Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with laptop

But will it game?

askmehow — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:17:23 -0800

Will my developer laptop be able to handle the current crop of RPG games? Specs after the jump I'm interested in getting back into computer gaming. I'm thinking about Fallout 3 and Dragon Age Origins. I've got a beefy laptop, with a poor gfx card, and I'm wondering if it will be able handle the games I'm interested in:

Windows 7 64
8gb RAM
NVIDIA Quadro FX 370M (256MB)

If that's not going to be able to handle these games, any recommendations on immersive RPGs that aren't twitchy that I can play on this?

thanks,
jt

Do I 'need' a gaming laptop to play MMOs?

Kurichina — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:37:12 -0800

Do I 'need' a gaming laptop to play MMOs? Computer hardware knowledgable people: what sort of system do you use for determining your 'needs' for a computer? My HP lappy conked out last week (very likely a motherboard failure, I'm told) and I'm in the market for a new one. It wasn't an ideal time financially for this to happen, so I don't want to spend anymore money than I have to. However, I also want this next laptop to last 4-5 years if possible, or, at the very least, 3.

I'm not a huge gamer, but I started playing a fair amount of WoW earlier this year and it's not unreasonable to think I may branch out into a few other MMOs. On my old, mid-range HP, WoW had many errors (not able to process the zone files and crashing) and was generally frustrating. Other than the games, my needs are fairly basic: a small amount of graphic design, word processing/spreadsheets, listen to music and watch DVDs/blu-rays. Is it worthwhile to splash out on a newer, more powerful processor *(quad core or I7, for e.g.) and some extra memory or will this be money wasted due to not using this power? Is there an objective (i.e. not trying to sell me something) site out there that will determine my hardware needs?

I've seen this but that question didn't discuss the needs of MMOs, and I'm not interested in the PC vs Mac side of things. (For reasons of cost and wanting to keep using the same software I already own, some of it purchased at "educational" prices for which I no longer qualify, I'm sticking with a PC.)

How do you fix a fried laptop?

Bobby Bittman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:20:31 -0800

How badly have I fried my laptop? I went to a friend's house last night to watch a perfectly legally downloaded movie, and planned to hook my laptop up to his TV with an S-Video cable. Well, something wasn't grounded - when I touched the S-Video cable to the jack on his TV, there was a spark and my laptop shut off.

Now it's a brick. No power lights, no response at all.

I'm going to find all of this out on Monday when I take it in to the repair shop, but I'm anxious: how badly have I damaged it? Is this the kind of thing that can be repaired? How much does it cost? And most importantly - is all my data recoverable?

If it matters, it's a 4-year-old Gateway laptop. All educated guesses welcome. Thank you!

Please don't explode computer.

sepsis — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:38:49 -0800

US visiting UK, do I need an adapter or a converter for my laptop? I just want to double check because I'd really rather not have my laptop explode when I visit the UK next month. The AC adapter for my laptop gives the following specs:

65W, 20V
INPUT: 100-240V~1.5A 50/60Hz
OUTPUT: 20V . . . 3.25A

My understanding is that I would only need an adapter for the plug and not a power converter. Am I correct? Thanks for the help.

troubleshooting a (mostly) broken laptop key

needs more cowbell — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:23:08 -0800

My Thinkpad's n key doesn't work most of the time (but does work sometimes if I hit it in the right spot/from the right angle and hold for a bit)...what troubleshooting/fixes can I try before I give in and replace the whole keyboard? Additional details:
1) I have already pried the keycap off and looked to see if anything was stuck under it (no)
2) this does not seem to be the result of spilled liquid (I have spilled stuff before, but nothing recently)
3) no need for workarounds or advice about how cheap/easy it is to replace Thinkpad keyboards - I've done it before, and will again if needed. That seems silly, though--the circuitry must be intact since it does work sometimes.

Stupid mousey thing no work!

IAmBroom — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:02:46 -0800

Trackpad suddenly stopped working - any solutions? Details:
Dual-boot: WinXP, v5.1, SP3. Ubuntu 8.10.
Acer Aspire 4730Z, out of warranty.
Trackpad stopped working in both operating systems. When this happened before, I plugged in a USB mouse, and when I removed it, the trackpad worked again. Now it's dead, as are the two left-/right-click buttons.

The curious part is that all of the trackpad - buttons and pad itself - stopped working. That doesn't grok. Can't be a driver issue, since it's across two OS's. Yeah, I'm probably screwed, but if anyone has a clue...

Help me repair this Windows installation, with minimal tools.

jbickers — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:29:18 -0800

Trying to fix a friend's Windows laptop, which is behaving strangely. So I need to get this thing working for a friend by Monday morning, and it is acting very strange. I had put a suite of freeware diagnostic/repair tools on a USB stick in the hopes of using them, but none of the USB ports are recognized.

So I went into control panel > hardware > device manager, and that screen is totally blank. It's like there are a whole host of basic Windows services that have been somehow turned off.

Another possible clue: When I try to run the Dell Support Center built-in diagnostic, it tells me "The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed ... the Windows Installer is not correctly installed."

She doesn't have her Windows XP disc, so a reinstall is not possible. Anything else I can attempt? Any other clues I can look for that would help figure out what's up?

(Win XP Media Center edition, if that helps, on a Dell Inspiron 6000)

Is there good sites that provide ranking of computer processors performance?

idyllhands — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 13:35:47 -0800

Is there good sites that provide ranking of computer processors performance? I am looking to buy a new PC, but am being patient for the right deal to come along. It would be nice to have a trustworthy source of which processors are "better." Any links to PC and/or laptop rankings is appreciated.

Looking for the perfect laptop for traveling

Afroblanco — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:31:20 -0800

Looking for the perfect laptop for traveling. Priorities are durability, lightness, and battery life, in that order. Performance is not too important, but it must run Windows 7 like a champ. Willing to consider netbooks. Can spend up to $2000, but obviously I would like to spend no more than I absolutely have to.

Why does my laptop think I'm pushing ctrl?

Pope Guilty — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:50:34 -0800

My Inspiron 1545 thinks I'm pressing ctrl and I don't know why. I picked up a Dell Inspiron 1545 laptop awhile back, and the only problem I've had with it is that it frequently activates the ctrl key regardless of whether or not I'm actually pressing it- or even have my hands on the keyboard! Sometimes this is just annoying, like randomly crouching in an FPS or tab-targeting grabbing friends instead of enemies in WoW, but if I type a "w" while it thinks I'm pressing ctrl, I lose the Firefox tab I was working in! If I hit tab in Firefox, I frequently go to the next tab instead of the next field. Perhaps most bafflingly, it is only ctrl that this happens with; it never randomly types another character, nor does it ever wrongly activate shift or alt or any other key.

So far, I've talked to Dell about it; they sent me a replacement keyboard, but this did not resolve the problem. Googling indicates that many people are having this problem, but nobody seems to have any solutions (besides one suggestion, bizarrely, to reduce trackpad sensitivity, which did nothing).

Anyone out there know what's going on or have any ideas?

An impossible Apple

BadMiker — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:15:03 -0800

What's the best Apple laptop for £500? I am, of course, looking for the impossible; something modern, with a big screen, reliable and, of course, cheap...

My wife is an acolyte of the dark side; she uses Apples and is looking for a laptop. We've got about £500 to spend and are, basically, looking for something with a 15" screen.

Being used to PCs I am absolutely horrified at the price of Apples. £500 seems a reasonable ammount but I'm having to look at second hand older machines. I dont know anything about Apples so would really appreciate any pointers about what machines I should be looking at and where I should be looking to buy one.

There are no particularly demanding applications which it would have to run; it'd be a general workhorse maching. Reasonable performance would be useful but there's no need for it to be super quick, likewise a reasonable hard drive would be useful (is min 50Gb reasonable?).

I dont want to buy privately; I've had problems before and it's too much of a risk for something like this. Given how in demand and how expensive these things are, there seems to be a real dearth of reliable re-sellers. Any suggestions about what I could afford and where I could be looking would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

I just accidentally broke my friend's ridiculously fragile brand new laptop. Please help me fix it.

iamkimiam — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:14:58 -0800

My good friend just purchased a $3k Apple laptop, which she received today. I spent four hours this afternoon installing software and setting it up for her. Once we were all done, and ready to go out and celebrate good times, new laptops, and Friday nights, we high fived, and I shut the laptop gently...with the tiny, clear, flexible, plastic charger cap unknowingly inside. Now the screen is completely cracked, fractalled, damaged, and very sadly colorful. What can I do? I am planning on going to the Apple store first thing tomorrow morning. What should I say? How can I make this right?

Additional info: I have been a loooong time Apple customer and purchaser. I am also currently extremely poor, but I will do whatever it takes to make sure my friend is good to go and happy. Please help me!

WHYOHWHY aren't the charger caps, A) fluorescent-colored, and B) attached to the cord!?!?

Laptop Stolen. Options?

bokane — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:28:46 -0800

My younger brother was forced to check his laptop on an American Airlines flight out of Dallas/Fort Worth. You can probably see what's coming, but... The backpack his laptop was in never made it to Philadelphia, or at least never made it to him. It's been six days now, and he wants it back -- he's got years of schoolwork on it.

Has anyone had similar shitty experiences? Will AA compensate him for the full value of the laptop? Is it worth trying to file a police report? Is AA and/or Dallas/Fort Worth particularly bad for this sort of thing?

Getting new Win 7 Laptop this weekend for Home Theatre PC setup. Advice?

jcmilton — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:46:07 -0800

Best setup for a Win 7 laptop as HTPC? Currently we have a simple setup of an HDTV and a DVD player. No cable or antennae and frankly we're not interested in getting (and paying for) cable. But we do like watching Hulu/Netflix on the computer and since Win7 is coming out this week I thought we'd get a laptop with HTMI output so we can watch stuff on the "big screen."

Any suggestions for setting up a laptop to maximize our enjoyment and ease-of-use for using a Win7 laptop as a HTPC? I've heard that the Win7 Media Center is pretty good, but I've never used any version of Windows Media Center so I don't know what's possible.

Also, if you have suggestions for specific makes/models that would be great. Budget is around $700. But please no suggestions for a Netbook. For other reasons I need a 17+ inch screen laptop.

Pick the Perfect Mac Laptop

misha — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:52:16 -0800

Which Mac laptop should I buy? Needs and specs inside. So I need a new laptop, and serendipity is on my side, as the Apple store has just updated! Well and good. Which model should I get, though, that's the question.

I am replacing this:

Model Name: MacBook Pro 15"
Model Identifier: MacBookPro1,1
Processor Name: Intel Core Duo
Processor Speed: 1.83 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per processor): 2 MB
Memory: 512 MB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz

What I use it for: blogging, word processing, some photoshop creation (illustrations for the blog, mostly), saving pics from the digital camera, social media, lots and lots of email, light gaming of the Flo's Diner and Tower Defense variety.

What I liked: speed, powerhouse of a laptop.
What I didn't like: heavy, bulky, heats up fast.

I'm thinking that I could go down to the 13", but are the new 15" versions significantly lighter than my version?

Is the Macbook Air a bad buy (meaning not cost-effective) because of the one-piece construction? In other words, does pretty much any repair mean the whole thing has to be taken apart, thus costing more in the end?

Is it significantly slower or less powerful than the Macbook Pro that I would notice it with my modest needs?

I DO want Apple Care, right?

Thanks in advance, hive mind!

Someday we'll find it, the USB connection...

Doctor Suarez — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:21:59 -0800

Help me build a laptop puppet My friends/coworkers and I are about to start a video project and our idea involves a talking laptop puppet. Not an animated screen, mind you, but a mouth-flapping laptop.

Here's what I have figured so far:

-Buy a plastic dummy laptop like they use in furniture stores/model homes. (actually, buy two)
-modify/replace the hinges so that it moves really quickly. This would either involve new hardware or simple tape-hinges.
-mount on a cheap, thin coffee table (or substitute)
-drill through both laptop base and table
-mount push-rod through hole and connect to upper "jaw" of laptop
-hide puppeteer under table.
-install two blue LEDs to top front of laptop for eyes. (I was lucky enough to work with Muppeteers in the past, and I learned that puppets need eyelines)

Is there anything I'm forgetting? What is the best color laptop body for filming? I was thinking the silver model.

Currently, I can buy the dummy laptop at this site, but if I could buy one locally that would be a big help as time is short. (I live in LA. Does anyone know a local shop where such a thing could be purchased?)

Laptop audio feedback.

Juicylicious — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:11:54 -0800

Gremlins have taken over my laptop and now I get extremely loud audio feedback. In the last few days the audio has somehow become screwed up on my laptop.
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There is very loud audio feedback, which gets even worse when I begin to close the lid. It does stop when the lid is completely closed.

Also, audio cannot be played through the external speakers, which are connected via USB. Although headphones do work.

Yesterday, the problem was the complete opposite; I could only get audio through the external speakers and headphones, but not the built in speakers.

It seems that the built in microphone is keyed as the sound of touching the laptop seem to be amplified.

If I play something online that does have audio, it overrides the feedback. And for some reason it is no longer recognizing the CD drive. Sigh.

It is an IBM T42 running XP. I've tried to update audio drivers, but I cannot tell if it has been successful. This has been complicated by the fact that I had to wipe my hard drive several months ago. The person who reinstalled XP somehow erased all of the IBM info, including the serial number and customer ID. Thus, I cannot get support from IBM.

Any thoughts on how to fix this? It's driving me crazy.

Mac and MMO's don't mix.

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:23:54 -0800

I'm a gamer. I bought a mac. After going through a lot of hassles with Boot Camp, I've decided to switch back. I'll get around $1700 for returning the mac... My question is, would it be better to buy a laptop around this price or sell my desktop as well to up my budget? Quick note: This question is anonymous because my entire social circle knows about the situation, and I don't want them knowing about my other, more personal questions on the main account.

I did get boot camp to work for awhile, but then I ran out of hard drive space on my Windows partition. Low and behold, you can't dynamically resize drives. Instead of going through the reinstall when I run out of space again (or giving my mac partition a measly 5GB... What is it even there for?) , I decided to just buy a gaming laptop.

I've been looking at the G71GX and the G51Vx.(http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=0rtKwgmuen69jiqw).

Around May of '08, I built a desktop with top of the line gaming equipment at the time (specifically, to run Age of Conan.) I'm away in college now, so most of the time it sits collecting dust. However, I'm worried that if I do sell it, I'll find the laptop doesn't measure up and regret it... Anyone have some experience with this that can chime in? (I've never bought a laptop for gaming before.)

Also, I mention the date/equipment because I'm trying to guestimate how much it'll sell for. My guess is around $500-$600, but could it be even less than that? (I can give specific specs if need be.)

The roadwarrior's lament.

Gordion Knott — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:41:20 -0800

Roadwarriors: What's the consensus on the necessity of a laptop surge protector when traveling? Yes, I know the drill. Surge protectors should be connected to computers in all places and at all times. But the inconvenience of carrying a surge protector to foreign cities makes me wonder if they're truly necessary.

Do you pack a surge protector for your laptop when on the road? Have you concluded that it's helped you get out of dangerous scrapes? And if you are outfitted with a surge protector, what models have you found that are both highly portable and capable of handling varying voltages throughout the world? (I'll be traveling with a MacBook and MacBook Air, if this makes a difference.)

Stolen macbook - hard drive data safe?

shivohum — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:58:54 -0800

Someone stole my 2009 macbook pro. I doubt they can guess my password. Given that, how likely is it that they can access my hard drive's data (I didn't do anything special beyond the default to encrypt it or anything)? Can my Applecare plan transfer to a new laptop? Anything else I can do to help destroy the value of the computer? I don't need any advice about police reports, etc. - but Apple-specific advice welcome.

Did dude steal a Dell?

ChurchHatesTucker — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:16:05 -0800

Is this computer hot? A friend of mine found a good deal (person to person) for a Dell Windows Vista laptop. He's wondering if the deal is good because the computer is hot. Is there any easy way to get a fair idea? (He's a newbie, I'm a Mac.)

emergency boot disk for laptop

Wong Fei-hung — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:19:46 -0800

Any suggestions on an emergency boot tool that can see my hard drive? My laptop won't boot all the way. Right when I should see three account icons I get an spinning circle and a "please wait" message. Circle and message eventually go away and I am stuck. Toshiba Satellite with Vista Home Premium 32 bit. I have tried booting from Knoppix CD (on USB) and Windows X-PE (on CD) but neither can see my hard drive. Laptop is just over a year old.

Thanks! (The Recovery Disks that Toshiba supplied with my computer are not compatible with it.)

Voided Warranty?

Anonymous — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:30:07 -0800

Is a Dell technician going to discover I've opened the computer before? The video card on my Dell XPS M1330 has crapped out. It's under warranty, so a quick chat with Dell support has them sending a technician out to replace the motherboard in the next few days. I just remembered, however, that I've opened the laptop a few times to clean dust out of the fans and adjust a cable that was being pinched. Will the tech be able to tell, and more importantly, will they refuse to service the laptop or charge me under the grounds that I've voided my warranty?

The problem I'm having with the M1330's video card appears to be widespread (see: "colored vertical lines" problem), so it's unlikely that i caused or affected it in any way by opening it up.

What are my chances of successfully replacing the hinge on a Thinkpad X60 Tablet?

em — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 16:15:24 -0800

What are my chances of successfully replacing the hinge on a Thinkpad X60 Tablet? After two years of ownership I finally got my Thinkpad X60 Tablet working just the way I want it -- and then over the last two weeks the hinge seems to have failed almost completely. Right now it can still support the screen if I position it very delicately, but the slightest jostle causes the screen to crash down to a horizontal position.

I see replacement hinges available e.g. here. I'm reasonably competent at basic mechanical tasks, but haven't ever disassembled a laptop before. The service manual gives an ordered list of 14 components to be removed to access the hinge, but doesn't give any other information. So I have two questions:

1) If I buy a new hinge, do I have a reasonable chance of installing it correctly, just by removing things in the right order, pulling out the old hinge, putting in the new hinge, and then putting everything back?

2) If I do install the new hinge correctly, is it likely to fix my problem?

Help me buy a netbook, camera, and bike.

LSK — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:18:04 -0800

Help me buy a netbook, a low-end digital camera, and a bike. These are all admittedly disjunct requests, but I'm looking to get these at around the same time when I make the excursion to the local mall (Iowa City isn't so great when it comes to these, but I'd rather buy this sort of item in person.)

Netbook: I'd like to get a small and sturdy netbook. It doesn't need to have an amazing amount of storage; battery life and sturdiness are the high priorities. I'm looking to spend no more than $400, and preferably far less, before taxes. What brands/models do you recommend, and is there anything else I should know?

Camera: I'm not looking for anything much, just a digital device to take photos with. The only photo-taking feature I'd make a decision on is the ability to set exposure length, which I know some cameras don't have. Again, though, sturdiness is the top priority.

Bike: It's probably harder to recommend bikes over the internet, but I'd like to know what to even look for in a bike. I'm looking to use it to make both short excursions and to travel between Iowa City and Chicago when classes are out of session. I used to own a bike, and can still ride one competently, but I can't remember what features it had.