I noticed on today's Best Buy Deal of the Day they have the following laptop:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/pavilion...specifications

I am trying to determine if it would be worth my oldest son to buy this laptop to replace a 5 year or older desktop.
The main uses for this laptop would be surfing the internet, playing Minecraft and some gaming, the first game that comes to mind that he got for Christmas is Total War Rome II.
Any input on what issues we will have doing any of the above with this laptop?

Thanks!

 

The i3 processor might be a little low for gaming on

What is he coming from now?

 

He currently uses a 5 year old or so Dell desktop.
The Total War Rome II games requires the following:

Processor: 2 GHz Intel Dual Core processor / 2.6 GHz Intel Single Core processor
Memory: 2GB RAM
Graphics: 512 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible card (shader model 3, vertex texture fetch support)

Recommended Specs:
Processor: 2nd Generation Intel Core i5 processor
Memory: 4GB RAM
Graphics: 1024 MB DirectX 11 compatible graphics card

 

I think you might want to consider a better processor the i3 might not cut it .... like they recommend i5 or higher

 

Don't waste the cash, - specially if the processor is soldered in and not upgradable.

That's just too slow IMO.

 

It's not the proc that's the bottleneck here ( it's a 4th gen i3 @ 2.4Ghz ) nearly as much as that game's optimal video card requirements are demanding.

Intel embedded graphics will not produce great framerates at higher resolutions with those demands.

However you will see an improvement over that 5 year old Dell desktop in every measure, no question, if that is yer reference.

 

That too.

Hilarious sig MGD

 

HP laptops are NOT reliable. For that use you really need an i5 and a discrete video card.

You aren't going to find anything like that for 350 bucks.

 

And... Screw windows 8.

 

It's getting very difficult to find a new laptop with Windows 7, and not too many Windows 8 laptops have Windows 7 drivers available if you want to wipe them and install 7. Almost all Windows 7 laptops are business models (not consumer or gamer) or refurbs, and generally only available online.

I just searched Newegg for Windows 7 laptops with i5 and discrete graphics, and the cheapest one that is not a refurb is over $1000. Even those are all business workstation graphics, not gaming video.

 

I absolutely HATE Windows 8/8.1...Bought myself a notebook and hardly use it, because of Win 8. My other PC's are still on XP and I'll keep them as long as i can, even though support ends soon. Not happy with Microsoft and might switch to MAC eventually

 

I'm still using Vista and Win7. No problems with either, -not that I can recall. Also using Snow Leopard, -No problems there as well. I haven't used XP in a long time now, - not even going to try 8 yet lol.

 

Hi.

Check their support website for Win7 drivers.

I did a cursory check of current Dell Inspiron ( consumer ) notebooks - most show drivers for Win 7, 8 and 8.1.

Dell's business/industrial notebooks (e.g Latitude / ATG/XFR) still support Win 7...

And of course Alienware units still ship wif Win7 be default unless otherwise specified.

Really folks - it's just an interface - with 8.1 ( and 8.2) you can simply resort to a more classic UI if you prefer, and there are tweaks for Aero ( sort of, lol), etc and for some other stuff you may feel is lacking.

It ain't going away by whining aboot it Unless you want to run Android on the desktop ( coming) and deal with the App permissions disaster ...

MGD

 

I don't know guys, I'm not a computer nerd but the ol lady rides herd on over 50,000 units and most are laptops. All they buy that can stand up to the daily grind they get in the education field is HP. Dell won't even pass their tabletop testing. But then I agree to disagree with anything you say provided I'm not responsible and you are....but only on Monday nights if the cows don't come home and MGDFan is buying drinks......yeah, that's gonna happen.

 

Take a look at Lenovo (IBM), they make pretty good stuff and the prices aren't bad. Windows 8 on a touchscreen is the way to go.