Gaming laptop under $1000

cpugeek13

So i'm looking for a decent gaming laptop for under $1,000 USD.

The one i'm leaning towards right now is this Sony: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/sony-vaio-fw560f-t/4505-3121_7-33776105.html?tag=mncol;lst

I'm also looking at this Asus: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-g60vx-rbbx05/4505-3121_7-33776097.html?tag=mncol;lst

I don't really care if it has a blu-ray player or an hdmi hookup. I'm traveling a lot, so it can't be too big or heavy. I would prefer it be from a major computer company, as they generally offer good support. I know a lot of people who have had their Dell laptops break easily, so I would like to stay away from that brand if possible.

Anyone have any suggestions?

WIckedkarma

ibuypower.com has some fantastic stuff I got a lot of my friends turned onto them and they couldn't be happier.
Even got my last desktop from them.

LaCabra

Wow, those laptops are pretty cheap.

WIckedkarma

Not to sound like a commercial but they have fantastic support. If any of you remember TechTV, The Screen Savers recommend them which was how I found out about them.
Everyone I know that has made a purchase either desktop or laptop has loved it to death and no had a problem yet.

Ryna

You want a gaming laptop?

You want the most powerful GPU you can afford in there.. Remember you ain't gonna be able to upgrade it

Hence I'd go with that Asus or something similar

Tw4win

I just picked up the ASUS on Monday and it's a decent machine. I haven't done too much with it since I have a powerful desktop at home but I'm fairly confident that it's going to be able to play just about anything for the next couple of years.

I'm slightly annoyed at the processor speed but the built in "Overclocking" software bumps it up to 2.2ish, which isn't bad.

One really strange thing that I can't figure out.... Everything I've read about this machine says it contains a "Core 2 Duo" processor but the sticker on the laptop itself says "Celeron2." CPU-Z reads at Core2Duo so I'm thinking that ASUS just screwed up the stickers.

Advent

I just picked up an ASUS G Series G51Vx-X3A open box on newegg for 950.

Daedalus

WIckedkarma wrote: »

ibuypower.com has some fantastic stuff I got a lot of my friends turned onto them and they couldn't be happier.
Even got my last desktop from them.

iBuyPower ripped me the fuck off. Granted, this was a few years ago now, but I bought a laptop from them, had to send it in for warranty service because the hard drive broke. There was also a small crack on the plastic outside the screen. I taped a note to the laptop telling them to repair the screen if and only if it was covered by the warranty. I call them two months later asking where the hell my laptop is, they tell me that they're sending me an invoice for $1000 for the "screen module". I had to threaten legal action to get it back without paying them money.

the punchline: the screen casing developed a crack in the exact same spot a couple weeks later; it was a design flaw. The spring holding the laptop lid pressed against a weak part of the plastic or something.

I dunno, this was years ago but I still wouldn't trust them.

edit: also, after I got rid of my gaming laptop and replaced it with a gaming desktop and an Eee subportable, I was a much happier person.

Banana-Man

I'm looking for the same thing actually, and was considering picking up this guy - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114785

I'm a tech noob though, so I'm not really sure if that's the best bang for your buck - but all (see "four") of them seem pretty solid.

spidah

is iBuyPower any good? I was thinking of getting their 15 inch with the 2.5 ghz and the ATI Radeon HD 4650 vs a Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 vs a Sony something

bobmyknob

If portability is important, this seems like a good buy and it has some pretty good reviews around the net.

Not the fastest video card, but it should run most games pretty well.

vegeta_666

This is a little bit over the price range but if you can swing it, this is an excellent one.

psychotix

Daedalus wrote: »

WIckedkarma wrote: »

ibuypower.com has some fantastic stuff I got a lot of my friends turned onto them and they couldn't be happier.
Even got my last desktop from them.

iBuyPower ripped me the fuck off. Granted, this was a few years ago now, but I bought a laptop from them, had to send it in for warranty service because the hard drive broke. There was also a small crack on the plastic outside the screen. I taped a note to the laptop telling them to repair the screen if and only if it was covered by the warranty. I call them two months later asking where the hell my laptop is, they tell me that they're sending me an invoice for $1000 for the "screen module". I had to threaten legal action to get it back without paying them money.

the punchline: the screen casing developed a crack in the exact same spot a couple weeks later; it was a design flaw. The spring holding the laptop lid pressed against a weak part of the plastic or something.

I dunno, this was years ago but I still wouldn't trust them.

edit: also, after I got rid of my gaming laptop and replaced it with a gaming desktop and an Eee subportable, I was a much happier person.

This x10000000000000

A gaming laptop is a really bad idea. In a lot of cases gaming GPU's suffer serious design flaws that are inherent and not avoidable. Replacing them is a royal pain, if it can be done at all, and the only "fix" you are likely to get is a BIOS update you run yourself that downclocks the card. Top it off that the GPU's don't really compare to their desktop counter parts (that 260gtx mobile isn't a real 260) and you've got less performance and more cost, don't try it. Not to mention it will suck power like a mule so battery life goes out the window.

Getting it from a major company isn't going to improve reliability. When it turned out every single one of nvidias mobile parts were bad and prone to being dead, it didn't matter who you went with, HP, dell, apple, all fucked. Ditto for battery explosions.

If you want a reliable one, you're looking at one of the more expensive boutique brands and it's going to be rather large, and way out of your budget.

Also ASUS support is god fucking awful, atleast for motherboards and GPU's when they fry.

Bruan

WIckedkarma wrote: »

ibuypower.com has some fantastic stuff I got a lot of my friends turned onto them and they couldn't be happier.
Even got my last desktop from them.

Which desktop did you get? I'm currently in the market for one.

Teth

Of those two, the Sony is a better option in my opinion for gaming. If for no other reason that they're comparable, but the Sony can have 8 GB of RAM installed.