13-06-2005 02:30									#1
	$500 for a new laptop! Is it a good deal? Increase the size of your Attachments

Can it play Civ4? What would you add to it for gaming?

What's your opinion of this machine...?

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/top...=en&s=dhs#offer

	13-06-2005 02:40									#2
	Suffering from ads?

Good for the money but no good for gaming.

	13-06-2005 02:43									#3
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

It only has 256 memory so it isn't enough to do much more then run Win XP. Never buy anything without at least 512 but strtch to a gig if you can. It doesn't have wireless connections either so no wi fi hotspots for you.

I'd avoid this computer since it is obsolet before you even buy it.

	13-06-2005 02:46									#4
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Thanks

	13-06-2005 02:51									#5
	Got spare money?

You need to splash the cash you wealthy old bugger

	13-06-2005 02:54									#6
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

Actually I'm thinking about a GP32 anyway. The size of a gameboy advance, around $250 and someone said it can run Civ2.

It would make work alot more bearable if I can figure out how to load Civ into the thing.

	13-06-2005 02:57									#7
	Support Apolyton, pre-order Civilization IV

What's worse, I assume the thing has an on-board video card that steals memory from RAM, so that the actual amount of RAM available to Windows would be around 190.

	13-06-2005 03:02									#8
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Solver What's worse, I assume the thing has an on-board video card that steals memory from RAM, so that the actual amount of RAM available to Windows would be around 190.

Correct.

	13-06-2005 03:05									#9
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

This is the GP 32. Is it better than a palm pilot or one of the tiny hand held comps? Are there any of the tiny ones that can run Civ 4?


http://consoles4u.8m.com/gp32.html

	13-06-2005 03:11									#10
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I doubt this will give you a good experience. Because if you look at the minimum system requirements of Sid Meier's Pirates! (which uses the same 3D engine) you'll notice they ask for a 64MB Video card and 256MB Ram.
Now, this notebook has 256MB Ram, BUT AFAIK the intel extreme graphics video chip doesn't not have dedicated memory so you'll need to deduct 64MB from your main ram to the graphics chip and that will leave you with 192MB of main memory which is really very very little.
Either you get 512MB RAM with integrated graphics or you'll get a graphics chip which uses at least 64MB of its own dedicated memory (the ideal ofc would be to have both).
Also I doubt the Celeron M at 1.3Ghz is a strong CPU to handle Civ4's AI.

Btw funny when I click on details it says $559 instead of $499 from the page before and I haven't seen any option to degrade the price.


Why don't you look for a Desktop instead? With that budget I doubt you'll find a suitable notebook.

	13-06-2005 03:18									#11
	Increase Your PM Length

what are the specs for Civ4?

	13-06-2005 03:22									#12
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Not to mention a crappy battery. Believe it or not, they include a NiMH Battery in that piece of crap...

	13-06-2005 03:40									#13
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by reds4ever what are the specs for Civ4?

We don't know, but it uses the same engine as Pirates. However, due to the AI, it will probably be a tad more demanding. Anyhow, it definitely needs 256 MB of RAM and a real video card, at least GeForce 4 Ti. I wouldn't expect a machine with integrated video to run Civ4 well...

	13-06-2005 03:55									#14
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

I can't believe any company is still shipping products with NiMH batteries since they have memory. If you ever plugged that laptop in without totally discharging it first then you'd damage the battery. In a month or two you'd have just a few minutes of life on the battery before needing another recharge. That's a serious flaw.

	13-06-2005 05:05									#15
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Oerdin I can't believe any company is still shipping products with NiMH batteries since they have memory. If you ever plugged that laptop in without totally discharging it first then you'd damage the battery. In a month or two you'd have just a few minutes of life on the battery before needing another recharge. That's a serious flaw.

Well, its clearly a piece of crap. Sorry Lancer! It has only a 90 days warranty and it doesn't have enough ram. I'm not sure you can upgrade the ram on that thing (its not even an option).

	13-06-2005 07:13									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

quote: Originally posted by Oerdin I can't believe any company is still shipping products with NiMH batteries since they have memory. If you ever plugged that laptop in without totally discharging it first then you'd damage the battery. In a month or two you'd have just a few minutes of life on the battery before needing another recharge. That's a serious flaw.

You're thinking of NiCd batteries. NiMHs don't have memory. In fact, they get damaged if they're discharged too much. When that happens, the only way to have a chance at salvaging them is to get a high-end charger that can condition them.

SP

	13-06-2005 07:50									#17
	Got spare money?

quote: Originally posted by Fve Crathva You're thinking of NiCd batteries. NiMHs don't have memory. In fact, they get damaged if they're discharged too much. When that happens, the only way to have a chance at salvaging them is to get a high-end charger that can condition them. SP

You're wrong. They have less memory than NiCd batteries, but they still have memory.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/partone-4.htm

quote: Less prone to memory than nickel-cadmium - fewer exercise cycles are required.

	13-06-2005 09:29									#18
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

Fine, they have a minor memory effect that doesn't appear with normal use, and can be erased by a full-charge cycle.

SP