Need help choosing gaming laptop for long trip away from home.

[deus257]

1_What is your budget?
$1300-$1700

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
any will do

3_What screen resolution do you want?
1920 x 1080 if possible or something lower.


4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Desktop Replacement


5_How much battery life do you need?
2-3 hrs (4 if Possible)


6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
L4D, COD:MW, Guild Wars, RE 5, Eve Online, HL2 others


7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Gaming and movies

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
500gb-1tb


9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.amazon.com/
and any other reliable sites

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
1-2 yrs

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
any (DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray)

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

Brands I like: Asus, Sager (I guess hp and gateway too since I am on a budget) any other companies that make good notebooks.
Brands I don’t like: Acer and Dell bad customer support and too many bad memories

13_What country do you live in?
USA

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I want a good Gaming Laptop that can last me for at least a year or 2. I also want one with a GTX 260m GPU or something equal to it, and 4-8gb of ddr2 or ddr3 ram. I also want it from a company with good warranties.

Other info:
Im going on a 6 month trip away from my main gaming rig and I want a good laptop to replace it till then and that can handle the games I listed and up coming games, any suggestions?

 

[buwish]

This is at the top end of your budget, but it's one of few that I know of (off the top of my head, as a friend has this model) that I know run 1920x1080 native. However it only has 300GB of space, so I'm not sure if that will be a limiting factor for you? It maybe worthwhile to look into an external for storage of media files.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117941

I know you mentioned that you're not a fan of Dell, but if you want something nearest to the specs you listed, it could be worth a shot of looking at an alienware.

 

[deus257]

This is at the top end of your budget, but it's one of few that I know of (off the top of my head, as a friend has this model) that I know run 1920x1080 native. However it only has 300GB of space, so I'm not sure if that will be a limiting factor for you? It maybe worthwhile to look into an external for storage of media files.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834117941

Hm, sounds ok but not exactly what im looking for.

 

[lostandwandering]

This would be a better gamer than the Sony, plus it's only 1300: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220639

They make the same machine with an i7-720 for about 1500 as well.

 

[deus257]

This would be a better gamer than the Sony, plus it's only 1300: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220639

They make the same machine with an i7-720 for about 1500 as well.

That's a fine looking notebook with good specs too, got a link to the i7 model?

 

[lostandwandering]

That's a fine looking notebook with good specs too, got a link to the i7 model?

It's on backorder on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220605

or you can configure one here: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g51ja1-p-2674.html

The only thing it will lack that you are looking for is the battery. Let's face it, an i7 and a GTX 260M on a 6-cell battery was just not a good idea. I'd guess that you'd get about an hour and a half surfing the web.

 

[deus257]

It's on backorder on newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220605

or you can configure one here: http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g51ja1-p-2674.html

The only thing it will lack that you are looking for is the battery. Let's face it, an i7 and a GTX 260M on a 6-cell battery was just not a good idea. I'd guess that you'd get about an hour and a half surfing the web.

Yeah to tell you the truth im looking for one with Quad Core or Dual Core, shame the forum already picked an answer for me I was hoping to hear other reccomendations, I heard gateway makes some good gaming PC's but their customer service and warranties are spotty at best.

 

[lostandwandering]

Yeah to tell you the truth im looking for one with Quad Core or Dual Core, shame the forum already picked an answer for me I was hoping to hear other reccomendations, I heard gateway makes some good gaming PC's but their customer service and warranties are spotty at best.

Gateway has updated the FX model to include the GTX 260M instead of the outdated 9800M GTS : http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...logy/9605365.p?id=1218130485627&skuId=9605365

Unfortunately in this case, you are going to trade battery life for screen resolution as the FX comes with a 9-cell battery but only a 1440x900 screen.

 

[deus257]

Gateway has updated the FX model to include the GTX 260M instead of the outdated 9800M GTS : http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway...logy/9605365.p?id=1218130485627&skuId=9605365

Unfortunately in this case, you are going to trade battery life for screen resolution as the FX comes with a 9-cell battery but only a 1440x900 screen.

screen res and battery life isn't a problem, im going to be stuck in a dorm for 8 month's (so electricity isn't a problem) and I'm looking for a notebook that can last at least 1-2 years and can handle some of the new games coming out such as COD MW2, L4D2, SC2 and Diablo 3.

 

[lostandwandering]

^Neither the Asus or the Gateway should have problems with any of those titles. MW2 runs off the same engine as COD4 with a few enhancements, but it shouldn't be a problem. Star Craft has always been made to run on as many configurations as possible, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

Here's a list of benchmark's that'll give you a good idea of what to expect: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

 

[deus257]

^Neither the Asus or the Gateway should have problems with any of those titles. MW2 runs off the same engine as COD4 with a few enhancements, but it shouldn't be a problem. Star Craft has always been made to run on as many configurations as possible, so that shouldn't be an issue either.

Here's a list of benchmark's that'll give you a good idea of what to expect: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html

Thanks, you've been alot of help.

 

[lostandwandering]

Sure thing. Glad to help!