Buying a new latop

[ShadowPierce]

So I'm starting to save up for a new laptop, then I came across these specs...

Spoiler: ShowHide

Processor & Chipset
Intel® Pentium® processor P6200 (Dual Core, 3 MB L3 cache, 2.13 GHz, DDR3 1066 MHz, 35 W), supporting Intel® 64 architecture, Intel® Smart Cache
Mobile Intel® HM55 Express Chipset

Memory
2 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory

Optical media drive   
8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive

Storage   
500 GB hard disk drive
2-in-1 card reader, supporting:
•Secure Digital™ (SD) Card and MultiMediaCard™ (MMC)

Display   
14" HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD
16:9 aspect ratio

Graphics
ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470 with 512 MB of dedicated DDR3 VRAM, supporting Unified Video Decoder (UVD), OpenEXR High Dynamic-Range (HDR) technology, Shader Model 5.0, Microsoft® DirectX® 11, OpenGL® 3.1, OpenCL™ 1.1
Dual independent display support
16.7 million colors
MPEG-2/DVD decoding
WMV9 (VC-1) and H.264 (AVC) decoding
Microsoft® DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) application interface (API)
HDMI™ (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) support

Audio
Built-in speaker
High-definition audio support
Built-in microphone
MS-Sound compatible

Webcam
Acer Crystal Eye 1.3 MP webcam, 1280 x 1024 resolution

Wireless and networking   
WLAN:
Acer InviLink™ Nplify™ 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
Supporting Acer SignalUp™ wireless technology
WPAN:
Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR

Input and output   
2-in-1 card reader (SD, MMC)
HDMI port with HDCP support
3 USB 2.0 ports
External display (VGA) port
Headphone/speaker/line-out jack
Microphone-in jack
Ethernet (RJ-45) port
DC-in jack for AC adapter

Security   
BIOS user, supervisor, HDD passwords
Kensington lock slot

Power supply and battery   
ACPI 3.0 CPU power management standard: supports Standby and Hibernation power-saving modes
Power adapter
3-pin 65 W AC adapter
Battery
48 Wh 4400 mAh 6-cell Li-ion standard battery pack
Battery life: 3 hours
Energy Star®

Keyboard & Special Controls
Keyboard
86-/87-/91-key Acer FineTip keyboard with international language support
Touchpad
Multi-gesture touchpad, supporting two-finger scroll, pinch, rotate, flip
Media keys
Media control keys (printed on keyboard): play/pause, stop, previous, next, volume up, volume down

Weight and dimensions   
341 (W) x 264.5 (D) x 26.7/33.5 (H) mm (13.43 x 10.41 x 1.05/1.32 inches)
2.5 kg (5.51 lbs.)10 with 6-cell battery pack

So I was wondering if the specs are decent enough to play some of the fairly recent games (like Alice: Madness Returns. No, not Skyrim. Not yet ). BTW, my budget is P23,000 which is around $520. Is it good enough for its price?

[ShadowPierce]

Bump? Just want some opinions before I buy it... And who else to ask than the computer-savvy people of CP? >:3

[ForeverZer0]

I am not familiar with the hardware requirements of Alice: Madness Returns, but after looking at what you got listed, that configuration is not a suited for gaming. About the only positive aspect is that you have a graphics hard, but it is a less-powerful economy model. It will definitely help, but the lack of RAM and weak CPU are your problem.

You may be able to skate by on the RAM, so long as all the graphic quality settings are set a little lower, but I personally would look into a processor upgrade. If you have the extra cash, try to upgrade the RAM to at least 3 or 4 GB, it will make a world of difference, not just for gaming, but even normal stuff like compressing files, multitasking, etc.

[ShadowPierce]

I see, I've always thought that 2GB of RAM is plenty enough for me since I don't really multitask that much, but I guess it would really help to upgrade it a bit more...

The video card seems adequate, though... Although it would seem that I will need to play in mid to low settings for games like Skyrim, etc....

As for the processor, I'm not really that good at looking for a decent processor... I usually go for the multicore ones, since it sounds more advanced...

[ForeverZer0]

Multi-core processors are better, but that processor is not built for gaming at all. Its meant to be an all-around "normal" user processor, good for the average joe who does some browsing on the internet and plays a few flash games, not for running modern games really in any capacity. Although it might possibly get you through, you will not be playing any game that requires lots of computer power.

Here's a review I found for your processor, it can explain it much better than I can.

[ShadowPierce]

I just found Alice: Madness Returns' system reqs:

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System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
Operating System: Microsoft ® Windows® Vista ® SP2 / XP ® SP3
Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel ® Pentium ® 4 class or AMD Athlon T or equivalent processor
Memory: 1 GB RAM (Windows Vista ®) / 512 MB RAM (Windows XP ®)
HDD: 7 GB or more hard disk space
Graphics: 128 MB DirectX ® 9.0c-compatible, 3D graphics, support Shaders 2.0 (NVIDIA ® GeForce ® FX or more, ATI Radeon T 9500 or more)
Sound card: 16-bit DirectX ® 9.0c-compatible sound card
CD-ROM: 8x DVD-ROM drive
DirectX®: 9.0c (included)


Recommended:
Operating System: Microsoft ® Windows ® Vista ® SP2 / XP ® SP3
Processor 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2, 3500 + AMD Athlon or equivalent processor
Memory 1 GB RAM (Windows Vista ®) / 512 MB RAM (Windows XP ®)
HDD: 7 GB or more hard disk space
Graphics: 256MB DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics card, 3D video card Hardware T & L (NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon or equivalent)
Shegan the card 16-bit DirectX ® 9.0c-compatible sound card

So I guess I can play it in mid to high settings without a problem, while playing 2011 and up games at mid to low settings. But I'm still upgrading the RAM to 4GB, just in case. 

Skyrim, however, is a different case:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Minimum System Requirement
* OS: 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
* CPU: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
* RAM: 2 GB
* HDD: 6 GB
* Graphics: 512 MB card
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c

Recommended System Requirement
* OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP (32 or 64 bit)
* CPU: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
* RAM: 4 GB
* HDD: 6 GB free disk space
* Graphics: 1 GB Graphics Memory
* Sound Card: DirectX 9 Compatible
* DirectX: Version 9.0c
* Internet for Steam activation

Maybe in the lowest settings?

[ForeverZer0]

Its all really what you have the spare money for. You can pretty much spend whatever you want a PC, from a couple hundred dollars to a a multiple thousand dollars. If you have the cash to upgrade the processor, then personally I would do it. If not, then you have to live with what you got. From what I remember, I don't think Skyrim is a huge resource whore like some games, but you never know what game may come out in the next year or so that you really want to play that may require more.

Upgrading the RAM to 4 GB is a good choice, and I don't think you will regret it. Keep in mind that unless you are getting a 64-bit OS, any more RAM will be absolutely useless (most manufacturers won't offer the option to get more if you  have a 32-bit OS selected). Just out of curiosity, what is the price difference between the Pentium CPU and an i3 or i5 processor?

[ShadowPierce]

Spoiler: ShowHide

5. Intel Pentium® Dual Core E5700 Processor LGA775
3.0 GHz, 2MB Intel® Smart Cache, 800MHz FSB, 45nm Technology
P 2,749

6.  Intel Pentium Dual Core E5800 3.20GHz 2MB Cache, 800Mhz Processor
LGA775 Socket / 800MHz FSB
P 2,899

7.  Intel Pentium Dual Core E6600 3.06GHz 2MB Cache Processor New
LGA775 Socket / 1066MHz FSB
P 2,999

8.  Intel Pentium D 820 (BTX) Dual Core
2x1MB L2, EM64T, 800MHz 2.8GHz
P 4,999

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.  Intel Core™ i3-530 2.93GHz, 4MB Smart Cache w/ Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology
2.93 GHz core speeds; Four processing threads; 4MB of Intel® Smart Cache; w/ Intel® HD Graphics; 32nm Technology; Two channels of DDR3 1333 MHz memory; LGA1156 socket
P 4,999

10.  Intel Core™ i3-540 3.06GHz, 4MB Smart Cache w/ Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology LGA1156
3.06 GHz core speeds; Four processing threads; 4MB of Intel® Smart Cache; w/ Intel® HD Graphics; 32nm Technology; Two channels of DDR3 1333 MHz memory; LGA1156 socket
P 5,299

Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz 3MB Cache Processor New
LGA1155 Socket
P 5,399

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Intel Core i5-2310 2.90GHz Processor New
LGA1155 / 6MB Cache / Up to 3.2GHz Max Turbo Frequency
P 8,499

19.  Intel Core i5-2400 3.10GHz 6MB LGA1155 Processor New
LGA1155
P 8,799

20.  Intel Core™ i5-650 3.2GHz, 4MB Smart Cache w/ Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology and Turbo Boost Technology
3.2GHz up to 3.46GHz with Intel® Hyper-Threading technology and Intel® Turbo Boost technology; 4 processing threads; 4MB of Intel® Smart Cache; Intel® HD Graphics; 32nm Technology; 2 channels of DDR3 1333 MHz memory; 2.5 GT/s DMI; LGA1156 socket
P 8,999

21.  Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHZ 6MB LGA1155 Processor New
LGA1155
P 9,799

22.  Intel Core™ i5-760 Quad Core, 8MB Smart Cache w/ Intel® Turbo Boost Technology
2.8 GHz and up to 3.33 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB of Intel® Smart Cache, 2 channels of DDR3 1333 MHz memory, 4 processing threads, LGA1156 socket
P 9,999

23.  Intel Core i5-2500k 3.30Ghz 6MB Cache Processor New
LGA1155 Socket
P 10,299

This is from the website of the store where I plan to buy my laptop...

Conversion: $1.00 = P43.00

[ForeverZer0]

Meh, I see they are roughly double. 
If you have the money, go for an i-series. If not, go ahead with the Pentium, but be aware that you may experience some lag in certain games, especially during specific effects, like a large spell being cast, etc. It really comes down to what do you want your computer to be for. Your current setup (with the RAM), should be enough to play the majority of games, albeit with some tweaking of the settings, and maybe a bit of lag here and there depending on the game. I understand that money is not simply found laying on the ground. I saved spare cash for a couple of months to get mine. Paying bills really puts a hurting on accruing money...

[ShadowPierce]

Yeah, I already calculated that I'm going to need to work my ass off for at least 3 months in order to buy a half-decent laptop like that, and maybe another month for the upgrades...

Anyway, I'll consider upgrading the processor since there are a lot of upcoming titles that seem very promising (Diablo III, baby! )...

What do you think about the Graphics card, BTW?

[ForeverZer0]

It seems like a basic low-middle type of card. I read a few things, and it appears it should allow you to play most games, though you will have to keep the quality settings lowered. It is what is going to allow you to play games, I doubt the current setup would do much gaiming without, so it does make a significant difference. The card seems suited for your specs, you don't want the card itself eating too much resources because it is a high-end 2GB card or anything, and you don't have the RAM to spare for it.

Any card is better than none.

[Subsonic_Noise]

I can play Skyrim on medium to high settings with a AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256mb vram, so that won't be that much of a problem.. then again, I do have a Core i5 quadcore and 4gb of ram.. and a mac. But yeah... watch the processor. Don't go for a pentium.

[ShadowPierce]

Maybe it'll take a few more months of work to upgrade the processor, but I'm sure it'll be worth it... I think I'll get an i5 dual core or just a normal i5, whichever I can afford...

[Subsonic_Noise]

I doubt they even make single core i5 Seriously. Single core processors are -not- something you should buy anymore in a time where they even start building dualcores into phones.

[Dweller]

I doubt they even make single core i5 Seriously. Single core processors are -not- something you should buy anymore in a time where they even start building dualcores into phones.

I agree with Sub, forget single core processors. [Intel® Core™ i5-2537M Processor (3M Cache, 1.40 GHz) --> 2 cores] is the smaller i5 processor. i3 processor have 2 cores but uses Intel Hyper-Threading so they are more powerfull that Pentium Dual Core E.
Go for a i3 or, if you can afford it, go for a i5.

[Magus]

If it's not a DELL, you're in good "better" hands. Trust me, this is coming from me --who owns 2 different kinds.

Dell is a company of crooks imo. Everyone I knew had problems with: their changers which die every 1-2 months, bad hard drivers and quite frankly, I'm also planning to buy a new laptop.

If I see any signs of Dell (maybe even Intel..)  then I will instantly red flag it. I'm not trying to say Dell's the worst out there (there's acer) but I'm saying take caution when you buy it. Maintaining one is a pain. Even if nothing happens to it. It self-destructs.

[ShadowPierce]

@Magus: Actually, that laptop I'm planning to buy is an Acer Aspire...