Another gaming laptop recommendation thread

[Krynn72]

My brother is looking to get a new laptop before he goes back to school. He is a pretty frequent gamer, so he wants something that can handle itself in that regard. His budget is "anything under $1,500" so theres that. I don't really know what to suggest since I'm not really up to date with laptop specs and brands, being a solely custom-built desktop kind of guy.

So I'm wondering, are there any brands to stay away from, or any highly recommended ones? And what kind of laptop video card should we be looking for at that price range?

 

[mLink]

I suggest this.

For most gaming, the dual-core will be better since it has a higher clock speed and there are only a few games out that are heavily cpu-core dependant (gta4 & FC2).
That laptop also has a 5870...

If he will be frequently using programs that utilize multiple cores, maybe this one would be good? It's $50 over his budget, but has a quad-core i7 and an unnecessary 8GB of ram if he needs it. The first suggestion, in my opinion, will more than get the job done.

 

[Escaep]

I purchased this laptop about a month ago for college: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834101230 and its been pretty solid so far. I've played BC2 on it on medium-ish settings and it had a rock solid framerate. For the price, which its out of stock right now, I payed $750 for it and I think the specs are pretty decent for the price. It has a nice and large 17 inch screen, a dedicated mobility 5650, 500gb hd, and a core i5 450m.

Its half of what he's willing to pay and if he wants to pay $1500 he certainly can and get a lot better, but for $750 I am certainly satisfied.

Cons: No firewire, speakers aren't the greatest but if he's a gamer I assume he has a headset which'll do. The trackpad can have a mind of its own sometimes but I always use a mouse.

 

[Maestro]

You could get an Asus. Asus makes some pretty boss rigs.

 

[Dynasty]

Macbook Pro.

Great value for money and great specs.

Haters.












I genuinely dont know why people think Macbooks suck for gaming. My Pro ran Mass Effect 2 at 1440x900 with max settings without a single tear or slowdown, and Starcraft 2 runs at high/max settings, Bioshock 2 runs perfectly on high settings. Ive yet to try any other games on it simply because I have too many to finish..or even start, ala Bayonetta.

 

[Krynn72]

He was thinking of getting a macbook pro too. I told him NO. Even if they could play games well (which I doubt, ME2 was a remarkably well optimized game, and thus not a good comparison), they are certainly not even a decent value. He can get that 17in windows laptop with a slightly faster processor, same amount and type of ram, and a video card that performs twice as well as the most comparable macbook pro, FOR $1,100 LESS.

Get da fuk outta here.

 

[Raziaar]

Well if he does get the Macbook, you'll just have to disown him. Overpriced piece of crap!

Wish I could actually provide some info for this thread, but alas I don't know much about laptops and quite frankly, I don't give a shit about laptops.

 

[Druckles]

I genuinely dont know why people think Macbooks suck for gaming.

Once you've bought it, you can't afford any games. And unless you bootcamp, you're stuck with Portal and Braid.

 

[Dr.Demento]

The words, "gaming" and "laptops" should never be used in the same context.

EDIT> Silly me, it's for your brother, not dog man.

 

[OmegaX]

You could get an Asus. Asus makes some pretty boss rigs.

I bought an Asus G73 a few weeks ago. Got it refurbished from Best Buy for $899. One of the best gaming laptops out there period. Something similar from Alienware would cost you $1,500+. The thing is incredibly quiet as well. Outperforms my desktop by miles and is actually somewhat portable. Battery life is less than 3 hours though.

Specs:
17.3" Screen
i7 720QM
6GB RAM
Radeon 5870 (One of the best mobile cards)
500GB 7200 RPM HDD

 

[ricera10]

The G73 is probably his best bet. There's a 15" version available (G51-something?) if he doesn't care for the size of the 17", but they're both large laptops with poor battery life that look slightly ugly.

 

[Wanted Bob]

Sager makes some pretty fantastic gaming laptops, been using one for over a year now and havent regretted it for a second. Their prices tend to be cheaper than those of Dell, HP, Toshiba, etc..