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Thread: Powerful / Gaming Laptop

  1. #1
    Reef Shark
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    Powerful / Gaming Laptop

    Does anyone know a good site that is straight to the point, the title of my post, which is laptop gaming? In essence, I've had to relocate several thousand miles due to economic conditions. My desktop is not with me and I will not have room for it for at least another 5 months - maybe longer. Even then I am not sure how I will be able to ship it as it is with people that couldn't figure out how to plug in a USB keyboard if I literally created a document complete with illustrations. Properly dealing with all the odds and ends is not likely.

    As I'd like to avoid having to research on google for hours on end about batteries, lcds, manufacturers, VPU/GPU, CPUs, etc for mobile computing I thought I'd just ask if any of you could provide a good website. By that I mean a review site, active forum, or similar where I'd be able to (hopefully) easily find things like the difference between an i3, i5, and i7 CPU or a comparison between those and an Intel Core2Quad. Mobile GPU information. Drives. Satisfaction reviews. Coupons. Anything of the sort.

    Basically, I do like the Alienware style but I'm not sure if it is over priced. For example I was able to quote a good HP laptop for $1800.00 and a pretty similar Alienware X13 was $2400, albeit with a 4 year warranty vs a 1 year warranty. Those extended warranties are almost mandatory on a laptop it seems. Spending $2000.00 or more on a laptop and not having more than 1 year warranty on parts seems silly, but OMG they charge so dam much.. seems at LEAST $100 per year of hardware warranty coverage. The dirty bastards.. a lot of reputable manufacturers provide at least a 1 year warranty on a product included, if not more, such as the 1TB WD Caviar Black SATA disk I am getting replaced for my brother-in-law. $100.00 part.. 4 year warranty. BAH! Anyways...

    I'm thinking probably Dell or HP somewhere in the $1500 - $3000 USD price range, price being far more based on performance than on things like having a Blu-Ray burner or ridiculously priced warranty plans. I've always liked Intel over AMD. Any thoughts, sites, etc would be appreciated. For that matter if any of you have heard any rumors of "the next great thing" coming out this year, let me know as it will be a few months or more before I'm really in the market to buy. If I could slap down ~$3K for a laptop that can actually run Crysis (at least pretty well..) 6 months from now, then great. LOL
    Last edited by Verneir; 01-20-2010 at 04:28 AM.

  2. #2
    Mako Shark kent1146's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    Does anyone know a good site that is straight to the point, the title of my post, which is laptop gaming
    For a site with a nice library of reviews (which are searchable based on your criteria), check out Laptop Magazine's website at http://www.laptopmag.com. If discussion forums are more along the lines of what you are looking for, then check out http://www.notebookforums.com.



    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    ...where I'd be able to (hopefully) easily find things like the difference between an i3, i5, and i7 CPU or a comparison between those and an Intel Core2Quad.
    These kinds of comparisons are pretty hard to find when it comes to gaming. That's because laptops usually do not have the "option" to switch between a Core i5 or i7... whatever the laptop was designed to use is what you get. When you compare performance, you compare performance between laptops as a whole - you usually do not compare the individual components within the laptop.

    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    Those extended warranties are almost mandatory on a laptop it seems... seems at LEAST $100 per year of hardware warranty coverage.
    Yes, I would consider it mandatory. A warranty is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of buying a laptop - more important than the speed of the CPU, the size of the screen, or the color of the chassis.

    The average failure rate of a laptop in the field over a 3 year life span is 42%. The most common pieces that need to get replaced are the LCD screen and the motherboard. Those are expensive parts. If you use the warranty just once, you more than make up your money.


    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    ...1TB WD Caviar Black SATA disk I am getting replaced for my brother-in-law. $100.00 part.. 4 year warranty. BAH!
    Yes, but a hard drive isn't as complex as a laptop, typically isn't subject to the abuse of being moved around like a laptop, does not take as much effort for the support department to diagnose / repair, and does not cost as much to replace if a total replacement is necessary.

    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    Any thoughts, sites, etc would be appreciated. For that matter if any of you have heard any rumors of "the next great thing" coming out this year, let me know as it will be a few months or more before I'm really in the market to buy.
    If you want a gaming notebook and are willing to spend up to $3,000 and like Alienware, then just get an Alienware. Something like the Alienware M15x (their 15" model) can be totally decked out with a Core i7 CPU, 6GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX260M GPU (more or less top-of-the-line when it comes to mobile GPUs), a 3-year warranty, and an upgraded 1080p resolution screen for $2500. Add $350 to buy yourself an aftermarket SSD (OCZ Agility 120GB), and you will have a machine that would absolutely smoke most desktops out there, let alone laptops.
    Laptop Madness (w/unboxing pics): | 17 Second Boot - POST to Desktop | SSD Boots Windows 7 + Load 27 Apps in 1 Minute | SSD vs HDD Direct Comparison - Identical Drive Images
    Alienware M11x R2 | Core i5 520UM | 4GB RAM | OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD | nVidia GeForce 335M GPU | 11.6" WLED Display | Etymotic ER-4P Headphones | 4.5lbs

  3. #3
    Mako Shark Learux's Avatar
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    Best buy has some decent gaming laptops for around $1000.00.

    There is a dell with an i5 and 4670 and several asus laptops with a 260
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  4. #4
    Mako Shark kent1146's Avatar
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    I don't have any experience with recent Asus laptops, but the two that I have owned and used a few years back had what I consider to be very poor display quality. The display wasn't very bright, and the contrast ratio was so poor that it made blacks, whites, and colors wash together into a muddy grey.
    Laptop Madness (w/unboxing pics): | 17 Second Boot - POST to Desktop | SSD Boots Windows 7 + Load 27 Apps in 1 Minute | SSD vs HDD Direct Comparison - Identical Drive Images
    Alienware M11x R2 | Core i5 520UM | 4GB RAM | OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD | nVidia GeForce 335M GPU | 11.6" WLED Display | Etymotic ER-4P Headphones | 4.5lbs

  5. #5
    Mako Shark Learux's Avatar
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    That seems to be the area where they are saving the money, it has to come from somewhere.
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  6. #6
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    Thanks for the input all. I'll check around those forums. Yeah, Alienware seems pretty cool. I do wish I could get a larger display though... but, likewise do I want a 10 - 20lb laptop? Not so much. If memory serves what I wasn't too excited about with the Alienware is that I don't think the new ATI 5000 series were available on those. Although I normally like nVidia, the ATI is more powerful, cheaper, and if the mobile VPU/GPUs are anything like their desktop counterparts, they also consume less power (longer battery life, not that I ordinarily depend on batteries.. it would be nice to game during a 5 hour airplane flight, or watch movies, or whatever else).

    But first things first.. pay taxes, deal with car, deal with credit card. That all amounts to less than 10K but since I have no rent until July and no other real expenses until I start working again, it's not so bad. I think I should be able to pull it off as I have one job on the table and they're going through background check as I type this, another potential offer pending, and people are still contacting me.

    As a side note, if any of you need work in the IT sector - or have friends, family, etc who do - try the Washington DC tri-state area. Seriously. I'm just a desktop support guy with some Windows server admin experience. I haven't applied with ANYONE, I've only updated my Careerbuilder & Monster profiles...and.. I get 2 - 4 calls and 2 - 10 emails a week. Compared to LA, California this is an absolute dream. AND they're offering in the 50K and higher ranges as opposed to, for example, an offer of $12/hr I just got in my yahoo account for work in Burbank, California.

    Anywho. Thanks all!

  7. #7
    Mako Shark Learux's Avatar
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    Good to hear there is jobs out there, good luck.
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  8. #8
    1 Corinthians 13:11 tituswolf's Avatar
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    I have an Asus Laptop and love it, the screen is ok, for the class I bought it in (< $500) it is fine.
    I found this at best buy, the specs overall seem very solid.
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+L...ustomerreviews
    My Computer: Lian Li PK7,Q9650@3.8ghz(9x422) Asus P5Q Pro,4GB pc1066 OCZ Reaper, x2 WD SATA 640GB,WD 750gb Black, XFX 5850, Corsair TX750 PS,AC97 Sound,Samsung SATA DVD-RW
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  9. #9
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    Yeah that's a pretty decent Asus laptop, especially considering it's $999.00 USD. I have lots of time to wait for new stuff to come out, but I'm deffinitely poking around to get up to speed. Who knows, I might throw in the towel and just fly out to Cali to prep my desktop for shipping, or build a new desktop. As I start researching more & more into it, I'm remembering reasons why I've never bought a laptop before. For example desktops are cheaper, faster, more customizable - there are many laptops where you HAVE to buy a certain model in order to get a GTX280m, and if you're looking at an Alienware m17, then you're automatically going GTX280m SLI which of course drastically increases the cost and decreases battery life. That's just one example, but pick a feature, almost any feature, and you're in the same boat.

    Add onto that the fact that a desktop version of a GTX280 or 285 is going to outperform the card and the desktop build will be easier to overclock, cheaper, more powerful, etc it gets discouraging. Then I consider that $1500.00 and higher priced machines pretty much should have ~3 year advanced warranty (added protection against accidents, like for built-in LCD breaking for example) and you're really looking at a high price tag - generally $300.00 - $500.00 just for a warranty where you have to go through all the usual BS, "Have you flashed the BIOS? Does an external dispaly work? Are you ready to kill me yet? Don't you just love the fact that you paid ~$400.00 for this support and you're not even sure if some block head is going to end up re-imaging your HDD while we have it?".

    Docking stations seem pretty lack luster for gaming laptops too, based on the few I've checked into so far. In my opinion if my laptop lacks ports or connections, not to mention the fact many docking stations/port replicators will elevate your machine off the surface of your desk, increasing airflow, then the docking station/port replicator is pretty key for the whole "desktop replacement" gimmick.

    Having said that I'm looking at sharing a bedroom with someone until July, and due to my finances it's smart to stay here until at least then. It'd be challenging to have a decent desktop in the very little space available, which brings me right back to the laptop scenario.

    Also, although I don't care that much about Blu-Ray, I might get it either initially or later on. It'd be nice if the LCD could do at least 1920x1080. Honestly, I haven't looked at Toshiba, Sony or Gateway really at all yet and I have a bit of a bias against those, albeit a bias not based in sound fact it still exists. The HP Envy 15 beats limited edition and the Alienware machines are what I keep looking at.

    I've started looking at Asus laptops a bit also but what bothers me there a bit is in the past year or so I've seen a lot of comments from people at Newegg saying Asus's customer support blows these days. Then again, I don't like HP support but if I buy into a decent support package at least I'll have leverage if I need it.. and in my experience there may be some hoops to jump through but HP will generally make good on their warranties, as long as it isn't a printer, lol.

    Anyway, thanks!

    Oh, also one other thing about that Asus laptop at Bestbuy - it's BESTBUY! Personally I don't tend to like the idea that Bestbuy would be the ones carrying my warranty. In my opinion this is just an unnecessary added layer. More BS. I buy keyboards and canned air and stuff like that from Bestbuy, maybe a television if it's a good price, but that's about it. Oh, and maybe a game.. or something like a PS3. Anyway, computer purchases are stores like The Good Guys, Micro Center, Frys Electronics, Circuit City, BestBuy, etc kind of makes me cringe.
    Last edited by Verneir; 01-21-2010 at 09:19 PM.

  10. #10
    1 Corinthians 13:11 tituswolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    Yeah that's a pretty decent Asus laptop, especially considering it's $999.00 USD. I have lots of time to wait for new stuff to come out, but I'm deffinitely poking around to get up to speed. Who knows, I might throw in the towel and just fly out to Cali to prep my desktop for shipping, or build a new desktop. As I start researching more & more into it, I'm remembering reasons why I've never bought a laptop before. For example desktops are cheaper, faster, more customizable - there are many laptops where you HAVE to buy a certain model in order to get a GTX280m, and if you're looking at an Alienware m17, then you're automatically going GTX280m SLI which of course drastically increases the cost and decreases battery life. That's just one example, but pick a feature, almost any feature, and you're in the same boat.

    Add onto that the fact that a desktop version of a GTX280 or 285 is going to outperform the card and the desktop build will be easier to overclock, cheaper, more powerful, etc it gets discouraging. Then I consider that $1500.00 and higher priced machines pretty much should have ~3 year advanced warranty (added protection against accidents, like for built-in LCD breaking for example) and you're really looking at a high price tag - generally $300.00 - $500.00 just for a warranty where you have to go through all the usual BS, "Have you flashed the BIOS? Does an external dispaly work? Are you ready to kill me yet? Don't you just love the fact that you paid ~$400.00 for this support and you're not even sure if some block head is going to end up re-imaging your HDD while we have it?".

    Docking stations seem pretty lack luster for gaming laptops too, based on the few I've checked into so far. In my opinion if my laptop lacks ports or connections, not to mention the fact many docking stations/port replicators will elevate your machine off the surface of your desk, increasing airflow, then the docking station/port replicator is pretty key for the whole "desktop replacement" gimmick.

    Having said that I'm looking at sharing a bedroom with someone until July, and due to my finances it's smart to stay here until at least then. It'd be challenging to have a decent desktop in the very little space available, which brings me right back to the laptop scenario.

    Also, although I don't care that much about Blu-Ray, I might get it either initially or later on. It'd be nice if the LCD could do at least 1920x1080. Honestly, I haven't looked at Toshiba, Sony or Gateway really at all yet and I have a bit of a bias against those, albeit a bias not based in sound fact it still exists. The HP Envy 15 beats limited edition and the Alienware machines are what I keep looking at.

    I've started looking at Asus laptops a bit also but what bothers me there a bit is in the past year or so I've seen a lot of comments from people at Newegg saying Asus's customer support blows these days. Then again, I don't like HP support but if I buy into a decent support package at least I'll have leverage if I need it.. and in my experience there may be some hoops to jump through but HP will generally make good on their warranties, as long as it isn't a printer, lol.

    Anyway, thanks!

    Oh, also one other thing about that Asus laptop at Bestbuy - it's BESTBUY! Personally I don't tend to like the idea that Bestbuy would be the ones carrying my warranty. In my opinion this is just an unnecessary added layer. More BS. I buy keyboards and canned air and stuff like that from Bestbuy, maybe a television if it's a good price, but that's about it. Oh, and maybe a game.. or something like a PS3. Anyway, computer purchases are stores like The Good Guys, Micro Center, Frys Electronics, Circuit City, BestBuy, etc kind of makes me cringe.
    I think if I were you I would just looke at building as cheap a gaming computer as you can, maybe go small form factor if you are space limited.
    My Computer: Lian Li PK7,Q9650@3.8ghz(9x422) Asus P5Q Pro,4GB pc1066 OCZ Reaper, x2 WD SATA 640GB,WD 750gb Black, XFX 5850, Corsair TX750 PS,AC97 Sound,Samsung SATA DVD-RW
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  11. #11
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    Yea, you're probably right. Hmmm.. not that I should really do this, but I feel like just booting the other guy out. He's been living on my brother's dime for two years and I'm about to start contributing to the bills. I should get the desk space!

    Anyway. If/when I really make a decision, when I have money in hand that is, I'll come back and post the specs.

    Oh, also for anyone thinkin the same things I am.. I'm starting to wonder if Alienware is worth it. I think those may be like buying a Mercedes, you're paying for the name not the product. I just looked at the two most expensive gaming machines at BestBuy, alienware, which are both over $2000.00 and they don't come with more than 1 year warranty, have relatively low maximum RAM capacity, neither of them support 1080p, neither of them come with blu-ray, it's kind of sad. Seriously, head over to HP.com and check out the Envy 15 series. Once you load it up you're in the $2000.00 - $3000.00 range, but you get a lot of cool stuff including the ATI Radeon HD 5830 1GB card, and I think USB 3.0, 1080p screen, LED backlighting, possibly even Blu-Ray, I forget now.

  12. #12
    Mako Shark Learux's Avatar
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    If you ship your desktop make sure you take of CPU heatsink!.
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  13. #13
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    Yea, for sure. Especially since I have a V1 which is huge.

    Well since I'm bored and obsessing over this now, I found this

    Asus G73JH-A1 17.3" FHD/ATI HD5870 GDDR5/i7-720QM/8GB DDR3/1TB 7200rpm/Blu-Ray/W7HP64

    http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant..._Code=G73JH-A1

    And check this bit out.. Asus 3 year limited global warranty $109.00.. not $300, not $400... not $500!! lol. AND..One year accidental damage warranty <drum roll> FREE! Just have to register within 60 days.

    This laptop is so amazing at this price, it's like it's too good to be true. Seriously I'm wondering if they're underclocking the parts or if this is a big scam or what.

    Starting at under $1700.00 for the configuration shown, but doesn't include the 3 year limited global warranty - for that you have to shell out $109. Not sure what exactly it is, but I am assuming it covers hardware with exception of accidental damage. But with 1 TB of drive space, 8GB RAM, most powerful VPU available today for the mobile platform.. at this price, you could almost just buy a whole new one if you break your LCD in half the second year.

    I bet the LCD isn't the best though. I'm just about sold on this one, regardless of the fact a desktop at that price would smoke it.. but, I'm waiting for A) money and B) reviews once it's out in the world.

  14. #14
    Reef Shark
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    Here's another interesting place for related information, specifically with regards to the CPU.

    http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...rt=3dmark06cpu

    As I was wondering why the CPU upgrade on the ASUS laptop mentioned immediately above was $575 more, and then $1100 more, I wanted to see what's what. Based on what I'm reading, other than *trying* to run Crysis maxed (which isn't going to happen with a mobile radeon I think), I'd say the cheapest CPU available on the ASUS is just fine.. i7 720qm Clarksfield. Save the $575 - $1100.

    Still, it's all about quality and reviews (to garner info on quality). I wonder if they're using the cheapest LCDs ever.. I've found multiple sites where replacement LCDs for various ASUS machines are available for $200 - $400 which is dirt cheap compared to days past. So either A) the laptop LCDs are getting inexpensive, relatively speaking, or ASUS uses crap LCDs. Not sure which at the moment.

  15. #15
    1 Corinthians 13:11 tituswolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Verneir View Post
    Here's another interesting place for related information, specifically with regards to the CPU.

    I've found multiple sites where replacement LCDs for various ASUS machines are available for $200 - $400 which is dirt cheap compared to days past. So either A) the laptop LCDs are getting inexpensive, relatively speaking, or ASUS uses crap LCDs. Not sure which at the moment.
    I would say its that lcd screens have gotten that cheap. you can get 23 inch screens under $200.00 now.
    My Computer: Lian Li PK7,Q9650@3.8ghz(9x422) Asus P5Q Pro,4GB pc1066 OCZ Reaper, x2 WD SATA 640GB,WD 750gb Black, XFX 5850, Corsair TX750 PS,AC97 Sound,Samsung SATA DVD-RW
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