In need of a new laptop, but what should I go for?

[MrDale93]

I have got into laptops fairly recently, I've had little tiny notebook laptops before that just seem disposable, they have zero power compared to what I would like and as a result they cannot do anything Id like to do. I had bought my current laptop off a facebook selling site around a year and a half ago and although it is 8 year old at the end of January, it is still going strong. I've added more RAM, changed up from Win. 7 to Win. 10, deleted everything I do not need or use and now I have a 'puter that can play games, stream media and such things at a reasonable speed, for its age. Now I've had it a while, I want something a bit more up to date, a fair bit faster, and a G button that is still attached rather than pressing a little rubber nipple, which in turn is now loose and floating around in the G hole. I have recently had an issue where my screen would randomly turn off too, although that's sorted now with the help of a dude I believe was called Ian, from this site.

My current laptop has:
some Intel Celeron R processor, 2.20GHZ
4GB RAM, 2.98 usable.
I think the Graphics card is some integrated mobile Intel express chipset thing
205GB HDD
and a 15.6" screen

I use my laptop mainly for gaming, YouTube, and I would like to start some sort of online work too. I am well aware that is nothing compared to some of the immense laptops available today, and I really want to be able to play more games, stream YouTube videos faster, and generally just have something that isn't a Mayan artifact. The problem with this is, down to a lot of things happening all at once, I am completely flat broke, and I cannot go to work due to illness, so I'm unable to buy a ridiculously priced super computer.

Ideally, I'd want minimum 4Gb RAM, 1GB video card, a decent processor, and most importantly, something upgradeable. I obviously cannot stress enough it's gotta be cheap as possible, I'm fine with second hand that's no issue.

I've searched eBay, Gumtree, local computer stores, pawn shop's, I'm at a loss, everything looks designed to break the bank. This is why I've made this thread, I need the help from the dudes and dudettes on here to point me towards good quality laptops, that aren't more money than what Is reasonable at this time. What can you suggest? What are some good laptops or at least laptops that meet the specs I want?

 

[something back]

[QUOTE="MrDale93, post: 135875, member: 59101"What are some good laptops or at least laptops that meet the specs I want?[/QUOTE]
This is the advice I give to others, Don't be taken in by C.P.U. Numbers like i3,i5,i7

There is a site that will identify the rating of all the cpu's including amd ,intel and others

You can find yourself going for a higher number cpu that you think is better ,when a lower number
cpu can be more powerful or visa versa it's a minefield .

Just type in the cpu's number in the search section top right.

http://www.passmark.com


If you are doing extensive gaming then your focus has to be on the graphic card
the rule of thumb is if it's a quality graphics's card then it will have been mated
with a good cpu.

8Gb ram is going to be your target figure

Most laptops are NOT upgradeable except for ram,and the hard drive (to ssd)

 

[MrDale93]

Good evening,
You've certainly given me something to look at regarding CPU's. I've never properly understood that, and I have always assumed numbers were a good way to get a general idea on processors capabilities.
As for focussing on graphics cards I would not of done that either although that would of definitely made for a big selling point.

I think if I had not of read this I probably would of gone out and bought something with the 'best' processor I could afford only to find I'd spent an insane amount on something that doesn't perform how I want, thanks for that.

I'm definitely going to have to change up what I'm looking for.

 

[MrDale93]

Just one more thing I never thought of asking until I'd posted,
I'm going to start searching for something with a decent graphics card, rather than searching based on processor's, what sort of thing do I want to be looking for? I've never had to look for anything like this as I do the majority of my gaming on console, mainly Xbox One which obviously has everything you'll ever need built - in.

I don't want to walk in to my local computer store, explain what I'm looking for and be told I need this certain machine costing X amount when the laptop next to it considerably cheaper would outperform the first. Basically, what do I have to be looking for, is there a way to determine the quality? I would take note on what certain game requirements say are recommended but they all seem to say something different and I have no idea what I'm looking at all.

For Skyrim, not the most graphic intense game in the world but still considerable, the minimum graphic requirements are:

VIDEO CARD: DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM - NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT & ATI Radeon X1800.

Recommended:

VIDEO CARD: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1 GB of RAM (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon HD 4890 or higher

Then you look at recommended requirements for a game such as Grand Theft Auto V:

VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD 7870 2GB

To me, as some one new to the whole computer world, this is massively confusing and looking on the web does provide good information but it doesn't explain that information. Not where I'm looking at least.

 

[something back]

It will require you to do a lot of online research to find the right graphic card
for your gaming needs.

Note that graphic cards are usually a fix (soldered) item on laptops

Check this sites for video card comparisons

https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html

https://www.geforce.com/hardware/notebook-gpus

You should be looking at a pc for gaming given your restricted budget.

You could build a decent pc for around £280 that will do gaming.