Teen buying gaming laptop - any help with specs appreciated

galwaynative

Hi
15 yr old teen has been saving for years and has hit the 1k mark, wants to buy a new laptop for playing games (mainly online). Currently has an ASUS K56CA (specs below) and has a budget around the 1k mark

Intel Core i5 3317U CPU @ 1.7GHz
4GB RAM
4 cores
750GB hard drive
15.6 inch screen
Intel HD Graphics 4000, dedicated memory 32MB, total 1.8 GB

Would anyone have advice on the best value out there and also the best places to purchase, I am worried about some of the reviews for online purchases and would hate to see him get burnt as it took so long to save up! I know he is at the low end of gaming prices, needs to be a laptop for portability.

Also, our internet is pretty rubbish and I am worried he could end up with an expensive purchase that is limited by our internet capacity.
Many thanks for taking the time to read this!

beauf

Thats a terrible spec for the price

That CPU has two cores with hyper threading (4 virtual cores)
That Graphics card is not good enough for gaming.

Whats the problem with the internet. That might be a game stopper.

Lots of chat about gaming laptops here.
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=111

Tow

Always much better off with a desktop for games.

galwaynative

Thanks for response , sorry for confusing with specs - those are for the the PC he has now (bought back in 2012) just put in it's specs to show what he is moving on from in the hope that for 1k he can get a decent boost !

An example of what he is looking at Alienware 15 type specs, mainly as I said Dell is one site I would trust!!

The internet is just living in the middle of nowhere with vodafone wired internet via non up graded exchange!

Will have a look at that site, thanks again

galwaynative

And desktops cheaper as well! But he has nowhere for a desktop that wifi reaches .

beauf

Use a Powerline adapter.

If you don't need to get a laptop don't.

AlmightyCushion

galwaynative wrote: »

And desktops cheaper as well! But he has nowhere for a desktop that wifi reaches .

Homeplugs would more than likely fix that. Seriously, as someone who has had multiple laptops capable of gaming I wouldn't get one without having a desktop as well. Every time I have done it I've regretted it. Desktop all the way, laptop for pissing about on the internet in front of the TV.

galwaynative

We have the powerline but his room is like a wifi deadzone (solid block walls and placement of powerpoints to blame there)
So he spends much of his time in my room when I am downstairs or downstairs if I am on my room, short of swapping rooms (mine is directly above the router so is good even without the powerline boost) I can't see me persuading him to go for a desktop!

curious as to what happens when gamers go to college? do they all have a desktop and laptop - I thought laptops were a college necessity these days for moodle/blackboard access etc

Appreciate all the help.

mordeith

Could you run hardline from the router to his room?
On the desktop v laptop thing, I ditched my desktop for a 1k laptop a few years back. It's decent but I still miss the desktop for gaming, especially FPS.

beauf

I think you are mixing a WiFi extender vs a Powerline networking adapter. It doesn't use wifi.

galwaynative

beuf - just checked and you are right! Going to pick up one of these as laptop or desktop it could be the answer to his room's problems!
Thanks!
chatted to him and he knows that desktops are better but also wants to be able to take it places and with college in two years thought he would need a laptop anyway.

Digital Solitude

Tell him to lug the PC to college with him, if he gets a smaller PC he won't have an issue. I've a fairly heavy yoke and that's what I'm doing, we had a few posters here before doing the same.

PC is less likely to be stolen on him because he won't forget it in stupid places
Better value for money

The only advantage of a laptop is if he can't study in his dorm and wants to go the library

CantGetNoSleep

Get a desktop with homeplug adapters. Keep his old laptop for browsing & word processing in college, change the battery if needed. Even if he did get a laptop for 1k, it could get annoying having to look after that moving between 5/6 lectures in different locations, worrying when he goes for a coffee break from the library etc.

For peace of mind in college I always had an older laptop (but with all files backed up to Dropbox etc) which was never a worry

L'prof

galwaynative wrote: »

beuf - just checked and you are right! Going to pick up one of these as laptop or desktop it could be the answer to his room's problems!
Thanks!
chatted to him and he knows that desktops are better but also wants to be able to take it places and with college in two years thought he would need a laptop anyway.

I'd be pushing him to get a PC to be honest, far better bang for his buck. A couple of years down the line he could pick up a relatively cheap laptop with good specs that would more than suffice for college needs.

beauf

A gaming laptop and a laptop for college are two opposite things.

As the other said above. Something cheap, light, with a long battery life for carrying and a gaming desktop for gaming back at the gaff. The two together will be the same price as 1 gaming laptop.

K.O.Kiki

@OP:

For €1k your options are relatively limited, but you should be looking for:
Intel i5/i7 dual or quad-core CPU
NVidia GTX 950m or 960m GPU
4-8Gb RAM

Try PC Specialist https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/laptops/ or look for an Acer Aspire Nitro model on Amazon.

Oooooor convince the lad to invest in a small PC instead

galwaynative

Just in from work and loads of great advice, will go for the small pc and powerline option and the cheapo laptop for college. In a funny twist he now admits he wasn't that bothered about the college aspect.... Fell for that one!!
Now I'll have to start a gaming desktop thread!!
Thanks again.