Laptops, LO, USB and the like :D

[Black_Hawk]

Hey all, I've been afk for a while preparing for my college admission exam. Now it's over :drunk:

 

I'll get a new lappie which should run LO nicely (C2D, 2.4/2.5, 2GB RAM,256 MB GF 8400 (64 bit though, but I'll only be using it for LO when not on college), 250/350 GB HDD @ 5400 RPM).

As I understand, 2GB is dual channel, and 3GB is 2+1 so it's single channel. Will dual channel/single channel afect LO performance?

 

Next thing, PCMCIA USB adapters. Do these act as "regular" USB hubs or as separate USB channel (I'll be getting a model that will have either 2 or 4 additional USB ports), because the lappie will have only 3 USB ports (1 will be used for the mouse receiver, the other one for the notebook cooler power supply so that leaves me only 1 free USB (for either X52, Rudder pedals or the Saitek PGCu which I use for additional macros). And I've seen people having trouble with X52 on USB hubs, hence getting the PCMCIA USB adapter with extra ports.

 

I think that those are all my questions, sorry to bug you :joystick:

Edited July 11, 2008 by Black_Hawk

[hitman]

A USB hub needs to have an additional power supply in order to run anything that uses a little bit more power. Think of it like this: your running a cooling pad for the notebook, a joystick, a mouse, and a trackir from 1 USB port. You require 1 volt for the mouse, 1 volt for the joystick, 2 volts for the trackir, and .5 volts for the cooling pad, and the hub only gets a supply of 3 volts from the USB connector on the laptop. I encountered this problem with my last 2 laptops, and finally wised up and purchased an externally powered USB hub. It all worked after that.

[mikoyan]

get an usb port I use it on my imac to connect all the my usbs to play lock-on, they come with a power adapter too.

[SuperKungFu]

sounds like you might be getting a 15 inch laptop since it only has 3 usb ports. I can't comment on the usb hubs because my laptop has 6 usb since its a 17 in, but I do want to comment about one of your specs: you hard drive running at 5400 rpm. This would significantly slow down a computer, 5400 rpm is utter crap. My suggestion, get the cheapest HD they offer on that laptop (if you haven't bought it already) and go to newegg.com and buy one that's 7200 rpm.

[Black_Hawk]

Yep, 15'' screen, HP dv6700t, it seems like a nice budget laptop and it looks nice, and I haven't bought it yet. My problem is that the local dealers don't offer it in Croatia (I yet need to find out if they can order it for me and for how much... The config I made online is 1160$ and I need to see for how much they want to sell it.) and I won't be allowed to order it online since I'm not the one who's paying for the lappie.

I won't be flying that much - only during the weekends if time permits. How significant is the slowdown @ 5.4k? If only the loading times are affected I don't mind (I'm used to waiting up to 5 mins (and more) for the online missions to load on my cr*p desktop now which seems to be falling apart :D) and if I get fed up with it I can get a new HDD later when I save up some money.

Another thing, will there be a big performance difference between 2.1 and 2.4 GHz? (maybe a stupid question, but hey, I'm just trying to cut the costs as much as possible :music_whistling:)

This will be my first laptop ever so I've got a loot of questions buzzing in my head :book:. I expect that it will blow away my prehistoric desktop so I know that there will be a performance jump up, but will it run LO nicely (meaning some decent med-high settings)?

[SuperKungFu]

lucky for you, i actually experience an upgrade from 2.1 to 2.4 GHz, it does reduce the stutters and really helpful during graphic intensive situation. However, if you haven't felt anything faster since your desktop, then you wouldn't notice it since this would all be a big improvement- so you could go for a 2.1. However, i do feel like you should get the 7200 rpm HD since loading times and such would all improve. Not only for Lock On, but your overall computer.

[SuperKungFu]

As for settings, with my specs (seen in my sig), this is my settings

 

Hope this helps you decide.

[Black_Hawk]

This just seems as what I want from my LO :thumbup:

And I think it'll be possible on 1280x800, but I'll go for the 2.4 processor. As for the HDD - if it will be unbearably slow at 5.4k I'll get a 7.2k one.

Thank you for your replies and have a cookie, err, rep! :pilotfly:

[hitman]

Its not all that slow...it just seems like it. However, if you can only justify spending an extra 20 bucks on a 7200 rpm disk of the same size, youll get a good deal. If I can put in my 2 cents...why not just get an Acer? I had an Acer 9500 w/ a 7600Go, 160gb hdd at 7200rpm, 1gb of ddr2-667 and a 17.1" screen at those same prices...it played just fine until I threw my mouse at the screen:chair:...and that was at last years prices and Im certain they have come out with better laptops since then for the same price.

 

Matter of fact...heres one right here.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115486&nm_mc=OTC-B1zrat3&cm_mmc=OTC-B1zrat3-_-Notebooks-_-Acer+America-_-34115486

 

Acers top line

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115457

Edited July 12, 2008 by hitman_214th

[SuperKungFu]

lol no problem. But I don't want to get your hopes too high because I'm running on an 8600 GT, yours will be the 8400 graphics card. I'm not sure how that will affect the performance. Its just something to keep in mind. Cheers and have fun with your laptop.

[Black_Hawk]

I went to a dealer today, and there's no way he can order me a notebook from the Pavilion line (it's not intended for this region's market :(, and if I order online I'll get ripped off with the taxes once it reaches the border).

So now I'm thinking about the Dell Studio line (which, according to Dell online, IS available in my region) and here's a part of the config (and a couple of questions :music_whistling:)

 

C2D T5850 2.16 GHz or C2D 8100 2.1 GHz --> there's a price difference between the 2, so there's a performance difference; what are the benefits of the second one? (Except for 1 MB of cache more...)

 

1280x800 or 1440x900 LED screen --> is there really a visible difference in screen sizes?

 

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450, 256MB (comparable to the GF8400 I suppose?)

 

Again, 2GB RAM, 250 HDD...

[SuperKungFu]

Here's some coupons for the dell laptops, they change every week so if you find one you like, use the coupon codes

http://www.notebookreview.com/dellCoupon.asp

 

Keep in mind though that if you do use one of these coupons, it replaces whatever promotion they have on the site. For example, it the site says 100 dollars off instantly, and you use the 225 dollars off, its not like its adds on top of each other to make 325, it will just be 225.

 

I can't really comment on the whole comparison thing, but I bet a quick google search you can find benchmarks such as Radeon 2450 vs 8400.

But I do recommend getting the higher resolution screen, it does indeed look better.

[Black_Hawk]

After some pulling with the local dealers and cursing everybody 'cause noone will ship to this country, I've got a deal which seems interesting performance wise :D

 

 

Acer Travelmate 5720G-602G25Mn

 

Core 2 Duo T7500 2.2GHz

2GB RAM (2x1)

15.4'' 1280x800

ATI Mobility Radeon HD X2600 512MB

 

I've been searching for some reviews but there aren't any detailed ones. What I've come across in some of them is the battery life which is a bit on the weak side (1.5h on some endurance tests...)

I don't know how much I'll actually be using the laptop on my classes because I'll have a lot of field classes and I suppose I'll be taking notes during the regular lessons :smartass:

 

Is it possible to raise the battery life by downclocking and undervolting the CPU and GPU while on battery power?

I will be using Win XP on this machine, not Vista and I don't know about the power management options on either. Are there 3rd party programs for downclocking/undervolting which can give me more battery juice while mobile while using wireless and just the essentials?

Anyone have experience with this notebook? Any problems, overheating, etc?