Laptop suggestions

[burnished_dragon]

Okay I am looking at getting a laptop what should I be looking for?
I was looking a Dell (ducks) but other than the very nice colours I don't think it will work - Vista and NVIDIA (that is all Dell Canada offers) So I guess I need some ideas to take to Future Shop with me so the salesman does try to pull a number on me. Also I don't want to spend a bundle trying to keep it under 1,500CND as need to get hubby one as well (he is heading up north)  Thanks

[akatonbo]

So, did you read the stickie at the very top of the forum yet? http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,4293.0.html

[burnished_dragon]

Well considering that post is 2006 and know there are newer posts and quick glance was desktop not laptop - I already had a good desktop for my sims - used that post when buying it, But the notebook laptop are new to me and I didn't even know about double checking on battery cooling ( know have to have descent for desktop)
Just clarifying here is what I had looked at until I read the mentioned sticky

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (4MB cache/2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium Edition
Ruby Red Color with Microsatin Finish
Glossy, high contrast, widescreen 17.0 inch display (1440 x 900)
Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 2 Dimm
160G 5400RPM SATA HDD
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GT
8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capabili

[Li'l Brudder]

No Vista.

[burnished_dragon]

hard not to get vista, unless I can find somewhere with older (last models before) laptops.  I have asked a number of places vista is the only thing that seems to be available I can try a couple of smaller shops that do their own installation but ....
Could I use my XP for my desktop and reformat the drive?

[eevilcat]

I don't think you're getting a lot of choice on the OS front from Dell. They briefly went back to selling systems with XP but it now looks like the only choice is Vista. You might try phoning them, it's amazing what salesmen can pull out of the hat under pressure.
The nVidia card is a good choice. Hubbie recently bought a similar spec laptop and chose nVidia as it had faster DDR3 RAM than the alternative ATI X1300(DDR2) which is getting a bit long in the tooth. I think the only downside to his system was the 2Gb limit on memory. His previous laptop was also a Dell as is mine and I'll happily recommend them. I'm keeping a casual eye on their systems as I plan to replace mine next year if I can get what I want for the right price.

[burnished_dragon]

well I did the chat thing with sale on line and his answers was vista only, funny last  Friday I checked both the US and CDN site XP was offered on the US - not today.  I would go for 4 gigs of ram but then I'm adding 600 bucks way over my budget this is pushing once I add the taxes.  I have until Thursday to make up my mind, unless they have a better sale later, but do want this for a trip in beg of Aug- not sure on the ship time
Thanks for the answers any more suggestions are welcome

[Gwill]

No point in going for 4GB ram if you get XP.  A 32bit operating system can't use that much.

[eevilcat]

Memory is much cheaper and easy to upgrade yourself later so 2Gb will be fine for now, the upgrade will be affordable in 1-2 years time when you might actually want/need it.

[burnished_dragon]

Forgive if I seem "blonde" for a moment but I thought you couldn't upgrade laptops once purchased. But if I can add ram that would be a good thing.  I've only had desktops since 1989 and this is the first time I am actually looking at getting one (birthday give from hubby) but I want to make sure it will run The Sims 2 and hopefully The Sims 3

Thanks to everyone who is giving advice it is much appreciated.

[Brynne]

You can usually upgrade RAM, and your harddrive. But things like video cards, usually not. They're integrated.

I just got a Macbook Pro two weeks ago, and so far it kicks ass. It's my 4th notebook, and, by far, the best I've had for running the game. Only has 2 GB of RAM right now, but it's upgradeable to 4.

I have partitioned my drive with Bootcamp, so am running XP, and the game, off that partition.

[eevilcat]

RAM is easy to do, at least on the Dells I've used - there's a compartment on the bottom for quick access to the memory. The important thing is to make sure that you buy the right kind of memory - I got mine from a specialist website, Crucial, who match the manufacturer/model to the right sort memory for you.

[burnished_dragon]

Thanks eevilcat, I am still going to Future Shop with hubby this week just to see what they have that is comparable and if cheaper, as hubby needs a laptop (he is heading to northern Alberta tar sands) and chatting on line is cheaper than long distance.  Mine new laptop is hmm how do you say a "honey I love you, sorry I will be away for a while" bribe.  I still have until Thursday and then I will call Dell if that is what I choose and actually talk to the salesperson and see if I can do any better (maybe get XP, doubtful). 

A nice new pretty red laptop to play Sims 2 should take some of the loneliness away.

[Argon]

No point in going for 4GB ram if you get XP.  A 32bit operating system can't use that much.

Then why does XP have a separate kernel for such a setup  32bit operating systems CAN go up to 4GB but that is the limit, 64bit can access memory above that. Besides, from what I've seen there are very few OEMs that actually use the 64bit version of Vista.

ETA: Windows XP has 4 kernels: 1) single processor, memory below 4GB, 2) HT/Dual Core, memory below 4GB, 3) single processor, memory at 4GB, 4) HT/Dual Core, memory at 4GB.

[Gwill]

No point in going for 4GB ram if you get XP.  A 32bit operating system can't use that much.

Then why does XP have a separate kernel for such a setup  32bit operating systems CAN go up to 4GB but that is the limit, 64bit can access memory above that. Besides, from what I've seen there are very few OEMs that actually use the 64bit version of Vista.

ETA: Windows XP has 4 kernels: 1) single processor, memory below 4GB, 2) HT/Dual Core, memory below 4GB, 3) single processor, memory at 4GB, 4) HT/Dual Core, memory at 4GB.

I'm not sure exactly how or why this is.  Maybe a 32bit operating system can use more RAM, but in the case of windows XP at least; it doesn't.
I have 4GB installed, but windows only uses 3,25GB.  If you know of any way I can convince windows to use it all I'd be glad to know.

[Argon]

"Note: due to standard PC architecture, a certain amount of memory is reserved for system usage, and therefor the actual memory size is less than the stated amount.
For example, 4GB of memory size will instead be shown as 3.xxGB memory during system startup."

Memory is used to map the addresses for hardware devices by the bios so they can be used, all 4 gigs of ram are being utilized.

[burnished_dragon]

No point in going for 4GB ram if you get XP.  A 32bit operating system can't use that much.

actually what I said or meant to say was I would like 4gb if I had to get Vista not XP. On my desktop I run XP with 2gb just fine as long as I keep my crap to a minimum. But can't afford to put 4 gb in the laptop at purchase so now I know that I can add ram later I am just  going to have a look at Future Shop to compare, but I like the colours of the Dell Inspiron 1720 (YES, I know but I am a women and Red is just fire spirit(element) to me).