A hard choice

In my school, we can purchase decent laptops for use in school (or at home too). We get to install whatever we want on them, altough we can't do things like download music. It's great, when we don't have any lessons people play games of LAN together and have a blast. We are connected to the Internet as well (it's wireless).

Now, I don't have one. I'm always bored to tears, watching everyone else have fun with their computers. I want one as well.

The thing is that I also want to upgrade my PC at home. I want more RAM memory, because 256 MB of RAM makes me lag terribly in certain games. I want to upgrade to 1024.

Should I get the laptop PC or upgrade my own PC?

As for how powerful the laptop PC is, it's not really up to date, but it's good enough for most games.

Hmm well depends how long your gonna be in school....And how crap your computer is at home. Because it does sound like it is a peice of junk and you will wanna start over again...

If you can afford a good laptop I'd go for it... But for a good one they cost alot more than a pwnage PC you could have at home.

The laptop is pretty damn cheap for its power, but I don't have enough money to buy a new PC anytime soon. Perhaps in a few years if I'm lucky. The 1024 MB of RAM and the laptop PC cost almost the same.

lol I'd grab the laptop for sure man... What is the video card in it?

im guessing if your RAM is 256 its SD-RAM and you videocard would be around 32 or 64mb, id get the labtop.

Laptop's are generally useless for gaming unless you have a high end system. Well, there are some games that can run well

Also, what graphics card do you have hooked up to your current rig?

Originally Posted by justin3

im guessing if your RAM is 256 its SD-RAM and you videocard would be around 32 or 64mb, id get the labtop.

rofl, Normally thats very very crap for gaming... I'd reckon he would be lucky if he got a Mobile X700 in there. Because I doubt he's anywhere near a 7800GTX Go...

I'd say to get the laptop and upgrade later, only because you can have LAN partys, which are loads of fun. I had a choice between a laptop, or a PC, and my PC pwns the laptop for the same price, doubles almost every asspect.

Also, for upgrading your PC, it might just be easier to throw anothe 256mb in there if you have the slots, to make it 512mb, that'll last you for a year or two, and can run almost ever game fluidly. I'd say get the 512 so you can splurge on a gx card. I have a GeForce6800, and man is that thing awsome. its good b/c it itself is 256mb, which frees up my 1gb of normal ram, but for you that would be a good combo, 512mb ram, and a 256mb video card that'l mke 768m of ram while your gaming. That'll put you around 300-400 dollors, 200ish for the gfx card, and depending if you have an open ram slot of not another 1 to 200.

Again, i'd take the laptop becaue of LAN, which is so much fun!

The laptop PC is a bit more powerful than my current PC, so I might take that.

My video card is GeForce 4 MX 420 64 MB, and yes, I have 256 MB RAM.

I hate that some people have to exaggerate and laugh at me when I reveal my specs, because they're wrong. I am able to play most games, but it's just that it lags a lot with some particular games.

Originally Posted by William Zelda4ever

I am able to play most games, but it's just that it lags a lot with some particular games.

Yeah exactly.. but when your talking to a hardcore PC gamer, They would laugh. Its all about High-res, 4xAA and plenty of Eye candy for us...

I doubt you could even boot Quake 4 or F.E.A.R on that thing =P
But good luck with your laptop =)

Originally Posted by William Zelda4ever

The laptop PC is a bit more powerful than my current PC, so I might take that.

My video card is GeForce 4 MX 420 64 MB, and yes, I have 256 MB RAM.

I hate that some people have to exaggerate and laugh at me when I reveal my specs, because they're wrong. I am able to play most games, but it's just that it lags a lot with some particular games.

I used to have that nVidia card. Solid runner for a few years

BTW, is your system a Dell? If so, I may have bought the same system as you a few years back

Your card should be fine for average games, like Quake 3 or maybe even Unreal Tournament 2004 (Low details though)

Check what games you'll be playing, and see what the reccomended specs are. Check them with your system and laptop, and upgrade as appropriate

The PC. They are easy to upgrade so that you will always have the system of the future. Laptops - Ancient in the next year (2 at most). But... if you are going to be operating Microsoft Word then maybe you should go for a laptop. Best power nowadays is getting a 64-bit proccesor (AKA More Power!) and getting a computer with decent memory (512mb is gone, go for 1024mb). And graphics, find a PC / Laptop with 128mb but 256mb will let you play all the latest games (but... it also depends on the chipset, I had an nVidia but it turned out to be rubbish so I switched to ATi and now everything works fine). Look at this list to find a great PC / Laptop:

1. A 64-bit proccesor for real power (or less, if you want to save money)
2. Decent memory (1024mb is great!)
3. Graphics - Your choice of chipset but... you can choose which one

Warning - 64-bit technology won't use it full power until you use / purchase a 64-bit Operating System e.g. Microsoft Windows XP: 64 edition etc. Keep that in mind if buying a 64-bit system.

We only get one kind of laptop at school, it's not like we can choose between better models or anything. I'd never get a laptop from a store anyway, I can get a gaming PC for less money than the average laptop costs.

Anyway, thanks for the replies. I'm probably going for the laptop PC.