Gaming Laptop

Watlinguk

Watlinguk

Watlinguk

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1 Aug 2010
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1,870
One of my managers is looking to buy his son a gaming laptop for Christmas. His son has his heart set on an Alienware one. The boss tells me its around £1300, im not sure which spec laptop it is. After trying to talking him out of buying a laptop, he still wants one :)

Can anybody recommend me the best gaming laptops in or below that price range please from ocuk? Preferably lower but i know his son wants to play all the new games at the best graphics. I know MSI are prity good? But im not to familiar with gaming laptops.

Kindest regards
 
OCUK sell the Samsung Gamer Range, and the Clevo range along with the MSI range..

Bascially a gaming laptop to work with games today and into the next year or so you'd need to be looking at -

GTX675M
GTX680M
AMD 7970M

Which means you'll be looking at these -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-012-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=

Looks are not to everyones taste

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-130-SA&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=

Windows 7 version, you can upgrade to Windows 8 for £14.99

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-073-MS&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=

Overpriced IMO

Then you have the ASUS ROG G75VW - that has either a 660M or 670M which IMO is a weaker GPU

The MX17 r4 can be equipped with either a 675M, 680M or 7970M and if you look for coupons and ring dell you can get a VERY good spec alienware for under £1400.

Alienware are expensive if you accept the online prices, don't do that call Dell up and haggle - a lot. Tell THEM what you can afford, I did this I said I could only afford £1400 and get a cracking spec alienware (ordering it tomorrow) and its a heck of a lot cheaper then the MSI, more powerful then the Samsung and better looking then the Clevo..
 
Watlinguk said:
Awesome thanks for the advice guys.

So would the samsung: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-012-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=
be a good laptop and play most games available that are currently around with good fps?

I'm trying to push him off alienware, but like yo usay if you can haggle with them it may be worth while
Click to expand...

If you mean this one -

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-130-SA&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=

then yes its a good laptop, but you can if you haggle with Dell sales get a MX17 r4 for around the same price but a better GPU - you might struggle to get the same spec HD, the 1.5TB is good..

You might be able to haggle Dell sales and get something like a

7970M
8GB - 16GB memory
750 7,200rpm HD + 32MB mSATA
1080p HD Screen

for around the same price and thats a better spec and the Alienware has an MXM style GPU so could be upgraded later if needed...
 
Watlinguk said:
Awesome thanks for the advice guys.

So would the samsung: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-012-OE&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat=
be a good laptop and play most games available that are currently around with good fps?

I'm trying to push him off alienware, but like yo usay if you can haggle with them it may be worth while
Click to expand...

Why are you trying to push him off an Alienware? The Clevo has inferior build quality, and the x17 M4 with 7970M also has no issues with Enduro unlike the Clevo or MSI due to the way the switchable graphics are implemented.

Yes, they are a little more pricey, but certainly not bad machines. Best thing is to spec them as low as possible in terms of RAM and HDD and then buy them yourself separately, really keeps the costs down.
 
Richdog said:
Why are you trying to push him off an Alienware? The Clevo has inferior build quality, and the x17 M4 with 7970M also has no issues with Enduro unlike the Clevo or MSI due to the way the switchable graphics are implemented.

Yes, they are a little more pricey, but certainly not bad machines. Best thing is to spec them as low as possible in terms of RAM and HDD and then buy them yourself separately, really keeps the costs down.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same myself.. the clevo is very upgradable but man sorry its IMO it's ugly and a complete brick but it's laptop for a true enthusiast, but even I didn't want one...

The Samsung gaming range is good but the gfx let it down compared to others if buying today. the alienware if you haggle with Dell will offer fantastic performance and look nice, well better then a clevo IMO, the m17x r4 is actually quite a good laptop if you get the base model and upgrade the HD and memory yourself...

MSI look ok, good spec but get into 680 17" range, they are well expensive...
 
iv-tecman said:
I was thinking the same myself.. the clevo is very upgradable but man sorry its IMO it's ugly and a complete brick but it's laptop for a true enthusiast, but even I didn't want one...

The Samsung gaming range is good but the gfx let it down compared to others if buying today. the alienware if you haggle with Dell will offer fantastic performance and look nice, well better then a clevo IMO, the m17x r4 is actually quite a good laptop if you get the base model and upgrade the HD and memory yourself...

MSI look ok, good spec but get into 680 17" range, they are well expensive...
Click to expand...

Indeed... there are also MANY complaints about the cooling system in the Clevo, and how that due to the build quality proper contact isn't even made with the GPU, big thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...g-systems-neglected-clevo-solutions-here.html
 
I just received my ocuk clevo 7970m yesterday out the box it has a 3dmark11 score of 6730 points. Total build price was £1400. That's with windows 7 pro, i7-3740qm. 8gb ram, bluray drive, 128 ssd, plus 750gb hybrid drive. You will not get an alienware spec that good for less than £2000, I will be doin a write up for the weekend.

The clevo looks ok (bland compared to a AW R4) build quality is sturdy not cheap. nothing like an alienware apart from the keyboard.

search alienware r4 problems that's why I did not buy one, lots of horror storys, far less problems for clevo based laptops main problem was the 7970m but that's now 80% fixed directx9 games still effected.

You need to take a look at your budget and what you get for your money performance bothwould be on par.
 
Richdog said:
Indeed... there are also MANY complaints about the cooling system in the Clevo, and how that due to the build quality proper contact isn't even made with the GPU, big thread here http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...g-systems-neglected-clevo-solutions-here.html
Click to expand...

there were a few youtube vids of users of the Clevo chassis having to seal their GPU and do all sorts of tricks to stop the heat issues which did concern me when I was looking into the Clevo...

I think what really put me off was just the really basic, and overall un-inspiring look of it, but bang for buck its a really cheap performance laptop - that is until you start to haggle with Dell and see that you can in fact pick up what is regarded as 'purchased by those with more money then sense' alienware M17x range laptops..

Dell don't seem to do themselves any favours by overpricing their performance machines and then knocking the price down when you mention you can buy something with as much power for less, for them to then knock of as much as 25%... Strange business model..
 
iv-tecman said:
there were a few youtube vids of users of the Clevo chassis having to seal their GPU and do all sorts of tricks to stop the heat issues which did concern me when I was looking into the Clevo...

I think what really put me off was just the really basic, and overall un-inspiring look of it, but bang for buck its a really cheap performance laptop - that is until you start to haggle with Dell and see that you can in fact pick up what is regarded as 'purchased by those with more money then sense' alienware M17x range laptops..

Dell don't seem to do themselves any favours by overpricing their performance machines and then knocking the price down when you mention you can buy something with as much power for less, for them to then knock of as much as 25%... Strange business model..
Click to expand...

Well, Clevo with 7970M and the most basic of spec upgrades (i7, only 4GB RAM and Win 7 premium) is still £1152.90 inc VAT... so not so much less than the Alienware really by the time you have added more RAM and HD etc.
 
I've managed to find a p170em with an I7, 8gb of ram and 7970m for under 1k, that is without hard drives or widows
 
KiiYzOo said:
I've managed to find a p170em with an I7, 8gb of ram and 7970m for under 1k, that is without hard drives or widows
Click to expand...

not bad, but soon as you add an SSD, additional HDD as SSD aren't big enough for every day storage and a copy of Windows 7 or 8 you'll soon bump that up to around £1300..

Extra hundred gets you an Alienware M17xr4... if you haggle with Dell sales team.
 
I got my Alienware m17x for about £1330 inc cash back. Look out for discount codes and use topcashback. Spec is in the Alienware thread.

What put me off with the Clevo is it looks ugly, suffers from a cooling floor and doesnt have a onsite warranty. The Alienware offered all of that.
 
iv-tecman said:
not bad, but soon as you add an SSD, additional HDD as SSD aren't big enough for every day storage and a copy of Windows 7 or 8 you'll soon bump that up to around £1300..

Extra hundred gets you an Alienware M17xr4... if you haggle with Dell sales team.
Click to expand...

for me I don't need any drives as I currently have two ssds and a hdd to use with it, which has my windows on it, I'd love to get an alienware, but my max is about £1000, and I have seen refurbished ones with sandy i7s and a 6990, but I'm not sure.
 
I have a Clevo (spec in sig) - it's pretty awesome, but yes - I do concur with the build quality\looks - it's not a looker, and it doesn't feel that solid, I'd deem Clevo's more for a budget minded power user who knows what their getting into and like the features of them, not for a kid to play CoD on... So I'd suggest http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-077-MS&groupid=959&catid=1828&subcat= - comes in at a good price, and looks well featured, plus looks gamer-y.
 
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