***Official Laptop/Monitor/Computer/Grinding Equipment Discussion Thread***

[ACgaming]

Sorry didn't see this thread until now.. Just scooped this lappy and it was by far the best deal I have seen.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...00F3:00004BA3:

i7 for less than 1k USD.. mission accomplished, very comparable to the 15.6 macbook pro for almost 1/3 the cost.

I think it sells for less than <1100 on newegg if you can't still get that good of a deal.

The one thing that laptop lacks is the SSD, which is obv what everyone has emphasized in this thread..

But honestly that machine will do fine w/o SSD and being a computer fanatic I will put it to the test. With i7, 8gb ram and a 1gb graphics card the 750gb should be fine.

I'll wait a year and get a top of the line ssd for 1/3 of the cost.

Hope that helps you guys, doubt u can find a much better deal than that.

[DoGGz]

Originally Posted by ACgaming

Sorry didn't see this thread until now.. Just scooped this lappy and it was by far the best deal I have seen.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...00F3:00004BA3:

i7 for less than 1k USD.. mission accomplished, very comparable to the 15.6 macbook pro for almost 1/3 the cost.

I think it sells for less than <1100 on newegg if you can't still get that good of a deal.

The one thing that laptop lacks is the SSD, which is obv what everyone has emphasized in this thread..

But honestly that machine will do fine w/o SSD and being a computer fanatic I will put it to the test. With i7, 8gb ram and a 1gb graphics card the 750gb should be fine.

I'll wait a year and get a top of the line ssd for 1/3 of the cost.

Hope that helps you guys, doubt u can find a much better deal than that.

I remember looking at that laptop and a bunch with similar specs, but this is a deal breaker for alot of poker players: Display 15.6" HD Glare 1366x768. yuck.

[wd1head]

I'm trying to build a new PC and i haven't got a clue about the graphics card. Will the Intergrated Intel HD graphics card that comes as standard be enough? Or should i upgrade this?

Is there anything else i need to consider?

If anyone could take a look it would be greatly appreciated
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/comput...ndy-bridge-pc/

[DeuceSeven]

Originally Posted by wd1head

I'm trying to build a new PC and i haven't got a clue about the graphics card. Will the Intergrated Intel HD graphics card that comes as standard be enough? Or should i upgrade this?

Is there anything else i need to consider?

If anyone could take a look it would be greatly appreciated
http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/comput...ndy-bridge-pc/

I would upgrade to 4 gb of ram. I'd double check the power supply and see if it's a good unit I couldn't see the manufacturer name and model, if not I'd upgrade. For running just one monitor the integrated graphics looks fine, if you want to run two you can run out and get a cheap video card. obv assuming this is just a poker pc and not a hardcore gaming pc.

[wd1head]

Yeah its just for poker, i'm not a gamer. Thanks

[chilin_dude]

Some good posts ITT so far.
I used to be really good with computers but no longer am, so Doggz I'm looking for your advice please sir!

I builty my own computer maybe 18months ago, heres the spec:

AMD Phenom II X4 965
M4A88TD-M EVO Mobo (http://uk.asus.com/Motherboards/AMD_...88TDM_EVOUSB3/)
8GB DDR3 memory
Nvidea GeForce GT220


Now with all this talk of SSD its got me wanting one. Reason being my HEM is pretty slow at times and making it faster and software occasionally lags when I'm 26tabling & got skype/itunes/browser/HEM/Tableninja/CustomTitleBar open and I don't want that to happen.

Sooo a couple of questions, number 1, on the site for the mobo it doesn't list SSD does this mean its unsuported? Googling if its supported brings up this site: http://www.crucial.com/store/mpartsp...BE00D2A5CA7304 which suggests to me it does support SSD? So how come that isn't listed under the storage spec on the asus site. Confused.

2.is how easy is it to transfer my OS & HEM to the new ssd when it comes?

3. Would you advise upgrading any other part of my settup?

[chilin_dude]

Originally Posted by DoGGz

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148591

Hybrid Hard Drive - Designed with high-performance core components on an innovative platform, the Seagate Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive consists of a 7200-RPM hard drive with 32MB of cache, 4GB of solid state SLC NAND flash storage, and Adaptive Memory technology, delivering an 80 percent faster performance than traditional 7200RPM hard drives.

Adaptive Technology - Adaptive Memory technology intelligently monitors your frequently used applications and data files, then places them into the solid state portion of the drive so they can be quickly recalled for a reduced loading time.

-

Seems interesting but who knows about long term bugs/issues.

http://informationweek.com/news/stor...tems/232200278
seems fitting.

[aseHigh]

IMO a 512GB SSD is too big for poker+win7+hem

save some $$ and get a 240GB Corsair with better specs(read faster speeds):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...D=3067296&SID=

also check this out for a SSD better understanding:
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/b...november-2011/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2738

[wazz]

For your operating system alone, 80GB is enough; as long as you're not datamining or buying HHs, 120GB will almost certainly be enough for OS + HEM. If you're playing games on there as well go for 160GB. If you want to be luxurious about it, go for more, but pricing on SSDs is the bottleneck at the moment so you should be conservative. Remember that you get what you pay for as well, so if you go with a cheap brand, you're getting less speed (whatever they report, component speed-reporting is similar to the cosmetics industry in the amount of BS they're allowed to claim) and less reliability.

chilin, SSDs transfer data using sata, so basically all motherboards will be compatible with all SSDs; bear in mind that the newest standard of SSD 'saturates' (uses full capacity of) sata 2 which has been overtaken by sata 3, but according to that spec sheet all it's sata slots are 3, so you'll be fine with even the latest generation of SSDs.

i'm not sure about how easy it is to transfer an OS - i think you'd be best off just reinstalling - transferring HEM is relatively easy, there are various walkthroughs on the HEM FAQs.

make sure you do all the clean/vacuuming that you're supposed to do with HEM databases, btw, that'll make it quicker.

[benza13]

Originally Posted by CabreraEra2

Probably gunna x-post this in CTH forum, but Le Gonzo probably gets so many of these stupid questions I'll post it here first. I am looking for a new laptop for poker. This is what I need:

At least 16" screen
Top notch screen resolution (1920x1080?)
Ability to grind 30 tables stacked without lag + run HEM, and maybe Itunes at the same time.
Ability to connect to a 30" monitor if I want.
<$900. I wouldn't mind spending much less if you think my needs can be fulfilled by a cheapo laptop. I wouldn't mind spending the whole 900 either. I just want valueeeee.

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by DoGGz

These two needs are extremely counter each other. There are very few 1080p laptops that are regularly priced under $1k.

Before Black Friday I couldn't find a single laptop that fulfilled those requirements under $900

like doggz already mentioned, your requirements vs price are going to be very tough. beyond resolution, supporting a 30" monitor is also going to be an issue at that price range. not sure which 30" you have, but if you need dual-link dvi that is almost always going to be a big video card upgrade for a laptop. if you have display port it opens up more options, but very few are <$1k right now.

every cheap laptop thats on the market is 1366*768 and has no ports that will support a 30" unfortunately.

[DeuceSeven]

Originally Posted by benza13

like doggz already mentioned, your requirements vs price are going to be very tough. beyond resolution, supporting a 30" monitor is also going to be an issue at that price range. not sure which 30" you have, but if you need dual-link dvi that is almost always going to be a big video card upgrade for a laptop. if you have display port it opens up more options, but very few are <$1k right now.

every cheap laptop thats on the market is 1366*768 and has no ports that will support a 30" unfortunately.

The cheapest laptop I found that had a display port which i understand u can run a 30" had that ****tie resolution and was well over 1k. I was looking hard since I plan on moving and I'll have to fly. Having a laptop would be really nice, but to find one I'd want I'd have to spend close to 2x what I just bought my new pc for.

[chilin_dude]

Originally Posted by wazz

For your operating system alone, 80GB is enough; as long as you're not datamining or buying HHs, 120GB will almost certainly be enough for OS + HEM. If you're playing games on there as well go for 160GB. If you want to be luxurious about it, go for more, but pricing on SSDs is the bottleneck at the moment so you should be conservative. Remember that you get what you pay for as well, so if you go with a cheap brand, you're getting less speed (whatever they report, component speed-reporting is similar to the cosmetics industry in the amount of BS they're allowed to claim) and less reliability.

chilin, SSDs transfer data using sata, so basically all motherboards will be compatible with all SSDs; bear in mind that the newest standard of SSD 'saturates' (uses full capacity of) sata 2 which has been overtaken by sata 3, but according to that spec sheet all it's sata slots are 3, so you'll be fine with even the latest generation of SSDs.

i'm not sure about how easy it is to transfer an OS - i think you'd be best off just reinstalling - transferring HEM is relatively easy, there are various walkthroughs on the HEM FAQs.

make sure you do all the clean/vacuuming that you're supposed to do with HEM databases, btw, that'll make it quicker.

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply, that makes sense now that ssd is done via sata hence why i couldnt see it on the spec sheet! And thanks, 80gb should be enough, my HEM database is only about 35gb i dont datamine or anything like that.
Hmmm a new operating system install, guess I can do that, it'll just be a pain getting all my settings for software back the same!
Thanks though gonna order an ssd now

Going for this one:
http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Home/Pr...id-State-Drive

[benza13]

Originally Posted by DeuceSeven

The cheapest laptop I found that had a display port which i understand u can run a 30" had that ****tie resolution and was well over 1k. I was looking hard since I plan on moving and I'll have to fly. Having a laptop would be really nice, but to find one I'd want I'd have to spend close to 2x what I just bought my new pc for.

i've been looking for >3 months on and off, found a couple options <1k over the weekend with everything i wanted in a 15". there were some 17" deals that looked even better but i didnt want to lug one of those around (plus i love the bag i have for my current 15"!)

[CabreraEra2]

Originally Posted by benza13

like doggz already mentioned, your requirements vs price are going to be very tough. beyond resolution, supporting a 30" monitor is also going to be an issue at that price range. not sure which 30" you have, but if you need dual-link dvi that is almost always going to be a big video card upgrade for a laptop. if you have display port it opens up more options, but very few are <$1k right now.

every cheap laptop thats on the market is 1366*768 and has no ports that will support a 30" unfortunately.

I actually just have a 27" monitor. I didn't even realize that made a difference. So does that give me any more options?

Also, I don't mind scrapping the monitor altogether if I can get 1080p resolution. If I get 1366*768, I want the option to hook up my 27" monitor.

[benza13]

what is the max resolution on the monitor? if it is 1920x1200 you will be able to run it from any laptop you can find, if its 2560x1600 you are going to end up with something higher priced.