Budget Laptop for FSX

[Aqualung 0]

Hello Everyone,

 

I am relatively new here (I heard the Avsim forums are the best place to go for tech advice  :smile:). I apologize if this is a redundant post; I know you guys must grow tired of answering the same questions over and over, but here's my dilemma: I am currently shopping for a new laptop and am a bit short on cash at the moment. I'm looking in the $550'ish range and am completely baffled on what to get (I don't know anything about computers, so please understand).  I already know I will not be able to purchase a system with performance comparable to everyone else's, but I just really want to get the most "bang for my buck." It has to be a laptop because my nature of work requires one. I took a shot in the dark and picked out a $549 Acer Aspire V3-571-6492 with these specifications:

 

Windows 7 Home Premium - Intel® Core™ i5-3230M processor (2.6GHz/3.2GHz w/ Turbo Boost) - 4GB DDR3 memory - 500GB hard drive - Intel® HD Graphics 4000 - Mobile Intel® HM77 Express chipset

 

Would you consider the performance of this computer typical of what I would get in this price range, or are there better ones out there that I could consider purchasing? What would you get?

 

Thank you all so much. 

 

 

[ryanbatc 12,833]

I read your thread. Budget PC and FSX usually don't belong in the same sentence - much less budget laptop hehe!

 

If that laptop had a dedicated video card if say for medium-high sliders with a few average addons you'll be ok. With the onboard video though you'll probably not enjoy it too much.

 

Generally speaking you need to look in the 1000 dollar laptop range for FSX .

[HenningL 2]

Some info here also:

 

http://forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?/topic/80074-running-demanding-simulations-on-laptops/

 

Henning

 

[EngineRoom 205]

Whilst it's entirely possible to have FSX with lots of addons running pretty well on laptop, you won't be doing it on a budget "off the shelf" laptop.

 

Honestly you'd be wasting both your time and your money trying to get FSX to run on anything less than a dedicated gaming laptop, which unfortunately cost considerably more than $500.

 

That's my advice after having been running FS9 and FSX for ten years now on laptops, because like the OP my work takes me away from home a great deal and I'm left with no choice but to use a laptop.

[Aqualung 0]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. I'll be sure to keep proper cooling in mind when I make my final decision. I realize now that inadequate heat dispersion was one of the problems with my previous laptop system running FSX (that on top of inferior specs led to a miserable experience).

 

Ryanbatcund- You mentioned the video card. I do have experience changing parts on a large desktop computer, but a laptop worries me a little. Do you know if the video card on a laptop like that can be changed, or is it built-in or too difficult to modify without harming the other components? If it isn't, I might get that computer and anticipate on buying a new video card and changing the default somewhere down the line.

 

I know of the can of worms that gets opened when FSX and laptops are mixed. My previous set-up involved a Gateway NV53 with an old AMD processor. Just getting FSX running took an effort. But I figure that I am going to be buying a new laptop anyway so why not try to find the optimal one for FSX. I guess I'm not looking for a "good" computer, just the most tolerable one.