[sari0n]

The intel cores with switchable graphics are great too, they have an integrated graphics card so you can turn off your main one when you aren't gaming or doing anything gpu intensive.

 

[El_Doug]

besides the inefficiently programmed fps of the week, what games do you play that an i7, 4gigs of ram, and the latest integrated graphics cannot play at medium settings?  you'll note I said "moderate," perhaps our ideas of moderate are different  
 
Quote:

Quote:

That is one heck of a superpowered system for websurfing!   That computer would be good enough for moderate gaming purposes.  In fact, its specs trump your "primary" computer. 
 

No offense but it wont be able to game. It might be able to run counter strike at high settings but it wouldnt be able to play any games made from 2009- now. 

 

[Roller]

While having a good cpu, and usual memory amounts (4GB is commonplace nowadays), integrated graphics solutions just don't cut the mustard, at all. Given the fact that IGPs were originally developed for office and light productivity usage, it's no wonder how meek they still are, even with successive generation upgrades. That added to the fact that game developers are abusing the fact that there are plenty of powerful graphics hardware in the wild, game engines aren't optimized as they could and should, making it all the worse for lower specced computers. And the reality is that for gaming, the graphics card is the heart of the machine.
 
Bottomline, integrated graphics solutions from Intel can handle low to medium gaming on 2009 and older games, which is their purpose, as what Intel is putting their money on is their increased hardware decoding for many video formats.
 
EDIT: In computer hardware, gaming wise, there are 4 tiers to be considered, low end, medium, high, and ultra. So that should make it easier to understand what fits where

 

[sari0n]

Gaming is pretty different from normal PC functions.  A PC with a Nvidia GTX570 (very beefed out graphics card), 4 gb ram, and an i3 will out peform one with the best i7, 8gb of ram, and an intel integrated card.
When we say you can't really game, it doesn't mean the game won't run at all.  You'll just have to play on very low settings, encounter lag occasionally, and get a much lower framerate.  Considering how much attention game makers put into graphics nowadays, that would take a lot of the fun out of the game in my opinion.
You could always check out some benchmark tests before buying your computer.  There are plenty of sites that list off a whole bunch of games and the performance you should be expecting with your hardware.
 
11" laptops and gaming don't really mix in general though.  If I were you I'd go with one of the i3 or i5 laptops and leave gaming for something bigger at home.  i3/i5 with the intel integrated chip is plenty to play some mmorpg's or kill some time with slightly less taxing games on the go, and your battery life will be much better too.  Either that or just get a normal 14" or 15" laptop.

 

[dscythe]

Quote:

11" laptops and gaming don't really mix in general though. 

I know you said don't really mix as to not say no laptops do this, but the alienware M11x does exactly that 

 

[00940]

Quote:

PS: This is strictly for casual web surfing and so that I can have a computer with me that is thin and light with a much longer battery life than my ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC.

Why is gaming even discussed in this thread ?  

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

Quote:

PS: This is strictly for casual web surfing and so that I can have a computer with me that is thin and light with a much longer battery life than my ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC.

Why is gaming even discussed in this thread ?  

because computer are only good for 2 things:
 
internet
gaming
 
we're doing both

 

[sari0n]

True, m11x is a bit of a unique case though.  If you were looking for a gaming platform I'd say you would be looking at 14" and up laptops almost exclusively. 11" laptops often run into the problem of the manufacturer's not offering any better components because they aren't able cram everything into such a small shell, not to mention issues like heat and a cramped keyboard.
 
At any rate, the op said "strictly for web surfing" and he also indicated that he was concerned about battery life, so gaming shouldn't be too much of a concern.  I would personally settle for an i3 or an i5 to get some more battery life.  In my opinion with that Acer computer you're paying for stuff that you don't need and sacrificing battery time for it too.
 
edit: you guys posted when I was typing x.x
I guess we need to wait for the op to get back in order to tell if he's concerned about gaming or not.  Honestly though, if you're not gaming or doing something like video editing or CAD then an i7 is way overkill for MS office and internet.

 

[TheKisho]

Quote:

edit: you guys posted when I was typing x.x
I guess we need to wait for the op to get back in order to tell if he's concerned about gaming or not.  Honestly though, if you're not gaming or doing something like video editing or CAD then an i7 is way overkill for MS office and internet.

If it's 2D CAD even a i3 is more then enough.  3D CAD and CAM it depends on the program, it's still more a good graphics for the task.  If it's just the most basics of tasks anything really will do.
 
Somebody mentioned gaming, which lead people to go off on the tangent.
 
 
 
Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

PS: This is strictly for casual web surfing and so that I can have a computer with me that is thin and light with a much longer battery life than my ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC.

Why is gaming even discussed in this thread ?  

because computer are only good for 2 things:
 
internet
gaming
 
we're doing both

You missed Pr0n! ;D

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

PS: This is strictly for casual web surfing and so that I can have a computer with me that is thin and light with a much longer battery life than my ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC.

Why is gaming even discussed in this thread ?  

because computer are only good for 2 things:
 
internet
gaming
 
we're doing both

You missed Pr0n! ;D

no, that is "the only thing the internet is good for" thing

 

[Welly Wu]

This is not for gaming. I understand that I will be buying more computer than I need to use for such a small form factor, but I already decided on the specifications. I may look into Lenovo to see what they offer.

 

[JamesMcProgger]

Quote:

This is not for gaming. I understand that I will be buying more computer than I need to use for such a small form factor, but I already decided on the specifications. I may look into Lenovo to see what they offer.

never used lenovo but a coworker has a Thinkpad for work and im sure it can beat my dell up. they have similar specs but i think lenovo is cheaper

 

[dscythe]

another side note on the topic, if you buy a thinkpad, it will last for years, i'm on an IBM T43 right now which is at least 5 years old and it still runs like a champ.