Gaming laptop?

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dean_1980

dean_1980

dean_1980

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Alrite guys im looking to buy a laptop that i can use for gaming and watching blu rays and was wondering if anyone can recommend one for me??

I have about a £1200 budget but can go higher if needed

Cheers

Dean
 
MSI GT740 is very nice, Core i7 720QM with Geforce GTS250m gpu & blu ray, 17in 1650x1050 screen and 5 speakers inc sub woof. Price is £1300 ish, wife picked one up this week, she likes it, looks good but is it worth the money? not sure yet.
 
I picked up a Asus G51J (had to get it from america) cost just under £1k including delivery and tax ect. Aslo comes with a razer copperhead and a laptop bag.
core i7-720, 4Gb RAM, GF260 GTX, 2x320Gb HD only thing you'll need to upgrade the DVDRW to Blue ray.
 
Stokesy said:
Don't you mean Alienware?

They have a laptop called the M15x and as far as I can tell by looking at their website Kobalt don't.
Click to expand...

Yes, however I never said the M15x was from Kobalt, Reevo mentioned the Alienware (the M15x) in the post before, and I'd already mentioned Kobalt, Kobalt are a better option IMO.
That's why I said that if you're looking at the Kobalt, the [AW] M15x isn't worth it.
 
Was going to post something similar asking about a gaming laptop as my current laptop (not really a gaming rig, but does a job) is having a paddy.

Never heard about Kobalt before, but just priced somehting up at 3K! Someone tell me im being an idiot and dont need a 3K laptop to enjoy games at a good spec :(
 
You don't need anywhere near that level of laptop to enjoy games!

Im guessing you were looking at a completely tricked out Comanche SLI?
Get the important bits and do the rest yourself (or buy the bits and ask Kobalt to fit them!)
 
I am hoping to get a decent budget for a new laptop (i know a desktop is better value for money, but im mobile and the misses hates me having a desk).

So i assume Kobalt are the definitive answer here? Anyone know if they 'do a deal'? If I spec something up for say 3K, do they have margin to move a 100 or 2?
 
This is obviously a decent spec as its almost the best Kobalt offer... but im not sure what HDDs are the best, so just put in 2*500Gbs

Comanche SLI
Chassis - :: Comanche SLI Black 1
Screen - :: 18.4" Full HD 1920x1080 X-Glass 1
Processor - :: Intel® Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300 Quad Core Processor 2.53GHz 12MB Cache 1
Video Card - :: 2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M SLI 2GB GDDR3 1
Memory 1 - :: 8GB DDR3 1066Mhz 2 x 4GB DIMMs 1
Hard Drive - :: 500GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache (+ £40.00) 1
Hard Drive 2 - :: 500GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache (+ £84.00) 1
Hard Drive 3 - :: None Selected 1
Hard Drive Config 1 - :: No RAID 1
Operating system 1 - :: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (+30.00) 1
Optical Device 1 - :: Blu-Ray ROM / DVD±R/W 1
Bluetooth - :: Bluetooth V2.0 Module 1
Keyboard - :: English UK 1
7 in 1 card reader - :: 7 in 1 card reader 1
Soundcard - :: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Notebook 1
Headsets - :: Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset 1
External Keyboard - :: None Selected 1
Mouse - :: None Selected 1
Mouse Mats - :: None Selected 1
Power Cable - :: UK 1
Extra Battery - :: None Selected 1
2nd AC Adapter - :: None Selected 1
Warranty - :: 3 Year - European Collect & Return 1
Business Software - :: None selected 1
System Recovery - :: None Selected 1
System Recovery - External Image - :: None Selected 1
AVG Antivirus 1
Mozilla Firefox Web Browser 1
Carry Case - :: None Selected

Comes in at 3500!

Are Kobalt the best value for money at the price range? If I get the money I hope too and the misses takes her boot out of my **** this is the area I want to waste money on.... so its the best bang for the buck, to at least give me 6 months of being able to play games at max spec, before I fall behind again :D
 
mlbtheshow said:
This is obviously a decent spec as its almost the best Kobalt offer... but im not sure what HDDs are the best, so just put in 2*500Gbs

Comanche SLI
Chassis - :: Comanche SLI Black 1
Screen - :: 18.4" Full HD 1920x1080 X-Glass 1
Processor - :: Intel® Core 2 Quad Extreme QX9300 Quad Core Processor 2.53GHz 12MB Cache 1
Video Card - :: 2 x NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M SLI 2GB GDDR3 1
Memory 1 - :: 8GB DDR3 1066Mhz 2 x 4GB DIMMs 1
Hard Drive - :: 500GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache (+ £40.00) 1
Hard Drive 2 - :: 500GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache (+ £84.00) 1
Hard Drive 3 - :: None Selected 1
Hard Drive Config 1 - :: No RAID 1
Operating system 1 - :: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (+30.00) 1
Optical Device 1 - :: Blu-Ray ROM / DVD±R/W 1
Bluetooth - :: Bluetooth V2.0 Module 1
Keyboard - :: English UK 1
7 in 1 card reader - :: 7 in 1 card reader 1
Soundcard - :: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Notebook 1
Headsets - :: Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset 1
External Keyboard - :: None Selected 1
Mouse - :: None Selected 1
Mouse Mats - :: None Selected 1
Power Cable - :: UK 1
Extra Battery - :: None Selected 1
2nd AC Adapter - :: None Selected 1
Warranty - :: 3 Year - European Collect & Return 1
Business Software - :: None selected 1
System Recovery - :: None Selected 1
System Recovery - External Image - :: None Selected 1
AVG Antivirus 1
Mozilla Firefox Web Browser 1
Carry Case - :: None Selected

Comes in at 3500!

Are Kobalt the best value for money at the price range? If I get the money I hope too and the misses takes her boot out of my **** this is the area I want to waste money on.... so its the best bang for the buck, to at least give me 6 months of being able to play games at max spec, before I fall behind again :D
Click to expand...

Drop the memory to 4GB (DDR3 4GB SODIMM prices are dropping, wait for another 6 months or so until you need it and the trend will likely continue), the X-Fi Card and the QX9300 (reason being is its cheaper to buy one from ebay last I checked, or you could grab a £180 Q9200 QS off ebay, only difference between that and a QX9300 is 2.4Ghz vs 2.53Ghz haha).

My laptop if they hadnt done me a deal would have gone for about £2100, I paid £1600 as they fitted parts I already had.

Also, bear in mind new mobile GPUs are coming soon. The M980NU uses MXM3.0b so theoreticaly will be upgradeable, if Clevo release the parts and BIOS. Im hoping for 5870 mobile crossfire as to be frank, the Nvidia parts are looking a little dissapointing.

These GTX280m still cope fine in SLI though, its basically 9800GTX SLI, so will play most things pretty well at 1080p.

Kobalt are very good, and good to speak to on the phone, just do a bit of research and be as savvy before buying as you may find you spend money you dont need to!

Hard drive wise, I'd actually opt for the WD 320GB if you can ask for them, they seem a little more reliable than the seagate 500GB drives, SSD is fastest but costs major moolah, I use a 320GB*3 drive RAID0 setup (32kb stripe, there are multiple choices) which is nippy and does what I need it to until SSD becomes more affordable.
Also, if you dont need it drop Win7 Pro. Win 7 HP is fine for most users!

Regards prices, Kobalt tend to be at least competetive (especially when it comes to upgrades and warranty, where they're much cheaper than say Dell) to the other players in this market, so it depends on what spec you go for!
 
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Thanks for that mate, sounds as if the laptop is upgradeable which is something I thought couldnt be done! So that is a bonus.

Ill probably spec something up when the time comes and then give them a call to see what they can do.
 
Well the laptop will take any montevina chipset CPU (the late Core 2 Duo and Core2Quad before the mobile I7 came out), RAM is easily done as are HDDs (these are quite modular systems), GPUs are ENTIRELY dependent on what Clevo decides to release and support at BIOS, however as they're the MXM design, they're actually modular to some extent there. Unfortunately due to lower design numbers and BIOS support, MXM isnt anywhere near as free reign as desktops, BUT as the Clevo M980NU uses the latest MXM slot, and cooling is good, unless they force us to new models, the machine is capable of being upgraded.
 
Sorry to hijack this thread...

I`m also very interested in the Kobalt Laptops. I was thinking of going with the G870 and customizing it to my needs as I don`t need a laptop for desktop replacement but I would still like it to be pretty fast for gaming and 1080p Blu-Ray/HD stuff.

The thing i wanted to know about Kobalt customized laptops, if i bought one with no operating system option because I have my own Windows 7 x64/x32 retail copy already, as on their os customization page it says £75 Cash back after purchase, to get the £75 Cash back do you have to ask them or will they automatically refund the money back into my payment card??? and does this option mean it won`t come with a os preinstalled or just no os DVD media???

Thank you for responding.
 
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Does anyone have any thoughts on my questions above??? and does this G870 spec look ok, or anything I should change???

G870
Chassis - :: G870 Black/Silver 1
Screen - :: 17.3" 1920x1080 Full HD+ X-Glass 1
Processor - :: Intel® Core i7 820QM Quad Core 1.73GHz - 3.06GHz 8MB Cache 1
Video Card - :: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M 1GB GDDR3 1
Memory 1 - :: 4GB DDR3 PC3-10600 1333Mhz CAS9 2x 2GB DIMMs 1
Hard Drive 1 - :: 320GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache 1
Hard Drive 2 - :: 320GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache (+ £54.00) 1
Hard Drive Config 1 - :: RAID 0 - Striped Drive Configuration 1
Operating system 1 - :: No Operating System Required - £75 Cash Back after purchase! 1
Optical Device 1 - :: Blu-Ray ROM / DVD±R/W 1
Bluetooth - :: Bluetooth V2.0 Module 1
7 in 1 card reader - :: 7 in 1 card reader 1
Keyboard - :: English UK 1
Soundcard - :: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook 1
Headsets - :: None Selected 1
External Keyboard - :: None Selected 1
Mouse - :: None Selected 1
Mouse Mats - :: None Selected 1
Power Cable - :: UK 1
Extra Battery - :: None Selected 1
2nd AC Adapter - :: None Selected 1
Warranty - :: 3 Year - European Collect & Return 1
Dead Pixel Guarantee - :: None Selected 1
Business Software - :: None selected 1
System Recovery - :: None Selected 1
System Recovery - External Image - :: None Selected 1
Carry Case - :: None Selected 1

Subtotal £1,733.30
VAT £303.33
Total £2,036.63
Click to expand...

Thank you for responding.
 
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Spec looks fine. Stick with the X-FI unless you really like music, in which case save for an external DAC :)

At that price, there's also an I7 based Comanche SLI on the way soon, might be worth you knowing! :)
Also worth considering the G870 is basically the 860 in a larger chassis with a larger screen, might be worth thinking about if you want mobility!

Per your previous questions, no OS, they should refund automatically on your card, although if you order over the phone they'll usually take it off straight away.

They are usually happy to put on a copy of Win7 etc ready for you to put in your keys etc, as they tend to use as such for testing, and then format the machine.

Just to warn you though, Kobalt may take a while to get your order details to you, they're a smaller company running manually right now (and very busy), so don't get scared, the goods will turn up! haha

If you've got any questions, the forums are reasonably friendly and Neil/Andrew, the owners, often post on there.
 
Alexrose1uk said:
Spec looks fine. Stick with the X-FI unless you really like music, in which case save for an external DAC :)

At that price, there's also an I7 based Comanche SLI on the way soon, might be worth you knowing! :)
Also worth considering the G870 is basically the 860 in a larger chassis with a larger screen, might be worth thinking about if you want mobility!

Per your previous questions, no OS, they should refund automatically on your card, although if you order over the phone they'll usually take it off straight away.

They are usually happy to put on a copy of Win7 etc ready for you to put in your keys etc, as they tend to use as such for testing, and then format the machine.

Just to warn you though, Kobalt may take a while to get your order details to you, they're a smaller company running manually right now (and very busy), so don't get scared, the goods will turn up! haha

If you've got any questions, the forums are reasonably friendly and Neil/Andrew, the owners, often post on there.
Click to expand...

Thank you for responding.

I just thought going for the G870 was best for me as I wanted a larger screen, at least 17" that can do 1920x1080 Full 1080p HD, so the G860 would not be any good to me, and choosing a higher model, Comanche 17" or Comanche SLI would be basically a desktop replacement and a bit more expensive.
 
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