fortuni on 5/6/2015 at 16:39

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My Toshiba L750 is over 4 years old and getting tired so am looking into buying a new machine so some advise would be very much appreciated

i am only considering buying from (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptop-computers/) PC Specialist as their reputation for well built machines is superb and their after sales service if you need it is second to none.....but i have not a foggiest clue as to whether their off the peg machines are what i want or whether it would be best to configure my own machine....if i go down that route i do have a friend who can give me all the information and advise i need but i am asking the Thief community to advise me on what specs i need to consider for the modded Thief game as of today

my current machine is W7 i5 2.3GHz, 64 bit, with NVIDIA Geforce graphics....and it done me fine for the last 4 years, but there are a few thing i wish to improve on

mainly i often find with some of the recent Newdark missions that the textures are rather bland, certainly in comparison to some screenshots posted, and i have been advised i need a dedicated graphics card (so what's the NVIDIA thing doing in my machine we ask, scratching his head in total ignorance of of these matters)

I also would ask your opinion on processor power, i play all my missions with NecroAge installed, but apart from the usual other patches that's it, but some of the newer mission KoI for example are beginning to push even some half decent machines

as well as that i use my laptop quite intensively, for example i am currently writing walkthroughs for all the T1/TG missions so for up to 5-8 hours i can be running Thief, DromEd, half a dozen browsers open searching the forums for information and have various open office applications running all at the same time

i also would like to ask.....wait for it...don't all shout at once....your opinion between W7/W8/W10

i'm use to W7 (PC specialist still sells W7 machines) but am nervous of upgrading to W8 or W10 as i believe it to be a rather large learning curve, i believe W8 to be not a hugely successful OS and i know nothing about W10 (apart from it not available yet

as for budget....i'm thinking on the lines of around £800 but can go higher if required

any and all comments and all opinions gratefully appreciated

fortuni on 5/6/2015 at 17:35

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There are various things that need doing to my laptop, apart from a general service, it's getting rather hot nowadays, may just be the fan, but the key board needs replacing, it CD drive is broken I spilt a glass of wine on it 6 months ago and the screen looks terrible on one side and recently a lot of trouble generally such as booting down unexpectantly, windows crashing.....I'm just thinking why spend the money repairing a 4 year old laptop that is getting rather tired, even though I know that would be the cheaper option

Renzatic on 6/6/2015 at 00:36

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And I'm sleep deprived myself. Still, I'll give this a go.

Since you put it that way, yeah, a new laptop would be the better option. I need to know what you intend to use it for before I can make a recommendation, though. Are you going to be doing a lot of heavy gaming on it, or do you want something that's solid for everyday tasks, plays Thief well, but won't be used for anything hardware intensive?

Renzatic on 6/6/2015 at 15:21

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All things considered...

- You're not much of a gamer, but you do play Thief regularly, and want a machine that can run the latest FMs easily.

Even the heaviest, most graphic intensive Thief FM out there can be run with flying colors on even a modern integrated GPU, which have become surprisingly solid these last couple of years. Thief 2 is a 15 year old game, and Newdark, nice as it is, doesn't push things beyond 2005 specs. If you run into an FM that has performance problems, it's likely due to the engine itself being too stressed than it is your computer having trouble keeping up with it.

- You spend most of your time browsing.

You want a largish screen, about ~15", IPS, preferably high PPI. Don't discount those obscenely high resolutions. They do make a difference. UHD on a 15" screen might seem like overkill, but damn if it's not easy on the eyes.

Honestly, a Core i chip is overkill for your needs, though I'd still recommend an i5 just for future proofing. I'd say get an Ultrabook in the 13"-15" range with a high res screen. Like the Asus Zenbook Primes, the Lenovo Yoga 2/3 Pro, the 2015 Dell XPS 13 (or it's up and coming (http://www.techspot.com/news/60896-dell-revised-xps-15-includes-gorgeous-infinity-display.html) 15" revision). They're light, powerful, last a decent amount of time on a charge, can chew through Thief. They are pricey, though. Around £950 starting out.

If those are too expensive, or not quite up to your tastes, I'll dig up something else for you.

bikerdude on 7/6/2015 at 15:13

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Can I assume your Tosh is the following model -

- (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Toshiba-Satellite-L750-Series.59248.0.html)

If so thats still a good-ish laptop, my only crits would be the low res super glossy screen and the slow 5400rpm mechanical hdd.

Renzatic has already come up with some good alternatives, but moving forward if you want a machine you can still game on in a few years then an ultrabook isnt going to cut it, yes they are pretty but have no grunt. That and I cant abide glossing f***ing screens on a mobile device.

What online places do you like to buy computer kit from other than PcSpecilist, yes PCS are good but you can get a longer warranty for less cash if you shop around.