Laptop replacement

chuck990 · 24 Apr 2013 at 12:09

So my trusty alienware (pre dell) has finally reached the end of the line with no replacement parts available anymore (even on popular auction websites). so as part of my birthday plus with some of my own cash i have a rough budget of £1500 (but of course ideally i don't want money burning a hole in my pocket, and it doesn't all need spending without justification).

I've grown used to a laptop that rivals desktops and im sure anything will be an upgrade after over 5 years with the same machine.

I quite like the idea of these semi-tablets but i don't know how good they are or whether you can get one that would play games like the alienware would.

Got a lot of research to do but im just asking for some general suggestions/thoughts at this point.

thanks in advance

iv-tecman · 24 Apr 2013 at 13:14

Take a look at the M17x as despite them being part of Dell and its supply chain the M17x is well engineered and its a pretty powerful Desktop replacement.

Its also the only gaming laptop in its class to offer a way to turn off switchable GPU ensuring it only uses the MXM GPU instead of the onboard IGPU rubbish if you need 100% GPU performance and none of that power saving rubbish.. Its also the only machine I know of that allows HDMI in, which is handy for other devices etc...

The Clevo range are also quite good for the price, but I'd not recommend a 7970M version of the Clevo due to enduro issues.

Bascailly you need to be looking at i7 with a 680M or 7970M as the GPU, with 8GB and 256 SSD + secondary HD, optical drive isnt' as important anymore unless you intend to watch blu ray or something on it.

The M17x has a glossy screen, its 17" and its quite big, but very powerful.

drakioned · 24 Apr 2013 at 14:08

On that rough budget, it should be possible to get a Clevo with an i7 and crossfire 7970Ms.

No Enduro as a bonus.

chuck990 · 25 Apr 2013 at 23:50

Any opinions on ********? their second most expensive model, the elite N1712 is under £1200, and looks to be on par with the alienware system for a much smaller cost

EDIT: ok it would appear that the brand comes up as a competitor... my bad...