Forum - View topicOn watching anime on computers.
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 19161 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Frustrations over my laptop's performance and a slight improvement in my financial situation have convinced me that it's finally time to get an upgraded laptop - and since the Fall season will start soon, it seems only sensible to do it by then. Thus I'm seeking some advice on what I'll need for proper anime viewing.
The last time I upgraded was about five years ago - i.e., before streaming simulcasts came on the scene and HD-quality fansubs became commonplace - and the 1G dual-core processor I got then just isn't cutting it anymore. To be sure that I'll have no trouble handling any of Crunchyroll's streams or even the newest fansub formats (10-bit specifically), what kind of specs should I be looking for? Is a 6G i5 four-way processor going to be good enough, or should I be planning to shell out the extra $150 or so to go up to an 8G i7 eight-way? Ideally I'd like to get one with a Blu-Ray player and full 1080 screen, but that's probably out of my price range. 
And are there any other specs beyond processor speed that might be relevant? Watching HD streams/fansubs is probably the most advanced feature I'd be using the laptop for, so I don't need top-end game specs. Also, any brand names I should avoid? I've had a Toshiba for years, and aside from occasional overheating problems it's been very reliable, but I've heard others bad-mouth them. Last edited by Key on Wed Sep 19, 2012 10:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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I can watch 1080p 10-bit fansubs on my 4 year old stock Dell laptop. With a 2ghz AMD Turion X2 Mobile and 2 gigs of RAM I haven't had any issues.
I'm pretty sure anything that you get (that's not a netbook) shouldn't have any issues with playback. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 25637 |
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What is a computer know-nothing like me doing in this thread? Excellent question. I can't really speak to your questions about specs other than to note that the Dell desktop PC that I currently use to stream anime, which I purchased in April of 2009, continues to be more than adequate for the task. That leads me to believe that virtually any laptop you buy should be sufficient. Maybe this will mean something to you (it doesn't to me), but my processor is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q8300 @ 2.50 GHz. And as I say I have zero probs streaming from Crunchy.
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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I have a 2.4GHz Core i5, 4GB ram, and depending on the player, it only starts stuttering if I play 1080p video at more than 1.2x playback. I haven't tried that on all my video players yet, but 720p 10bit anime can take 1.8x playback on that same player just fine. This is on a laptop, so anything for a desktop should be just fine as far as performance. I doubt Daiz will force fansubs into another new realm of heavy processing for playback anytime soon, processor speed seems to be main concern of video playback, and any quad-core will be more than enough right now or in the foreseeable few years.
If it's a laptop, make sure it has an HDMI-out, that'll save a ton of trouble when you plug into your TV. Think beyond just your home set-up, anywhere you go will allow you instant TV connection, like a relative's house or a hotel, without dragging a VGA and minijack along. Last edited by walw6pK4Alo on Wed Sep 19, 2012 8:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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teknokrat
 Posts: 25 |
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Although the Intel HD4000 integrated GPU on the latest Ivy Bridge chips is the best so far in the integrated graphics world, I would still get a machine with a dedicated GPU if you are pushing 1080p video.
Although I don't have an Ivy Bridge machine yet, I imagine there may still be some choppiness, overheating, or other issues with high bitrate 1080p on the HD4000. Also this depends on whether it is an ultra-low voltage or ULV version of the chip like on some ultraportables or ultrabooks, versus the full voltage version on regular size laptops. Doesn't have to be a top of the line mobile GPU, but any dedicated GPU still beats integrated. |
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dragoneyes001
 Posts: 873 |
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you can get in canada an acer I5 8gb RAM 700gb HDD with a gt 540 GPU (not onboard graphics chip) for about $600 ca. at best buy.
I picked one up last year to do 3DS max work on it. playing 1080p is not an issue for a pretty cheap unit with decent specs. |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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Well my preference would be for a desktop machine connected to an HDTV, but if you're committed to a laptop, I'd recommend a Lenovo. I just bought my daughter this model to replace her HP that developed a motherboard problem ten days after the warranty ran out. Would HP do the right thing and fix it? No, of course not. They wanted another $329 on top of the $900 we spent a year before. This "valued customer" as the Indian support rep called me decided I wasn't valued enough.
I've generally bought Dells in the past; that HP was my first and last one of those. Dell won't ship machines with NVIDIA cards anymore, and I generally prefer NVIDIA to ATI for graphics. (That's mostly because I use Linux which NVIDIA has traditionally supported better than has AMD/ATI.) We bought the same Lenovo Y510 as the one on special for $649. It plays most anything she throws at it including games like Skyrim. It also has an HDMI port which makes it easy to connect it to HDTVs. For your use case I'd say this is a pretty good choice. Lenovos have a reputation for ruggedness based on their years of manufacturing the famous IBM ThinkPad. Still, after my HP experience, I bought the three-year "depot" warranty for about $70. With taxes it came to about $750. Like the advertised special we got free shipping The limitations are that it has a 1366x768 screen so you're limited to 720p. If it were me, I take that any extra money you intended to spencd on the computer and invest it in a decent HDTV if you do not have one already. Here's a well-regarded 40" Samsung for about $600 at Amazon. |
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superdry
 Posts: 1309 |
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What's your budget? Since the new Ivy Bridge CPUs are out, one can find older Sandy Bridge laptops for decent prices (2000 model series is Sandy, while 3000 model series is Ivy). The just under $1000 range has a lot of options (besides finding a nice high-res display unless you go up to a 17" display)
Integrated GPU is perfectly fine if you are not going to game (also 10-bit encoded videos cannot be GPU accelerated) and todays mainstream CPUs can decode video in software comfortably. Regarding Core i5 or Core i7...if you don't forsee yourself upgrading any time soon, I'd try to spring for the Core i7 with the QM suffix (for quad-core) so you future-proof yourself. Regarding Blu-ray, it might better buying an external USB BD player since they're under $100 these days. I currently use a 15" Asus laptop I bought last year with a quad-core Core i7 and it works well besides having a low-res screen. As yuna49 mentioned, Lenovo is an excellent brand (if you can spring for one, get a Thinkpad). Dell is okay as long as you skip their Inspiron line (I think they've made them better this revision). With some of the major brands that sell direct like Lenovo, HP (ehh) or Dell - since you work for education sometimes you can find some great education only deals or get a discount on top of whatever the sale price is.
Leave that to KFXers.... Last edited by superdry on Wed Sep 19, 2012 9:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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First of all, get Windows. I'm a Linux fan and my archive computer runs Ubuntu (and was built from scratch which also saved me dollars), but it is annoying when playing media.
My laptop is an i7 Dell, with 8Gb RAM, 2Gb Graphics, and an internal Blu-Ray player. The processor is a hog on the battery and over-powered. You'd be able to go i5 with 4Gb RAM and 1Gb graphics with no problems. However, it might not be future-proofed. If you're buying a laptop to last five years then go for the most upmarket one you can afford that still gives good battery life. |
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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I can play anything with SMPlayer. It's in the Ubuntu repositories. The only area where Linux poses a problem is commercial content encoded with Microsoft Silverlight like Netflix. I have a PS3 so I don't need to play BDs on the computer. For anything in Flash like Crunchyroll or Hulu, or anything in the usual H.264+AAC+Matroska combo, Linux with SMPlayer works fine. I do use mplayer2 as a replacement for stock mplayer because mplayer2 had better support for ordered chapters in Matroska and for A$$ subtitles. I think the two branches are more similar once again than they were back a year or so though. By the way, there is a version of SMPlayer for Windows. Works great on that platform, too. |
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nobahn
 Subscriber Posts: 5226 |
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My 2¢: Go to this group and ask them.
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 19161 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Here's the curious thing about that: I actually have a 1080i resolution HDTV, but it doesn't have an HDMI connection. (It was one of the first line of HDTVs to hit the market - 2004, maybe? - back before HDMI became universal.) And yes, I'm fully aware that the lack of it is keeping me from getting full video resolution from my Blu-Ray player, which is why I intend to replace it eventually, but doing something about my laptop is a far more urgent need. Now, a follow-up question to what some others have said: is "dedicated graphics" a necessary feature for what I will primarily be using it for, or is that something that really only matters with high-end games? As for price range: keeping it under $800 is pretty much a must. I might edge a little over that if I could find one with a full 1080 monitor, but that seems pretty much restricted to $1k+ models. Based on what people have been saying, it sound like I might be best off getting a 6GB that's expandable to 8GB, as that would save me a couple hundred dollars. And Best Buy does have a pretty nice price (around $550) for a Lenovo with those specs. (Although it doesn't have the NVIDIA graphics that some have been talking about here.) |
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nobahn
Subscriber Posts: 5226 |
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Does it have to be a laptop? You could save some serious money by going with a desktop.....
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Key
Moderator
Posts: 19161 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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It is replacing a laptop, after all, and portability is essential for the way I use it. I do still have a desktop (I'm typing on it now, in fact), but it's so old that it originally came with a fax modem installed and still has a 3.5" floppy disk drive. (Wow, I guess you're dating yourself these days if you can say that you've actually used one.) It doesn't handle HD fansubs at all or above SD level on Crunchyroll, so I mainly use it when I need to use Microsoft Office functions (which, for whatever reason, I never paid to install on my laptop). I've pretty much given up on upgrading it. |
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Boomerang Flash
 Posts: 1021 |
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CPU: Any of the modern Intel Core i5 and i7 models are fine, unless you're using an ultra low voltage model (UM
GPU: The base Intel HD 3000 integrated can decode 1080p video just fine. Anything else above that should be fine as well. Memory: I believe most laptops come with 4 GB standard, which is plenty. HD: For loading video files off the HD, a SSD isn't worth it. The difference between laptop 5400 rpm and 7200 rpm is more likely to be more power consumption on the 7200 rpm for little to no gain in load times. Display: Consider going for a model with an IPS panel. IPS panels better viewing angles and better color fidelity compared to the more common TN panels. Output: As walw6pK4Alo mentioned, HDMI output is good to have. However, I don't think it's necessary. A DisplayPort to HDMI converter is quite small and easy to carry around. HDMI is the more common output port, but if a DisplayPort and no HDMI model fits your other needs, it's not necessary to demand a HDMI port. |
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