Best Laptop Option for Upgrading from FS9 to FSX?

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 12:56 am

Tell us what you really think, Aharon. Don't hold back. And try to rub a little salt in while you're at it.

But I think he's right. The question is, does it have a GPU though. If it does, it's not a bad basic machine for about $200 (rough guess).

Aharon · Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:13 am

Rob Vanderkam wrote:

Tell us what you really think, Aharon. Don't hold back. And try to rub a little salt in while you're at it.

I do not understand your statement?? I am trying to tell Lord Letto that the Dell deal is bad because it is used and it does not have dedicated video memory. And I am trying to tell him to avoid any used laptop because no one would know any technical problems that are hidden or not detected in that used Dell laptop. That is same reason why people should avoid refurbished laptops too because undetected technical problems still reside in refurbished laptops.

Aharon

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 1:55 am

sorry. I know what you meant. I just thought you were a little 'over-expressive'. Would you say that to the guys face? If so, it might be considered rude and get you punched.

Lord Letto · Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2012 2:05 pm

replyed to this: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z357363468
with this:

Quote:

Hi, i'm looking for a Laptop to replace my old HP G50-211CA, i would prefer something thar can run Microsoft Flight Simulator X Smoothly. I currently have $220 Cash plus i would be willing to trade in my old laptop as long as the data can be transfered. basicly looking for something with these specs:
2 to 3.6Ghz or better Multicore processor
as much DDR3 or better ram possible, 2GB minimum
Video/Graphics card thats 512 MB Dedicated Video Memory and recomended for Gameing
HDD must be 7200 RPM or faster
15.6" Display and all other reguler stuff

got this reply back:

Quote:

I currently do not have anything that would come close to meeting your budget requirements, with those specs. The one I do have is only 5 weeks old with Win 7, 6 GB RAM, Duo core, 740 GB HDD, etc.. That one would require your laptop, if in good shape, $340.00 cash, plus the cost of transferring files. No taxes.

Regards, Mel

i also replyed to another ad to do with building computers saying the same thing and got this reply:

Quote:

hi jeremy. unfortunatly i do not build laptops and i am not a store with laptops in stock. i think your best bet would be to post your laptop for sale and add the cash from that to your $220, then have a look on kijiji or something and try to buy a used laptop. even a general purpose laptop from best buy starts at around $450. honestly though your best bet for gaming is a desktop computer, not a laptop. desktops are lower priced and the parts inside are so much higher powered. sorry that i can't help you with this, good luck in your search.

regards,

scott
226-317-0132
newpc4you@hotmail.com

Lord Letto · Posted: Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:01 pm

Bump: just downloaded and installed the FSX Demo on my old laptop to try, just wondering what the performance diffrence is between the Demo and the real FSX?

Lord Letto · Posted: Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:55 pm

ok, i tryed the FSX Demo on my laptop and it worked good IMO, i was able to run it at around Medium Low-Medium High and it was tolerable to my liking, the only thing i don't like the demo is the 30 minute limit to do a flight and even with GA and Airline traffic set to 100%, it seamed like i was the only plane in the air. according to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com, my laptop falls just short of the FSX Mimimum Requirements (all good except for Video Card: Minimum: 32 MB 100% DirectX 9.0c video card with Pixel Shader 2.0, You Have: Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family. 32MB Video ram required, i have 284.6 MB, 3D Required and i have it and Pixel Shader 2.0 required, i have 4.0)
for recomended on that site, all was good except for Video Card, CPU and CPU Speed (Video card was same as minimum cept Hardware T&L and Vertex Shader Version was added to the list of "Recommended attributes of your Video Card" and i was good for both of those. for CPU, Pentium 4/Athlon XP or better is recomended, i have Genuine Intel(R) CPU 585 @ 2.16GHz. for CPU Speed, 2.4 GHz is Recomended, i have 2.2 GHz Performance Rated at 2.2GHz.)

Recomended specs for FSX on that site is: 2.4 GHz Pentium 4/Athlon XP or better, 512MB Ram, Windows XP, 256 MB 100% DirectX 9.0c video card (NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or better), DirectX 9.0c, Sound Card, 14 GB Free Disk Space, DVD-ROM.

for FSX Acceleration, Minimum is 2 Ghz single-core processor, 1GB Ram, Windows XP/Vista, 128 MB DirectX 9.0c with support for shader model 1.1, DirectX 9.0c, Sound Card, 4GB Free Space, Sound Card and DVD-ROM. for Acceleration i only failed minimums for CPU and Video Card.

Also as i was typing this, i got a reply back from a place that builds Desktops, ther's the reply:

Quote:

hi! sorry about the delay in getting back to you, i've been swamped with computer work the last few days. so here's what i could do for you.

1 motherboard: MBBI000220
BIOSTAR A55MH Socket FM1 AMD A55 Chipset Dual Channel DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066/800 MHz HD Audio 6x SATA2 3Gb/s 6x USB 2.0 Ports Micro ATX
$59.99

2 processor: CPUA001740
AMD A4-3400 Dual Core 2.70GHz APU , Socket FM1, 1Mb L2 Cache, 65W 32nm
$59.99

3 RAM: RAMP001160
Patriot Gamer 2 Series 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
$22.99

4 hard drive: HDSG002084
Seagate Barracuda SATA 3 (6.0Gb/second), 500
$79.99

5 optical: GBDVSS004150
Samsung SATA Black 22X DVD-Writer
$21.99

6 case: CSCO000721
Cooler Master TC-102 with 500 Watt Power Supply
$34.99 (regular price $39.99, on sale until june 14)

7 video card: VCGA000630
Gigabyte AMD Radeon HD 6450 - Radeon HD 6550 Chipset (625MHz), 1GB GDDR3 Memory (1333MHz), Dual Display DVI/VGA/HDMI Ports, PCI-Express 2.1 Graphics Card
$49.99

total: $329.93

As to how we would proceed when you're ready with a final decision on a system configuration, I will make the order at the store for you and they will have everything ready for you. You pay them directly for all your parts (this way you know the actual price for parts and you have all your store receipts). I would charge $20 to do a parts pick up or system delivery and would need all a 100% deposit, including tax, on any parts before any parts are purchased. Deposit can be cash or Interac email Money Transfer. I will give you a receipt for cash, email transfers are done through online banking and are traceable through your bank records. I don't try to make any money off parts and therefore don't spend my money to buy them for people and take the chance they don't drop off the computer for me to do the work or come back to pick up their new computer, potentially leave me hundreds or even thousands of dollars out of pocket. When you bring me the parts I will give you a receipt/work order foreverything you leave with me and I'll have your computer ready to go by the next day (barring any unforeseen problems) or as soon as possible. You don't pay me for my work until you pick up your computer.

As for what I do on my end, I include the full computer build and set up, which is all components properly installed, connected, secured and grounded properly and loose cables and wiring all tied back neatly to allow easy future access inside the case, motherboard BIOS set up and updated if necessary, RAM will be timed properly, hard drive file system properly set up and hard drive fully formatted. I also do a full Windows installation (XP or 7, 32 or 64 bit depending on your system, and whatever version of Windows 7 you'd like), make sure it's set up properly and all updates are done for you. Also any software you want installed I include that as well, and as many programs as you'd like. Basically you buy it, I build it, I fully set it up, you take it home totally ready to go and use it with no hassle or fuss. I also fully guarantee all my work and will give hardware and software tech support for as long as you have that computer. All that I do for only $100 (most stores and individuals charge anywhere from $40-$80/hour for computer work, I spend anywhere from 5 to 8 hours to do all of this and still charge only $100). I include about $3000 worth of software, including Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, Adobe Photoshop CS5, Adobe Lightroom 3, Adobe Acrobat X Pro, Nero 10 for burning CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays, Microsoft Office Corporate 2007, OJOSoft Total Video Converter for converting video files to other formats, VSO Convert X to DVD 4, Cyberlink Power DVD 9, Magic DVD Ripper and antivirus software. All programs are fully functional and never expire.

So feel free to email back or give me a call if you have any questions at all! I am at school every weekday from 1 pm until 7:30 pm and not available by phone but you can email any time.

Regards,

Scott

226-317-0132

newpc4you@hotmail.com

Lord Letto · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:02 pm

Bump: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z392982068

Quote:

Inspiron 1721

17" LCD screen
AMD Turion 64 dual core
4GB Kingston technologies RAM
320GB WD Black 7200 SATA raid
Bluetooth
DVD Burner
All memory card slots
Expansion bays
Can put in secondary HD
Tri-WI-FI, 3g Wireless connection
Loaded with Windows 7 Ultimate

Clean system. Very good condition.

Asking $250, Down from 300.

Video card is a ati radeon x1200 series, guy would take $240 for it

Cal Jordan (CVA371) · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:25 pm

He's asking about $250.00 too much

, I think by re-reading all the posts here you will make an informed choice of computer.
I know you said money is tight but I think your wasting it on laptop that won't run FSX. Kensington RAM doesn't mean anything, Is it DDR2 3 5?
Unless maybe your looking for a fast slide show of FSX :lol:

Rob Vanderkam · Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 10:25 pm

I don't know AMD but dual core always makes me think happy thoughts compared to quad core. I'd rather have speed than cores any day.

Lord Letto · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 12:42 am

Bump: Got a new laptop, joint ownership with my sister.
Acer Aspire E1-531 Series (E1-531-2801)
Intel Celeron CPU B820 @ 1.7Ghz (2MB L3 cache)
4GB Ram installed (3.84GB Usable), should be 3GB DDR3.
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit SP1
Intel HD Graphics
15.6" HD LEC LCD Screen
320GB HDD ("247GB free of 279GB" curently with just os and preinstalled ****)
McAfee Internet Security Trial
Built in Webcam

Cost after taxes: $336.74 CAD at Walmart
i was expecting a EHF but never seen it on the receipt, i was expecting it to cost $340-350 (was advertised at $298 before taxes)
Not as good as i would like for FSX, but i don't mind sticking to FS2004, just need to reinstall and get addons transfered over and reinstalled.

CVA9214 · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 5:25 am

I think its great, I hope to see you on line more often. It has been lonely on the multies this summer.

Lord Letto · Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:40 am

thanks, plan on getting flying again as soon as i can reinstall FS9 and any addons i need (CVAcars, Vatsim Clients, ETC.)

BTW, i just ran a score test thing or whatever it is in windows 7, i got a 5.5 for processor, 5.9 (Highest) for Memory (Ram), 5.0 (Lowest/Base) for Graphics, 5.7 (was 4.5 at first and was base) for Gaming Graphics and 5.8 for Primary Hard Disk

Lord Letto · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 2:30 am

back on the hunt for another laptop, for home this time considering the last laptop i got is staying at my sisters apartment for when i go to visit plus she uses it for Facebook considering it's the only computer there. i posted a wanted add up on Kijiji and received 3 reply's so far.
Wanted Ad Link: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z423871056
here are the replys:
1:

Quote:

I have IBM ThinkPad T400

2:

Quote:

i have a dell inspiron 1525 320gb hard drive 4gb ram 2.2ghz dual core. silver and black in good condition. battery was just replaced so it has a good charge. windows 7. would take 300$

3 (Best IMO):

Quote:

Hi I have an Asus G50vt with 4gb of ram, dual core 2.13 GHZ 500 gb HDD. and a nvidia g force 5.12 mb dedicated graphic card. I would sell for $350.

i looked up #3 and never seen a 2.13 listed so i asked and sure enough it got a Core 2 Duo P7450, here's the Website for the Laptop: http://ca.asus.com/en/Notebooks/Gaming_ ... ifications

Also Posted up a For Sale ad for my old HP G50-211CA: http://kitchener.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-se ... Z423398576

1 person offered me $25 for it, someone else just offered me $20 for it. i could bring it in and get fixed for $135 Taxes included and i could max the ram to 3GB for around a extra $80 so $215 Total

Lord Letto · Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 11:11 pm

Good News, i just went to Walmart with family and got what i think is a good deal:
http://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/acer-aspire ... 004%3AACER (Similar, Not Exact)

AMD A-Series quad-core processor A6-3420M (4 MB L2 cache, 1.50 GHz with Turbo CORE Technology up to 2.40 GHz, DDR3 1333 MHz, 35 W)
6GB DDR3 Ram (5.47 GB Useable)
Integrated Radeon HD 6520G GPU runs at 400 MHz and has 320 shader units
15.6" HD 1366 x 768 pixel resolution, high-brightness (200-nit) Acer CineCrystal™ LED-backlit TFT LCD
Mercury-free, environment-friendly
16:9 aspect ratio

In the End, it's a Damn good Laptop, best Computer i had yet.
I Believe Reg Price was $518 but it was on Clearance for $338, only problems are it came with no box and it's missing 2 Keys (the 7 above the Y and U and it's missing the I Key). after taxes and the $0.70 Environmental fee it came to $382. it was the last one they had, it was out on display and i couldn't get a raincheck on it so i got it As-Is.

CAF440 · Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 12:09 am

Is this something new "$0.70 Environmental fee"? I never seen that up in Yellowknife or Iqaluit.

Best Laptop Option for Upgrading from FS9 to FSX?

Who is online