Off Topic - Looking for Gaming Laptop Advice

LilyGrace

I have an HP Envy that I’ve had for ages now. It’s been a perfectly fine laptop for my needs but I think it might be on its last leg. 

More and more frequently it doesn’t want to wake up unless I do a hard reboot. At the same time it’s not fully falling asleep when it should. It’s running hot, fans keep running after it should be asleep. 

Just did a hard reboot and finally got to my login screen. I’ve been looking at this for 20 minutes after typing in my password…

Hopefully if I give it enough time I’ll be able to log in. 

If anyone has any ideas on what I should do to help my old laptop, I’m all ears. But additionally I’d love opinions on what folks think would be a really good replacement laptop for gaming.

Something I can play UO on but can also play new games on as well. Is Alienware still a brand sought after? Or are there other more affordable brands that would suit just as well?

Thank you for any feedback offered. 

McDougle

You can get a low end Acer gaming laptop cheap 

LilyGrace

Never heard of it. I’ll research it. I’m not looking for cheapy cheap but not top of the line either.

I’ve just hit the power button again for another hard reboot. But I walked away cuz I’m askeered. I’m hoping when I go back it’ll be ok. 

McDougle

Even the cheapest gaming laptop will be 10x capable of running  uo

Oreogl

McDougle said:

Even the cheapest gaming laptop will be 10x capable of running  uo

This is accurate.  I think I shelled out a whole $250 for mine, handles everything in UO no problem.

it’ll depend on what other games you’re playing obviously.  I’ve been thinking about upgrading because of this.

Arnold7

I have an old laptop too and saw that welcome message a lot after the last update.  Your laptop is just  just too old unless in real life you are an IT person and can figure out what’s going on.  I only use mine for playing UO.  It still has virus protection, but I still limit my use of it to just playing UO.  I can’t read the white on black text in NL at all with it.  It usually plays ok a day or so after the update.

I will use it for playing UO until it dies.  I have to sit through what you are experiencing every once in awhile. Don’t recommend I get a new one, because that one just resides in the top draw of my dresser, and i do all my surfing on an IPad.  That’s just the way I am. If I used the computer a lot, I would update it, but as is I am just willing to live with the welcome screen every once in awhile.

Anyway, think what you are experiencing is just normal for old computers.  If you use your computer for other stuff, I would recommend getting a newer one, and asking here for which UO files to copy from the older computer.  On the other hand if you are like me and know you are not going to change computers, just find something  more interesting to watch than the welcome screen when it shows up.

LilyGrace

Thanks for the feedback you guys. I did a hard reboot a 2nd time and walked away until just now. I got to desktop after password this time. It was still pretty slow getting there. 

The cursor is still flashing intermittently like it’s still trying to process. I’m going to let it settle for a bit and try not to make any sudden moves! 

I think that’s exactly what the deal was, Arnold, I think it got hung up during an update. 

*fingers crossed* I’ve bought myself more time. I do have a fair amount of writing in Word that I really should backup, at least get docs onto thumb drives. And get myself something new soon. 

Every so often I do see something I’d like to check out on a pc rather than a console. I think Harold Halibut was the last thing I looked at that I thought I’d like to give a try but it probably wouldn’t play well on this old HP.

Arroth_Thaiel

@LilyGrace

I too am on the verge of having to buy a new computer. For the first time in my life, I'm not looking forward to the upgrade. I just don't want to go through the process and would much prefer if my current system would just run forever! That's not going to happen though, so...

Couple of larger issues I've found that you might want to keep in mind.

1. Windows 10 end of life is fast approaching. 

End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 | Microsoft Windows


2. You can technically buy an expansion board and make some software tweaks to allow older PC's / laptops to run Win 11, but if you're buying a new system anyway, might as well make sure to get a Win 11 device. I know some companies out there are still selling Win 10 PC's / Laptops at a "discount", but I'd warn you to stay away from those and just go with a new one and Win 11.


3. Gaming laptops can be a real money sink. Making everything compact ramps up the price dramatically. As others have said, UO is old enough you'll probably be just fine with an even mid-level business laptop. Plus, you'll have a ton of cash left over to buy soul stones!!!

If you really want a gaming laptop for other more modern games, you could look up those games and see what specs they require / recommend. That would help you narrow down what you're looking for in a laptop.


4. Here is a handy guide Micro$oft provides to help you give them money. They need the money. It's going to be tight at Christmas this year.

Help Me Choose Which Windows Laptop or PC is Right For Me | Microsoft


5. Here is Micro$oft's current market value. They are really good at getting people to give them money. Yes, that is 3.1 Trillion, in US dollars.

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Stock Price, Quote, News & History | Nasdaq


--
I used the link above to choose a PC with: "Complex Graphics", "Some Portability", and "Larger Screen Size". These are what MS "recommends".


Good luck! 

LilyGrace

Thank you a million for putting that information together! I appreciate it very much! 

My HP started life with Win 10 and down the road I installed 11. And that’s when many of my troubles began. My husband never installed 11 and even tho his pc is even older than mine he has no problems. 

I’ll do some shopping around this coming week. Thank you again! 

Arnold7

I left windows 10 on mine. Microsoft does not update my old computer that much anymore because of it’s age so I was surprised to see the update a week or so ago.  I think about 4 or 5 in the afternoon  the update started.  After watching the screen doing nothing in particular for about an hour, I just moved the computer over and let it update.  Think it finished around 10 that night and really did not work normally till the next day.

My old computer still has Word 97 on it.  My computer person told me if I got a new computer, they could not install Word 97 on the new one.  Was not a problem since we have the newer version that allowed us to put the newer version on the computer in the drawer I don’t use much.  Don’t know which version you are using, but if your using Word 97 you might ask about that if you decide to get a newer computer.

Good luck computer shopping.

LilyGrace

Oh, I’m so glad you mentioned that. I’d not thought about that at all. Yeah, maybe I can get microsoft office suite included or at least discounted when I make a purchase. Thanks again, Arnold. *hugs*

RonFellows

Those laptop suggestions are the biggest overkill ever. You don't need a "gaming" laptop for UO. Most people carry enough power on their cell phones to run UO. 

Urge

The absolute cheapest walmart laptop will run UO fine.

I bought my kid a high end alienware from Dell and it lasted almost a year before it overheated and took a crap. Replaced it with a tower from IbuyPower and have zero regrets. He's powergaming everything on the market. 

It's like everything else, you get what you pay for. 

LilyGrace

I'd like to run newer games too, @RonFellows . Well, that's no damn good, @Urge . I'd be freaked if I spent a ton of money and it broke down like that. My last two laptops have been HPs and they have been great imo

Lord_Nythrax

Gaming laptops are a pain, my next computer will be a desktop. Traditionally mine has wanted to either run in some kind of turbo mode and roar like a furnace even while idling in a 10 year old game, or else try to be "eco friendly" and refuse to use the GPU at all. Browbeating it into making normal sensible use of its resources has been way more work than it ought to have been.

McDougle

Like I said acer nitro I can play wow, balders gate, fallout etc and of course UO under 800$

LilyGrace

the space i have for my pc is on a large old school desk...i use it for sewing too. Otherwise I'd get a tower again. But an ipad and laptop I can move off the desk a lot more easily

Sounds good, my son mentioned Acer too. I'll for sure look at them.

thanks!

RonFellows

I guess the better question is what modern games do you want to play? 

LilyGrace

It seems rude to talk about other game here but I guess most recently I saw Harold Halibut and thought that looked pretty cool. I never played Dragon's Dogma I, but I saw a video on Dragon's Dogma II and thought it looked really beautiful. I guess some other's I've thought about are anything but new LOL. I can't believe how long ago the first Elder Scrolls came out. But I didn't play all of the Elder Scrolls games. Ghosts of New Eden looks fun.

I'm useless when it comes to sorting through what sort of system a pc needs to play x, y or z games well. So, that's why I figured a "gamer's" laptop would sort of cover it all. But I'm not looking to get something high end and expensive just because someone slapped a gamer's laptop label on it. I just want something that'll run well for newer games and let me play my old UO well too. If that makes sense.

sibble

LilyGrace said:

If anyone has any ideas on what I should do to help my old laptop, I’m all ears. But additionally I’d love opinions on what folks think would be a really good replacement laptop for gaming.

Something I can play UO on but can also play new games on as well. Is Alienware still a brand sought after? Or are there other more affordable brands that would suit just as well?

Thank you for any feedback offered. 

Hi @LilyGrace - to give you accurate advice I would need to know the details of your current laptop.  HP Envy is not enough - there are many different options from the manuf.

I've upgraded all our laptops for the business I work for.  There is one piece of hardware that has massively changed how computers run in the past 15 years and that is the switch from HDD to SDD.  Changing your hard drive space from spinning disks to a solid state drive is a huge upgrade.  Old spinning disk drives are usually cause a huge bottleneck.

A new replacement SSD is $50, plus the USB to SATA adapter you'll need to copy is $5.  You can download Clonezilla for free - flash it to a USB stick, plug the SSD into the SATA adapter and the USB into your laptop.  Boot into Clonezilla using the USB stick, clone your HDD to the SDD.  Look up the manual on opening your laptop up and replacing the hard drive - it should just be a bunch of screws, prying open the laptop and an easy replacement.

Another suggestions is to do a Windows Reset but I'm unsure what version of Windows you're running.  If you hit the start button and type in "Reset", does it give you an option to "Reset this PC"?  This will clean out everything on your laptop and reset it to basically just Windows and nothing else.  A fresh start can sometimes be helpful too.

LilyGrace

Thanks for your time and the feedback @sibble. You’re the 2nd person this week to mention HDD vs SDD to me. Prior to this I’d never even heard of a solid state drive. I know, it’s like I live in a cave. SSD for sure sounds like something to look for with an upgrade.  I don’t think I’m a good candidate for a DIY install of it tho. However, there is a local guy I could talk to about it. 

Oof! I don’t have what’s on my laptop backed up as I should so wiping the drive would not be an option. I shudder at the thought. lol 

Space is at such a premium on my desk with laptop and keyboard, iPad, and sewing machine, extra monitor is on a swing arm thankfully, I’d already cleared the decks and switched to my iPad before I saw your post asking for more particulars. When NL returns I’ll get off Procreate on the iPad and switch back to laptop.