Is this a good Laptop to buy?

[Roman Godde]

 Hey everyone, I am thinking about buying this laptop tomorrow specifically for SL and multitasking.  Would appreciate any opinions advise etc. Thanks so much for your help :-)

 

HP Pavilion dv6t-7000 Select Edition Entertainment Notebook PC

C0L25AV

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M Processor (2.5 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 630M Graphics with 1GB of dedicated video memory
• 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• FREE Upgrade to 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
• NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• No additional security software
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
• 15.6-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit Display (1366x768)
• SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I tried both the link in both the threads you started and the link does not work.  You are asking if this laptop is good enough to buy.  By the specs you listed, it will be an okay laptop to buy........not really that good for SL.  It has a new series nVidia graphics card but the card is not all that powerful for 3D graphics.  It will work but you might be disappointed in the performance.  I have no idea what you are looking for when when say "Is this a good Laptop to buy?"  If you are looking for acceptable, but not exceptional, graphics performance then it will fill the bill.  The card is a low level "gaming card"........meaning it will work at no more than mid settings preferences with okay results.  It will not handle shadows or depth of field without some very serious performance hits.

It also depends on how much the computer costs.  It's a better than average off the shelf laptop but just a little better than average.  I wouldn't spend more than $800 USD for a laptop with those specs (but I'm not a laptop fan and I think they all are over priced).

[Roman Godde]

The laptop is priced at $674.00. It is a birthday gift for my Gf. She doesn't have a laptop and I have the desktop at home. I am looking for something that can handle sl without difficulty and the ability to multitask as well. Any other suggestions?

[Peggy Paperdoll]

The ability to multitask is dependant on the CPU.  The i5 is very much up to the task......it will multitask with ease.  It's only the graphics that will struggle with SL.........it's just not a high performance graphics card (it's good but not for real time 3D graphics that is what SL is all about).  At $674 and you want or need a laptop, that seems to me to be a good deal.  It will do everything except SL well........and on SL, it will do okay.

[Roman Godde]

I understand you aren't crazy about laptops but is there one you would recommend based on what I am looking to accomplish ( second life, iTunes, multitask etc) within a 750 price range?

[NealCrz]

 

 

good luck

Requirements for SL

http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

 

Positives: Processor i7 / Nvidia/ Quad Core CPU/ great spacious keyboard

Negatives: Hard Drive is 500G @5400 RPM and display is not as bright as the top of the line/ and of course Windows operating system which completely blows, lol  (sorry I love MAC OS  had to throw that in there)

http://www.cnet.com/laptops/acer-aspire-v3-571g/4507-3121_7-35331779.html

May have to enable the GPU as it has a battery saving one and a high performance Graphics card

 

Places I found to buy

http://tinyurl.com/coj4knb

 

LIke i said I use a MAC so I have no personal experience with this unit but the reviews are good and I personally trust CNET.

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

If you want to use it for SL, I would strongly advice to upgrade to the GT650M.

The 630 one will let you run SL, but not more than that. It has specs below the recommended ones by LL.

It depends on how much you want to spend ofcourse, the upgrade I mentioned costs $175 extra, which is quite a lot looking at the overall price of the laptop.

[WolfBaginski Bearsfoot]

One additional note of caution: wi-fi can be a problem with SL. There are two parts to it. If other people nearby are using wi-fi, they can unpredictably reduce the total bandwidth available to you. SL can also push a router to its limits in other ways, opening an unusually large number of simultaneous connections.

If you have a clean radio environment, wi-fi should be OK. The router problem is likely to affect both wired and wireless connections, and might affect you with two SL sessions running when you have no problems at present.

[VRprofessor]

What does your gf want to do while in SL? 

Shopping and chatting are going to be OKish even on a relatively weak laptop.  Just go with low settings and stay out of highly populated areas

Clubbing is going to need more graphics power, but I do have a student who goes clubbing with an i5 based laptop and no GPU.  I don't know what sort of frame rates she gets, but she's never seen better and is satisfied.  

I, on the other hand, switch between desktop and laptop.  Because of what my home desktop can do my i7 CPU with 550m GPU laptop often seems disappointing.  If I had never run SL on my desktop I would be pretty happy with my laptop.

So her expectations are going to play a major part in all of this.  If she is expecting high frame rates @ high quality graphics settings while out clubbing she is going to be horribly disappointed.  If she is expecting modest frame rates at low/moderate graphics settings while shopping or chatting with friends, she'll be happy.

For the other part, multi-tasking, the i5 is going to be plenty strong for most users.  A typical college student's needs (facebook, word processor, etc) are well met by the i3 line of processors, so the i5 should be more than enough for all of her non-SL needs.