If you're buying a laptop the only ones I can recommend are Asus. Alienware is trash. Aside from it being overpriced it's generally under-quality. I haven't actually seen an Alienware product last as long as it should, period. If it's any guess, they're owned by Dell so it's not exactly the dynamic duo of consumer confidence.
Honestly though? Don't buy a laptop for gaming. Buy one for portability. Incidentally I've found in my experience that there's almost no point to bringing a laptop to college. Most of my notes for important classes I either write by hand, or are online anyways. Beyond that there's the whole thing where I don't have the luxury of a readily accessible power outlet in every class. "gaming" laptops chug power like none other, even when put in low-power settings.
A lot of it will come down to your major honestly. Most science based majors don't demand powerful computers, and when they do the university will typically provide. Liberal arts tend to file into the same area. Unless you're in something like engineering or architecture you really won't need a powerful laptop.
TL;DR: Buy a laptop for portability, not to game. You can buy incredibly cheap laptops for just that (even net books if you're insistent) that'll provide all the utility you'd possible want from a laptop without the whole melting itself from the inside thing. If you happen to be in a specific major that dictates the need for a strong laptop then get a strong laptop. Don't buy alienware.
EDIT:
TOGSolid said:
Korten12 said:
my computer is a Dell XPS and the quality is amazing, I can play Crysis max settings with mods with no lag, many things without lag. So I guess your state varies because mine isn't piss poor build quality.
Unless your specifically talking about Alienware.
Included hardware != build quality. Any monkey can stick hardware into a case and make it work.
The power of the hardware means little in terms of actual quality. You can put the best parts in a computer but it means diddly when the heat load melts the thing from the inside out in a matter of months.
Dell has a strong tendency to do roughly that same thing, and cut really bad corners like putting in bum power supplies.
At any rate my own XPS had to have the graphics card replaced within 6 months because it couldn't manage the heat load. And my older Dell computer had to have the graphics card replaced twice in 5 years. Oops.
versoth said:
Incorrect.
http://www.gateway.com/gaming/pseries.php
Gateways are notorious for being trashy.
mikespoff said:
Colonel Alzheimer said:
Am I being retarded because I won't have time to game in college?
No, you will
definitely have time to game in college.
On topic, while it's true that desktops are hugely superior to laptops for gaming, it is also not necessary to have a top-of-the line gaming machine to get a great gaming experience. The latest and greatest video card is generally overkill: dropping your games to "medium" graphics and tweaking some of the bloom, lighting and filtering effects will go a long way towards getting even the newest games to run smoothly on a mid-range machine. This is especially important when you consider that you'll be limited to the screen size and resolution of a laptop, rather than (let's say) a 24" LCD monitor...
Depends on the major mostly. I know engineering / architecture majors don't have a lot of time for that kind of stuff- the guy who lived across the hall from me freshmen year in the dorms was almost always at the library studying. My brother who's in law school has ABOUT 1 free day and a half over the course of a week. Me personally? I have hours a day as an anthropology major, except for a handful of weeks in the term that are demanding (having 3 classes all wanted 5+ page papers due the same week, and then having finals the week after @.@)
