Best Gaming Laptop?

[Spectrum_Prez]

So, I'm in the market for a gaming laptop, and know nothing about computer shopping. I'd like it to be under $1000, and preferably under $800. Any ideas?

Ok, this link is your [a href=http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html]new best friend[/a].

I got a good gaming laptop around 8 months ago that cost around $1000 USD - it was an Acer TimelineX 3820tg. i5-450, ATI5650, 4 gigs of ram, but a smaller screen (13") and no disk drive. But, it only weighs two kg, which is nice, and can get around 4 hours of battery life on the switchable integrated graphics chip. That model should be much cheaper now. I've been playing Dragon Age 2 with the high res graphics 'patch' at fairly smooth rates.

When shopping around for a gaming laptop, the most important things to consider are:

1. Graphics card power - check out the list I linked to above.
2. CPU - less important, but it can't be much older than a Core2 Duo, I would think.
3. Overheating/Fans - the only real way you can find out about this is checking forums, other buyers, etc. DO NOT NEGLECT TO CHECK THIS.
4. Portability/Battery life/Weight - depending on your needs.
5. Reliability/Build - because fewer things are replaceable and a major 'hull breach' can be a pain in the ass, make sure the manufacturer has a good track record (i.e. DON'T BUY DELL).

 

[Signa]

So, I'm in the market for a gaming laptop, and know nothing about computer shopping. I'd like it to be under $1000, and preferably under $800. Any ideas?

It isn't technically a "gaming" laptop, but I have its predecessor, and I can game quite well on it.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=219605642

Since you are restricted to 720P with the attached monitor, you don't need the most powerful video card on the market. I've been able to run Bioshock and Borderlands at middle-grade settings and I feel that it's fully playable at that. You might even get Crysis with some mid-range settings too, but I haven't bothered to try. I still have a great gaming tower, but the thing is the number of things I *can't* do on my laptop that I do on my tower is very very small.

Bottom line: If you need functionality, portability, and price, this is the laptop for you. You will not find one with such a mix of all three. If you expect max performance though, you might feel a little cheated. If that's the case, just build a tower.

 

[Super Toast]

So, I'm in the market for a gaming laptop, and know nothing about computer shopping. I'd like it to be under $1000, and preferably under $800. Any ideas?

I have an Alienware M11x, and it handles most 2009series and less games pretty well. But Its not to good at newer games. Its great for MMORPGs though.

Alienware makes some excellent gaming grade laptops and do really well to compete with other comapanies in power and price
An Alienware M17x is like 1500$ cheaper than a Falcon 17Inch gaming laptop. Its absurdly Lol worthy.
I laughed so god dam hard when i saw that.

The Falcon service is well worth it.

On Topic.

Gaming laptops for under $1000 are rare. As the person I've quoted says, get an Alienware M11x. It's all you'll find at that price point, really.

the service for an extra 1500$
Alienware has excellent service too. Ive put them to the test. they've beat out apple on my customer support test.

Service, truly custom painting, build quality, actually testing your system past just turning on before it leaves the building, installing nothing but the drivers for the system and the extra software you ask for, customer service and assembly in the US and not China.

I'd say that's well worth it.

Maybe if you're a millionaire.

 

[Cronq]

Until 99% of the PC game releases aren't console ports any piece of shit laptop should do. Any doofus who still thinks laptops are incapable of "gaming" doesn't know jack about computers and games. That old, tired cliche' wore out about 3 years ago when the obsolete consoles decided they didn't want to update for 5 more years.

And anyone telling a college kid to buy a desktop over a laptop is a moron.

The whole discussion about "value" is a completely different topic.

 

[VanityGirl]

I like people who don't know what they're talking about. ^^
I swear by Dells. A lot of people hate them, but I've never had a bad expeirence with them.
I had a Dell XPS for 6 years and it played games just fine. I never had to upgrade it and it didn't cost me over $900. It had good battery life and I carried it everywhere. Half the reason it died was because it was old and had been on several trips with me. And by several, I mean well over 30 long trips. It was finally beaten up to the point when I said, "Time for a new laptop". XD

If you want the best gaming laptop available, then yes, you'll have to shell out money. The same can be said for a desktop as well. Shelling out the dough for a top of the line gaming desktop isn't cheap either people.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

lucky you all all i got is 450 to find a decent laptop that i have to do 3d modeling and make flash videos. got any ideas for me guys?

For 3D modelling itself, just about anything will do... Depending on how complex you want your flash stuff to be, you might be able to squeeze in as well... just get as much RAM squeezed in as you can.

If you want to do high end rendering and animation in 3D, though, forget about it. You can do all the set up required on just about anything (wireframe, yeah!) but the actual rendering of frames? Not going to happen in a reasonable time frame. If you've got a scene that renders at 8 hrs per frame (which is quite a low estimate going with a cheap laptop) and it's a 5 minute long 60f/s piece it will take you around 16 years to finish rendering it...

 

[Saulkar]

Me personally I have bought from Malibal and found myself a company that has very patient customer service, reasonably priced laptops, and some kickass build quality. Problem is that it is not cheap so your power to price ratio maybe lower than other companies, take a look at this baby. http://www.malibal.com/lotus/ It maybe more expensive than what you where looking for but it is still a beast!

 

[Super Toast]

So, I'm in the market for a gaming laptop, and know nothing about computer shopping. I'd like it to be under $1000, and preferably under $800. Any ideas?

I have an Alienware M11x, and it handles most 2009series and less games pretty well. But Its not to good at newer games. Its great for MMORPGs though.

Alienware makes some excellent gaming grade laptops and do really well to compete with other comapanies in power and price
An Alienware M17x is like 1500$ cheaper than a Falcon 17Inch gaming laptop. Its absurdly Lol worthy.
I laughed so god dam hard when i saw that.

The Falcon service is well worth it.

On Topic.

Gaming laptops for under $1000 are rare. As the person I've quoted says, get an Alienware M11x. It's all you'll find at that price point, really.

the service for an extra 1500$
Alienware has excellent service too. Ive put them to the test. they've beat out apple on my customer support test.

Service, truly custom painting, build quality, actually testing your system past just turning on before it leaves the building, installing nothing but the drivers for the system and the extra software you ask for, customer service and assembly in the US and not China.

I'd say that's well worth it.

Maybe if you're a millionaire.

Or someone who cares about their computer and only wants to deal with one company if they have a problem or question?

Different people have different views on things. Some people laugh at others for spending $5000 dollars on a part for a car, then go and spend the same on a pair of custom-built headphones.

Some people are audiophiles, some are car freaks, some are computer geeks, some pay as much as possible on something because they feel like it. It's their way of expressing themselves through their hobbies.

I love PC gaming as much as the next guy (perhaps more so), but I wouldn't even consider spending that much on service. Personally, I'd rather spend that money on a new monitor, graphics card and more RAM. A far more worthwhile investment, in my opinion.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

http://www.malibal.com/lotus/

That's a Clevo P150HM, which is also the base unit for the Sager 8150. Nice bit of kit but kinda pricey.

 

[ENKC]

I have an m11x. Ultra portability and runs CoD at max settings. What more could you ask? Oh, you want something under a thousand? Good luck with that.

Wrong.

No. All statements in my post were facts. I didn't say a gaming laptop under $1,000 couldn't be done.

I have an m11x. Ultra portability and runs CoD at max settings. What more could you ask? Oh, you want something under a thousand? Good luck with that.

What if I wanted a 17.3 inch screen on top of a laptop that outperformed and outspecced an MX11 in every way?

I'd link you to one, but it seems someone else already did. Listen, Alienware makes good computers. They do. But like Apple, you pay for the name.

It's not so much a premium for the name itself as a premium for what the name earned it's reputation for - build quality, customer service etc. Besides which I deliberately wanted an 11 inch screen for the form factor and it costs relatively more to squash all that power in. I'm not going to argue that you can get a more powerful 17 inch. Of course you can.

 

[Subbies]

well since the OP already created this thread, what about a laptop that can run decently (that means, even if it is in low settings but solid framerate) games like L4D2 and TF2? which price range would that be ?

I have a four year old dell xps (the old series not the new ones) and it handles those games just fine. The new xps I haven't tried yet but it's cost ranges from 800 to 2000 (if you really go crazy with the customization) and from what I've seen they're way better then mine.

 

[GalacticNexus]

I've got an Acer ASPIRE 6920G that does reasonably well. It runs "older" (as in 2+ years old) games on max settings no problem, but sometimes newer games need their settings turned down a little.
It cost ~£750 and my only gripes with it are it's battery life (though that's simply because the battery itself has degraded massively) and it's heat problems. If getting a gaming laptop you NEED a fan mat, or you may start having problems.

 

[Saulkar]

http://www.malibal.com/lotus/

That's a Clevo P150HM, which is also the base unit for the Sager 8150. Nice bit of kit but kinda pricey.

Yup, I personally own a Clevo X8100, a friend owns the default Lotus $1200 and it has not let him down. I feel spending an extra few hundred bucks would be worth it as I cannot see any laptop for 800 dollars being good for very long unless of course it is for stuff like Photoshop.

 

[MercurySteam]

And anyone, ANYONE who purchases alienware and tries to talk about computers has NO right.

Now you've done it. If this turns into another episode of 'FranBunny Has Built Over 100 Computers' I'm holding you personally responsible.

Oh fuck no, I'm getting as far away from this thread as I can. But first, let me say this: I've seen some damn good MSI laptops with Sandybridge i5s and Nvidia graphics for around $1000 (assuming we're talking $AU). They're definitely worth a look. Now if you'll excuse me...

*Jumps on a segway and rides off at top speed*