Comments on: oy vey with the gaming

Question: oy vey with the gaming

BlahLaLa — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:42:28 -0800

If I buy a newfangled Chrome netbook will my kid be able to use it to play Minecraft?

I understand virtually nothing regarding gaming and computer hardware. So please forgive me if this is a really dumb question. My kid wants to be able to play Minecraft. I'd like him not to be doing it on the desktop Mac that I use for work. So I'm looking for the cheapest possible solution.

I know there is the single-player version that he can play on the iPad (which we have). However he prefers to play on a multi-player server and for that he needs a computer. (At least that's my understanding.)

By: dobi

dobi — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:48:24 -0800

The desktop version of Minecraft requires a Java plugin that you won't be able to use with a Chromebook.

Google support page
Minecraft system requirements

By: StrikeTheViol

StrikeTheViol — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 18:52:49 -0800

Short answer: while theoretically possible with a comparatively enormous amount of work and technical skills, it's not worth it. Just buy the cheapest Windows laptop you can find.

By: leotrotsky

leotrotsky — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:02:06 -0800

wait, you can't partition and dual-boot a Chromebook?

By: StrikeTheViol

StrikeTheViol — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:02:45 -0800

For the benefit of posterity, here's the complicated 3-but-more-like-8-or-9-step process that a future masochist might consider.

By: BlahLaLa

BlahLaLa — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:03:50 -0800

Okay, I appreciate the answers. Any suggestions for a specific cheapest possible Windows laptop?

By: Artw

Artw — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:04:28 -0800

wait, you can't partition and dual-boot a Chromebook?

From the look of things it's difficult and you'd have to add storage anyway. Not heard of anyone doing it with Windows.

By: StrikeTheViol

StrikeTheViol — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:18:34 -0800

Something like this Toshiba should be fine.

By: the dief

the dief — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:29:03 -0800

The Raspberry Pi will apparently be able to play Minecraft in multiplayer, but I don't know if it will be compatible with normal Minecraft. Cheap though.

By: fireoyster

fireoyster — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:29:03 -0800

Check woot.com for laptops. They have pretty good deals on reasonably-powered refurbs and even some brand new ones. Anything with an i3 or i5 processor will do what you want.

By: notyou

notyou — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:38:42 -0800

Or just go to newegg. Get a cheap samsung or whatever.

Or Dell for refurbs/returns.

By: thewalrus

thewalrus — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 20:55:34 -0800

You can install Ubuntu 12.04 on the $199 Acer Chromebook C7...

By: nostrada

nostrada — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:22:30 -0800

Seconding Dell Outlet. The machines are as good as new - and most are not with Win8 just yet, which is a good thing

By: running order squabble fest

running order squabble fest — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 06:39:16 -0800

It might be worth keeping an eye on the "Bye Bye Netbook" thread, where people are discussing the current start of inexpensive, relatively low-powered computers, which would probably top out at Minecraft in gaming terms. The Lenovo IdeaPad S206 is $349 or so new (ticket price, so realistically less) and I think meets the minimum spec for Minecraft (2GB RAM in that standard configuration, and the E1-1200 AMD processor is comparable with the K7 desktop processor stated).

Or the HP Pavilion DM1, which is a step up in cost for the latest version. Dell Outlet is often a good place to look, also, as mentioned, although it means having to cope with Dell customer service if anything goes wrong.

(That's assuming you _want_ a roughly Chromebook-sized device, of course - the Toshiba 15.6" laptop mentioned above has about the same spec - AMD E-450 processor, 1366x768 pixels, 4GB RAM...)

One worthwhile expense, for Minecraft and other applications, would be getting something with 4GB RAM rather than 2GB - especially with laptops which draw from the main RAM for graphics processing (i.e. at this price point all of them).

By: ennui.bz

ennui.bz — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 07:09:27 -0800

hp business outlet has some good deals:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/hpremarketing/daily.asp

HP 6565b W7P-64 AMD A4 3310MX 2.1GHz 320GB 4GB No-Optical 15.6HD WLAN AMD HD 6480G Rmkt NB PC

for about $300.

for cheap solutions the AMD 'A' laptops are probably your best bet. they are slower than comparable intel machines, but have much better graphics processors and arent as slow as the 'E' series.

By: running order squabble fest

running order squabble fest — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 07:25:56 -0800

(Oops - forgot the thread link.)

By: toomuchpete

toomuchpete — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 13:08:09 -0800

which would probably top out at Minecraft in gaming terms.

Minecraft is actually a fairly resource-intensive game. It shouldn't be, but it is. The "minimum requirements" stated on Mojang's site are likely to provide a barely playable (and probably not terribly enjoyable) experience.

By: genug

genug — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 13:30:53 -0800

2nd'ing toomuchpete. I have a very capable 2 year old business laptop (core i5). It gets crushed by minecraft -- the game is playable, but only if I keep the render distance less than I'd prefer, and the machine still heats up, and the battery still drains like a sieve.

So, look for a gaming-oriented laptop (with better graphics processing, I'd assume this is what dictates much of the minecraft performance) or at least avoid a super low-end machine.