Recommendations on New Laptop?

SLZMatrix

I need a new laptop. The laptop needs to have high gaming capacities and homework capacities, as thats going to be it's basic jobs. I don't really have a price range, I'll just save up to whatever amount.

Im looking for a high RAM and the ability to set graphics to high on games.

As lame a question as this is, I'd rather get direct simple feedback than searching the webs or stores without really knowing what i'm looking for.

Esh

SLZMatrix wrote: »

I need a new laptop. The laptop needs to have high gaming capacities and homework capacities, as thats going to be it's basic jobs. I don't really have a price range, I'll just save up to whatever amount.

Im looking for a high RAM and the ability to set graphics to high on games.

As lame a question as this is, I'd rather get direct simple feedback than searching the webs or stores without really knowing what i'm looking for.

Is there some reason you need this all in one? Why not buy a netbook and a gaming desktop for cheaper? For what you want, you're going to end up with a behemoth (as in large size), hot running, shitty battery life of a machine. "Games on high" is pretty subjective as well. You should be a little more specific.

Are you taking this to school or something? Trust me, you don't want to lug a gaming laptop with "the ability to set graphics to high on games" around to classes.

Besides, by the time you save up, something newer and better will be out than what we can recommend right now. You should probably set out some sort of upper price limit on this.

EDIT: Also, try digging around in the Technology sub-forum. This question pops up periodically.

http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=142895

MushroomStick

ASUS has a few rock ass gaming laptops in the $1500-$2000 range. Of course if its going to take you a few months to come up with the money, that recommendation may change.

SLZMatrix

I don't plan on bringing the laptop around with me for classes. I'm better off just writing down notes, as I'm a pathetic typer. So really, its going to lurk on my desk. And by high settings, I mean for example, a high distance render and high graphics settings in games that have the option. As of now, I usually run all games at the lowest settings.

Iceman.USAF

The Sony Vaio Z's heading to the US are looking pretty amazing. It has a dock type thing that has a discrete graphics card so that's a plus. It's also only 13" or so that's pretty slick, with a 1080p screen. I'm seriously debating one, depending on what the new Macbook Air's look like.

Skoal Cat

SLZMatrix wrote: »

I don't plan on bringing the laptop around with me for classes. I'm better off just writing down notes, as I'm a pathetic typer. So really, its going to lurk on my desk. And by high settings, I mean for example, a high distance render and high graphics settings in games that have the option. As of now, I usually run all games at the lowest settings.

Are you planning on bringing it to LANs regularly or some other reason it needs to be extra mobile?

SLZMatrix

Oh shit, totally forgot about this thing. It doesnt need to be really mobile. It can be fat and massive.

Shadowfire

If you want a great gaming laptop, there are two brands I'll recommend. The first was already named, ASUS. I have the G51JX and absolutely love it, but it's a year old now. I'm still running anything new on medium (including The Witcher 2). The performance isn't the only reason I recommend them, though. Their service is excellent. My system hasn't had any issues, but the few stories I've heard have involved making a phone call, getting the box the next day, sending out the system, and getting it back in just a few days. Turn-around time is excellent. Also, the first year of the warranty covers accidental damage, so if some moron drops a soda on your laptop, you're covered.

The other brand is Sager. They're a bit more expensive than ASUS, but also a bit more powerful. I've also heard excellent things about their service.

As for where to buy, I picked mine up from XoticPC. Again, a bit more expensive than, say, Amazon, but they allowed for some customization options (including RAM at a cheaper price than crucial.com), and again, their service was excellent.

MushroomStick

Tigerdirect has that ASUS G73 stealth bomber looking laptop on sale for like $1200 right now. If I was in the market for a gaming laptop, I'd definitely give that one a hard look.

Hypatia

I feel like I'm going to get yelled at, but I'm actually really happy with my Alienware (which I was actually pretty reluctant to get). I've got an M17x R2, so it's older and they've got more newfangled ones out now, but even though it's a brick I've humped it along all over the place and it feels totally worth it when I can do games and graphics/video/animation type work while traveling.

It's expensive and it sounds like it's hard to get them to give 10-20% discounts anymore, but I love mine after using it for about a year now.

Shadowfire

Look, the Alienware systems are often pretty nice. The problem is when things go to shit, you have to deal with Dell. And then things really turn to shit.

Tam

wait wait, if this thing is just going to sit on your desk, why get a laptop?

Shadowfire

Tam wrote:

wait wait, if this thing is just going to sit on your desk, why get a laptop?

I'm not sure his reasons.. he didn't say why explicitly. I'll say that I got a laptop which I rarely move around because I don't have room in our apartment for two desktops, and my wife plays more PC games than I do.

Esh

Tam wrote:

wait wait, if this thing is just going to sit on your desk, why get a laptop?

I think it's because he's away at school, and hauling a desktop back home after the Summer would be a pain.