-Deleted- Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 I need a bit of help finding something. There are a lot of games I'm interested in playing and I would really like to get beck into gaming eventually. I love rpgs and want to someday get a computer dedicated to JUST gaming, mostly older games. So I was wondering if there is a simple, reasonably-priced laptop that can play older games ranging from DOS to newer games. Even if I would need an external storage of some sort for it, that would be fine, too. Or even an external storage, one that could hold a lot of games for my current laptop: an HP Pavilion, with something that would allow me to play a range of games from DOS to newer. Either one of those would work. I'm not too concerned about memory, I usually keep my computer plugged in anyway. If it's relevant or useful in any way, examples of games I would like to play are the Ultima series, Might & Magic and Heroes of Might & Magic series and other similar games. Mostly those three series to be honest, but they're quite a wealth of games on their own. Anyway, summery of requirements: -Either laptop OR external storage for current laptop -Capable of games ranging from DOS to newer games, mostly older (examples given above) -Battery power isn't much of an issue to me 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonardus Posted June 16, 2014 Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 Hmm, well the first thing you gotta think of is how much money you wanna spend, once you have an idea then we can perhaps give you a list of things you could use but personally I suggest getting a new laptop if you wanna play some of the more modern games, mostly you wanna get your hands on something with a decent graphics card and processor, around 2-3 years ago I went looking for a laptop that could play a variety of games and I have seen a lot more variety now than back then. Hope this helps you and good luck 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Deleted- Posted June 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2014 (edited) Hmm, well the first thing you gotta think of is how much money you wanna spend, once you have an idea then we can perhaps give you a list of things you could use but personally I suggest getting a new laptop if you wanna play some of the more modern games, mostly you wanna get your hands on something with a decent graphics card and processor, around 2-3 years ago I went looking for a laptop that could play a variety of games and I have seen a lot more variety now than back then. Hope this helps you and good luck A $300 or less range is preferred, I'd be willing to save for up to $400 though. If that's too low of expectations for this type of thing, I'm patient and would be willing to save up for a long time. I was mostly looking for ideas is all. It's mostly just ideas for now. Just want to see what kinds of things are out there. Edited June 16, 2014 by Nait Sabes 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eerongal Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 A $300 or less range is preferred, I'd be willing to save for up to $400 though. If that's too low of expectations for this type of thing, I'm patient and would be willing to save up for a long time. I was mostly looking for ideas is all. It's mostly just ideas for now. Just want to see what kinds of things are out there. If you were JUST looking to player older/simpler games, 300-400 is a reasonable price. If you want to play newer games, you'd probably be looking more around 600-700 to get decent performance out of "medium" settings. A 300-400 laptop could probably get away pretty admirably at "low" settings for a while, but it wouldn't be terribly future-proof. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightsworn Panda Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 There's a quote I quite like: "Laptops nowadays are for little girls. Facebook, Facebook and Facebook" (Nerd3, Youtuber) In other words, laptops aren't for work or games now. They're for social media. If you want a $300-$400 laptop for games, then I'd try something like a really cheap Alienware laptop. If you want to play really ancient games like Age of Empires or Fallout 2, then your conventional and typical laptop would work. Just make sure they have a good graphics card, Intel core and don't melt when turbocharge/overclock (I have had personal and second-hand experience with them all). Anything older than, what World of Warcraft 3 is starting to push the laptop. (Make sure the laptop supports discs. Made the mistake with the current laptop ) If you like old games (rpg's), then I should probably give you a list of recommended games, shouldn't I? All the Age of Empires and expansion packs. All the old Warcrafts All the Heroes of Might and Magic up to 4. All the Fallouts up to and maybe including 3. Diablo 1 and 2. More coming! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrmhero Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) As has been said, if you mostly want older games, then you don't need something too powerful. However, as has been mentioned, if you want a decent gaming machine, you really need a desktop. The laptop is dying out, really, and is only now useful for work- or gaming-on-the-go (silly Panda, laptops aren't for social networking, that's phones or tablets). Since you said that battery life isn't too important as it's usually plugged in, I'm guessing that you don't really need that portability element for gaming. As such, I'd say go for a desktop PC rather than a laptop, since you'll get more for the same price (or the same for less price). Pretty much the big question for a laptop is whether you want a dedicated graphics card. Getting one will improve your performance quite a bit, but it'll push the price up as well. For a sort of comparison thing, my laptop, which I bought two years ago, cost a bit under £400/$600 (unfortunately, I was not able to look for a good deal at the time due to the fact it was an emergency due to the failing of my old laptop), and that runs most games well even without a dedicated graphics card. It struggles when it gets to high-end stuff, like Skyrim, but can run it on low settings. So if you want to run that sort of thing at high graphical power, it might be a bit out of your price range. A lot of older games, including the Heroes of Might and Magic games up to 4, can be found on GOG.com for download for cheap. In particular, since you mentioned RPGs, it also contains the Baldur's Gate series and Planescape: Torment, the latter of which has been said to be the best RPG game ever made (even if it does use 2nd edition D&D rules). I believe it has all the Ultima games as well. They also help by packaging the games with any emulator you might need to play it. It might be best to think about the most intensive games you want to run. In my experience, older games will still run or can be rigged to run on a new machine, either with emulators or 'run as Windows XP' or what have you. I often play Dungeon Keeper and Theme Hospital (via DOSbox, packaged from the aforementioned website), and slightly newer stuff like Pharaoh and Heroes of Might and Magics 3 and 4 on Windows 7. In fact, the only game I can think of which I never got to run on Win7 was Battle for Middle Earth 2 - a game which came out about a year or two before Win7 did. So to wrap up, consider the upper limits of the system you want, and look at the pricing from that perspective, since older games should be able to be emulated or rigged to play on a newer machine. A few examples of the newer games that you might want to play would be helpful, I think, so we know more about what you're looking for. Edited June 18, 2014 by Wyrmhero 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightsworn Panda Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 WYRM YOU PLAY HEROES OF MIGHT AND MAGIC TOO!? (HoMM) YEAAAAAH! Could you tell me your favorite race, might or magic, skill development and play style, please. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrmhero Posted June 18, 2014 Report Share Posted June 18, 2014 (edited) I think this should be a thread or PM. For now, a PM? Edited June 18, 2014 by Wyrmhero 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-Deleted- Posted June 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 As such, I'd say go for a desktop PC I love that idea and that was my original thought. And it's everyone's dream to build their own Desktop PC someday. Was wondering if there were laptops more suitable though. I tend to like them more. But you guys are probably right. Getting a Desktop would be best. Lightswarm Panda: I've already played the Hell out of Age of Empires and it's expansion. I grew up playing it. However, it's been a bit now, not a bad call. Ought to go find that later lol. It's somewhere around here. But yeah, I'll stick to looking for a desktop. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyrmhero Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 Steam's got Age of Empires 2 and Age of Mythology on it now too. AoE2 even has a new expansion there. Retro gaming seems to be taking off, thanks to GoG and Steam. It's rather nice 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightsworn Panda Posted June 19, 2014 Report Share Posted June 19, 2014 I was pretty much raised on Age of Empires 2 (with the Conqueror's Expansion), as well as with Heroes of Might and Magic 4. My Turkish Janessaries-Scout combo will mulch your armies Yeah, you should get a desktop. Even the worst desktop runs games better than the best laptop. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fedelpen Posted June 21, 2014 Report Share Posted June 21, 2014 (edited) Even the worst desktop runs games better than the best laptop. My desktop disagrees...it's 9 and a half years old... .............and my laptop is worse But yeah. There's no suggestion such as get this exact brand and model. What you really wanted to know is what kind of processor, RAM, and graphics card you need. For that, I recommend checking the games you want to be playing. After that, what's the cheapest way to get them? As for external storage, you're looking at $50-70 for a 500GB 3.0 external HD. I would imagine that there are cheaper versions, especially as your older computer might not have 3.0 USB and you probably don't need 500GB for games, but for whatever reason I couldn't find that. Edited June 21, 2014 by Fedelpen 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blad3mast3r Posted January 13, 2015 Report Share Posted January 13, 2015 you can build a PC that will play on high settings for $300-$400. But- If you must go laptop, AMD processors have better graphics in that price range. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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