Gaming Laptop £450?

w1llyg

w1llyg

w1llyg

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Hi guys,

Really don't know much about laptop hardware, so i don't know what brands are good, whats decent whats not etc etc

Basically I need a laptop ideally no bigger than 13". I had a Samsung 12.1" Q45 but im tired of fixing it as its now 4 years old. It cost me near £800 back in the day and after £100s worth of repairs later the screen has gone and i've had enough.

I have a main rig, so i need something smallish n light so it can keep me entertained on the move. It'll be used for abit of gaming e.g SC2 n BCBF2 mainly, web browsing, word documents.

Here's the specs:
Budget: £450
Size: No bigger than 13" ideally
Graphics: Needs to play SC2, BCBF2 n possibly BF3????

Is this possible on such a tight budget? (i would spend more but need to save money so i can afford to travel next year after university)
 
Okay thanks!!!!

Ill have to upgrade the RAM to 4GB but that is £70!!! Whats the fastest Ram available in this Alienware if i buy separately? Any suggestions?
 
AFAIK the memory/FSB runs at 400mhz (800mhz DDR) and can't be run at anything other than 1:1, I could be wrong though.

Anything 800mz or faster would be suitable, although you should be able to overclock it if you use faster memory.

Crucial do an 8GB kit for £58, CT2KIT51264BC1067, that would be perfect.
 
w1llyg said:
Okay thanks!!!!

Ill have to upgrade the RAM to 4GB but that is £70!!! Whats the fastest Ram available in this Alienware if i buy separately? Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Right, there is a MX11 that includes 4gb memory and 500gb HD for £499 - 10% and 10% top cashback so that would be £400 all in.

The 2GB one is £360 after cashback.

System code N00W1101 for 4gb version

It may be old tech but it is a great laptop. For what you want you are easily looking at £800ish price bracket. Not many brands have a gaming capable laptop in a 13 inch worth having let alone at your budget.

You could either get the MX11 or spend over double. Compromise or cost £££

You can get some sony / hp laptops in 13" at £600-800 but they only come with ATI 4570/5470/6470 graphics and this is much much slower than the 335M in the MX11 http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5470.23698.0.html Even with the SU7300 that 335m will perform ok in the MX11 and better than substantially lesser graphics with an i3.
 
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Right okay i think tht seals the deal for the M11x!

When I check out it comes to £450, how did you get the 10% cash back?

Thanks for your help btw your helping me a lot :D
 
I used a first generation Alienware m11x for around 9 months last year. I can highly recommend it and for the 400 as quoted above, it's a great buy.

Right now I am on a HP Envy 17 with i7 / ati5850m, i score around 10500 on 3dmark06
with my m11x (core 2 duo @ 1.7ghz / gt335m I was scoring 6200)
Making it actually fairly decent bang for buck...

It is an absolute pleasure to use, I love the looks, the portability is fantastic and the battery life (switchable graphics) is A1.

If I can say however (and this is the big downside for me), the hinge holding the screen onto the main part of the laptop WILL break, this is a MAJOR design flaw with the m11x, so you will need to do some 'DIY' to stop this from happening (I used a guide on utube) - mainly involving some epoxy solution and a couple of screwdrivers, easy stuff - but well worth it.


With regards to your gaming needs

SC2 - runs well on low settings (80fps+)...any higher and it will drop considerably
BFBC2 - don't count on any solid fps
 
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As above really, at this budget you won't get a great gaming laptop in a 13". Go to a bigger screen and you can get a laptop that games for £450 with an i3 or equiv in if you hunt around. You should be able to get up to a GT420/525 or ati 5650/6630 performance.
 
Back to the drawing board for me.

Went to buy it today, unavailable online....ring them up, out of stock and discontinued.

Looks like I've either got to up my budget or go bigger (really don't want to do either)

Decisions decisions.....
 
Hey guys,

Yeah I thought about ebay and the dell outlet, but voucher codes dont work for them xD and its hard to part good earned money, tht y'day brought me a brand new laptop for £400 and now i can only get a 2nd/refurb for ~£450 :/

It just doesn't quite justify the extra £50 for me... (thts like 3 nights out for us students ;P)

Sorry for being a hard customer, i just like to know that i'm spending wisely than spending £50 more just cause i want it rather than need it :/
 
Are you sure you cannot live with a bigger screen?

You can get a decent XPS L502 for £450 inc vat off the outlet and you still get some cashback from topcashback usually.

Otherwise, forget gaming on the move and just get yourself an Acer timeline X 4820 i3 which can be had for under £400 atm and you get a slim, light notebook with 8 hour battery life.
 
I think if you're looking for a gaming notebook for under £500, you're only option is the Dell XPS L502 or L702 from the outlet. Any smaller than that, and you're stuck with the Alienware M11x.
 
The new acer timeline X 4830T with the i3-2310M in has the new HD 3000 graphics which is at least, whilst average is on par with ATI 4570/5470 cards. Have a google for the Acer 4830T to get prices and specs, but it can be had for £499 with 2 year warranty & 4GB memory.

I had a play with one today and it is very slim and light (think it has an alu lid) even though it is a 14". It is a good size smaller and much less bulky than a standard 15" and only a tad bigger than a 13". Looks smart too.

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8-10 Hours battery life.

I actually think unless you want to go to the bulk of the XPSs and £££££ alternatives for gaming at this size, this is a good option. It won't game at high detail but things should be playable and certainly games from 2009/8 or earlier will be fine.
 
billysielu said:
I'm not convinced that anything in budget will be powerful enough.
Click to expand...

It won't really but the TimelineX 4830T is probably the best compromise. Certainly on the size front is isn't far off a 13" MBP only being just over 1cm wider and deeper. At least the HD 3000 can play games unlike the older GMA solutions.

MBP and Acer in Brackets

Height: 24.1 mm (22.9mm)
Width: 325 mm (338mm)
Depth: 227 mm (239mm)

Weight

2.04 kg (2.1kg)

For gaming on a 13" you are either at an Alienware MX11 for £900 ish or more for other brand alternatives.
 
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