Maastrictian Posted May 10, 2001 Share Posted May 10, 2001 I'm looking in to buying a used laptop for use on bussiness trips. Basically something I can hook up to hotel internet and check my e-mail on, stuff like that. It would be a nice secondary bonus if it happened to run CMBO as well I'm basically wondering what sort of minimum requirements I should be looking for a good "low-rez" experience. Also, what items should I steer clear of to avoid hardware conflicts? Thanks for your help. --Chris 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schrullenhaft Posted May 10, 2001 Share Posted May 10, 2001 I'm not much of a laptop user, so I don't have a whole lot of recommendations to make. Avoid the laptops with NeoMagic chipsets in them (128Z, 128ZX, etc.) since most users have complained that CM is unusuable with them. Display-wise your options are fairly limited on laptops (especially used ones). I'd recommend a CPU in the PII or PIII range if it's in your budget. The Pentium I (Classic) class CPUs probably aren't going to be enough to enjoy CM (especially since you won't have a high performing display, typically). ATI is one of the most common video chipsets for laptops. In the used range you might find 4 & 8Mb models (the 16Mb models are new). You'll also come across Cirrus Logic video chipsets, but they are a bit older (2Mb usually) and will offer no 3D performance. Among used laptops only the newer ones with ATI chipsets are really going to offer much for 3D performance (but they'll lack fog effects for one). Drivers for laptop displays are often dated and usually worse than desktop displays for compatibility and performance. Because of this your CPU is going to need to do a bit more work for CM's display. Hence a good speed CPU will help quite a bit on a laptop (in case you have to go to "software rendering"). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lempereur Posted May 11, 2001 Share Posted May 11, 2001 Get the largest amount of video ram you can. My buddy has a HP and it works well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMcGuire Posted May 11, 2001 Share Posted May 11, 2001 My company bought me a Compaq with the ATI chipset. Works great. I doubt you could find this specific one used yet (Armada M700) but the ATI chipset has been around for awhile. Amazing battery life, too -- close to 3 hours in CM with sound and backlighting! I know somebody with a Sony (although you couldn't give me a Sony product) that has very good graphics but terrible battery life, it gets too hot to hold, and the CD is external. For some reason (maybe the $3K), he swears by it. Not sure what chipset it uses but it looks great. I also know a guy with a killer HP. I don't like HP because the driver situation is always a toss-up, but it also has the ATI chipset and it is much faster than my Compaq. Graphic speed and quality is roughly equivalent. Battery life is ok, not awesome. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chupacabra Posted May 11, 2001 Share Posted May 11, 2001 I've had trouble with the ATI Rage Mobility chipset which is fairly common in laptops. It's an 8mb model, which isn't shabby for a laptop, and runs other games fine, but CM crashes unless I run the game in software mode. Oh well. Toshiba (IIRC) just released a laptop using the Geforce Go card, which is a scaled-down version of their 32mb Geforce MX card. That's the best portable gaming maching you're going to get these days, but it'll cost you. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.