I'm sorry to be another one of those guys, but I've been on Mac for so long that I'm out of the processor shopping game and I need a bit of help.
I'm trying to find an under $400 laptop for my 10-year-old son for Christmasthat will pretty much only be used to play Minecraft.
The only 3 criteria are that it must play Minecraft, it must be a laptop and it must be < $450. Thoughts?
I'm busy right now, and I'll try to get back with a laptop suggestion, but a few questions.
I hope he's not expecting like 60 FPS while recording and playing with mods? If he's expecting smooth gameplay on average settings with no mods, then this should be a fine budget. But that's about all you're going to get for under $450.
Do you need a mouse/keyboard included in the budget? I know some people that can't play any games with the laptop touchpad or keyboard, but this really just calls for some office peripherals.
And before someone tells the OP to "Build a desktop! It's cheaper!" please just don't.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
And before someone tells the OP to "Build a desktop! It's cheaper!" please just don't.
Indeed. We may come to that point eventually, but for now it's not an option.
I hope he's not expecting like 60 FPS while recording and playing with mods? If he's expecting smooth gameplay on average settings with no mods, then this should be a fine budget.
My friend used to have a fairly old A8 laptop and it performed fairly well with some minor modpacks (minor as in like 70 mods haha). There are probably better alternatives that I don't know of, but Asus is a good brand and for a budget Minecraft machine, an A10 should do nicely.
Those are some pretty decent settings that the Air is playing at, provided the performance is decent (read: 50+ fps). If he's already getting that level of performance on a MacBook Air you may not see any improvement with a $450ish laptop, so may not be worth buying one unless he's currently playing on your machine and needs a comparable lappy of his own.
Any chance you could confirm the framerate (fps) while playing Minecraft with those settings on the Air?
Those are some pretty decent settings that the Air is playing at, provided the performance is decent (read: 50+ fps). If he's already getting that level of performance on a MacBook Air you may not see any improvement with a $450ish laptop, so may not be worth buying one unless he's currently playing on your machine and needs a comparable lappy of his own.
Any chance you could confirm the framerate (fps) while playing Minecraft with those settings on the Air?
The idea is to get him his own machine so he doesn't monopolize the one I need to work on. The framerate on this one isn't really relevant to a new machine, I just provided it for reference. Obviously, the better machine we can get, the longer it will be usable for him.
I'm sorry to be another one of those guys, but I've been on Mac for so long that I'm out of the processor shopping game and I need a bit of help.
I'm trying to find an under $400 laptop for my 10-year-old son for Christmasthat will pretty much only be used to play Minecraft.
The only 3 criteria are that it must play Minecraft, it must be a laptop and it must be < $450. Thoughts?
I'm busy right now, and I'll try to get back with a laptop suggestion, but a few questions.
I hope he's not expecting like 60 FPS while recording and playing with mods? If he's expecting smooth gameplay on average settings with no mods, then this should be a fine budget. But that's about all you're going to get for under $450.
Do you need a mouse/keyboard included in the budget? I know some people that can't play any games with the laptop touchpad or keyboard, but this really just calls for some office peripherals.
And before someone tells the OP to "Build a desktop! It's cheaper!" please just don't.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."
-Albert Einstein
Current setup: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/PJzPD3
Indeed. We may come to that point eventually, but for now it's not an option.
He doesn't need to record, but I do think he's been adding some mods. He's currently playing on a MacBook Air running OS 10.9.5, 1.3 GHz Intel Core i5, 4GB of memory (full spec here: http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook-air/specs/macbook-air-core-i5-1.3-13-mid-2013-specs.html) on these settings: https://www.dropbox.com/s/e8t973ykee1dt9o/Screen%20Shot%202015-10-07%20at%2010.28.51%20PM.png?dl=0
I'd like to keep it comparable if possible.
No, he plays with the laptop keyboard and a peripheral mouse now. We may upgrade the mouse later, but that doesn't have to figure in here.
Thanks for your help!
Nobody?
I'm assuming 450 USD? If so, then this should be good.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232798&cm_re=a10_laptop-_-34-232-798-_-Product
My friend used to have a fairly old A8 laptop and it performed fairly well with some minor modpacks (minor as in like 70 mods haha). There are probably better alternatives that I don't know of, but Asus is a good brand and for a budget Minecraft machine, an A10 should do nicely.
Feel free to check out my channel!
My current setup:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/Q7wqf7
Those are some pretty decent settings that the Air is playing at, provided the performance is decent (read: 50+ fps). If he's already getting that level of performance on a MacBook Air you may not see any improvement with a $450ish laptop, so may not be worth buying one unless he's currently playing on your machine and needs a comparable lappy of his own.
Any chance you could confirm the framerate (fps) while playing Minecraft with those settings on the Air?
K95 RGB / Logitech G502 PS / Alienware AW3418DW / ViewSonic XG2703-GS / Sennheiser HD 598
The idea is to get him his own machine so he doesn't monopolize the one I need to work on. The framerate on this one isn't really relevant to a new machine, I just provided it for reference. Obviously, the better machine we can get, the longer it will be usable for him.
I'll check out the Asus mentioned above, thanks!
Another friend of mine also recommended these. Do they seem reasonable?
http://amzn.com/B00YCSBIMK
http://amzn.com/B015WM1Q9E