£1000 Laptop

[Fallen god]

Hey all, my mate has been looking for a half decent gaming laptop, that is still not too chunk. The best thing I have found so far is the MSI GE60, however he really wants a backlit. We also looked at some Clevo models, but he really didn't like the look (I currently own a 15" Vortex III). We also looked at Dell for Alienware but the 17" is a little to big for his needs, and the 14" doesnt have a 1080p screen. So I have come to you guys to see if there is anything decent out there.

Requirements:

1080p Screen
i7
8GB ram
Decent gaming GPU
backlit keyboard

Thanks in advance, his a bit annoying to help xD.

 

[Mason-]

15" Dell XPS?

I'll have a look now.

Just had a look, they're not very good for the money unless you can get one off the Outlet, the GPU's aren't great either.

Try and persuade him to get Clevo. Looks don't matter!

 

[jubei]

Lenovo y580?

 

[Kreeeee]

Clevo Vortex III

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
128GB KINGSTON V200 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (300MB/R, 190MB/W) (Special Offer)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N135 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Firewire
1 X 1394a FIREWIRE PORT

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£1024 inc VAT and delivery

Show him that list and then how much the equivalent Dell/MSI would cost and he should change his mind.

 

[Fallen god]

15" Dell XPS?

I'll have a look now.

Just had a look, they're not very good for the money unless you can get one off the Outlet, the GPU's aren't great either.

Try and persuade him to get Clevo. Looks don't matter!

We have been looking at the new XPS 15", the graphics is a bit lacking, but he likes the overall design, just the price for a i7 model was a bit step.

Lenovo y580?

Found a nice 1080p version, does it come with a backlit keyboard.

Clevo Vortex III
Snip
Show him that list and then how much the equivalent Dell/MSI would cost and he should change his mind.

This is basically the spec I showed him (we get windows for free from MSDNA) but he just didnt like the styling, I will try again as it is pretty amazing.

 

[jubei]

The lenovo does have backlit kb from what i recall yet. There are plenty of threads on it at the notebook review website if you want to look into it more but seems like a lot of power for the money compared to the competition.

 

[DAnDan]

I'd stay away from the new XPS15 at the moment. It's plagued with Wifi and throttling issues. The throttling takes the GPU down to absolutely unacceptable levels within a few minutes of any relatively intense gameplay, and the wifi signal gives you speeds maybe 10% of what you'd normally get anytime that you move a little bit away from your router.

It's a lovely design, and on paper the specs are great, but it's just not fit for purpose at the moment. There's a lot of interesting reading over at notebook review if you want to check if out in more detail. Dell are promising fixes for both issues, but interpret that as you will obviously.

As for the other options, the Vortex III will absolutely demolish anyhting else for the price (literally 2 or 3 times more performance). The other options are the Lenovo Y580 as stated, and the GE60 you've seen, that's about it really. They've both great laptops, and more portable than the Vortex, but they're anywhere near the same league in terms of absolute power.

 

[Fallen god]

I'd stay away from the new XPS15 at the moment. It's plagued with Wifi and throttling issues. The throttling takes the GPU down to absolutely unacceptable levels within a few minutes of any relatively intense gameplay, and the wifi signal gives you speeds maybe 10% of what you'd normally get anytime that you move a little bit away from your router.

It's a lovely design, and on paper the specs are great, but it's just not fit for purpose at the moment. There's a lot of interesting reading over at notebook review if you want to check if out in more detail. Dell are promising fixes for both issues, but interpret that as you will obviously.

As for the other options, the Vortex III will absolutely demolish anyhting else for the price (literally 2 or 3 times more performance). The other options are the Lenovo Y580 as stated, and the GE60 you've seen, that's about it really. They've both great laptops, and more portable than the Vortex, but they're anywhere near the same league in terms of absolute power.

My friend actual told me about the wifi issues on the XPS15, but when we researched it wasnt ever as bad as that.

I'm really gonna push the Vortex on him, it atleast has some nice lights, but he just finds it boring (Looks wise), while I find it rather simple and understated. But getting a laptop for 1k with a SSD, very good graphics, cant really ask for more.

 

[Kreeeee]

Tell him he can get a £500 sticker set to make it look tacky with the money he saved over buying a different brand if that's what he wants.