Smallest laptop that can emulate PSX (revisited!)

[JeffreyZ]

Hello! I'm bringing the topic up again, because I've finally bought a laptop--an Averatec 3220H1 (their 12" screen offering with 256MB of RAM). I paid about $870; but you can find it for $800 a lot of places.

It's a good machine, and it runs ePSXe smoothly through PEOPS plugins because it has a pretty fast Athlon XP-M 2000+. For anything else 3D, though, it's crap. However, it is a VERY budget-friendly, decent portable PSX. It sits in-between the "ultraportable" and the "thin-and-light" category because it's more than 4lbs, but on the upside, it has built-in Wireless G and a DVD-CRDW.

If I had $1200 to spend instead of the $900 I wound up having, I would have opted for the Asus M5N instead, which is a similar config, but has a Wintel setup which is much more friendly for t3h g4mes.

what's the videocard in there if I may ask?

[Gamer1]

that's what you get when you buy a laptop with a piece of crap video card.

a similar intel setup would make you run into their extremely crappy igp, which is something to watchout for when buying a laptop. but you get what you paid for.

next time you might want to look for a decent gpu (from ati or nvidia) with your next amd/ or intel laptop. and that laptop is clearly not designed for games, but for word processing etc.

*that laptop does have a pretty long battery life. 4+ hours.

[Razor Blade]

If I had the money, I would get the new VAIO PCGTR3A Although it is the cheapest of the bunch it seems it would do emulation alright. The only downside as to games is it has a Widescreen display, and not many pc games support it. :/

I went to The Sony Store to check this one out, and it is the clearest LCD screen I have ever seen in my life. It is truly awesome.

[JeffreyZ]

The video card in the Averatec is a turdy S3.

Gamer1, what can I say--I'm poor. However, people with P-M Centrino notebooks sporting only Intel Extreme 2 have reported very satisfactory results with PSX emulation; which, of course, isn't too demanding. It's not like you'd play Doom 3 on it.

[Razor Blade]

Anyone seen any laptops with a Mobile 9800 pro on it yet? And could a super small laptop have one, or does it have to be massive :/

Originally Posted by JeffreyZ

The video card in the Averatec is a turdy S3.

if it at least does some 3d acceleration, you might be able to get more out of epsxe; my laptop has a Radeon Mobility U1 (equivalent to a radeon7000), which is in performance similar to a, I think, TNT2, and even that one does work with pete's ogl.

[hushypushy]

Originally Posted by Razor Blade

Anyone seen any laptops with a Mobile 9800 pro on it yet? And could a super small laptop have one, or does it have to be massive :/

the only laptops that i've ever seen that come with nice gfx (go 5600, or mobile 9700/9800, etc.) are the giant ones from alienware, falcon northwest, dell, etc. i have yet to see a compact one with a P4M that's light and small carrying a nice graphics chip.

[Gamer1]

Originally Posted by JeffreyZ

The video card in the Averatec is a turdy S3.

Gamer1, what can I say--I'm poor. However, people with P-M Centrino notebooks sporting only Intel Extreme 2 have reported very satisfactory results with PSX emulation; which, of course, isn't too demanding. It's not like you'd play Doom 3 on it.

i'm sorry if i sounded snooty, (i reread my post and i think i sounded like i'm snooty)

it is a pretty good laptop, my friend lugs it around everywhere in class. i like it myself, perfect for a carputer (computer for car, hook it up with an inverter and the car's stereo, lol), and the best part about it is that it's pretty cheap and can do pretty much what a centrino can. though the s3 igp give you very little to work with, it could still play good ol' fashion games like ut and cs. the dx6 pete's renderer shouldn't have too much of a problem at 640x480 with frameskip.

prolly the most powerful laptop that i have ever laid my eyes on was the eMachine athlon64 latop sporting a mobility 9600, too bad my tuitions already sapped the money i already have left, otherwise i would be getting that laptop right now (it was on sale at bestbuy for $1100)... and if i remember correctly, those 9600 in the eMachine laptop was modular.... so maybe an upgrade to a mobility 9800 is not in the realm of impossibility.

[Razor Blade]

I wish they would start making laptops with upgradable gpu's like Alienware has done :/

[hushypushy]

well for most people it doesnt matter. for me it certainly doesnt. i wont be playing games on my laptop (when i get it). most likely i'll be getting a VAIO or an IBM--with crapass graphics. when i think about games i dont think laptops

[Razor Blade]

When and if I get a new laptop, I am definately going to be getting something halfway decent. Hopefully a card with 64mb Ram - either nVidia or ATi. I won't be playing Unreal 2004 and Doom 3 or anything, but if I am ever away from my desktop I would like to have the option to play some epsxe