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[Rudefire]

Hello all,

I am having a bit of a problem, and I need help. I will be deploying to Afghanistan soon and will be needing to entertain myself when it gets boring. I was going to take my computer (a terrible HP Pavillion) with me until it died on me. Now I need a new computer. I need something small, light, and cheap. The big focus will be for playing both Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft. I will be playing other games such as ADOM and ASCII Sector. I need suggestions for a good netbook that is affordable that will run these games with little to no problems.

Thanks,
Rudefire

[Darvi]

Off to Life Advice with this.

[CharlesPeter]

I've got an HP mini from maybe 3 years ago and it runs DF perfectly fine. Depending on the settings and the size of the fort I can keep 80 FPS with about 60-80 dorfs. As for Minecraft, it runs a little slowly on this, I think because the graphics card/processor is comparatively weak. So perhaps look outside the HP family of netbooks. But for pretty much every other game it runs well.

[Mullet Master]

I have an acer AOD250(1gb memory) netbook running Linux, can barely maintain 30fps on a beginning 3x3 fort with 7 dwarves and a few animals. In my experience, having run DF on probably 3 computers now, I think processor speed trumps everything else.

[Miuramir]

I need something small, light, and cheap. The big focus will be for playing both Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft. I will be playing other games such as ADOM and ASCII Sector. I need suggestions for a good netbook that is affordable that will run these games with little to no problems.

DF benefits very strongly from processor speed; on equivalent architectures, clock rate translates nearly directly to in-game FPS.  (Note that DF FPS is a measure of simulation speed, not graphical frame rate as it is in nearly every other game that uses the abbreviation.)  DF benefits mildly from a second core, but little to none from more than 2 (however, if you want to do anything else while playing DF, like listen to music, then the value of a second core goes way up).  DF benefits strongly from more memory (RAM) up to the point that it can hold the world size & embark you're playing plus the game code plus the needed parts of the OS in memory without swapping; this is can be up to 2.5 to 3 GB for people who play large worlds.  DF benefits moderately from having a decent GPU (graphics card or chip) with good Open GL support, which historically tends to give a slight bias toward NVIDIA. 

I would strongly recommend picking a netbook that can be upgraded to at least 2 GB of max memory (RAM); one capable of 4 GB would be better but those may be out of your price range.  (Don't be afraid to order one that comes with less and order more memory from someplace like Crucial.com, just make sure ahead of time it is supported.) Get the best clock speed you can afford once you've picked your other criteria.  If price wasn't as much of a concern, going to a Solid State Drive (SSD) would be a good idea, as they have much higher durability to shock, temperature extremes, and dust; unfortunately they're pretty expensive still unless you luck out on a deal on an older, smaller one.  (I would recommend in investing in a couple of large-capacity USB memory sticks for use as backup media; the Patriot Xporter XT line is a good combination of rubber-armored protection, high speed, and decent price.) Factors like keyboard size and key travel can be ergonomically important but are very personal; if you can find a similar model in a local store it's best to spend a few minutes trying to use the keyboard, trackpad, etc. even if you end up ordering online.  In a full-sized laptop, I'd recommend one with a variable keyboard backlight; those are fairly rare in netbooks however.  (You might want to pick up one of those cheap little USB powered gooseneck LEDs) 

I'm not super familiar with this product space, but we've had good results with the ASUS Eee line in the past; something like the ASUS Eee PC 1015PN (which has a NVIDIA ION discrete graphics chip for improved gaming and video performance) with a memory upgrade to 2 GB, would be where I'd start looking. 

[Calhoun]

As far as size is concerned I'd look into the Alienware M11X

[QuakeIV]

Alienware is just expensive as fuck considering what you are actually buying.

I suggest something with an intel Atom 280 or better.  I can embark in a 3x3 and get about 80 fps on my Asus EEE 1005HA.

[helf]

I'd suggest looking into a netbook running one of AMDs new Fusion C50 or C60 CPUs. they are on par with Atoms for power usage and their performance is /very/ good vs the atoms. Equalling or beating them out in most benchmarks and their IGP is a 6xxx series GPU and has bajillion times more grunt than Intels IGPs.

The Fusion chips are also proper Out-of-order cpus and not in-order, like the atoms. This alone should help performance.

Your best bet, really, is to put the games you play on a usb key and march over to bestbuy or similar and test them out on demo units.

I'd suggest going with something other than an atom if at all possible. Or if you must, one of the later gen atoms with an nvidia ION gpu.

[tolkafox]

I've got an HP mini from maybe 3 years ago and it runs DF perfectly fine. Depending on the settings and the size of the fort I can keep 80 FPS with about 60-80 dorfs. As for Minecraft, it runs a little slowly on this, I think because the graphics card/processor is comparatively weak. So perhaps look outside the HP family of netbooks. But for pretty much every other game it runs well.

I double this, the atom is just so cute to look at. I don't know how they do as far as price is concerned though, as mine was free. It also sucks for minecraft, even with minimum visibility I consider it unplayable.

Swag.

[Qlaras]

I would recommend going with something running one of AMD's new C-350 chips if you're set on a netbook-sized device.  If you're open to a 14-15" machine, I'd look at their new A4/A6/A8 APUs.

These all have decent GPUs, which is important when playing Minecraft - and have the CPU power sufficient to run both DF and MC quite well.  (Most things these days have enough CPU power for everything, except for Intel's Atoms - they're a little anemic - by design - it is the GPU that is the critical component - where Intel falls behind)

If you're open to a slightly rugged case design, I'd recommend Lenovo Thinkpads.

Thinkpad X120e if you want the C-350 (11.6" screen) Netbook-sized device.

Thinkpad E425/E525 if you want a 14"/15" full-up laptop.  (Difference: screen size.  E425 = 14", E525 = 15")

The Ex25 models will be faster and have a slightly beefier GPU, at the cost of larger physical size and weight.

Only thing I could maybe consider upgrading on them is adding more RAM - 2GB on the X120e should be sufficient, but more is always nice.  (4GB should be sufficient in either machine for your needs, unless you're going to start compiling stuff, or hosting a large MC server for your squadmates)

Add external HD for backups, and maybe a spare battery/wall charger - and you should be set.  Input devices of choice, along with headphones.  Built-in mic and webcam work great for communicating with folks via Skype, TeamSpeak, or any other voice/video system.  (I have the Edge AMD 14" and 15" models from 2010, and love 'em both)

[G-Flex]

It's been mentioned, but this is the wrong forum. This doesn't have much to do with DF! You can move it to the right forum via a button... somewhere on the screen, probably the lower left, I forget. It should go in Life Advice.

[Megaman3321]

If you're in the 12-14" category, then the Celeron CPU by Intel is a good choice, with affordability and power consumpion rates being its main strengths. I can get about 15-18 FPS on a 223 dwarf, 500 animal fort which has breached all the caverns and the magma sea.

[BigD145]

Celerons suck.

Afghanistan, eh? Get a ThinkPad. It should last through your deployment. It probably won't save your life, but it will attempt to take a bullet or IED for you.

[Jake]

I can also endorse the Asus Eee PC; mine is a slightly older 1001P with the standard 1GB of RAM, and it gets a more than acceptable 70FPS on embark. It struggles a bit with worldgen thanks to the limited memory, but that's probably a consequence of having the Flora and Fauna mod installed and a number of extra animalman civilisations added.