What laptop brand isn't pure shit?
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May be in the market for a new laptop. Don't know where to start. Samsung is pure shit, has shit build quality, and breaks in the medium term.
Which brand isn't shit?
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@Lorne-Kates apple?
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@Lorne-Kates Why not build one yourself?
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@Lorne-Kates I like my Acer S7. Better specs than a MacBook Air by every measure, including cheapness.
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@Lorne-Kates I'm pretty happy with ASUS. I've recommended them to others and they were happy too. I have a 6 year old gaming laptop and it's still going strong, playing reasonably modern games (even if you do need to lower settings), and an ultrabook that's also working well 5 years after buying it. Good build quality and price.
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I want a Surface Book. By all accounts the first gen shows a lot of promise, but I'm waiting for the second gen when they get the (minor) issues worked out.
It even comes with Windows 10.
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@Lorne-Kates said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
Don't know where to start.
One that runs FF22 on it?
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@Lorne-Kates apple, lenovo or dell business, Asus.
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@error said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
I want a Surface Book. By all accounts the first gen shows a lot of promise, but I'm waiting for the second gen when they get the (minor) issues worked out.
It even comes with Windows 10.
From my experience, every laptop generation has its own issues. I currently have no greater issues on my Surface Book than I had with all the other laptops I had before (Sony, Asus, Samsung).
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@lucas1 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
lenovo
Currently I have a Lenovo laptop. After the Superfish fiasco it'll be the last one.
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@Lorne-Kates If you want to have a GPU in the laptop, I can recommend MSI.
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@Adynathos said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Lorne-Kates If you want to have a GPU in the laptop, I can recommend MSI.
I can second that. I have a work-issued MSI GS60 Ghost Pro. It's ridiculously light-weight despite its specs so it's a breeze lugging it around. It does have the downside of a rather meager battery life though. Oh and fuck the 4k screen, nothing but trouble. Until proper DPI-awareness becomes a thing, avoid the 4k variant like the plague.
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@Deadfast said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
MSI GS60 Ghost Pro. It's ridiculously light-weight despite its specs
That is great about it.
The only problem I found is the dual-GPU setup - there is both a Nvidia GPU and an Intel integrated GPU and they switch to reduce power consumption.
The output of the Nvidia GPU is wired through the integrated GPU which interferes with VR applications which prefer direct access to GPU output. That is a very niche problem, but if you plan on using it this way, try to find a model where the GPU has direct output on at least one port.
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@aliceif said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Lorne-Kates Why not build one yourself?
Was this a joke, or are there stock hardware cases and mobos for laptops now? If so, how did I miss that?
Or did you mean it in the maker/modder sense, by putting something like a Raspberry Pi in a constructed case?
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@ScholRLEA said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
Or did you mean it in the maker/modder sense, by putting something like a Raspberry Pi in a constructed case?
Good idea, I'll build my own laptop from a single PIC microcontroller.
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@anonymous234 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
Good idea, I'll build my own laptop from a single PIC microcontroller.
“It's not much, but look how quickly I can make these LEDs flash!”
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@Adynathos said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
The output of the Nvidia GPU is wired through the integrated GPU which interferes with VR applications which prefer direct access to GPU output. That is a very niche problem, but if you plan on using it this way, try to find a model where the GPU has direct output on at least one port.
Is that what was going on??!?! OMG I thought I was doing something wrong!
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@Adynathos There is a bigger problem here why are you using this VR shit? It will go the same as 3d cinema (the 2D showings at the cinema are packed, whereas nobody bothers with the 3d anymore).
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@lucas1 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
There is a bigger problem here why are you using this VR shit?
Initially for a university project. But having tried the hardware (HTC vive), I am quite impressed with the VR technology.
The main enjoyment is not from the VR vision (quality worse than on screen), but from very fast and precise hand controllers - it really feels as if you are holding and shooting a gun (at least for me).
I could also imagine using the controllers to edit some 3D objects on a screen, similar to this.So from my adventure with VR on MSI GS60 (1+ year old version, ofc they reuse model names, so current one may be completely different):
- Oculus driver will refuse to work
- HTC vive works in "extended mode", which means it is a fullscreen window on the headset's display, the quality is fine for me
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@Adynathos Does the laptop have a displayport connection?
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@XanderTheGamer You can run monitors over USB3 also but I'm not sure that would bypass the GPU problem.
I wonder why they wired it that way, that's very odd. Usually the two GPUs are entirely separate.
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@Adynathos I get sick watching a 3d movie, I suspect I would just throw up in seconds if I use VR. Also if a game is immersive enough (Crysis series) I tend to forget the rest of the world exists.
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@blakeyrat They wire it that way so you can get better battery life. Gaming notebooks have really short battery life when the separate GPU is used, so by using the integrated GPU for lighter, non gaming tasks, you can get battery life that doesn't completely suck.
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@XanderTheGamer said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
Does the laptop have a displayport connection?
It has a mini displayport output, but also connected to the integrated gpu.
The newer version may have more ports, like the USB3.1/thunderbolt one / can be wired differently.@blakeyrat said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
I wonder why they wired it that way, that's very odd. Usually the two GPUs are entirely separate.
It is wired that way so the gpu used to render to your screen can be dynamically switched during runtime depending what programs you use. Integrated gpu uses less power.
@lucas1 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
I get sick watching a 3d movie
After a few minutes I forget that the film is 3D, I feel no difference.
VR does not feel more immersive for me, but has completely new control methods, which is a fun novelty.
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@Adynathos said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
After a few minutes I forget that the film is 3D, I feel no difference.
It is great if I sit on the left hand side of the cinema, but if I sit on the right it is blurry shite and makes me feel like shit. My left eye is totally dominate over the right. I can't aim a rifle correctly because of it, pistol is no problem.
@Adynathos said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
which is a fun novelty.
This is exactly my problem with it.
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@lucas1 I would not recommend VR if you would just use it to play games.
But I think it may be interesting for research projects / development / demos.
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@Adynathos Fair enough then.
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@lucas1 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Adynathos said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
which is a fun novelty
.that costs anywhere from 300 to 800 USD.This is exactly my problem with it.
FTFY
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@XanderTheGamer That too.
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My main problem with VR is that it requires a 700 dollar computer (at least) and a 600 dollar headset minimum. The entry point is too high for most people, and even the upcoming console VR solutions still cost a good bit of money.
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@XanderTheGamer My PC which is an i7 (2014) and a 960GTX and 32gb ram can't do VR.
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@lucas1 My pc is a i5 (3570K, so 2013) and a R9 280 (2015) with 8 GB ram. Your system likely could do VR with a GPU upgrade, though.
Back on topic, yes you can build your own laptop with a barebones kit.
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I own two ASUS laptops, one of them is a ROG. The ROG weighs a ton and is annoying to use on airplanes because it's big. Other than that, it's quite nice. The other one (of 2009 vintage) is turning into a media center due to being outclassed.
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@Groaner Can the ROG run Crysis (3)?
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@lucas1 said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
My PC which is an i7 (2014) and a 960GTX and 32gb ram can't do VR.
My laptop with i7 cpu and Nvidia 870M (worse than yours) can do VR. So maybe your problem is not with performance buy some kind of configuration/compatibility?
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@Adynathos What VR software can you run on that setup?
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@XanderTheGamer SteamVR with HTC headset.
With better GPU it could probably work in higher quality, but so far its fine for me.
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@XanderTheGamer said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Groaner Can the ROG run Crysis (3)?
I don't know, and will probably never know as I hear that series is boring. It can't fly a 200+ part craft in KSP without dropping FPS, but in all fairness, I have yet to see a computer that can. Although, I'm going to be building a beefy desktop rig in the not-too-distant future...
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@Groaner said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
I don't know, and will probably never know as I hear that series is boring
Wat? IMO, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Full Disclosure: I have yet to play 3, but own all the ones before it.
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@Erufael said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Groaner said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
I don't know, and will probably never know as I hear that series is boring
Wat? IMO, that couldn't be farther from the truth.
Full Disclosure: I have yet to play 3, but own all the ones before it.On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is any game in the Call of Dudebros franchise, and 10 is any Serious Sam game, how does it measure up?
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@Adynathos Have you tried any games / apps like "The Lab"?
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@Groaner Heh well you wouldn't like my answer as I do think there are some good CoD games (mostly old ones, though). I'm more of an FPS-er/MMO-er.
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@Groaner 7 or 8? What is 5, for reference?
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@XanderTheGamer No; that's why they put two GPUs in the computer.
That doesn't explain why they routed the output of the NVidia GPU through the Intel GPU.
But good job answering a question I didn't ask and trying to make me look like an idiot moron.
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@XanderTheGamer said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
Have you tried any games
I tried:
NVIDIA VR Funhouse - demo of various physics-based game concepts
Raw Data - shooting robots with a gun, satisfactory, but sometimes the game wants you to turn around (difficult with the cable) / be aware of what is behind you (difficult with the limited FOV).
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@bb36e said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Lorne-Kates apple?
I just checked, and apples don't come with Windows 10. So that's a point in their favor.
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@blakeyrat said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
That doesn't explain why they routed the output of the NVidia GPU through the Intel GPU.
I suspect they do it to easily switch between the GPUs currently outputting to the screen. The Intel gpu acts additionally as a switch.
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@Adynathos Did you try measuring the framerate?
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@XanderTheGamer said in What laptop brand isn't pure shit?:
@Groaner 7 or 8? What is 5, for reference?
Hard to say.
Games where you get gigantic blood splotches on your screen when you get hit and getting hit causes your character to freeze in position to conveniently absorb more hits generally score low on my scale, along with WW2 simulators, games that draw a distinction between hip-firing and "ADS," and/or games with "recoil management" (i.e. firing more than two shots in a row and you're suddenly spraying more of a hemisphere than a narrow cone).
Games where it takes at least two direct rocket hits to kill your character generally score higher on my scale.
Off the top of my head, here are some data points to assist:
Unreal Tournament GOTY = ~9.5.
S4 League in 2009 = 8
Quake 3 = 7
S4 League in 2014 = 4
Return to Castle Wolfenstein = 3-4, higher if on a low gravity server
World of Tanks = 2
Any Counter-Strike = 1.6
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@blakeyrat They route the output through the IGP because switching between each GPU would require some driver shenanigans.