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Hi everyone! This is sort of an update to this, as well as some random help questions (then it's off to studying for classes through which I half-slept...I've only very recently learned to focus/prioritize/manage time/beast-mode my work).
So the concert pretty much went pretty well. I actually played quite poorly, but the audience was amazingly nice and genuinely impressed/touched (though I thought my performance was, overall garbage...I literally blanked a bit after the beginning of the third mov't of the appassionata, and basically skipped all the way to the end with the the right hand running passage recap). I recovered after a pretty bad start and played relatively well for the rest of the concert. I always play expressively/emotionally (if I may say so myself), but I also always don't practice enough, so my technique often leaves something to be desired.
ANYHOO, it was still an amazing experience and will serve as motivation to concentrate when I work so I have time to play more piano (and games, and do better in school ^\\\^).
Now for the shamless help-begging 
I have an old-ish Dell inspiron 1720 laptop that has an Intel Core 2 Duo (1.67 gHz) processor, runs vista premium, has 2 GB (DDR2?) RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card. I think (I know the most simple basics of computers and I'm not an idiot, but I'm no guru of course) the graphics card is pretty good but everything else is sort of meh, especially with all the new PC games.
My question is (and I bet you saw this coming from a mile away): can I run starcraft II on it, and should I just get a new computer anyway? Starcraft II was okay when I played beta, but I had to close pretty much all browser windows, etc. The graphics card is definitely adequate, but the processor and RAM seem somewhat inadequate in this day and age. With those kind of specs, could I run SC2 on medium or so smoothly?
Also, if I indeed should get a new laptop, is this one any good?
I also (just now) saw that it's refurbished haha ...is it safe to use/buy it? This computer, if bought, will probably be used for a while, so if it's not very good, let me know (and perhaps give a recommendation :D?).
Thanks! I didn't want to get my ass kicked in the tech support for making another "WILL THIS RUN SC2 AND IS THIS COMP ANY GOOD KTHXBAIBAI?" thread. :>
In other news, Federer and Nadal are playing the match for Africa on December 21!! Thing are going to be quite interesting, what with Fed feeding Rafa that breadstick in the WTF finals...!
Bonus from a closed blog whose joke totally fell flat lol:
+ Show Spoiler +An indoor physical fitness room consists of a rectangular region with a semicircle on each end. The perimeter of the room is to be a 200-meter single-lane running track. (a) Draw a diagram that illustrates the problem. Let x and y represent the length and width of the rectangular region, respectively. ![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/mRS9P.jpg) Got that! (the two vertical lines should be dotted, as the track is a typical track&field type of track, with two straightaways and two curves ofc) (b) Determine the radius of the semicircular ends of the track. Then, determine the total distance (in terms of pi) of the distance around the inside edge of the two semicircular sections of the track. + Show Spoiler [SPOILERZ] +
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Grats on your concert!
I have the same specs on my laptop as yours. I run on medium fine in 1v1s, but I can't do 4v4s or massing UMS.
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The graphics card on that current setup should run low/medium (depending on your resolution. if it's a laptop you can handle medium probably), and 2GB RAM will run it as long as you aren't really running anything else, but that processor is bottlenecking you the most. I see that really struggling even 1v1 with large armies. With that said, I would definitely look at a new rig, laptop or not.
The integrated graphics on that laptop you linked is crap, don't bother with it. You can find those specs with a mobility radeon HD 4250 or something for a tad more than that. I don't know any good links off hand that you should consider, but i'll try to get back to you with one if no one else jumps in with one.
edit: oh, and grats on the concert. Most people in the audience don't notice minor mess ups, and if your performance only improves throughout the concert then that leaves them with a good impression as well.
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17018 Posts
Sorry for the random question, but which prelude/fugue did you play?
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You mean all this time.. you weren't playin starcraft 2 on your computer? :O
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Super sorry for lacking replies but I have a load of studying to do. I'll answer the questions that are here though!
@Ray: Ah, I see...I might consider a better laptop then :S
Thanks Grobyc! I'll check those comps out (so far they look pretty nice and are within acceptable range...my dad got the current laptop years ago with an "employee" discount of no less than $1,200..."discount" my ass) and beg my parents to get it for Christmas haha ...I didn't look deeply enough to realize it has a cruddy integrated graphics >w<
Wish you the best with getting by on so little at the moment!
@Empyrean: I played the prelude&fugue no. 12 in the second part of the well-tempered clavier :>
Why do you want to know :D?
@KezseN: yeah, up until now, I was mindless browsing the Internet like a zombie, wasting tons of time, watching totally random youtube vids, lurking TL, watching SC2 vids/streams, watching proleague and keeping track of osl/msl (too late to watch for me), etc.
@Brotoss: I think I should get a new comp though (and I want one, which is obviously the biggest incentive here roflz) :< 1.67 gHz core 2 duo keeps on dying. If I want to play any of the more recent PC games, I have to play on relatively low quality QQ
THUS, I'll try to minimize time wasted by playing some SC2 instead of randomly surfing the Internet for 3+ continuous hours (no exaggeration...ARGH). I'll still do the above, but definitely not to the mindless extent to which I blatantly waste time...just a checkup here and there and maybe some TL browsing when I actually can afford to do so.
EDIT: do you guys have any suggestions for a 17-inch+ laptop? I'm used to this screen size, and anything smaller looks dinky and cramped. I don't actually need that much mobility because this is my only comp, and my parents refuse to buy a desktop for reasons unknown 
Thanks!! <3
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Oh fail. I mean, let me check out some newegg stuff tomorrow, when break is upon me.
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Bump so this request doesn't blend into the wall of text:
Does anyone have suggestions for a 17-inch+ laptop? I'm used to this screen size, and anything smaller looks dinky and cramped. I don't actually need that much mobility because this is my only comp, and my parents refuse to buy a desktop for reasons unknown
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17018 Posts
I think you should honestly try to convince your parents to buy a desktop if you're not using the laptop for its mobility. "Desktop replacement" laptops are horrifically expensive for the computing power, and you can build a desktop computer that outperforms virtually all laptops for around $700, a price reserved for only the cheapest laptops.
Seriously, if you're looking for a 17''+ screen, you're going to pay thousands for a "decent" one.
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On December 17 2010 17:27 Empyrean wrote:
I think you should honestly try to convince your parents to buy a desktop if you're not using the laptop for its mobility. "Desktop replacement" laptops are horrifically expensive for the computing power, and you can build a desktop computer that outperforms virtually all laptops for around $700, a price reserved for only the cheapest laptops.
Seriously, if you're looking for a 17''+ screen, you're going to pay thousands for a "decent" one.
D'awww... I found a few ones with the search function on newegg >< I just put in the 17+in screen option, selected the dedicated graphics card, and I already say some nice ones for comfortably<1k though...or are they rip-offs? If you have the time, could you run a search like that and let me know which ones are worth the money? Some of them were i5, 4gb ddr3 RAM, and dedicated (BUT I'm not sure how good those were), for about $800.
Also, why were you wondering about the prelude/fugue? :D? I'm pretty sure they're (technically, at least?) not very demanding in general.
EDIT: I've been trying for years to get a legitimate desktop, since (as you said) the performance-to-cost is just so much better...no proberto cigar...
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17018 Posts
I was just curious. No particular reason.
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Let's see.. how much is 800 dollars * 6.6 for CNY is about.. 5300 yuan.. Yea My friend bought a laptop with those specs you said (i5, 4gb ddr3 RAM and 15inch) and he can run games pretty well.
I don't know about starcraft 2 but he uses his laptop for Pro evo soccer 2011, L4D2(highest settings, no lag, but gets super hot in less than an hour) and for architecture programs like Rhino or autocad(these programs takes longer to save a file than a heavy photoshopped file).
Sucks that you can't get a desktop to paly SC2 as gaming on a laptop feels wonky sometimes..
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I think I said it already on the original thread but grats on your concert!
I happen to be using (right now) my Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop (because I can't reach my desktop from bed and I'm too lazy to get out of bed). I got it a little over 3 years ago, specs are similar to yours - T7100 Core 2 Duo (1.8ghz) and Nvidia 8400M GS. 8400M is a step or two down from yours, cpu is a step up... so I think it evens out, but when it comes to running SC2 I'm probably betting on gfx being the bottleneck. I can run SC2 on this laptop on low. Haven't tried any higher but it's relatively smooth.
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Alternatively get a smaller laptop and get a monitor to hook into it for when you're at homje. A friend of mine does that and it works nicely.
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QQ, well turns out that all I want for Christmas is not what I'm getting for it.
I definitely don't NEED one (in the literal, unspoiled-child sense), as my laptop works fine...it's definitely outdated as far as gaming goes, but it's usable. What I wouldn't give for an i5-processor-toting, 4-GB-RAM-beasting, 17-inch-hanging, some-form-of-dedicated-graphics-card laptop... I found a few on newegg for about $800, which seems like a reasonable price to me. After all, it'll probably be the laptop I use for college.
Realistically, there is no real necessity for such a laptop, but...*sigh*...
In other news, I probably can't get SC2 either (though the chances of getting it are considerably greater than those of getting a laptop), so I'm either still mindlessly wandering the Internet or playing SC2 on low to medium and/or with significant lag.
I feel so undeserving/bratty, but I want one soooooo badly.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd182/DanBurkeis1coolguy/Demotivational%20Posters/DansDemotivationalPoster12.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://a1.phobos.apple.com/us/r1000/050/Purple/01/36/a7/mzl.ntkgqlhh.100x100-75.jpg)
