I'm looking to buy a new laptop and am trying to hunt around for the best deal. As expected any cheaper priced laptop has integrated graphics, which I'm trying to avoid. But, I'm trying to make sure that I avoid them for the right reason. I currently have been using a laptop with an Intel GMA inside and the color reproduction is horrible. I'm assuming maybe the card is incapable of reproducing all of the colors available on my monitor (Dell 2009WA). So, my question is...are the ATI integrated cards any better? I've found a few laptops with the ATI 3200 and 4200. The 4200 is tempting, but I fear running into the same problem with color reproduction. If all else fails, I'm just going to spend the extra cash and get the radeon 4350 in one of them.
As a note: I've had several people tell me an integrated card can reproduce colors just fine, but in a side by side comparison to a Quadro card (for instance, on my desktop) - the difference is obvious. I don't want to spend for something that intense, but I do want something that is better than the Intel GMA on my current laptop.
Sorry, I'm looking for a 599 and under laptop...possibly 699 and down. With HP, my preferred brand, I've only seen the 799 range contain dedicated cards. I'm just seeing lots of these ATi 4200's out there.
Radeon is ATI, so it's just a matter of which one. Laptops are a little harder but you'll get a better $$ deal just getting a cheap vid card with the computer and upgrading it yourself. Most of the major assemblers (Dell, HP, etc) will charge you much more than retail to upgrade components. I've had very good experiences with Newegg, prices are fair and service is outstanding.
You should be using a monitor calibrator of some sort for accurate colors.
I haven't gone into the world of laptops, but I would think that you would be able to. Anything that can be customized at the factory should be changable later. A guy at work is constantly replacing stuff in his laptops, I guess it just takes more patience.
drawin2 wrote:
Sorry, I'm looking for a 599 and under laptop...possibly 699 and down. With HP, my preferred brand, I've only seen the 799 range contain dedicated cards. I'm just seeing lots of these ATi 4200's out there.
When they say dedicated in the description that typically refers to the RAM. Most laptops share system ram which takes away from the OS and is much slower ram.
The video card is usually soldered onto the motherboard. There are some that use pci-e laptop versions (MXM slots)... but they are typically proprietary. Alienware was one manufacturer that did this. But you won't find these on inexpensive laptops.
Look for laptops that have MXM slots. But you really have to check compatibility.
