What kind of Laptop do you need to be able to run most emu's

[Anthony1]

If one was in the market for a laptop, what do they need to focus on, if it is going to be used primarily for emulation?


Also, let's say that this laptop is going to be used laptop, and that the primary function would be to run a really good SNES and Genny Emulator at full speed, without any problems?


What about if you wanted to emu the Playstation without any problems? What would you need then in terms of power?


What about M.A.M.E.?


Any insight into this would certainly be appreciated. Thanks.

[zektor]

Well, I would say to go for at least a 1Ghz machine or better with 256MB or more. The video on the laptop would be very important as well. At least 32MB if you want good results. My girldfriend's brother purchased a HP laptop recently...a 3.2ghz P4. Nice processor, but the video has only 8MB of memory. The thing has a real hard time playing anything past the Ms. Pacman era in Mame... believe it or not.

[Anthony1]

Wow. That is a pretty fast processor, but it can't even go beyond Ms. Pac Man?

Does anybody know of a specific model number of a specific laptop that can pretty much do it all, at least as far as laptops are concerned?

[zektor]

Wow. That is a pretty fast processor, but it can't even go beyond Ms. Pac Man?

This is definitely due to the lack of video memory.

[Nature Boy]

I've got a laptop that I use for emulation. Mind you I only really emulate Atari 2600 and MAME stuff. It's an Intel Celeron w/ MMX 433 Mhz processor. 192 MB of Ram (I upgraded that). Only 2.5 MB for the Video Card (I think). 800x600 is the maximum screen resolution I can get unless I use an external monitor (then it's 1024x768).

It emulates well beyond Ms Pac-man as far as Mame is concerned though. I played Sexy Parodius (6.20 MB) just yesterday and it was fine. The down side is, really, hard drive space. Only 6 GB in total - Mame now takes up about 1 GB in total (and I've kept mostly under 1MB files on the HD, with a few exceptions here and there). I've never looked into getting a bigger one but it's a good idea.

EPSXE doesn't work on it at all. It's slow and the graphics are totally off. "Magic Engine," the TG16 emulator, runs really well though. I'm sure A Genny and SNES emu would work fine as well.

[ddockery]

The specs would be no different than on a desktop. G to each emulator's site and look for specs or look in their forums for the same. If a 1Ghz desktop w/ 16 MB of video memory can run it, tha a laptop with the same specs should also handle the same.

Also, keep in mind that NO computer will run a lot of the newer MAME games at good speeds. As the programmers learn more abouit the newer systems and optimize things, this will get better.

[whoisKeel]

or you could just get one of those sleek desktop style cases and throw in a micro-atx board from a year or two ago. you can get cases the size of vcr's and they would look real nice under a dvd player or etc. next to tv.

[Cranduit]

I actually just ordered a laptop today. One thing I should point out is that the Pentium M processors with Centrino technology run like Athlon XP chipsets meaning just because it's clock speed says 1.5GHz doesn't mean it runs like a 1.5GHz Pentium or Celron. After much looking around I realized that a 1.5GHz runs about as fast as a 2.7GHz Pentium 4 mobile but at agreater cost for a lighter weight. After much shopping I settled on a 1.5 Centrino with 64 MB video card and 256 MB ram. Hopefully it should be here soon and I'll let you know how that works out.

[Sanada78]

I have a Compaq nx9005 which specs are:

AMD Athlon XP-M 2400 XP
256 MB RAM (Video is shared and takes a portion of it)
30 GB HD
14" TFT Screen

It runs Gens with full detail with no problems. I'd say 1 GHz be the minimal to look for. To be honest, I do think the GFX card plays a great factor in Genesis emulation.

[slip81]

here is the laptop I use for emulation (and graphic design when at school):

hp pavilion 5375 us
2.4ghz PIV
512mb ram
64mb video ram
40gig HD
15.4 screen
s video out

runs everthing really great so far, only rom i have had trouble with is tekken 3, it runs, but like it's in slow mo, I'm not sure if this is a problem with the rom, or if it just needs more power, runs tekken 2 nice though. I paid about 1300.00 for mine a year ago, so I'm sure it would be considerably cheaper now.