• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

A new laptop for a newbie.

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

_RossDvd_

New Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2009
Hi all,

Im a bit of a newbie when it comes to laptops and computers but Im trying to get a grasp of things, hopefully some of you will be able to help.

Basically I need a laptop that can handle Team Fortress 2 & Left for Dead. in addition I ll be playing poker on it and need it to be able to run Poker Tracker, Poker HUD software, although from what i can gather if it can do the former then it will be able to do the latter.

Other than watching iPlayer and downloading music/films thats pretty much it.

I ve spoken to a mate who uses this forum and he recommended

https://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_6930G_449059.html

I'm pretty happy with this and have hunted around and it seems to be the best available price and spec?

The next thing is Security. I've had experiences at uni of laptops just getting swamped with spyware viruses etc and i don't really have a clue except I know all of them are bad, duh. With the above website there is a security package offered

https://www.simplyacer.com/F-Secure_2009_ANTI_VIRUS__Internet_Secu_527500.html

and also one on cd rather than usb stick

https://www.simplyacer.com/F-Secure_2009_ANTI_VIRUS__Internet_Secu_652831.html

Would these be adequate? I move some sums of money about with playing poker and am very wary of stories of accounts being hacked due to poor security, although this seems to happen more frequently on players using free wifi in hotels?

If you think there is a better package available I would be v grateful of advice.

Outside of these security packages are there any other measures i should be looking to take?

I very much appreciate all feedback.
 
I personally am not a fan of acer laptops having been the previous owner of a Acer Aspire, I cant remember what model but it ran a AMD 64 3000+ and was such poor quality I could not describe.
The laptop went back under warranty with screen flicker issues and came back with screen flicker issues before being fixed eventually.
The battery life became very poor after three months and I was accused of over charging it which was not the case, a replacement battery soon followed the first. The battery life was so poor the system might as well have been a desktop for all the time it ran on battery.

Some products are cheap for a reason.

I now run a Dell 1530 XPS laptop, and have an Alienware in the post expected this week,

The Dell is a great laptop, its seriously a good bit of kit, great quality and performance, and it takes something for me to say that as I hate Dell as much as Acer :D
 
Last edited:
That Acer looks fine I've sold and used plenty of Acer's and they are OK but I prefer other brands. I'd shop around some more before you pull the trigger. As for security sensible surfing and a free AV such as Antivir or Avast is generally all you need. All-In-One internet security suites generally suck a lot of system resources and don't provide any better protection overall.
 
I don't know about security, but if you're looking for cheap, the low end dells should do it (inspirons or studios), if you're looking for quality then go for Lenovo thinkpad. As far as your security concern goes, a good anti-virus should suffice and even with those products you listed, using anything secure on an unsecure network is not a good idea.
 
Some dell gaming laptops should be able to run l4d and tf2 and do the other things you mentioned. Just make sure you get a laptop cooler.
 
Back