Gaming Laptops

[Armenum]

I'm going to buy a laptop in a few months (better for university) and since I'm going to buy a laptop might as well buy a gaming one in order to play NTW. I know a desktop is much better & cheaper for gaming, but I have no choice. So what gaming laptops would you recommend that run NTW at max or near max settings without price being too crazy?

[DekuTrash]

I can't recall the name of the laptop, I think it's an Alienware. They recently came out with one that is tops at around $800.

[Armenum]

I can't recall the name of the laptop, I think it's an Alienware. They recently came out with one that is tops at around $800.

this one? http://www.dell.com/content/products...n&s=dhs&~ck=mn

I like it but don't you think the cpu is rather weak especially to run NTW at max? How's reputation of alienware in general?

[DekuTrash]

Alienware's rep is great when it comes to gaming rigs, that's pretty much all they are geared towards. I couldn't inform you on the CPU and whatnot, there is a community there or someone else here who knows much more on the topic. Though customizing it further could help with that, again someone else surely knows more on this.

[craziii]

this one? http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

I like it but don't you think the cpu is rather weak especially to run NTW at max? How's reputation of alienware in general?

that is one horrible gaming laptop. 11.2 inch screen, yea, pass....

[PointOfViewGun]

I can't recall the name of the laptop, I think it's an Alienware. They recently came out with one that is tops at around $800.

That's 800 with the lowest specifications. If you want to make it into a gaming laptop than you'll certainly go up to 2500.

[Rotaugen2009]

I just broke down today and ordered a Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q880 for a gaming laptop.
Specs:
18.4" widescreen at 1920x1080
i7 720 QM processor
6 GB ram
64GB solid state drive for operating system
500GB 7200 RPM data drive
NVIDIA GTS 360M with 1 GB video memory

I have been reading reviews all over the net, and this is the one the majority I've read says comes close to being a gaming desktop. Of course, it weighs about the same too. Has anyone here tried any Toshibas in this series? I would imagine this will come close to, but not quite hit, maxed out settings for NTW.
Most of my gaming time is at lunch in the office, so it has to be a laptop to get lots of use.

[craziii]

I just broke down today and ordered a Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q880 for a gaming laptop.
Specs:
18.4" widescreen at 1920x1080
i7 720 QM processor
6 GB ram
64GB solid state drive for operating system
500GB 7200 RPM data drive
NVIDIA GTS 360M with 1 GB video memory

I have been reading reviews all over the net, and this is the one the majority I've read says comes close to being a gaming desktop. Of course, it weighs about the same too. Has anyone here tried any Toshibas in this series? I would imagine this will come close to, but not quite hit, maxed out settings for NTW.
Most of my gaming time is at lunch in the office, so it has to be a laptop to get lots of use.

that is a nice one. how much was it?

[Rotaugen2009]

Specs:
18.4" widescreen at 1920x1080
i7 720 QM processor
6 GB ram
64GB solid state drive for operating system
500GB 7200 RPM data drive
NVIDIA GTS 360M with 1 GB video memory

that is a nice one. how much was it?

I paid $1,933 total with shipping and all from Amazon.com via TigerDirect.

I got the computer from UPS yesterday, and so far its working well. I am still waiting for reliable new Nvidia drivers, but the old ones that came preinstalled work ok for the moment. This thing is huge though. I'm a fairly strong individual, and it starts feeling heavy by the time I get it in my office. But then lunchtime comes, I fire it up, and all is right with the world.

I've been running NTW at High settings with absolutely no slowdown. Very high will get a bit choppy, but I'm hoping new drivers will eventually cure that. It also has a Blu Ray drive and plays movies quite nicely, which look great on the screen. I priced a computer with similar specs from Alienware and it was $1,000 more for basically the same thing. From what I've seen, they have trouble keeping this computer in stock. I ordered, and the next day that seller was out and the other seller on Amazon carrying them only had four left. I think the rush is because they are new, it will probably settle down soon.

[Musthavename]

There may be one other option, it was something I regretted not doing after my first year at Uni. Get a netbook, and a gaming desktop. You've got something portable you can work with, and you've got a machine for gaming. That, and since netbooks arn't that expensive, you'll be able to build a better gaming machine than you would get for the laptop even taking buying the netbook in.

I speak from personal experience. I spent £600 after looking for a month or so on a laptop one year ago (well, more than that, Summer 08) that was competent enough to run games. Thing ran Empire fine on High-ish settings on standard unit sizes at the 1280x800 res it had, but it overheated quick. But anyway, I sold it last summer and went back to using my desktop. Mostly because I found I didn't need to take it around campus (a maths course tends to focus on pen & paper, that and there were computers in the library for work anyway). But if I had been on a course that needed it, I would've gone for the netbook & desktop combo.

If you are set on getting a laptop though, don't go for the high end builds. Settle for something with a half-decent dedicated card (I had a 9600M GT in mine, ran most things fine), at least a 2Ghz Dual-Core, and 3-4GB RAM. I don't know if they still do them, but Dell's XPS range fits this price range, though you may find something cheaper by someone like Acer. If you do get one, keep it ventilated. Mine ended up with pretty bad overheating problems that got steadily worse over the year. However, if I had a window open next to it, it could play all day fine.

[Armenum]

There may be one other option, it was something I regretted not doing after my first year at Uni. Get a netbook, and a gaming desktop. You've got something portable you can work with, and you've got a machine for gaming. That, and since netbooks arn't that expensive, you'll be able to build a better gaming machine than you would get for the laptop even taking buying the netbook in.

I speak from personal experience. I spent £600 after looking for a month or so on a laptop one year ago (well, more than that, Summer 08) that was competent enough to run games. Thing ran Empire fine on High-ish settings on standard unit sizes at the 1280x800 res it had, but it overheated quick. But anyway, I sold it last summer and went back to using my desktop. Mostly because I found I didn't need to take it around campus (a maths course tends to focus on pen & paper, that and there were computers in the library for work anyway). But if I had been on a course that needed it, I would've gone for the netbook & desktop combo.

If you are set on getting a laptop though, don't go for the high end builds. Settle for something with a half-decent dedicated card (I had a 9600M GT in mine, ran most things fine), at least a 2Ghz Dual-Core, and 3-4GB RAM. I don't know if they still do them, but Dell's XPS range fits this price range, though you may find something cheaper by someone like Acer. If you do get one, keep it ventilated. Mine ended up with pretty bad overheating problems that got steadily worse over the year. However, if I had a window open next to it, it could play all day fine.

Wouldn't that be more expensive though? I don't use laptop during lectures (pen & paper) and I don't mind around dragging around with me. I do have an old linux netbook already though, so I may think about that.

[Musthavename]

Wouldn't that be more expensive though? I don't use laptop during lectures (pen & paper) and I don't mind around dragging around with me. I do have an old linux netbook already though, so I may think about that.

No, it wouldn't be more expensive, at least for what i'd term a medium budget (which is essentially the nescessary budget for a "gaming" laptop anyway). The higher your budget, the more cost effective this option is, because you only need to spend a fixed amount on a basic netbook. It's incredibly cost effective if you already have a netbook.

And if you don't need something in lectures, why do you even need a laptop?

[Top-Tier-Tech]

There may be one other option, it was something I regretted not doing after my first year at Uni. Get a netbook, and a gaming desktop. You've got something portable you can work with, and you've got a machine for gaming.

+1

I have a netbook for portable use (9-10 hour battery life FTW) and I do all my gaming at home.

Wouldn't that be more expensive though? I do have an old linux netbook already though, so I may think about that.

If you would spend $1,000 or more then your better off going with a netbook + desktop.

[Capt. Fozdike]

that is one horrible gaming laptop. 11.2 inch screen, yea, pass....

Yeah never go under 14" for a gaming notebook.

Okay, I would get a really cheap laptop or a netbook for your work and uni and then get a gaming desktop. But if you are intent on getting a gaming notebook, I would suggest one of these:

Alienware M15X Notebook

ASUS ASUS N61JQ-X1 Notebook

ASUS N81 Series N81Vp-X1

TOSHIBA Satellite A505-S6035

Or if you would like to get a netbook and a gaming desktop I would go with this netbook:

ASUS Eee PC Seashell 1005HA-PU17

And one of these desktops

iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme 545D3

iBUYPOWER Gamer Extreme 924SLC

[Player44]

If you are willing to have a 17 inch, and have $1000, I highly recommend getting a Gateway model, as they are relatively cheap and very powerful.
http://www.gateway.com/systems/serie...pid=ms_pseries
If you have more money, say around $1500, I have heard good things about the ASUS G73JH

[Heinz Guderian]

I'm going to buy a laptop in a few months (better for university) and since I'm going to buy a laptop might as well buy a gaming one in order to play NTW. I know a desktop is much better & cheaper for gaming, but I have no choice. So what gaming laptops would you recommend that run NTW at max or near max settings without price being too crazy?

This is fair enough. It does make sense to some to get a gaming PC and a netbook, but for me, having a gaming laptop is just so much easier and convenient especially since some of the newer laptops can fit high end tech into a small unit. We havent quite reached the time where a laptop can be a true "gaming desktop replacement", but we are getting there.

If you look around, you will come across stuff like Alienware or the Dell M series. These are decent gaming laptops, but you will be paying quite a lot to get a decent one in the range. Alienware take a Taiwan/Chinese made laptop, and assemble it in Canada or the US (some are 100% made in the Far East). They will often use components such as motherboards from people like Asus or Acer. They stick a green Alien head on it and that will be $2000 please.

I have simplified this procedure, but the point is you can get much cheaper laptops which are almost exactly the same thing but without the bells and whistles. I recommend those with International Warranty. Have a look at MSI, Acer and Asus. If you're in the US, you're gonna be able to get these pretty cheap.

[english tyrant]

Gaming laptops

A what? Laptop + gaming, together? I think not.

[craziii]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+L...&skuId=9556072

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+L...&skuId=9556125

I got like 1 year older model of these I personally would go for the 999$ model, link #2 goodluck. they both got decent cpu + gpu.

[Capt. Fozdike]

18"? That's pretty much a desktop
The specs are good though

[Viking Prince]

I think the latest in working as a student is a small handful of flash drives (primaries and backups) and a very cheap netbook for paper write up, internet, email, etc. Even if you teach -- the same is all that you will need. If you are doing serious data handling you will have access to good computing power at the uni -- all you will be doing in addition to the above would be the code writing on the netbook and swapping out with the flash drives. Besides, do you really want to lug a heavy lappy around all the time? Dell, HP,etc. have a variety for under $300. These are small screen devices, but suitable for word processing (and as a hook up for in class presentations when not in a smart classroom). No dvd drive (that is why you need some flash drives), but usually only 2 or 3 pounds. I keep a flash drive (plus a backup) for each class that I teach and it includes all in class presentation materials, lecture notes, master files for class web postings, test materials, etc. The text book and other materials are usually on line with a back up for the current chapters for in class on the flash as well. If I can do this -- for a student it should be easier.

In the end -- get a desktop for the gaming (if you have a place to use it). Not that I ever follow my own advice. I am using a heavy lappy for everything personal and small mini for teaching, etc. That will probably change this very late summer though when I will have time to play E/NTW. Right now with M2 -- the lappy does just fine.