I need a new laptop...

[ElWray]

I'm gunna be getting £1000 soon, and my 'ole Inspiron 6000 needs replacing. I'm only looking to spend up to £500, most £600, and I was wondering if any of you fine chaps could give me some advice on where to buy and what to buy.

I managed to get this piece of fail to play Stalker and Half-Life 2 when it was in a good mood, so I'm looking for something that can play fairly recent games (both STALKERS, Half-Life 2 and GMOD, C&C: RA3 etc) and I don't know enough about the inner-workings of these magic boxes to make an informed purchase on my own. So help. Can I achieve the above in a laptop?

TL;DR I need a new laptop that can play recent games fairly well. £500-600. Any suggestions?

 

[EMO_of_LiGHT]

I'm not so sure on the price, but I'd recomend an Alienware notebook. It might be a bit expensive, and it might earn me the disdain of some members of the comunity, but I'm sticking to my recomendation

 

[ElWray]

Cheapest they go for is £999. I like gaming but by joves I do not like it that much!

 

[KungFuMaster]

Wait...ElWray, like, Planet Terror, El Wray...God, I hope so...

Anyway, for something right off the shelf, just about anything by Asus will do you fine, also Vaios are good too (I actually just splurged on one myself, it was about $1500 but it was SOOO worth it, blue ray player built in, kick ass nvidia card, but I'm digressing), and, surprisingly, most Samsungs are pretty good off the shelf. As for specs, you're going to want something with a decent processor, those Intel Quad core Xeons are pretty sweet, but a little 'spensive...ah...tell you what, the easiest way to find something you can take home is to walk up to the display models, click the start button, open the games tab on the right side NOT the games file and on the right side of the games window, you'll see a trophy, and underneath that will be a bit of dialouge that says "Current System's Rating". If that number is under 3, keep shopping.

EDIT: For best results on your games, you'll want a four or better on that rating, but even without knowing the conversion rates, I can tell you that those will be out of your price range.

 

[ElWray]

I see... but what kind of specs should I be looking for? RAM, Graphics card etc? The website's only give specs that mean nothing to an uneducated fool like myself.

 

[KungFuMaster]

I see... but what kind of specs should I be looking for? RAM, Graphics card etc? The website's only give specs that mean nothing to an uneducated fool like myself.

Bigger is always better! Seriously, though, for RAM between two and three gigs is the minimum for Vista, look for around 5 or better, and as for video cards go, the higher the MB, the better, bare minimum being around 500.

EDIT: Integrated graphics are shit! Avoid that mess like the plague!

 

[ElWray]

So I take it it'd be foolish to look for spending anything less than £600. Peas and rice. ALL I WANT TO DO IS BE TOLD TO GET OUT OF THERE, STALKER! I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO PAY SO MUCH FOR THAT!

 

[KungFuMaster]

*Shrugs* Nature of the beast, duder.

And yes, all you're going to get for under six is a word processing machine that you can make nice looking power point presentations on...

 

[KungFuMaster]

I'm not so sure on the price, but I'd recomend an Alienware notebook. It might be a bit expensive, and it might earn me the disdain of some members of the comunity, but I'm sticking to my recomendation

OK, right, I'm going to be the first to say this, and I hope it sticks in everybody's heads.

Do not buy Alienware. Ever. Ever.

Got it?

He's right. They look pretty and run well, but you can't upgrade them. EVER. Which means you're stuck buying a brand new machine at full retail because you can't swap out parts. It ri-cock-ulous.

 

[ElWray]

Quite disheartening really. Maybe I should do something responsible with the money. Like buy a book or something. What can I get with £1000?

 

[KungFuMaster]

Well...another *cringe* dell...honestly, if you want to get a good machine for gaming, sit on that thousand, pile on another two or three hundred and THEN go shopping.

EDIT: Unless you're twelve, then you're fucked. I have this habit of thinking everyone on this site is the same age range as me...

 

[ElWray]

Ah to hell with it then. I'll just spend it on hookers and blow. I could even venture outside with it.

 

[Rezfon]

don't get a toshiba, they have nice spec for the price but they have a strong tendancy to overheat

 

[KungFuMaster]

don't get a toshiba, they have nice spec for the price but they have a strong tendancy to overheat

The newer one have this nifty "bump" on the battery that raises the back end of the computer off the table, desk, what-have-you to help keep it cool. It's pretty.

Ah to hell with it then. I'll just spend it on hookers and blow. I could even venture outside with it.

Outside?! Gods, man!

 

[ElWray]

I'm just THAT crazy KungFuMaster! http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-Pro-S300-11H/1058046/ How about something like that?

 

[errorfied]

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_6930G_Laptop_LX.AVB0X.001/version.asp

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asp/versions.asp?rewrite=ASUS_M51Vr_AP068C_M51VR-AP068C&pagetype=version&page=

Either of those should suit your needs. They're not hardcore machines, or even close to that, but they're capable, and should be able to run the games at okay resolutions with good frame rates.

EDIT: Whatever you do, don't get ANYTHING with integrated graphics. Even crappy dedicated graphics cards are better than good integrated ones.

 

[ElWray]

Errorfied, do you accept payment for your ingenious suggestions by credit card or cheque?

 

[KungFuMaster]

Of the three, the Asus is the best, go with that. Keep in mind what Errorfied said, though, these aren't "hardcore", but you'll get better than what you were with that Insperion, I can guarantee that...AND you'll still have a bit left over for the hookers and blow!

 

[goodman528]

I'm just THAT crazy KungFuMaster! http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Satellite-Pro-S300-11H/1058046/ How about something like that?

That uses Intel's integrated graphics, rather than a graphics chip. So, you'll NOT be able to play games that require hardware lighting / transformations; which is basically every 3D game made in the last 5 years.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_Aspire_6930G_Laptop_LX.AVB0X.001/version.asp

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asp/versions.asp?rewrite=ASUS_M51Vr_AP068C_M51VR-AP068C&pagetype=version&page=

Either of those should suit your needs. They're not hardcore machines, or even close to that, but they're capable, and should be able to run the games at okay resolutions with good frame rates.

EDIT: Whatever you do, don't get ANYTHING with integrated graphics. Even crappy dedicated graphics cards are better than good integrated ones.

These two are quite amazing for the price. And I totally agree with not getting anything with integrated graphics, I'm using one right now, it can't run any 3D games at all.

 

[Quel0]

Though a little pricey, the lenovo T series with discrete graphics are well built machines in a relatively small form factor. I have a thinkpad T60p and it runs about anything I throw at it despite being a little aged with a x1700 ati chipset. Finding a Refurbished Thinkpad can be a great find. Read up on them... build quality > speed for laptops in my own world of laptop evaluation though.

The Asus mentioned above is a great economical model though.