It's really hard to say exactly what manufacturer makes the best part or component in each category. But if you're looking for the best prices on the Web for computer stuff, my choice would be Tiger Direct:

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Asus Eee PC 900 w/ Linux.

---------- Post added at 03:47 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:46 AM ----------

Joke.

My dad would know a lot about this, but, as far as processor, I remember him saying Intel was the best. I think the most memory that a normal computer has is 1 TB. Other than that, idk.

Forgive the lameness, I understand Desktop processers better than laptop ones mainly because I don't use Laptops and I haven't shown much interest in them. I'd assume a laptop like this is what you're after.

HP HDX X18-1300 Premium Notebook PC series specifications - HP Home & Home Office products

Though thats a UK version and it doesn't have to be HP. Like a Desktop, the more cores in a CPU the better. I think the highest a laptop does is Core 2 Duo; not 100% - Could be Quad. The most clock speed in a CPU the faster it will process data, I'd say 2.4GHz is a reasonable speed. RAM, 4GB or higher is deffiantly reccomended DDR 3 is the newest RAM type which obviously will be faster than DDR2 and shizzle. Er, Thats all you really need to look at I guess.

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I just did a little research on a company who lovers overpricing.. Alienware, this is probably what you're after, well detail on specs anyway - They always use High End shit from what I've seen, you could possible use their data to find something at a more reasonable price but for the same power.

Alienware M17x Laptop Product Details

laptops confuzzle me. but as far as desktops go:

intel>amd
ati>nvidea

ram doesnt matter very much, any decent brand is good enough, but you want 4gb preferably, xp cant handle more than about 3.5gb anyway so theres no point sticking in like 8gb. vista can handle about 8 i think. but i hate vista so w/e. and for right now, 4gb is plenty anyways.

get an intel processor over an amd one, they perform better for the same money, quite alot better actually. unless your using it for video editing and stuff in which case i heard someone say amd is better. its worth reading reviews on processors individualy because the figures dont always mean much. it might be a quad core 2.2ghz processor or w/e but it could be a load of shit for the money and you might of been better off with a much smaller processor that was cheaper and actually works....

graphics cards, usually shit on a laptop anyway, yet again read reviews, dunno how it goes for onboards which laptops generally have, but for seperate graphics cards, ati is ftw atm, much better value for money.
ive got an ati hd 4770 in this pc and its always done itself proud and it was cheap as chips. nearly as good as a 4800 series, beat it in alot of departments except for its brute rendering power. and was alot cheaper, at the time especialy.

my logic on motherboards has always been, get the cheapest one that will do everything i want it to do, i never bother with ones with fancy onboard blah blah blahs because you can usualy add that on anyway if you want to.

hard drives, dont waste your money on a huge one your NEVER going to fill. you get tesco's selling crap pc's with over a tb of hdd. they just do it because people get suckered in thinking for some reason that a big hard drive means a good computer, and secondly they do it to keep the hdd companies happy
ive never ever managed to fill more than a 300gb hard drive, so seriously, dont waste your money and just buy one with enough space that reads quickly and is reliable. btw reliability is important with hdd because they have a habit of dieing.


power supplies are important, make sure you have plenty of power or it just wont boot, especialy with all your other doo dads plugged in, graphics cards are particular power suckers.


cd all you need to worry about is how fast it will read, and how expensive and reliable it is.


oh and let me just say this, aslong as you stick to new parts, and dont go for absolute bottom of the market components, you will end up with a decent pc. because its such a competitive industry everything is improving very quickly, the shit bits get ironed out quickly, brand new components are usually alot better than things even released a year or so ago.


oh the other trick. graphics cards memory doesnt make fuck all difference. dont be fooled just because a graphics card has 1gb of memory on it, that doesnt make it better, pay attention to the model.


oh and the other thing, make sure the hdd and cd are quiet unless you like the sound of whirring.

I would have to say after owning 2 ATI cards and both of them giving me the same physical breakdown that nVidia is better than ATI.

You'd have to point out all Window OS have currently 2 bit versions. 32Bit which is capable of a maxmium of around 3.5GB of RAM and 64Bit which goes higher then 3.5GB, which is the prefered OS for high end entertainment such as gaming. Also, Vista is quite good providing you keep it in notch condition, though with the release date of Windows 7 coming closer if the laptop that is bought has a free Windows 7 upgrade then it won't matter.

I would assume a cheap processor would be poor to a Quad core. Lets say for instance this cheap core you speak of is a Celeron compared to a Quad, the Quad is reccomended due to the amount of data it can process at one time. If the OP is after a high enterment laptop no cheap processor will satifiy their needs.

nVidiea FTW.

This is actually quote funny because your basically rendering your PC down to an old system if you stick to cheap shit.


Depends on the user, everyone is different.. I constantly max out my 500GB HDD at the moment because I have had the chance to buy another one and I have to swap the data around and delete things I don't need anymore to fit things on I want.


You'd be refering to a battery.



A few paragraphs before this you constantly said buy cheap shit, buy cheap shit... Now you're saying buy new components. Just no logic at all.


From speaking to a friend about this issue, I believe the memory on a graphics card does make a difference.

I think over all you may have been in a rush and was confused. From what I've seen you can't build your own laptop like a PC, and the OP was asking for top of the range specs to be looking for in a laptop.

I'm pretty sure Memory does matter, not as much as some other things, like processor. But in gaming, it makes a difference.

if you had 2 of the same series graphics card's, and one had more memory than the other, then it would indeed be better. but, having 1gb of memory doesnt mean a graphics card is better than one with say 512mb of memory.

ati produces better graphics cards for the same money, infact often cheaper, than nvidea. atleast they did a coupla months ago when i last bothered to compare each manufactures products.

i dont like vista when im building my own computers because getting drivers is a nuisance.

new doesnt necasarily mean expensive, they do have a range of products you know, theyre obviously gonna be alot cheaper a few months down the line, but theyre not eternally producing new flag ship products and then knocking everything else 1 place down the food chain. they will purposely target price ranges, say theyll have a sub 100 quid graphics card, a sub 60 quid graphics card, a sub 150 quid graphics card and then their stupid ones which i agreee nvidea are better at but only if you want to go out and spend 600 quid on a graphics card and thats all new stuff btw, they dont just get bumped down one when a new card comes out.


im not saying dont get a quad core just get a single core pip squeek. im saying read what your buying, for example amd's first set of quad core processor's were rubbish. you would have been better off with a good intel dual core tbh, and that would have been cheaper. that is the point im trying to make. more cores and more speed generally means better, but not always.

oh and motherboards, make sure you get the right type, amd processors wont fit into the same slot as an intel one, you buy a mobo for intel you CANT put an amd processor in there, it wont fit.

and my point on motherboards was this, if it will plug everything i have in, fits in my case, will link everything together reasonably competently then im happy with it, and the cheapest one that fills those catergories is generally the one ill pic. id just like to warn you though if you do that, and dont buy a sound card, the onboard sound on cheap mobo's suck.... oh, and im usually building pc's to a price limit and if theres one thing im willing to skimp in favour of others, its the mobo, rather save 50 quid by buying a cheap mobo and get a better graphics card or processor than having a god of a motherboard and sod all plugged into it.

and its called a power supply on a pc :cool: but yeh in a laptop its a battery.


you cant build a laptop like a pc, and laptops tend to cost more than pc's, and if you want the best of everything, be prepared to sell a kidney.

yes, sharkbait is right. just b/c the specs on a gpu states more memory than another gpu, that does not make it a better gpu.

Also remember, fast CPUs, powerful GPUs and lots of RAM isn't just good for gaming. Having ridiculous specs is good no matter what you'll be using your system for.

For example, I hear many people say "Oh, I don't need a 1 GB video card, I don't play any games." Um....so what? :wink: Get it anyway.