Laptop Buying Guide(with Graphic)

This post is dedicated to those who wanted a versatile laptop (gaming+office work+entertainment).

Before we start, there is a few rule/consideration about laptop with graphic chip inside.
1.battery wont last more than 3 hours especially when playing games w/o nvidia optimus
2.speaking of versatile, don't put much hope to get high setting on newer games. they're just cheap 3rd class graphic being tossed inside to attract you with competitive price
3.heat: its a common problem.
4.its not upgradable like its desktop cousin, at least not w/o serious workaround

click here to view graphic card ranking
the site linked above is a site which they rank mobile graphic card according to their benchmark score, they give us numbers to get exact performance of the graphic chip.

consideration before buying
1.capacity vs speed 512Mb 750Mhz vs 1Gb 600Mhz
2.price
3.other spec (cpu, ram)


Capacity vs Speed
Famous scenario when looking at the graphic sticker on the laptop is people tends to get graphic card with more memory. let say 512Mb vs the 1Gb, most of them will go towards the 1Gb card which sometimes have a lower speed than the 512Mb card. why they're doing this? they wants to lure you to pay more w/o any noticeable effect. Think that the manufacturer is the devil, they wants your money! So check the link provided above, go for higher rank graphic if you're in a dilemma between 512Mb vs 1Gb

How much graphic memory do you need?? Slower card wont benefit from 1Gb, there is simply not enough time for it to fills the memory due to its slowness, its like filling a big basin with small pipe, it does take longer time to fill it, but sometime you just dont have the time to wait for it to fill. For now 512Mb is just nice to play with 3rd class graphic card(versatile laptop always come with these 3rd class graphic).

*256Mb card just don't make sense these days, don't buy it if you want to play games released this year


Other Spec:
1.CPU speed: go for low CPU and try to get better graphic one. most game demands only dual core CPU to be played. so i3 is more than enough unless you are going to use your laptop for *serious calculation. serious= calculate pi number up to bajilions decimal points. normal people take it as 3.142 :-p
2.RAM: DDR2 vs DDr3. go for DDR3 its faster but i think in a few month there will be no more laptop with DDR2 memory. 2Gb is barely enough to run Splintercell Conviction so go for 4Gb instead.
3.Ati vs Nvidia: no definite winner, but some says(wild speculation) ati heats up easily.
4.Avoid intel Graphic media accelerator (GMA Hd graphic) no matter how big the memory is. Simply awful graphic to get game even running!


Price
Range: Rm2000~Rm2400 don't expect this price for laptops from Sony or Apple :-p
Laptop price from Lowyat Plaza


*From my experience: acer, hp, compaq tends to overheat easily. i don't know why but sometimes it is just luck is not on your side. some unit that i've known work for 24/7 up to 4 years without any problem but some start to show something only after a few month of light usage.
*"nvidia optimus" is graphic switching technology. Gives the laptop ability to automatically switch between power sucking graphic to low powered integrated intel graphic when not in use. Go for it if you want more battery life.



Anyway gudluck. :-p