Now I'm ticked (in Off-topic)

So for my 18th birthday, my parents decided to buy me a brandy spanking new laptop. Compaq Presario c700, 160GB hard drive, 1.86 GHZ dualcore processor. I was pumped, now I could finally play games that didn't come out in 1998!

Wrong! the integrated graphics are disgustingly bad and basically unable to run ANY 3D games of any kind. Wish I would have known this BEFORE I bought Neverwinter Nights 2.

AND the wireless optical mouse I bought doesn't work. So unfair.

First rule of a gamer's laptop : check the video card specs...

You can still play -*Doom*-

Why complain?!

Or Master of Orion 2.
Or Civilization 1.
Or Duke Nukem.
Or... Elite !
;)

Heh, I wish I was older when these came out. You know, to play the games when they were still new and sparkly.

I got owned much in the same way when I bought my first computer...wanted to play Oblivion...ended up playing Warcraft 2.

Solution: Take Computer Science courses!...or ask your parents to take them ;)

Just wish I could SOMEHOW upgrade the graphics. I wouldn't mind someone taking the whole damn thing apart to put a new card in. the only solution i've found is the Asus XG Station, a 500 dollar external docking station that would run a nice video card for me. Too bad it costs more than the laptop itself.

Sell shares of your laptop.

You should've bought an Optimus Prime instead of a pathetic laptop.

If it can't transform, it isn't worth buying. That's my philosophy.

A hammer can transform anything into something else.
YOUR PHILOSOPHY IS VOID!...

Or whatever.

If I would have had any say in the specs of the computer things would be different. As it is I had no idea I was even getting a computer until they told me to open my eyes. And it's not like I can give it back to them and say "hey, I can't play sweet video games on this thing. Try again!"
Every thread I read about the compaq c700 complains about its bad graphics and how it's literally impossible to upgrade the graphics in any way. It makes me sad all day long.

Well then maybe that means anything is worth buying... as long as you own a hammer.

Were you to ebay said laptop and buy a (NON-COMPAQ) laptop with a discrete video card capable of being upgraded are your parents the sort of folks who would notice? Would they understand if you explained it to them? How creative are you with excuses?

Bottom line is that you've got to balance the usability of the laptop with the feelings of the loved ones who gave you the present... that's a micro-thin line.

they wouldn't find out, it'd be easy to "hide" but who would want to buy this thing brand new off ebay if they can just get it brand new off the hp website?

Thats odd, because my 3 year old laptop with integrated graphics - Intel EXTREME graphics 2 (its far from extreme believe me) can still churn out World of Warcraft respectably on low settings.

The Intel X3100 GMA, which I believe your laptop has, is a couple of generations beyond this so it surprises me that it can't at least run NWN2 on the lowest settings. Is it a frame rate issue or does the game not even load? Maybe try formating the computer and installing the operating system only, without all the bloat that comes with new laptops. Have you downloaded the latest graphics driver?

I bought my new laptop last year thinking it would be AWESOME since it was pretty expensive and had 2 gigs of RAM. Lo and behold, the graphics card sucks so I can't play good games on it. I think laptops should come with a warning saying "don't buy this laptop unless you're going to use it for business".

Drivers are up to date. The problem with running the game is, everything actually runs at a good speed- but it's so damn choppy that it's almost unplayable. It's also difficult to click on stuff because the game hides 90% of the game from you... you just get to see what happens every .5 seconds. But from the sound/visual relationship I can tell the game isn't lagging at all, it just isn't showing up smoothly.

Must suck, im glad my dad knows about computers. He bought me a sweet laptop. 3GB ram, T8100 Dual core 2.1GHz, Gefore 8400M GS, 17" wide screen. I love it.

Return it and get something that will last more then 6months.

I'll probably return it and see if I can get the exact same thing with a customizable discrete video card. Because I LOVE everything about this machine except it can't play the games I want it to.

To be honest - Laptop's aren't really meant for playing games. It'll kill the battery life quickly with a dedicated graphics card. Unless you keep it plugged in all the time and if that's the case - just get a desktop - cheaper, and better.

That said - not being able to run basic 3D games is not cool at all. :)

The other issue is that you are attempting to play, one of last years most graphic heavy games on the market. Comparing it to WOW or the like is like comparing my little apartment to the empire state building. My reccomendation if you are looking for a laptop for gaming would be to off your current one, if you have the ability to pay for it or what not, try circuit city and go for the HP Pavillion dv 9000 series media center computer. Yes its vista.. but for 800 dollars 4 gigs, 17 inch screen, with a geforce 7150M Graphics with 512 onboard but shared 1 gig, works wonders. Ive played NWN 2 on mine and it run smooth at minimal settings. Prefer nwn 1 though, More zombie survival and roleplayers there.

We sell through the c700s at work like hot cakes and they're junk for anything beyond word processing and messing around on the web. It's honestly pretty difficult to find anything in a laptop that will run NWN2 without spending a fair amount (far above what that c700 goes for). However, you might be able to pick up something like a dv6910 for a few bucks more than the c700 and it would serve you MUCH better in the long run.

"The other issue is that you are attempting to play, one of last years most graphic heavy games on the market. Comparing it to WOW or the like is like comparing my little apartment to the empire state building."

I'm not really sure what the comparison is supposed to mean but saying that it's one of the most graphic heavy games on the market last year is stretching it a bit. It runs on single core, mid-level processors (2,4ghz Pentium or ~2k AMD), about half a gig up to a gig of RAM and video cards two generations old.

WoW is not demanding of hardware whatsoever. That is actually one of the reasons so many people play. Minimum specs are 800MHZ processor, 512RAM, 32 MB Video card (most integrated solutions work). On a two year old computer, with a 7800 series Nvidia video card, I can run two sessions of WoW @ 1680x1050, max settings and get 25-30FPS.

That's because WoWs graphics are awful.
Anyway, back to Un'Goro.

*nods and wonders if AB frostfire bolt isn't going to totally suck*

Possibly look at a Toshiba Satellite P105-S6332 I believe is the model.

Another draw back of gaming on a laptop is wireless. Wireless really bites when trying to play online games.

Why do laptops have to be wireless? Everything on mine is wired.. Internet and mouse both wired, it games just as good as my desktop.

Wireless internet connection.

You don't have to use a wireless internet connection, mine is wired. Also desktops can use wireless internet, as well so i don't see your point.

Games will always suck on a laptop, if you really want to game, there are plenty of cheap gamer desktops around.

Besides as a gamer you don't want wireless, in a multi player situation its always slower then directly connected to the router/modem you use to get on the Internet.

Oh... I see... You said wireless internet as well. My experience with wireless internet is pretty horrid, as the router was in the room adjacent to mine, and I was still getting dropped left and right from WC3 games, on a desktop... If you're going to have a wired connection, and want to play games, you're better off just getting a desktop PC.

It's probably a lot cheaper, you won't have problems with battery life, overheating and trying to upgrade.