Behold, my new computer

I've switched to a new notebook as my main computer, and I am quite pleased with it.

In the end, I chose an Asus F8SV-A1. I have yet to regret the choice at all :)

The first thing that I noticed was the specs, which are just about on par with the Macbook Pro, but for around 800 dollars less. It is also not a bad looking computer; it doesn't seem horribly thick like many others do.

Intel T7500 (Core 2 Duo 2.20 gHz)
NVidia GeForce 8600M GT 256MB
1GB DDR2 667 RAM
160GB 5400rpm SATA Hard drive
1280x800 LCD screen
160 GB 5400 RPM hard drive

1 year free accidental damage warranty + another year of regular hardware warranty.

Okay, not absolute top of the line, but it was a good price, too.

I upgraded to 2GB or RAM, since it's running Vista. Fantastically easy upgrade. They were forward-thinking enough to use a single 1 GB module instead of two 512s, and both slots are directly accessible underneath a panel on the back.
I have not given it the Crysis test (in a way, I don't want to. Would probably be depressing). However, I did try COD 4 on it, and it runs beautifully with every setting as high as they will go and native resolution. (The catch being that some settings, like model detail, would only go up to Normal. Do they just not have High, or are they disabling them for me so that I don't suffer with poor frame rates?).

One of my favourite things here is the cooling. While the manual tries hard on the first page to drop any association with laptops, (insisting that this not be used on one's lap!), I almost wonder why. Even after playing COD 4 for an hour, the surface with the keyboard hardly heats up at all; every bit of hot air is blown out the side. The bottom is a bit warmer in some areas, but even that is rather a small amount compared to other computers.
While it is quite noticeably thicker and heavier, that cooling makes for a fine counter to the Macbook Pro's favourite features. (That thing gets noticeably hot with any significant use).

My other most favourite thing is that Ubuntu runs. Actually, it doesn't just run, it runs better than Windows does right out of the box! Where Windows's support of the wireless hardware is still a bit shakey, Ubuntu handled it instantly and connects long before I am logged in. It boots to the desktop in under 30 seconds, too.
The NVidia card is so far pleasing me, especially since I can now run Compiz's fancy alpha blur effect. As expected, the difference between this and my old desktop's Radeon 9600 is night and day.
Even the webcam works immediately!

The only major flaw here, so far, is battery life. 2 hours and 10 minutes in Ubuntu with desktop effects ( I'm addicted to them :( ), same time with Vista in power saving mode. I am sure more can be squeezed out, having seen the difference in lifetime running Vista and MacOS on a Macbook, but that is the best one usually gets here. In addition, the battery is positioned so that getting a larger one is unlikely to ever happen.
I knew what I was getting in to, so don't really mind. If I want a portable device to last all day, I'll rely on something pocket sized, preferably taking AA batteries.

Mine's better.

P

Nice specs - congrats on your new 'baby'

In terms of Crysis and the 8600GT, I can run on max settings (using the DX10/WinXP hack) at 800x600 - however I do have a 3ghz processor, 2gb ram and 512mb of ram on the card.

(can imagine going from a 9600 to an 8600 must be a bit of an eyepoener!)

MadJack: Thats a 8600M GT.
M are only "name wise" the desktop counterparts. Performance wise the 8600GT M series are more like 8400GT Series performance wise (or mroe specific: 7600Go is 7300 desktop actually)
Thats why it removes the high settings as well. Your card just lacks the stream processors to handle it (would guess around 16 at max, not the 64 stream processors of the desktop 8600GT. thats the price for the 30W compared to 70-120W on the desktop counterpart)

Be happy about that, Crysis would run at 2-4 FPS at best on higher medium to high settings (it runs at 17 on overclocked GTX with highest settings ...)

oOoo.

Ubuntu got on my new laptop first time ootb too ;)

I like Asus, my laptop is an Asus but it had 1 annoying design flaw that wasn't mentioned anywhere - (until I took it in to get it repaired) after between 8-12 months usage the cable in the mechanism where the laptop lid rotates wears out (leading to very unusual looking displays with smears of bright blues/purples everywhere). I've had it replaced twice already under warranty and now almost exlusively use it as a deskop with the lid permanently up to hopefully extend the life a bit more now that I am out of warranty.

You say that but my 7600Go compares to my desktop just fine.

I can even overclock the mobile card almost 20% before the temporature actually starts to rise. I don't though, because last time I later installed drivers and didnt notice the fan wasn't working anymore. it wasn't OCd at the time, but it still melted. yum!

Also, on the same machine, Ubuntu runs better than windows. It runs like crap, but its STILL better than windows. X-D

Seems like a pretty good spec, about on par with my iMac, and I'm sure it's plenty good enough for working in Blitz.

Edit: forget it, I didn't got it that it's a freakin' laptop ^^

I guess it would have helped to look ahead and see that BlitzMax currently hates 64-bit Linux :(
It seems I'll have to enlarge that Windows partition after all. (Or work in Wine. Or wait patiently...).

As for 8600M GT being less powerful than 8600 GT, that is indeed very true. However, one place this card (in this particular computer) does have an advantage is overclocking, since the cooling is very good. The trick is then installing the right driver...

Good cooling yes. But if you ever get on temperature, don't forget that the harddisk will suffer first and that one will die LONG before your CPU and GPU will throttle down. At 65-70 degree celcius HD temp you can start to look for a new harddisk as this will, if it happens moer often, take care that you harddisk won't survive even half a year.

Sounds like your computers the same as mine, right down to the specs (though mines a vaio)

I find the one in my MacBook Pro more or less on par with my old 256mb 6800 GT tbh.


That's not half bad, my MacBook Pro only lasts about 90-100 minutes when playing a game.
(with sound/brightness cranked, and WiFi on, and power management turned off {so the bloody video card doesn't get throttled back})

Not a bad laptop you got there, good for anything you would need your average PC to do, but mobile. (love taking mine home for the weekends to kill time).

One thing I've been wondering about laptops though, why is the jump from a 5400rpm to a 7200rpm harddrive so massive? I know they need to keep the harddrives small on a laptop, but I didn't think the price difference would be that massive.