The Most Powerful Laptop for Life and Gaming

[Oddgo]

Hello Escapist community! I am doing a bit of research on finding a new laptop to replace this old thing I am typing on now, and I could use some help.

I will be brief and specific: I want the best. If I am going to get a new laptop soon, I want one that will make any other look like it was made by Fisher Price. So far, the Alien m17x (fully loaded and upgraded version) has caught my eye, but it never hurts to get a second opinion.

To clarify, I have few bias when it comes to brand, so lets just ignore that and talk about which will give me the most hardware bang for my buck. So what will it be?

 

[Sleekgiant]

Alienware M11x would be a nice addition since its not a boat anchor in weight.

Personally you would be better off building a desktop on Newegg and buying a netbook for portability.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

In my opinion, you should custom build it. You can likely save quite a lot of money if you do this route. However it may not be as easy, or you may not be a computer savvy person to do so. In that case, I'd recommend an AlienWare for the hardcore power. Just be aware that the price you pay may be a bit over of what it's actually worth.

Shyup, I agree on all terms.

If Alienware proves too expensive and custom building too complicated, find someone else to custom build for you.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

If you want the "best" then why are you getting a laptop?

That like saying "I want a beastly car, so I'm going to buy this Vespa."

Because I'm pretty sure the best would be the The Big O [http://www.originpc.com/thebigo-features.asp]

And lugging that around would be one tough job.

OT: My advice is build your own using a barebones set. You'll save yourself money, learn something and have a better laptop.

 

[A Weary Exile]

My HP 17 runs games like TF2 and Half-Life 2 with no problems, it can even run high- end graphics games such as Napoleon:Total War on the highest settings. All this for about $1600 (If I'm remembering this correctly :/) with Microsoft Office included.

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&safe=off&q=hp+17+%3Blaptop&wrapid=tlif12909956462911&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=10515462766767455487&ei=0wfzTL2rE8H6lwe85_zYDA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC0Q8wIwAA#

If you're going to be gaming a lot on it, choose the option (On their site, not what I linked you to) for the better processor, you will need it.

 

[Patriot4Life999]

I have the M17x and it is even the downgraded one. It has exceeded all expectations and more. I highly recommend it.

 

[Hairetos]

In my opinion, you should custom build it. You can likely save quite a lot of money if you do this route. However it may not be as easy, or you may not be a computer savvy person to do so. In that case, I'd recommend an AlienWare for the hardcore power. Just be aware that the price you pay may be a bit over of what it's actually worth.

Custom Build a Laptop? That's pretty, uh naive, to say the least.

Agreed. You can't just buy parts and stick them together like you can a desktop. You first have to buy a "shell" laptop that meets your basic specs and then gut it and fill it with custom parts, a selection of which is more limited to laptop users. This endeavor often costs more than just buying one. Also, building's a *****. Ever take apart a laptop? Pieces are tiny as hell.

This is one of the many reasons people advise against gaming laptops. The others are heat, battery life, and screen size. If you insist, however, just shop via specs. Look at strong, multicore processors, at least 4 gigs of RAM, at least 1 gig of dedicated graphics memory, plenty of hard drive space if you plan on playing a lot of games, etc.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Also, building's a *****. Ever take apart a laptop? Pieces are tiny as hell.

Takes about 6-8 steps to strip down a desktop to component parts.

Takes about 12-14 to strip a laptop down... and that's keeping in mind that laptops have less component parts that can be stripped out. Which isn't fun considering those tiny as fuck pieces.

I had mine custom built.

Most 'custom built' laptops are barebones kits that are bought on how close their available specs and what can be plugged into them match the customers order. Until recently barebones kits came with everything except CPU, RAM, HDD and optical drives. Most still ship with integrated GPUs.

As for people custom building their own... Not a good idea. It's a pain in the arse and unless you have (or know people with) distributor connections find decent parts for an affordable price won't be easy.



OT: My advice is to take a good look at what you can get a highend ASUS laptop for. Well made, reliable, powerful little bastards. Their only drawback is they tend to be a touch heavier than other laptops... but that's not too bad a trade off for a laptop so well made you can practically use it to smash other laptops into little pieces then open it up and send off an email to the owner of the laptop you just broke to pieces.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

Personally dont get Alienware, all it is is over-priced parts that are the EXACT SAME as every other but with an Alienware label on it. If you want something new, and rapage: get a desktop. Mine cost me $1700 AU and it's got:
-Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Mobo
-3x2GB DDR3 Corsair Triple Channel RAM
-1TB SATA HDD
-nVidia GTX480 GPU
-Intel i7 930 Processor

It can run any game so far including the new coming Crysis 2 (with an extra fan added) and the case I got is designed for portability.

However, if you're going to get a laptop indefinitly, I recomend a Sony VAIO or ASUS with customized gear like an i7 etc.

One thing, if you get a i7 Processor and if you can: GET RAM IN LOTS OF 3GB. Idc if someone says 4GB is better then 3GB - With the i7 Processor, no it's not. It runs far better with triple channeling RAM. (which you'll onyl get with a Intel Board and a desktop.) If not, get an i5 and get 4GB RAM if you cant get the i7/3GB/6GB RAM in a laptop. Happy customizing.

NOTE: Don't buy a ACER or HP Pavilion DV6/DV4 laptop; ACER suck and DV6/DV4 are nutorious for problems.

 

[subtlefuge]

My Asus G73 runs considerably better than most of my friends' desktops, and it has a built in external fan to curb heat issues. It's about 1.5 times as heavy as most laptops, but only a small amount larger. It's a quad core i7 with 6 gigs of ram for about 1000 USD. I'd like to see Alienware beat that.

 

[Kabutos]

No. No no no no no stay away from Alienware and all other brands that market their computers as 'Gamer' oriented.

The thing about 'gaming' laptops is that you have to juggle power vs. portability vs. cost when in reality, building a desktop and having a netbook to carry around is a much more cost-effective and viable option.

Also, don't get anything more than and i5 750 and 4GBs of RAM for gaming. Anything more powerful than that is a waste unless you're doing heavy video or 3D rendering. Which you shouldn't be doing on a laptop in the first place.

 

[Patrick Dare]

Personally I don't see the point of gaming laptops. They're so big and heavy it kind of defeats the purpose of a laptop and they tend to have cooling issues. If you're buying it as a "desktop replacement" meaning you won't be moving it much, why not just buy a desktop? Personally I'd get a desktop for gaming and either a netbook for lugging around or, if you still want to do some gaming on it, just get a decent laptop. It'll play most games on decent settings (as long as it's not using onboard graphics) yet still be relatively portable and not have as much of a cooling problem. Also, alienware is overpriced shit, especially since they're owned by dell now, which is also shit.