hmm, the only problem with the mobile chipset ive come across would be...hmm....umm...err....nothing to be honest, im actually playing morrowind (for the 500000th time) and it runs fine, 1024x768, the only slowdown is if i uncap the draw distance.

but they can be unreliable, now that you mention it, sometimes when the screen turns itself off (just the screen) it wont go back to windows, so i have to restart...=\

best bet is to use a modified ini file for the drivers, there was a site...but i forgot the link

There is an alternative, but it requires you to learn a new operating system and that's probably too much of a hassle for most. But I'm running DOSbox on a linux system as well as a XP system and I get more juice out of my laptop (DELL D800) using Linux. Just install a lightweight Window Manager like Fluxbox (only 700 Kb!) + DOSbox and you're set to go. Still it will require you to run something else than Windows... As I said it's an alternative which will allow you to be able to lower the specs.

yeah because windows has so many processes running in the background its no wonder linux runs DOSBox faster.....how much faster, twice as fast?

I've no numbers, but he's right; Linux is your man for anything performance-wise.

For a new laptop, I couldn't stress the importance of getting a mobile chipset (As in a Pentium M) over a standard one (Pentium 4). Your speed will be slower, but they can change their clock speed as the battery drains, and so are lighter (more important than you think!) and the battery lasts way longer. I've a friend who got a P-4 Targa laptop last year, and he basically can't use it because it's too heavy and the battery life is useless.

The main problem with getting an old laptop to play games will be batteries - they tend to die certainly withing 3 years, especially if misused (and buying second hand, you won't have a clue) Make sure that if the battery you get is shot, you can order a new one off the company.

In general, compatabilty is fine - you should have very few laptop-specific problems runnning programs (ones that you wouldn't have anyway!). Win 98 SE is definitely the way to go; it's quite light on resources and has full DOS support, but I'd suggest a Linux install as well.

Can't think of anything else; whoever said that about the mouse is perfectly right - there's no point using a touchpad for gaming.


**One last thought - make sure you get USB! USB2 if possible, but at least with USB1 you'll have the ability to use modern devices - Win95 can't handle USB, so you'd definitely need 98.

I've got some interesting news for those trying to turn a laptop into a mean machine. Creative now have released a soundcard in PCMCIA format. I've just installed it and the sound is beautiful, baby. (Or as they call it, 'unsurpassed audio quality'.) It has been specially optimised for the most popular games. (Or in their words, 'game effects so realistic, you'll feel like you're in the game.') However, it won't play through the computer speaker, only through external speakers or headphones. Creative also suppy good quality headphones with the card. The card is also great for musicians as it has ASIO and soundfont support, 24/96 recording -(up to DVD quality). The card also has CMSS - virtual surround sound or full surround sound.

Gee, I sound like an add for Creative. But the best thing is that the card is very affordable. Paid $183 - Ebay.

I've made a perfect Windows98se machine out of an old Toshiba 300 cdt laptop. Put the max amount of RAM in it (196 mb). It's a P-166, but all the old stuff runs great! These laptops you can get for about 50 euros or so on ebay and if you need a old-school gaming PC you've got it.

Hell, you really don't need a 233 to run '98, I've had the old Toshiba run Windows 2000 flawlessly... a bit slow, but still usable as an internet-typewriter :)
If you want to run DOS-games, you shouldn't opt for Linux off course. You can run DOSBox off course, but then you'd still be emulating and an old machine just won't do it.

PS. I've got nothig against Linux off course... actually I'm bootstrapping my Dell Latitude to run Gentoo as we speak!

I got Dell's P4 2.4 GHz laptop with 15.4 wide screen display. CD-RW/DVD combo drive, 40Mb harddrive, 64Mb mobile video card and 512Mb ram. I had no problem with any game or emu to run on it, except wide screen might in some cases seem very strange and produce strange results.

I was thinking also to get an old Dell Inspiron (best laptops IMO) laptop with P or P2 proicessor in range of 200-366MHz. Those laptops are durable, and they come with CD/floppy drive combo which you can replace with extra battery (for longer play ;))

One that I might buy later from my employeer has 15" screen (used to be mine laptop :)).

I think if you want to have a pc just for DOS games, your better off with just DOS.
I did that with an old desktop, and almost everything runs just fine. here are my specs:
Compaq DesqPro 4000
Pentium 166
64 MB RAM
2.0 GB HDD
DOS 6.22 English
2Button Compaq Mouse
Standard QWERTY Keyboard
As i said, almost everything runs fine. I do have problems
with Ultima 7, but just because i have EMS active and i don't want
to remove it.

I saw a laptop using P4 #,2 Ghz, 512 DDR 2 Ram 400Mhz, Nvidia card with 128 MB using PCIe (i dont remember the model), 17 inch screen so I think thats a pretty good for a laptop

ive already got a setup for DOS games =)

Pentium 3 500mhz
16gb hard drive (im using ISO's instead of the CD's here, dont wanna damage the cd's =P)
256mb ram (its like old sd ram)
Win98se
radeon 9000 128mb (does it even matter for DOS)
3 button mouse
keyboard (of course)
17'' monitor

and finally, speakers, proper 5.1 setup, Crusader : No Remorse has never been so fun!

then theres my older laptop which i mainly use for mapping C&C (Tiberian Dawn)