Cheap 'Gaming' Laptop

TerrorFirmer

Looking to get a new laptop, mainly for college, but a little bit of gaming would probably be done on it - nothing intense, just the first Company of Heroes really I think - so the video card doesn't really have to be up to much, I'd prefer dedicated over integrated HD4000 or the Amd Trinity APU's though, the performance just seems terrible on both even for older games. I was thinking the Enigma IV on PcSpecialist, can get it for 570 delivered with the Pentium 2020M, GT650 and SSD. Wouldn't mind finding something in the 400-500 range either though if anyone has any suggestions or has seen anything around?

Skill Magill

I've been hoping there might have been a bit more input into this thread! I really like the idea of configuring the laptop the way you want it, compared to ready made ones. That said, anytime I start off a build on pcspecialist, I'm over budget in an act haha.
Did you get that one in the end?

TerrorFirmer

Yeah, looking at an Acer Ultrabook, GT640M equipped laptop for 450, which is good - held back pretty badly by an ULV cpu, so its wasted enough potential if you're looking at playing the latest games, but like I said, I'll only be playing old games mostly....to be honest I may just end up going for an i5 with the integrated hd4000, which is actually pretty powerful for playing older games.

Jonny7

Asus U32VJ if you can find a discounted one
i5 3210m
GT635
Bonus - 8 hour battery

or

Perhaps have a look on saveonlaptops.co.uk sorted by "gaming laptops"
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/products/finder/FFE00000-04000000-00000000-00000000

TerrorFirmer

Yeah this is the one I think I'll get.

Fantastic price.

Bazzo

Also interested in this as I need to pick up a new laptop(cheaply ), mostly for working and the occasional movie but it'd be nice to play an older game or two once in a while.

Skill Magill

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Yeah this is the one I think I'll get.

Fantastic price.

Wow 8 hrs battery life! That must be the ssd reducing the need for power. Did you pull the trigger? Theres the same one upgraded to 10 gbs ram for an extra 40 stg. Seems a good deal

Skill Magill

I bit the bullet and after trawling through many offers and deals decided to knuckle down and try not to overspend in pc specialist.
So my base build was the 14" ultranote. To this I changed a few things to bring up the spec :
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3230M (2.60GHz) 3MB
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 8GB)
and a solid state : 120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)
No operating system

everything else I left as standard

Total cost €617.10
I was downtown in Pc world Jervis centre and this build for the price blows away anything they have on offer imo.
Pc specialist seems to allow me change my mind on the build(up to a point) so if anybody recommends something different I'll certainly listen.
I didn't go for the 15.6" matte (I was tempted) because I thought it was a bit bulky and after watching this I didn't think matte was as vibrant. (I know its a mac!)

looking_around

If you want better advice on laptop builds go here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=529

This forum is mostly used for desktop builds.

Jonny7

Skill Magill wrote: »

Wow 8 hrs battery life! That must be the ssd reducing the need for power. Did you pull the trigger? Theres the same one upgraded to 10 gbs ram for an extra 40 stg. Seems a good deal

I came close to buying this but took the Asus U32VJ

The screen on the Acer isn't the best, otherwise is an amazing deal

I reckon it has an 8 cell battery - it's a wonder why more laptops don't do this

TerrorFirmer

I ended up buying that M3, bought a proper SSD and Ram separately. The average screen and rear connectivity didn't bother me so much as it'll 90% used for college, and the excellent battery was the real deal sealer for me.

Bazzo

I actually bought the same. Arrived today, I'll give my opinion on it later!

Rear connectivity and sub-par screen also didn't bother me as it'll be used mostly for work.

TerrorFirmer

Mine arrived today as well. Won't be using it until next week at least though, but I'll report back with opinions and probably run a few games like Chivalry and Battlefield 3 on it out of interest.

Bazzo

Finding the laptop really nice. Windows 8 isn't as bad as I thought it would be, relatively easy to navigate once you've sat down for 5-10 mins with it. From the horror stories I was hearing I was expecting to have to complete a series of puzzles and tasks every time I wanted to do something. It will be a bit of a pain switching between 8 on the laptop and 7 on the desktop.

One minor niggle with the laptop is the touchpad. I really don't like it, plus the left click button seems to stick? Aside from that it is a very understated sleek design and I think it looks quite nice. The rear ports don't bother me in the slightest tbh.

Back to windows 8: does anyone know how to do a clean install with an OEM license? I've tried looking it up without much success. No product key came with the laptop(Apparently it's in the bios?) and for some reason acer decided to preinstall the os on the hdd rather than the ssd, leaving me with a blank 20gb ssd. It also came with a boatload of bloatware which is super annoying. Any suggestions/help appreciated.

RossieMan

yea windows 8 has your license saved in the BIOS.
i'm not sure what the story is with using an SSD, though.
i presume it'd work the same way.

TerrorFirmer

I noticed the box states 3-cell battery, worried me a bit when you consider the 8 hour supposed run time. The reviews I read all commended the battery life but they were all i7 ulv models, not the i3, so they could have had increased batteries.

Bazzo

After continuing to read up on how to do a clean install of windows 8 with an OEM license it seems that wiping the laptop and doing a fresh install of windows 8 on the SSD wouldn't work, as the OEM license in the BIOS will only recognise an OS being installed on the same hard drive. I've found 3 solutions to this problem:

1. A recovery disk can be made, you can then wipe the laptop and attempt to use the recovery disk to install the OS on the SSD.
2. You can clone the content of your HDD over to your SSD and hope it works.
3. Contact Acer or Dell, they might be able to do something about it.

Wow, yet again Microsoft has left me reeling with their outrageous decisions. Why put the product key in the bios rather than on a sticker? Or why not just do both? Apparently there are tools you can download to retrieve the product key from the registry, hopefully they work and I can retrieve it that way to do a clean install.

RossieMan

Bazzo wrote: »

After continuing to read up on how to do a clean install of windows 8 with an OEM license it seems that wiping the laptop and doing a fresh install of windows 8 on the SSD wouldn't work, as the OEM license in the BIOS will only recognise an OS being installed on the same hard drive. I've found 3 solutions to this problem:

1. A recovery disk can be made, you can then wipe the laptop and attempt to use the recovery disk to install the OS on the SSD.
2. You can clone the content of your HDD over to your SSD and hope it works.
3. Contact Acer or Dell, they might be able to do something about it.

Wow, yet again Microsoft has left me reeling with their outrageous decisions. Why put the product key in the bios rather than on a sticker? Or why not just do both? Apparently there are tools you can download to retrieve the product key from the registry, hopefully they work and I can retrieve it that way to do a clean install.

magic jellybean finder would be one.

Belarc advisor is another, but its more awkward to use.


both are free to use.

Bazzo

Yep I ran belarc and managed to retrieve the key.

Now to find somewhere to download an iso of 8 and then hope the oem key works when I switch the os to the ssd from the hdd. :rolleyes:

RossieMan

http://www.redmondpie.com/download-windows-8-iso-x86-x64-file-directly-from-microsoft/

these are step by step instructions for creating an iso.

Haven't done it with an SSD myself, but i cant imagine you'll have too much problems.

you may have to change the primary boot device in the BIOS, though.

Bazzo

Yep tried that, it doesn't work with an OEM license, which leads me to believe that it won't work when I try to install windows from clean onto the ssd.

RossieMan

Your best bet is to give microsoft a call and explain what you're doing.

They'll usually sort you out if you're honest, unless you get a total ****.


Sorry i couldn't be any more help.

Lu Tze

Will the windows install fit on a 20Gb ssd?

Bazzo

Finally up and running. Was starting to get quite annoyed with all this crap when my brother mentioned that he just happens to have a windows 8 disc, so I just used that. Once I had all the drivers installed and the laptop was connected to the net the license activated itself thankfully so no hassle there.

Lu Tze wrote: »

Will the windows install fit on a 20Gb ssd?

Yep, it will. I'm running it off the SSD with 5.5gb free space atm.

RossieMan

20gb seems very small if you use any real programs, you'll surely go over 20gb fairly quickly.

how does it run of SSD? seriously thinking of getting one for my laptop.

Bazzo

I don't intend to put any major programs on the SSD at all. I would have been happy enough without the SSD at all but seeing as I've got one on the desktop and it came with the laptop anyway I thought I might aswell put windows on it for the boot time, it would be difficult to switch between the next-to-instant boot on the desktop and go back to old slow booting on the laptop.

Runs perfectly as far as I can see. What exactly were you wondering about?

RossieMan

i see, i was actually referring to the programs and can you see any notable differences in speed.

It's buy a SSD, or save a little extra and get a nice new tablet.


or both:D

Bazzo

Oh, I wasn't sure what you were asking.

Get an SSD. It's DEFINITELY worth it. Seriously. I don't think I'll ever be able to go back.

I'm running a Samsung 830 on my desktop, when I ordered it I didn't really care and just thought I might as well get one. Everything is very very very noticeably quicker. Just look up some examples on youtube and you'll see what I'm talking about.

TerrorFirmer

Only using the laptop today and the touchpad is absolutely horrible.

Bazzo

Yeah, it's pretty bad. It does get a bit easier to use once your used to it if that helps. The mac 2 finger scroll touch is pretty nice too though.

TerrorFirmer

Haven't tried much in the line of games but out of interest I ran Chivalry on it. Seems OK at 1366x768 maximum settings which is good performance at the price point though it is CPU bound with the ULV i3.