Can anyone recommend a good cheap (around £150) Windows 10 Laptop that will run Unity?

[Mr Allen]

Topic.

I would like to try and learn how to create Xbox One and 360 games using Unity, but there is no Chrome OS version of the software so I am looking for a fairly cheap (Around £150) Windows 10 Laptop PC which I can use for game development and possible other uses such as animation software.

I will have a look on eBay and I've seen a few bits in PC World which suit my needs and Budget, but I thought I'd ask you lot for advice?

 

[Mr Allen]

21 views? Come on you guys make with the comments! OK I'm English and this site is full of Yanks, but come on.

 

[zurb]

Maybe because its a site about Aspergers, not computers?
What are the minimum specs Unity requires?
No idea how prices compare, but in NZ, one can barely find anything for that price, let alone anything with any video or sound capability. Sure one can find a laptop for sub-500 if one looks, but its not any use for anything but basic word processing, and will die after a year or two. Maybe get a secondhand ex business/rental machine?

 

[Mr Allen]

Maybe because its a site about Aspergers, not computers?
What are the minimum specs Unity requires?
No idea how prices compare, but in NZ, one can barely find anything for that price, let alone anything with any video or sound capability. Sure one can find a laptop for sub-500 if one looks, but its not any use for anything but basic word processing, and will die after a year or two. Maybe get a secondhand ex business/rental machine?

This is the computer and technology section of an AS website, I asked in here for advice, because it's ON TOPIC for this section of teh site.

Do you see?

 

[zurb]

Haha, so it is. Sections don't mean much when you use the phone app. At least the way I use it. Point still stands though. Despite the stereotypes, I don't see a heap of geeks on this site.
Did you check the minimum specs?

 

[Judge]

Minimum specs indeed. https://unity3d.com/unity/system-requirements

I'd think your most important question to ponder would be to make sure whatever hardware platform and integrated graphics you attempt to run Unity on, inherently has shader model 2.0 GPU support on a 64-bit OS. I think the Intel Atom CPU supports it, but I'm not sure. But even then, that's processing and graphics power at the bottom of the list.

In terms of your own research and development, I'd think you don't want any "gaps" between developing a game, and actually running it to assess performance issues. In other words, to make sure that whatever hardware platform you attempt to develop a game on is at least comparable to the specs of an XBOX One.

All that said, can that actually be accomplished on £150 ? I'd be quite skeptical. I don't think I'd even attempt such a thing without a CPU and integrated GPU along the lines of an Intel i3 or i5 processor, or an AMD equivalent. I can only guess, but I suspect your budget requirements need to be doubled for a serious venture into console game development and video animation.

I once worked in this industry doing website design, dealing with game producers and developers. They always gave me the impression of perpetually increasing the hardware requirements for games ported to PCs and Macs. Luckily games ported to the console format had more limited and consistent performance concerns.

 

[Mr Allen]

Well depending if we win the £400 on Open the Box in the Pub in Sunday, I may be able to afford a little bit more than my £150 initial Budget.