Hi, laptop's dying out and rather than pay lots to get it fixed I thought maybe I'd just buy a new (cheap) one. I have a custom desktop for modern dx11 type stuff so all I'd really like from a laptop is basic web functionality, Microsoft Office, and the ability to play PC classics. The most gpu/cpu intensive game I'd really want to play would be something like Kotor or Neverwinter nights. Honestly I'd settle for something that just let me play Fallout 2 and Heroes of Might and Magic III... anybody have any suggestions for something dirt cheap (under $300) if possible that fits my needs? Ma ybe a netbook or something like that? Thanks.

Hi,
I think you can play those games on any new laptop. For low-end laptops, AMD is probably better in terms of graphic capabilities in my opinion. One important thing concerning netbooks: some older games, KOTOR in particular, require a minimum resolution to display properly. For example, because of my 1280x720 resolution, I can't play KOTOR on my netbook other than on a 800x600 windowed mode! That's because the game doesn't have widescreen or scaling support. However, considering Windows 8 has some resolution requirements too, even netbooks should be fine now.

Don't forget screen-size too. As aymerict said, some games have a minimum resolution, and (likely a function of this), a minimum screen-size.

For example, I got an eee PC netbook in 2009/2010 (I cannot remember exactly), and I can generally load 800 x 600 games fine. The netbook does support 1024 x 768 (in addition to the default of 1024 x 600), but that requires the screen to "scroll" because the physical size of the screen is not large enough to accommodate the 768 dimension of the resolution.

Some games will work despite the scrolling (Alpha Centauri is one from GOG, Railroad Tycoon 2 is another, unfortunately NOT on GOG), but others will flat-out fail to start.

If you can afford it, get one that has the physical dimensions to support 1024 x 768 without the screen scrolling to ensure maximum compatibility with the older games (at least as far as that aspect goes).

Having said that, there are plenty that work on 800 x 600 on GOG so you will not be hurting for quantity. I can confirm Fallout 2 will work on 800 x 600, but cannot speak to HOMM3.

FYI - NWN1 is extremely sluggish on my netbook even though it is supported resolution-wise with 800 x 600, so you may still need to look at the CPU / GPU / RAM specs and any potential bottlenecks.

There is a widescreen mod for kotor I believe. It's not hard to find on the net. As well for a lot of other games with similar problems. But you have a point about it ofcourse.

Edit, if your videocard drivers allow to downscale maybe this works for kotor:
For users of 720p HDTVs or 1360x768 displays, I suggest setting up a custom resolution of 1530x864 (the closest resolution that runs ok) and using video card scaling to downscale this to your native resolution

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My laptop died a few months ago, and I have to find a reasonable priced videocard for it to fix it.;
namely (acer) MXM II type 9500M GS. Otherwise it is just too much money to repair. I'll have to look around.

I know, I've really tried but it doesn't work for me. I suppose it doesn't work for screen with 720p or less.

Thanks I'll keep the kotor resolution thing in mind. Does anybody have a specific recommendation for a cheap netbook or something that isn't garbage... something around $200 would be fantastic but I don't want to compromise quality.

I don't see how anything with an i3 2000m (series) or higher wouldn't be enough. I was running Neverwinter Nights 1 on a significantly inferior laptop for years with no issues beyond the overheating that I wasn't paying attention to. Poor thing smoked after around 3 years, but that's laptops for you. Tip: don't do video encoding on them. xP

I was also sorta curious about the asus transformer book. I almost like the idea of a tablet, but they are no replacement for a proper PC (certainly where games are concerned). Transformer book looks good... low storage and only one usb port aren't too great but I think I could make do. Still transformer is about $400... not ideal... Basically what happened to my current laptop as well... thanks for the tip.