Need advice on cheap but powerful laptop

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Seraphim - Oct 14, 2015 at 05:54 PM
 Seraphim - Oct 15, 2015 at 04:06 AM
I need a new laptop but there's so many i dont know where to start, my current laptop is a samsung at 2.2ghz but it has an intel graphics card and now has charging problems.

all my life i've had an intel graphics card and i've had no end of problems so definitely want to avoid this. what other graphics cards should i be looking at?(preferably one that comes with the laptop? but isnt integrated)

i will be using it for all kinds of things and would like to it be powerful enough to handle multiple youtube tabs open at the same time etc along with a video/music on vlc player on at the same time.

A big requirement to do with the graphics card is it must be modifiable to play old games such as heroes of might and magic 3 and star wars knights of the old republic 2(i know it isnt easy to get this game running but i know it's impossible with integrated intel) and i would also like it to be capable of playing at least the current games(something like ark: evolution) on hopefully a medium setting(high settings would be great, but im more than happy to compromise on quality of new games for them running smoothly without lag and a cheaper price)

would like a half decent size keyboard and the weight of it isnt really a problem as long as its not ridiculous. considering my previous laptop is 2.2ghz and it seemed to work ok, something around this or a bit higher should be ok.

i will most certainly buy the laptop second hand, and most likely off ebay so please take into account second hand prices. My budget is £250 at absolute, £200 would be ideal. I'd also like to stay away from windows 10, windows 8has been doing fine.

Thanks in advance!
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2 responses

Blocked Profile
Oct 14, 2015 at 06:01 PM
Cheap and powerful do not mix, such as oil and water. It is one, or the other. I would encourage you to move to Windows 10 on a new machine.
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It doesnt need to be that powerful, just not slow. One problem i have with moving to windows 10 is that it will be much more difficult to get my old games running such as Thief and Heroes of might and magic.
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Blocked Profile
Oct 14, 2015 at 06:11 PM
As for 10, that is the beauty...build a virtual windows 8 machine in it! Then get on that desktop, and install what ever you want!
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I'd certainly consider it. Could you answer my other questions then?
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Blocked Profile
Oct 14, 2015 at 06:30 PM
At this moment, I cannot. Let some others ring in, and you can listen to more opinions. I encourage you to shop around, though. Insist on AT LEAST 6GB of RAM! I did not see anything about DVD's so scrape the internal DVD and when you need one, get an external USB drive (cut capital cost). I have had a few laptops/PCs, some better than others. Although, I cannot point you to particular model, but I will say: "Stay away from Toshiba, unless you plan on a "High End" machine. Like oil and water, A Working Toshiba and Cheap Toshiba do not work."

Full Disclosure: I have a working Toshiba that I have had for over 10 YEARS! I spent about $1600.00 (US) on it. I also have has the pleasure of working on Three Others, probably spent about $1200 (US) on all three of them combined. I have put more than that on parts trying to get them back to life. They were never revived, and I have cannibalized them for other machines!
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Ambucias Posts 47310 Registration date Monday February 1, 2010 Status Moderator Last seen February 15, 2023 11,163
Oct 14, 2015 at 06:16 PM
Hello,

If I may add my two cents worth.

Ensure you have the prerequisites to move to win 10. Win 10 has compatibility mode for all applications and programmes that were created under win 7 and 8.

If you purchase a new machine, the manufacturer will no doubt install (OEM) Windows 10.

If you are happy with your present machine, stay with it.

What do you think Mark?
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Blocked Profile
Oct 14, 2015 at 07:09 PM
"If you are happy with your present machine, stay with it."

Yep. I agree!
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No I'm not at all, especially not the intel integrated graphics card, I did say this :(.
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