Gaming laptop

joe123

Hey just looking for some advice.

Posted this in the laptop forum but thought I might get a good response here as the laptop forum isnt all that busy......

Just started working in Bioware and with the launch of swtor just around the corner I need a new laptop. My current laptop is on its last legs, battery doesnt work and chargers keep mysteriously breaking on it.

I own a custom made Pc but its out of date by about six years and with my own laptop about to keel over im going the laptop route.

My budget would be 800-900 quid. I want a really good, reliable laptop that can play games on high settings (I dont want it struggling to play low settings in a years time sort of thing).

Ive been told Alienware are the way to go but are they just over priced on name alone?

Preferably Id like to buy it in a shop but if there is a laptop out there so good online I could be persuaded. Thanks for any help

Corkfeen

You're not gonna get a gaming laptop for 800-900. I'd recommend that you just build a gaming pc, you'd get a rather well specced machine for that amount and you have the advantage of it being upgradeable. A gaming laptop could set you back 1500+ for something decent and be fairly awful at playing games in 2 years time. I'll admit that I did fall for a gaming laptop, regret doing so though.

Potential-Monke

Ya, you need the big bucks for a gaming laptop. I paid €2500 for a Dell XPS 3 1/2 years ago, and it stopped playing games at high settings about 6 months later, and with the added downside of not being able to upgrade anything except the RAM (to 3.5 gigs?).

K.O.Kiki

Talk to your IT guys, ask them to sort you out with something nice.

grizzly

I bought this yesterday;



Used these codes to get another 15% off;

http://promotionalcodes.ie/dell-promotional-codes/

joe123

Came across these two while having a quick look. What do ye think?

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/02_NOTEBOO/22_17/productdetails/20080740/MSI_GX740_420NL_Core_i5_460M_4GB_500GB/GX740_420NL/default.aspx

and

http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/product/ZKB_02PC/02_NOTEBOO/21_15/productdetails/80003463/Asus_15_6_N55SF_S1194V_i7_2670_8_750GB/90N5FC2D9H4E13VL133U/default.aspx

mikeruurds

The MSI gaming spec notebooks probably give the best bang for your buck if you're looking for a reasonably priced gaming laptop from a reputable company.

The one linked should just about do the job, but you're still dealing with ATI mobility graphics which isn't going to perform at high settings with the latest games. You'll probably achieve medium to high performance for the next year and then start having to sacrifice visual quality further to maintain playable FPS.

A new EUR 2.5k Dell XPS or equivalent will give you what you're looking for at a price that's well above you're budget. Your effectively purchasing a desktop replacement with a low form factor (but still dedicated) graphics card for 3 times the price of a comparable PC and without the option to upgrade. This will give you all the bells an whistles for about a year (high to ultra) and then you'll probably get another year at medium to high. This is the low value option.

If I were in your position and assuming a mobile gaming solution is the only option, I would go one of two ways. The first option would be to sink EUR 1k into buying an MSI gaming notebook every year. Recoup the remaining value by flogging the used unit on Adverts for EUR 300-400. That way you'll be playing at medium to high on the move at a cost of around EUR 500 per year. Option two would be to go with the MSI or possibly a lower specced notebook with a decent high res screen and look to use Onlive cloud gaming - this option would require you to have a decent internet connection during gaming sessions.

If notebook gaming is not a must, I'd suggest gutting your old PC and installing a new motherboard, CPU, PSU and graphics card.

joe123

mikeruurds wrote: »

The MSI gaming spec notebooks probably give the best bang for your buck if you're looking for a reasonably priced gaming laptop from a reputable company.

The one linked should just about do the job, but you're still dealing with ATI mobility graphics which isn't going to perform at high settings with the latest games. You'll probably achieve medium to high performance for the next year and then start having to sacrifice visual quality further to maintain playable FPS.

A new EUR 2.5k Dell XPS or equivalent will give you what you're looking for at a price that's well above you're budget. Your effectively purchasing a desktop replacement with a low form factor (but still dedicated) graphics card for 3 times the price of a comparable PC and without the option to upgrade. This will give you all the bells an whistles for about a year (high to ultra) and then you'll probably get another year at medium to high. This is the low value option.

If I were in your position and assuming a mobile gaming solution is the only option, I would go one of two ways. The first option would be to sink EUR 1k into buying an MSI gaming notebook every year. Recoup the remaining value by flogging the used unit on Adverts for EUR 300-400. That way you'll be playing at medium to high on the move at a cost of around EUR 500 per year. Option two would be to go with the MSI or possibly a lower specced notebook with a decent high res screen and look to use Onlive cloud gaming - this option would require you to have a decent internet connection during gaming sessions.

If notebook gaming is not a must, I'd suggest gutting your old PC and installing a new motherboard, CPU, PSU and graphics card.

Well im going to have to get a new laptop soon anyways. It's swtor that il be playing on it and to be honest I don't even know will I continue to buy future pc games on it but I'd still like it to hold up reasonably well.

Swtor wouldn't be the most demanding of games either.

You would choose the msi over the ASUS? Initially I was put off by the smaller 15" screen but I'm coming round to not really minding.

Fluffy88

I just bought basically the same laptop as grizzly posted above.
I tested it out with Battlefield: Bad Company 2,
I put settings to max with x16 AA & AF at my highest resolution of 1600x900 and that game ran fine @25-30fps.

Now BFBC2 is old at this stage and the GT-555M won't max out Battlefield 3 but you should get very good quality on it. It should manage to max out most of the current gen of games.

The MSI should give slightly better graphics than the Dell or Asus.
But like everyone else says, they will all age quickly.

Also, for what it's worth, I have a 15" laptop and the reason I bought a new one was because the screen was too small for me. I wanted a desktop replacement coz I don't have space for one and a 15" screen just is too restricting :P
Plus 1920x1080 might be a little hard too see.

K.O.Kiki

How about a mild gaming PC & a notebook?

1 for play, 1 for work.

Voodu Child

Medion do some good value gaming laptops. I've seen ones with i5 and legit gaming cards (GTX460) for ~€800

You used to be able to get them either in Lidl or Aldi (can never remember the difference between these two). They also have a UK website that I think ships here:
http://www.medion.com/gb/electronics/cat/MEDION+ERAZER+Special/erazer_29

I see two there for good value, £709 and £749

I've also seen them on Amazon.co.uk and various ebay sellers.

doncarlos

grizzly wrote: »

I bought this yesterday;



Used these codes to get another 15% off;

http://promotionalcodes.ie/dell-promotional-codes/

Brilliant deal. I bought one of those last Christmas (slightly same specs) and it cost just around €1600 (with a discount). It was better than the equivalent alienware laptop available from Dell ireland

mikeruurds

joe123 wrote: »

Well im going to have to get a new laptop soon anyways. It's swtor that il be playing on it and to be honest I don't even know will I continue to buy future pc games on it but I'd still like it to hold up reasonably well.

Swtor wouldn't be the most demanding of games either.

You would choose the msi over the ASUS? Initially I was put off by the smaller 15" screen but I'm coming round to not really minding.

I would go for the MSI, but you're better off reading some reviews online to confirm which is the better unit.

You have a much easier decision to make if you're only looking to ensure decent performance for SWTOR. Future-proofing a gaming laptop for a 2 year window is an expensive task at the moment with the shift to DX11.

The Medion suggested by another poster would also be a good option. MSI and Medion sell good notebooks and you're not paying a premium for the name.

The heavily discounted Dell XPS quoted above is also a super deal, but the vouchers expire today.

Icyseanfitz

my advice save up a little and get a gaming desktop and a cheapo laptop, went down the gaming laptop route myself 3 years ago, spend around3-3.5 k on a dell xps m1730, couldnt play games over medium after 2 years sold it on a year ago for 550 euro.

biggest waste of money ever

Skerries

I think people are mad buying gaming laptops unless they don't have the space for a full system
you can put together a good gaming machine and get a cheap laptop for about €1200, go to the building and upgrading forum to get an idea of prices
if you see a laptop you do like, check here to see what the gfx card is like
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-of-Laptop-Graphics-Cards.130.0.html

joe123

Think people are forgetting im not really fussed about it being able to run games at high settings 2 years down the line. Im quite happy to stay console based.

But I do need it to run swtor well and I just dont want it to not be even able to run a game on low in two years time.