a 300gig external USB drive to back up my old machine too, in case it dies suddenly =-)

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I always ask folks if they really are going to be "gaming on the go" to justify the really inflated costs of an equivalent desk-top system.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Oh I know desktops are miles cheaper, but I just don't have anywhere to put one. It's a great shame.

I do have some loft space though. It would be cool if I could have some kind of server sitting up there, and then a cheap-as-I-can-lay-my-hands-on (but with a nice big screen=-) laptop running as a dumb terminal via a wireless link.

I think that kind of technology is probably beyond me though (and it would mean buying 2 PCs instead of just one...)

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

It shouldn't be that steep - my wife just bought a computer with similar configuration and it was 999$ Canadian - so that's like 450-500...

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Wow, i guess things are much cheaper your side of the pond. I'm looking at 400-500 sterling for a budget system. Top of the line is about a thousand. Bloody taxman...

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I find here that a mix of instant rebates and playing the chain stores' "lowest price guarantees" will usually get you a really good price. I'm not sure if it works the same in the UK.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

dogscoff said:
Just ordered me a 300gig external USB drive to back up my old machine too, in case it dies suddenly =-)

"External" drives are a huge scam. You can buy an IDE drive for half the cost (or less!) and a USB enclosure (almays go for aluminum) for $20-30 US.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

The game does not have very high system requirements. Any decent system these day will be able to run it. The system requirements posted on MM's own site are still pretty good. Hmm, now I can't find them. Ok, once upon a time the specs were posted and they were something like 500 Mhz P III or equivalent, 256 MB of system RAM, 3D graphics card with 16 MB of RAM, 1 Gb of free disk space, and Windows 98 or later with DirectX 7 or later. Not exactly cutting edge. And where are you gonna find a laptop running less than 1 Gz these days except on eBay? http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif A typical current laptop runs Windows XP and has DirectX 9.0c, is 2 Ghz or better, 1 Gb or more of RAM, a 120 GB HD, and will have some monster nVidia graphics card with 64 MB or more of RAM. Any decent contemporary laptop will be able to run SE V.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I think any modern laptop will handle SEV (since it's not that graphically intensive) But I do reccomend you buy a laptop with a graphics card. which one doesnt really matter, as long as it has it's own memory and doesnt steal from the system's memory.

With that you're set I think.

And dont spend too much, but also dont goo too cheap, try and aim at the middle. most value lies there.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Although SE:V is not flashy, with large fleet battles it certainly start grinding with all the animations etc. if you're into tactical battles.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I just bought a Lenovo 3000 N100 (basically an IBM ThinkPad) with a Centrino Dual Core (1.83 GHz) and 1.5 GB RAM about 3 weeks ago and it plays SEIV just fine - even with massive fleets, etc.

I'm hoping it'll be fine with SEV since it uses a nvidia chipset for graphics.

I am *very* happy with my decision to go Lenovo. This is *not* a bottom-line laptop but is a much bigger bang for the buck than Dell or Toshiba IMO. One thing I really like is that it runs soooooo much cooler than the Toshibas I've used so I can actually use it on my lap. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

I'd be happy to post further specs and price if folks are interested but you can Google them easy enough.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Have you run any Dells or Toshibas with the new "Core" line of CPUs though? Intel's new chips are explicitly designed to run a lot cooler than previous architectures.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

My wife's laptop is a Compaq Presario. So far, it's been quite a good buy. I'm glad that HPs line of junk hasn't seemed to interfere with Compaq's stuff.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

Nope, can't say that I have. I got a lot of bang for my buck tho and the one I have is a dual core processor. It has the Dual Layer DVD, etc. and is very current technology. They've (Lenovo) actually been making laptops for a long time with the ThinkPad name for IBM. In fact, they still do.

I got a good deal thru the place where I buy 50+ PC's a year tho.

I have found that it doesn't matter what I buy, my brother-in-law will tell me I bought the wrong thing and I paid too much for it. Regardless of your personal preferences, I've been in the computer industry for 26 years now and have put my hands on a *lot* of computers; Macs, Dells, Compaqs, Sinclairs, DEC VAX, - a lot. The bootom lime is I think the Lenovo is a very good laptop for the money and would recommend it to anyone that wanted more than just entry level stuff.

I am by no means saying Dell is only entry level. Just that if you get above that entry level products, consider Lenovo. I did and am not unhappy in the least.

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I wasn't trying to imply anything about Lenovo, just commenting on the heat comparison. It's not really fair to compare anything with a "Core" chip to anything older in terms of heat generation. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: Buying a SE5-friendly laptop
 

I'm sure the dual core technology reduces the heat considerably especially when you take into consideration the lower raw clock speeds (1.83 Ghz).

Even tho that sounds relatively slow, it's pretty peppy with 2 GB of RAM.

I am sitting on my couch right now connected via wifi with a game running in the background. (I have to take a break from working every 15 minutes or so; you know how it is....)

The day of the laptop has arrived for all intents and purposes. I develop web databases by trade (both privately and for an insurance agency) and have completely 'detached' myself from desktop PC's for about 3 weeks now and it is a viable solution. (It's also real nice sitting on my deck and doing so-called 'work'. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

EDIT: I too wouold be interested in any beta tester's comments regarding laptop video. My "video card" says it's a GeForce Go 7300 so it sounds like I shouildn't have any issues with SEV.