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[Brewster]

I'm not the most fluent w/ computers.
I wanna get a cheap laptop that'll be good for Dwarf Fortress, don't wanna FPS out!
Thoughts, tips, suggestions?
 

[Lectorog]

Dwarf Fortress performance is purely dependent on the CPU. Most laptops have terrible processors, as far as DF is concerned. And if you get a laptop with a good processor, it's probably going to be good in everything else, meaning really expensive. You're best off with a desktop computer.

You could run DF from a desktop with a good CPU using this, and access it from another device. If you don't have a laptop already, though, there's not much point in buying one to play DF.

A mid-grade laptop would probably be able to run Dwarf Fortress decently, and certainly for small fortresses and embarks. Like I said, performance is based purely on the CPU, and the power for a single core at that. So if you're shopping around, keep the power-per-core (listed GHz) of the processor in mind.

Basically, what Naxza said. RAM is indeed important, but most current laptops come with an ample supply.

Also, you should move this topic to DF General Discussion or Life Advice. There's a 'Move Topic' button in the lower left.

Oh, I just reread

I wanna get a cheap laptop that'll be good for Dwarf Fortress, don't wanna FPS out!

Yeah, it's not going to come for cheap. Gaming is not a good reason to buy a laptop.

[FuzzyZergling]

I ran DF fine with a several-years-old Toshiba, I think anything you get will be adequate.

[Andrew425]

The bigger the screen the better!

Almost all 17" screens have a keypad which is essential for playing DF.

Btw, I play on my laptop

[rephikul]

The bigger the screen the better!

Almost all 17" screens have a keypad which is essential for playing DF.

Btw, I play on my laptop

I think it's much, much more important to get a monitor with a minimum of 800 pixels vertically so you can have 80x50 cell layout. Why's the numpad important? Just get one of these:

[Jerg]

Any laptop with THE BEST POSSIBLE DUAL-CORE CPU.

Keyword is Dual-core, since it is the lowest core number, it is also the highest speed per core, which is what Dwarf Fortress needs.

[Jake]

Regarding the numberpad, personally I manage pretty well with the function-key version on my keypad; it's no worse than holding down the Shift key, at least. Nothing stopping you from reconfiguring the keys either.

[goqe]

Just to quickly sum up the abovementioned :

The faster CPU the better. Dual and more cores are your best bet of getting good FPS especially with fort with larger population later in the game, due to the need of more calculations from the game itself.
RAM is another good thing to have.In my opinion it'll be only useful during pause/zoom events (migrants, siege etc.)
Keypad is another handy thing to have, but it's not critical.I've only found it critical in Adventure mode where you need to move diagonally in a very strategic battle.

Personally : I play DF on a several-years old ASUS laptop with a keypad.1.2 GHz and 1 RAM. I can't really complain. Other than the waiting time in adventure mode(world to local map transition) it handles DF pretty well - around 70-80 FPS with 83 dwarf population.

[Sutremaine]

I've never had a problem with laptop overheating, but I do have it propped up on a couple of 2-inch books. It's one of those semi-custom Dells, and the only upgrades I did were to the screen and the keyboard. I figure that by the time I want the processor upgraded the best one that the system will take will be reasonably-priced.

[Indricotherium]

Whatever you get, get it with an Intel processor, not AMD.

I play on a HP Probook 4710s, Win XP Prof with 3Gig of RAM. It has an Intel Centrino.

I then tested my fort out on a new HP ProBook 6555b, Win7Prof, 4Gb RAM but an AMD Dual Core 2.3GHz processor.

The fort ran just about twice as fast on the older Intel box than the newer AMD (40+ FPS versus 20+ FPS).

[rephikul]

The fort ran just about twice as fast on the older Intel box than the newer AMD (40+ FPS versus 20+ FPS).

AMD chips cant optimize jack beyond the bare, minimum basic number crunching. They are designed to "beat" the benchmarks, not to work.

[Sizik]

Keypad is another handy thing to have, but it's not critical.I've only found it critical in Adventure mode where you need to move diagonally in a very strategic battle.

Even then you can use the regular number keys to move.