SL laptop for under $500?

[SatyrGrey]

I need a new computer and I'm at a total loss.... My old computer was an MSI gt725, loved it. It was $850.... Well, I just don't have that kind of money but I still need a laptop that can run second life at high or medium so that I can play SL or do my video editing hobby.

What's out there for less than $500? I am willing to replace graphics cards if I need to.

[Alwin Alcott]

read this and compare what stores offer you:

but running at high graphics is something you can erase on your wishlist with that budget. Not very likely you will find a med or high end graphics in the pricerange. The, less desirable, more recent improved new onboard Intel Graphics won't be in range either

 

Windows	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
Internet Connection*:	Cable or DSL	Cable or DSL
Operating System***:	Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8	Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1
Computer Processor:	CPU with SSE2 support, including Intel Pentium 4, Pentium M, Core or Atom, AMD Athlon 64 or later.	2-GHz (Vista) 32-bit (x86) or better
Computer Memory:	1 GB or more	3 GB or more
Screen Resolution:	1024x768 pixels	1024x768 pixels or higher
Graphics Card for Vista Windows 7 or Windows 8 (requires latest drivers)**:	NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better OR ATI Radeon 9500 or better OR Intel 945 chipset	NVIDIA Graphics cards 9000 Series: 9600, 9800 200 Series: 275 GTX, 295 GTX ATI Graphics Cards 4000 Series: 4850, 4870, 4890 5000 Series: 5850, 5870, 5970

 

 

Mac OS X	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
Internet Connection*:	Cable or DSL	Cable or DSL
Operating System:	Mac OS X 10.7 or better	the latest release of 10.9
Computer Processor:	1.5 GHz Intel based Mac	2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or above
Computer Memory:	1 GB or more	3 GB or more
Screen Resolution:	1024x768 pixels	1024x768 pixels or higher
Graphics Card**:	ATI Radeon 9200 and above OR NVIDIA GeForce 2, GeForce 4	ATI: 4850, 4870 OR NVIDIA: 9800

 

 

Linux	Minimum Requirements	Recommended
Internet Connection*:	Cable or DSL	Cable or DSL
Operating System:	A reasonably modern 32-bit Linux environment is required. If you are running a 64-bit Linux distribution then you will need its 32-bit compatibility environment installed.	A reasonably modern 32-bit Linux environment is required. If you are running a 64-bit Linux distribution then you will need its 32-bit compatibility environment installed.
Computer Processor:	800 MHz Pentium III or Athlon, or better	1.5 GHz or better
Computer Memory:	512MB or more	1 GB or more
Screen Resolution:	1024x768 pixels	1024x768 pixels or higher
Graphics Card:	NVIDIA GeForce 6600, or better OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better	ATI: 4850, 4870 OR NVIDIA: 9600, 9800

 

Important Notes

* Second Life is not compatible with dial-up internet, satellite internet, and some wireless internet services.

** Second Life may not run on graphics cards other than the ones listed above. The following cards are NOT compatible with Second Life:

• NVIDIA cards that report as a RIVA TNT or TNT2
• ATI cards that report as RAGE, RAGE PRO, or RADEON 320M, 340M, 345M, or similar model numbers
• Intel chipsets less than a 945 including Intel Extreme
• Cards with the following branding: 3DFX, RIVA, TNT, SiS, S3, S3TC, Savage, Twister, Rage, Kyro, MILENNIA, MATROX

The following cards have not been tested with Second Life, and compatibility is not certain:

• NVIDIA cards that report as Quadro
• ATI cards that report as RADEON IGP or RADEON XPRESS
• ATI cards that report as FireGL
• ATI cards that report as FireMV

*** Installation may require that the latest Microsoft Service Packs for your system be installed.

 

[SatyrGrey]

What about building my own if it came to just parts? $500 too little still?

[Alwin Alcott]

Building yourself will for sure save you some money and give more than buy a standard one.

Ever thought about buying a refurbished one? That will bring higher end laptops a lot closer.

[Sassy Romano]

"building your own" and "laptop" don't generally sit well in the same sentence!

If you want performance on a budget and swappable hardware then a laptop is not the way to go.

[Bree Giffen]

You might be able to build a nice desktop for that price. 

I found this by googling for $500 gaming pc. It was written in August so its pretty up to date.

http://pcbuildsonabudget.com/best-gaming-pc-build-under-500-dollars

There are lots of people looking for a $500 and under gaming pc. I would read up on the different builds and then go shopping. Prices are always dropping on the cpus and video cards too. So if you read an article written in January of this year for a $500 build, the current cost might be even cheaper.

To be honest, SL isn't ramping up in graphics quality like game series lthat come out with whole new game engines ever few years. I'm pretty sure a sub $500 PC With enough gaming power to handle SL was built years ago. SL has issues because it serves content from the internet rather than your hard drive and the content is not optimized at all.