Need some help

Aviarei

Aviarei

Well-Known Member
You guys are extremely knowledgeable about these sorts of things and are talented to boot, so I need your help.
I'm looking to get another laptop, not exactly to replace the one I have but to do things that my current one can't.
That means I need Windows.
I've been looking at various laptops but I can't tell what ones I need. I don't know which graphics cards would be the best and most encompassing to play and handle more games, or which processers can do the job without data getting bottlenecked by some other feature on the laptop. If that makes any sense. What I mean is that I want all the features of the laptop to work together to give me a good, (or decent, depending on the price) non-hindering experience.. with considerably less frustration over compatibility issues I've obviously been having.

I'm generally looking for a laptop that can play games pretty well. And yes, it does need to be a laptop because I need something portable; I can't see my self settling down anytime soon so building a desktop or whatever is out of the question at this point.

I'm also on a budget. I'll list three budgets, and perhaps you can find something around those price ranges:

The larger budget, but one I'd rather not go to if I can avoid it, is a ~$800-$1000 dollar budget.

The smaller budget, something more manageable for me, is a ~$600-700 dollar budget.

And the smallest budget is $400-500, which I already have the money for at this point. I would rather not rely on the smallest budget because there's no sense in getting a cheap computer which will become irrelevant in the next year or so.
 
This might sound like a really obvious question but
do you unequivocally need a laptop?

If you definitely need a laptop, then all I'll say is don't get an Alienware.

However, if you're just looking for a cheap computer, just get a desktop. It's better in every way, and if you can handle the sedentary nature of a desktop, do so: they're cheaper and more powerful than laptops.
I'll let the geeks explain
 
I do most definitely no way around it need a laptop. I'm graduating from college this upcoming spring. My dad will likely sell his house in the next 5 years. I have no idea what's going to happen to me after I graduate so I need something I can move around.

And I've heard about Alienware, about how it's overpriced and a brand name and that there are better laptops for your buck. So that's definitely not what i'm intending to get.
 
I know Newegg offers decent gaming laptops for a cheap price, given you go for the refurbished ones. Not only are desktops generally more powerful, but laptops are a lot more expensive so while you can get a good laptop for your budget, a true gaming laptop takes a lot of money. Given, try to focus on getting a laptop with an i7 processor and either a 600 or 700 series card in it. I would give you specs for AMD/Radeon, but fuck those guys. Just look around, and try to keep an eye on daily deals websites hold. If you can, wait until November when black Friday hits, as I guarantee you will get some good deals there. However, I doubt you can wait that long, so just keep an eye out and spend some time increasing your budget. Expect to spend around your third tier budget you presented, as that is where entry level gaming laptops start. If you have any questions, I usually check here once a day, or you can just keep posting here so that you can get multiple people throwing advice out there for you. Good luck!
 
Thanks for the help Casey!
I technically have the money for a $1000+ laptop but that's emergency money so that's not an option hehe.
I know Desktops are more powerful and better bang for the buck but it's honestly not really an option for me or else I'd jump on it.

Also I'm not really too concerned with having "best graphix all the time yea yea", If I can play it well on medium settings then it's something I can settle for.

I'm sorry if this sound stupid, but what exactly is i7 and the 600 / 700 thing?

EDIT: How does this one look? If I can get it on Amazon that'd be good because I have $150 gift credit there.
http://www.amazon.com/Republic-G75V...e=UTF8&qid=1374490311&sr=1-67&keywords=laptop
They've even got a refurbished one under $1000, and it's got the i7 processor and a 660 nvidia graphics card with a 1TB hard drive. Pre-installed with Windows 8.
 
Aviarei said:
I'm sorry if this sound stupid, but what exactly is i7 and the 600 / 700 thing?
Click to expand...

i7 is an Intel processor. It's the current brand of processor Intel is making (the "i" series). You can expect an i7 processor to have quad-core computing and higher processing speed than the other two processors (i3 and i5). The processor is the CPU, or the brains of the computer. It's what makes the machine process all the data and direct that data where it needs to go.

600/700 series card is a graphics card. Specifically, a nVidia graphics card. The higher the number, the better the card.
 
I Had that laptop, still do in fact. Don't let this turn you away from it, but my video card died about two months ago on it. Given, some video cards do that. I have a friend that has an ASUS RoG (Republic of Gamers- their gaming laptop brand) with a 500 series in it, and it still works. Sometimes hardware just dies, it happens.

Edit: When I say "their gaming laptop brand" I mean it is the ASUS line of gaming laptops

Edit2: Thanks for the explanation Moondoggy, totally forgot to include that :)

However, on to the computer. This laptop was the first laptop I was genuinely happy with. It will handle whatever you throw at it, for the next couple of years. It may not play everything on fullest settings, but you will get some decent gameplay on it. You shouldn't use more than the 8GB of RAM, but if you decide to upgrade it is really easy and you can do it anytime. Also, it has an extra hardrive bay in it too. The laptop has minimal bloatware on it, and overall runs really smooth. I was actually going to suggest this laptop, but it was above your price range. This is a bit more than what you are willing to settle with, and overall a good laptop. I would definitely suggest this laptop if you are seriously considering it. Also, the cooling is situated on the back, and not underneath, like most laptops. This means you don't have to worry about heating issues, you don't have to get some stupid cooling pad that doesn't actually do anything, and the fans run quieter because of better air flow.

Finally, keep in mind this is a relatively large laptop. Not only is it a 17.3", but it is bulky even for its already large size. The thing is definitely portable, but make sure you ahve a large bag and don't plan on carrying it around everywhere you go.

On a side note, Newegg is having a big sale that ends today. If you hurry, you can snag it at a great price. This is why you should keep an eye out for the deals websites offer :)

Edit3: The laptop below is refurbished, and the one you posted is new. Take your pick.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231002
 
I don't know if I'll be able to rustle up the money in time, but if I use some of the emergency money, my dad may be able to loan it back to me. It'll keep me from using the 150 dollar credit I have in amazon but that's about what I'll save if I use newegg.

As for moving my laptop around, I'll probably use my Macbook for the more portable stuff and keep that laptop in my room.

Do you have any suggestions if the video card does die?

And I'm cool with refurbished computers. My Macbook is refurbished and i've had no problems with it.
 
Personally, and for the convenience factor, I would suggest an extended warranty, or in my case, just register the damn thing. The Warranty lasts two years I think, but only if you register. I didn't register and my warranty expired after 60 days. In all reality, and with a lot of videos and probably a soldering kit, you can fix it yourself. Other than that, stick to the manufacturer/extended warranties.

I am stuck swapping the card, which in laptops is no easy feat, but something I am actually looking forward to (considering going to school for hardware engineering, as I have always loved playing with the insides of electronics.) I doubt you will have nay problems, as it is a rare thing.

Edit: In case you didn't know, the warranties all cover graphics cards dying on you. All of them cover it.
 
On their website, although I do not know the rules/stipulations for refurbished stuff. I think refurbished is all handled through the company you buy from, so you would have to see what Amazon/Newegg offer. If I was to buy refurbished, I would probably buy an extended warranty too, since most extended warranties cover drops and spills too nowadays.
 
Well here's some good news, it turns out I've saved up 420 dollars alone from working at dominoes which is more than I expected. Unfortunately it'll take a day to transfer the funds to the bank so I'll have to manually transfer funds from the emergency account to the checking account at an ATM and pay for it that way to get in on the Newegg deal today.
 
I think I may just get the Amazon refurbished one; the tax on the newegg one equals them out and I won't be running around potentially making any serious financial mistakes trying to get this paid before the deal ends.
 
Makes sense. The best advice I can give you is be patient. Any deal you run across now, you will run across again.
 
Aviarei said:
I'm looking to get another laptop, not exactly to replace the one I have but to do things that my current one can't.
That means I need Windows.
Click to expand...

What MacBook do you have? The GPUs on all but the newest non-retina Macbook pro are better than you will get on a $500 laptop. Because of this I would recommend setting up BootCamp on your existing machine and use the money you saved to upgrade the RAM and HDD.

On my MacBook Pro 13-Inch Mid 2010 it costed $40 for me to upgrade to 8GB of ram and it will cost me about $75 to upgrade to a 7,200 RPM 750GB Western Digital HDD (Have not upgraded my HDD yet because I have a 500GB 7200 RPM drive installed).

I do not use bootcamp because I have a windows VM. VMs are good for applications that I use for work but not good for games. Since you are doing this mainly for games bootcamp is fine.

Also, contrary to popular belief, servicing non-embedded apple hardware is very easy. Instructions are available on apples website.

Links:
MacBook Pro: How to remove or install memory - Apples instructions for RAM replacement in Macbooks
Search of Apples website for HDD replacement instructions - Your instructions for HDD replacement depend on model
Mac Repair - iFixit - Easy to use instructions but may void warranty. I use only for explanation of apple instructions.
Kingston Memory Search - Use this to find the RAM required to upgrade your Macbook.
 
My Macbook is just a standard Macbook. Not a Macbook Pro.

The specs for my computer is:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 Ghz L2 Cache 3MB
Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

I am pretty sold on getting this new laptop though; I've honestly wanted a Windows machine for some time. I know Mac OSX has it's ups, I've been using OSX since 2003 (I had an ibook before this and used it until it completely crashed and burned, screen of death, in 2010), and I'll continue to use this laptop for things until it stops working. Its' portability and low weight is pretty great I admit so I'll be using it for simpler things / moving it around campus.
 
Aviarei said:
My Macbook is just a standard Macbook. Not a Macbook Pro.

The specs for my computer is:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 Ghz L2 Cache 3MB
Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9400M

I am pretty sold on getting this new laptop though; I've honestly wanted a Windows machine for some time. I know Mac OSX has it's ups, I've been using OSX since 2003 (I had an ibook before this and used it until it completely crashed and burned, screen of death, in 2010), and I'll continue to use this laptop for things until it stops working. Its' portability and low weight is pretty great I admit so I'll be using it for simpler things / moving it around campus.
Click to expand...

What I am saying is that you should compare any new laptops with your macbook and set up bootcamp on your macbook if you can't find a machine with better value. Also Windows 7 Ultimate is $30 from the bookstore at my university so you should check your university bookstore for a copy of Windows for your system.

$500 is a lot of money so if you are fine with using that Macbook or spending some money to upgrade that Macbook then you would be better of with keeping your existing hardware.

If you still want to buy a windows laptop then I would recommend either Asus or Lenovo.
 
Yeah. The one I'm getting is an Asus.
I am fine with using it, yes, but I do want something more, which is why I am going for it.
 
Aviarei said:
Yeah. The one I'm getting is an Asus.
I am fine with using it, yes, but I do want something more, which is why I am going for it.
Click to expand...

Good luck then. Since you are graduating from college check your bookstore for any software that you might need, Also register as a student on students.autodesk.com before your student email gets deactivated so you can get free Autodesk software for your new laptop during the next 4 years.
 
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