Hi all,
As you may, or may not remember, I'm a pretty enthusiastic PC gamer, but my current "rig" is a work-intended laptop from 2004. It runs everything older than itself well enough, but I've been drooling at stuff like the Orange Box, Europa Universalis III, Supreme Commander etc. recently, and none of them agree to co-operate with my screen-driving-3d-thingamajig. I think it's made out of wood, and (even worse) integrated. The whole thing literally starting to fall apart isn't helping one bit. =P
I've been doing some window shopping, and the Acer Travelmate 5720G looks like my thing. However, I'm fully aware of how bad I am with computers, so I've been showing the specs to all my friends, and asking if it looks good to them. You're next!
A few reviews here, here, and here.
The specs copy/pasted in a horribly messy manner:
2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 7300 2GB 667MHz DDR2 RAM 160GB hard disk G GSA-T20N DVD writer ATi Mobility Radeon X2500 256MB graphics 15.4in 1,280 x 800 TFT Realtek HD audio S-Video, D-SUB, DVI-D 4 x USB mini-FireWire ExpressCard/54 PC Card slot Bluetooth IR 802.11a/b/g WLAN Gigabit Ethernet 1.3MP webcam 5-in-1 card reader Windows Vista Home Premium 1yr C&R (includes international travellers' warranty) 360 x 268 x 45mm 3kg
Now I realise this isn't the most powerful computer out there, but I'm working on a budget (could get this one for 880€), and don't really care about having the best graphics on the planet. There's a zillion games from the last few years that I've been dying to play, and lots of upcoming stuff like Starcraft II and Dawn of War II that should work on even slightly slower hardware. I want to get a laptop, because I'm probably leaving the country as an exchange student next year, and I do a lot of travelling anyway.
Does this model seem like what I'm looking for?
I'm slightly worried about how it comes with Vista, but have figured it might not be so bad. The reason I really hate it is that everyone else hates it, but realistically it's going to be the most supported OS in a year or two, and going from a 512mb XP machine to a 2GB Vista one should actually be an improvement. I also wouldn't have to get a 360 for Alan Wake. =P
There are some other things I'm not crazy about, like there being no external dial for volume, the speaker cables plugging in at the front, and how the screen is the same size as my current one, but otherwise this seems to be a solid package.
Oh boy, this looks more like a rambling blog entry than a request for help on a forum. Anyone bothering to read all of this and say something has my deepest gratitude. <3
tl;dr: thinking about buying this. does it look any good?
