Buying a SE5-friendly laptop

dogscoff · #1 July 28th, 2006, 06:52 AM

Ok, my old laptop is on its last legs, and I'm thinking about replacing it. Totally can't afford to do so but hell, that's what credit cards are for, right? Since sE is about the only game I play on my PC at home, I want to get a system that will run it nicely. It has to be a laptop because I have nowhere in my house for a dedicated computer desk.

Therefore, I'm asking for some help from the beta testers and from anyone else. I know that se5 is being made to run on a relatively low spec system, but I like my games large (big galaxies, lots and lots of ships) and I need to know what sort of specs I should be looking at. I also know that NDAs might comeinto effect, but I was hoping for some kind of hint.

1- What sort of spec do you think is likely to be the *bare minimum* for se5?
2- What sort of spec do i need to run se5 comfortably?
3- Given that se5 is only a few months away and that with Windows Vista out soon we can expect (or at least might hope for) a lot of clearance PCs to hit the shelves before too long, should I try to back up my data and keep my old beast running a little longer?
4- I am, quite frankly, sick to bloody death of windows. What are my chances of getting a linux machine and running se5 under emulation? I know se4 will run quite happily that way. I have no Linux experience but I think I'm ready to give it a try. Is the emulation software available for free?
5 Any other laptop-purchasing advice is welcome. In particular, brands or models to avoid/ consider. As long as it runs se5 well, has built-in wifi and more than 40gig HD I think it will do me. I'll pay whatever it takes, but obviously less is better=-)

Captain Kwok · #2 July 28th, 2006, 09:56 AM

I'd go with a recent processor, 1Gb RAM, and a decent card of at least 128Mb. The bare minimum would be like those for Star Fury (P3-500+, 256Mb+, 32Mb+) . I also wouldn't expect it to run smoothly with emulators in Linux.

dogscoff · #3 July 28th, 2006, 10:12 AM

Thanks Spoogy, that's what I needed to know. Those are pretty steep requirements for a laptop, so no chance of a budget model, but at least it gives me an excuse to buy something really nice.

Just ordered me a 300gig external USB drive to back up my old machine too, in case it dies suddenly =-)

Caduceus · #4 July 28th, 2006, 11:01 AM

I always ask folks if they really are going to be "gaming on the go" to justify the really inflated costs of an equivalent desk-top system.

dogscoff · #5 July 28th, 2006, 11:17 AM

Oh I know desktops are miles cheaper, but I just don't have anywhere to put one. It's a great shame.

I do have some loft space though. It would be cool if I could have some kind of server sitting up there, and then a cheap-as-I-can-lay-my-hands-on (but with a nice big screen=-) laptop running as a dumb terminal via a wireless link.

I think that kind of technology is probably beyond me though (and it would mean buying 2 PCs instead of just one...)

Captain Kwok · #6 July 28th, 2006, 11:35 AM

It shouldn't be that steep - my wife just bought a computer with similar configuration and it was 999$ Canadian - so that's like 450-500...

dogscoff · #7 July 28th, 2006, 12:31 PM

Wow, i guess things are much cheaper your side of the pond. I'm looking at 400-500 sterling for a budget system. Top of the line is about a thousand. Bloody taxman...

Captain Kwok · #8 July 28th, 2006, 12:38 PM

I find here that a mix of instant rebates and playing the chain stores' "lowest price guarantees" will usually get you a really good price. I'm not sure if it works the same in the UK.

Fyron · #9 July 28th, 2006, 02:17 PM

dogscoff said:
Just ordered me a 300gig external USB drive to back up my old machine too, in case it dies suddenly =-)

"External" drives are a huge scam. You can buy an IDE drive for half the cost (or less!) and a USB enclosure (almays go for aluminum) for $20-30 US.

Baron Munchausen · #10 July 28th, 2006, 03:27 PM

The game does not have very high system requirements. Any decent system these day will be able to run it. The system requirements posted on MM's own site are still pretty good. Hmm, now I can't find them. Ok, once upon a time the specs were posted and they were something like 500 Mhz P III or equivalent, 256 MB of system RAM, 3D graphics card with 16 MB of RAM, 1 Gb of free disk space, and Windows 98 or later with DirectX 7 or later. Not exactly cutting edge. And where are you gonna find a laptop running less than 1 Gz these days except on eBay?

A typical current laptop runs Windows XP and has DirectX 9.0c, is 2 Ghz or better, 1 Gb or more of RAM, a 120 GB HD, and will have some monster nVidia graphics card with 64 MB or more of RAM. Any decent contemporary laptop will be able to run SE V.