'Gaming' Laptop - advice?

Brexan

Brexan

Brexan

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Joined
26 Jan 2013
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6
Hi guys!

Unfortunately I know very little about the hardware behind these machines - its all just a jumble of numbers to me - so I'm looking for some advice on a new laptop I'm looking to buy from some people in the know! :)

I know a lot of people say to stick to a desktop for gaming, but as my desktop is in need of an upgrade and I'm planning to purchase a laptop for work I'd like to see if I could get something capable of both tasks. I wouldn't say my current desktop is that amazing, so if I can get a laptop which will perform better than my current setup I'm happy.

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer, I don't play FPS like Battlefield or anything too intense. I mainly play online games eg WoW, Diablo3. A few offline RPGs - Skyrim is probably the most graphically intense.

I'm looking to spend around £800-£900, but if its something reasonably future-proof I could justify spending a little more (£1100 max). I don't do any kind of video production, and don't need blu-ray.

I've seen these machines in general browsing:
http://www.************.co.uk/notebooks/vortexIII-LE/
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/asus-n56vz-s4242-15-6-laptop-17056513-pdt.html
http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/samsung-series-5-550p-17-3-laptop-silver-17563638-pdt.html
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dell...d=alienware-m14x-r2&c=uk&l=en&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1

I was also looking at:
http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Gamers-G75VW-AS71-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B007MW73C2 - but the UK price seems to be almost double the US price!

I am also curious to know if any of these, or any other suggestions, would meet my needs.

For comparison my current desktop set up is:
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955, 3.20 GHz
Memory: 4 GB
Graphics: NVidia GeForce 9500 GT (2797 Memory)
Harddrive: 500gb, ST350041 3AS SCSI Disk Device

Thanks in advance!
 
You won't go far wrong by looking at the Clevo Chassis, on the Asus front l am looking to pick up a Asus G46VW to replace my M11x while in the states, works out at just over £600 depending on the exchange rate.

The screen res is the same as the M11x however my eyes are starting to go, so no real drama there.

And for what l will be paying when hitting the Best Buy stores on the strip l would be paying in excess of +400 from Dell or +200 from the store.

Looking at this due to the ability of the old mSATA boot drive and a cheeky 1TB or 750 storage drive.

Regards.

C.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I'm leaning towards the Clevo with the following spec:

Intel Core i5 Dual Core Mobile porcessor i5-3320M (2.60GHZ) 3MB
8 GB Samsung DDR3 Memory
NVidia GeForce GTX 670mx 3GB
750GB Scorpio Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
20GB Intel 313 mSATA SSD

I understand having a small SSD can help speed things up?

Other than that I've seen mention of the dell outlet selling refurbished Alienware, so I might check out what kinds of prices an mx17 would be.
 
Brexan said:
Thanks for the replies!

I'm leaning towards the Clevo with the following spec:

Intel Core i5 Dual Core Mobile porcessor i5-3320M (2.60GHZ) 3MB
8 GB Samsung DDR3 Memory
NVidia GeForce GTX 670mx 3GB
750GB Scorpio Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
20GB Intel 313 mSATA SSD

I understand having a small SSD can help speed things up?

Other than that I've seen mention of the dell outlet selling refurbished Alienware, so I might check out what kinds of prices an mx17 would be.
Click to expand...

But when looking at Dell:
1. You need quite a bit of luck that Mx17 will be there
2. more luck to actually get one - they really gone in a seconds after being available - not saying that's impossible :}
3. Hope that the model you get is good (usually they are, but looking at the Alienware post you might end up with the one that keeps braking and needs lots of stuff replacing - all will be done by Dell though but the hassle ..) and enjoy :D
 
CEUOTC said:
You won't go far wrong by looking at the Clevo Chassis, on the Asus front l am looking to pick up a Asus G46VW to replace my M11x while in the states, works out at just over £600 depending on the exchange rate.

The screen res is the same as the M11x however my eyes are starting to go, so no real drama there.

And for what l will be paying when hitting the Best Buy stores on the strip l would be paying in excess of +400 from Dell or +200 from the store.

Looking at this due to the ability of the old mSATA boot drive and a cheeky 1TB or 750 storage drive.

Regards.

C.
Click to expand...

Read up on the Asus G46VW. Is that laptop availible in the UK anywhere?
 
roughavoc said:
within your budget I would look at the LENOVO Y580
For future proofing, pick up the Vortex III with 7970M (take away windows) and youll be good
Click to expand...

They only sell the y580 with the crap 1366 x 768 panel in the UK IIRC, for £850.

The MSI gx60 is a good shout for £900 when they do the deal from ocuk - AMD7970 and A10-4600 is far better for gaming than the nvidia 660GTX in the y580. The GX60 is a bit held back by the AMD cpu (well APU), though not by that much at 1080p. The chassis design a bit gamerish mind.

The clevo will set you back a few hundred more for 7970 and i7 CPU, with a more discrete case but worse keyboard and supposedly horrible sound compared to the GX60.
 
I think I'll be going for a Clevo based laptop soon. The keyboard doesn't bother me too much, I may even upgrade the keyboard to the Steelseries one from one of the other models. It's doable if you do a Google search for it. It gives you chiclet style keys, still backlit as well. The sound isn't too much of an issue either as I'd pretty much always be using headphones, or dedicated speakers.
 
lol I'm so indecisive!

I've seen a refurbished mx17 for £950:
Nebula Red
Intel Core 3rd generation i7-3630QM Processor (6MB Cache | 3.40GHz Turbo Mode / 2.40GHz non turbo mode)
16GB RAM
500GB SATA Hard drive 7200RPM
17.3" Wide High Definition+ 900p WLED Display
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M

So its within my budget, but I don't know if I'm just being swept away with the awesome look of the alienware. Would have preferred a bigger HD (but not that big a deal), also a little uncertain as its an import fromt the US

Decisions decisions!
 
Personally wouldn't bother with it..

17.3" Wide High Definition+ 900p WLED Display

need to be looking at 1080 with a 7970m personally, the 900p is ok but you'll forever be wanting to run games at 1080p..

Keep looking if I was you, and Alienware are GOOD but the support is very poor for them...
 
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