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New laptop suggestions
KeyScourge
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Right.
I'm going off to Uni soon and as it will be totally impractical to lug my computer all the way there as well as unrealistic to think I'll have enough room to spare to keep it set up there. So I'm in the market for a laptop.
If possible, and if it isn't too much of a fool's errand in and of itself, I'm looking for one that's easy to carry around. Ya know, not too big, heavy and awkward. And I'd like to be of a good quality so that it can run games, which at the moment is something my current computer cannot do. Just so that on the odd occasion when I'm not crazy busy with work and stuff I can relax with games.
I'm going off to Uni soon and as it will be totally impractical to lug my computer all the way there as well as unrealistic to think I'll have enough room to spare to keep it set up there. So I'm in the market for a laptop.
If possible, and if it isn't too much of a fool's errand in and of itself, I'm looking for one that's easy to carry around. Ya know, not too big, heavy and awkward. And I'd like to be of a good quality so that it can run games, which at the moment is something my current computer cannot do. Just so that on the odd occasion when I'm not crazy busy with work and stuff I can relax with games.
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Based on my experience, a laptop will never be as awesome as a desktop in what it can do for high end gaming. Also, when I bought my laptops for gaming, I tended to buy the big 17" screen ones, so they weren't as portable as what you're talking about. I was still able to run basic games on them pretty well, but when it came to something like World of Warcraft, I needed the extra oomph from a desktop to get the full experience.
This is something we really need answered before we recommend specific laptops. I mean, I can recommend days worth of laptops that can "play games"... they just might not be the games you want to play.
I will say upfront that a laptop will never be as good as a desktop for modern PC gaming. Hardware changes way too fast and your top of the line, 17" beast of a laptop will be outdated in about say, 36 seconds. Plus, gaming laptops are not portable at all and are generally meant to be desktop replacements (with is kind of silly because it can't really replace a gaming PC).
Having said that, I game on a revision A 2006 Macbook Pro (256 MB ATI Radeon X1600 graphics, 2GB RAM, 2 GHz Core Duo) and it plays Company of Heroes just fine. CoH isn't Crysis intensive in terms of graphics, but I can play it on medium settings and it looks fine. I'm not advocating you buying an Apple computer, but I am saying that you don't have to spend a hojillion dollars on a "gaming laptop" when a medium spec machine will play a lot of games just fine.
For example, when I bought my first gaming/school laptop, it was able to run the games I wanted it to run just fine (Diablo II, Warcraft III, Neverwinter Nights). It was also able to run the WoW beta and orignal content to the extent that I could play the game with low video settings. (yes I play a lot of Blizzard games)
When I saw what newer laptops and desktops could do though, I knew I had to get another laptop. It was fine for a few years, but then had to be replaced to keep up with the new memory and graphics requirements of the expansions.
I think the other thing that you want to keep in mind when selecting your laptop is which programs your academic curriculum requires and which programs they have installed on their computers. If your school is primarily Mac-oriented, you'll want to look at one of those. If you expect to do a lot of statistical work, I would recommend going with a Microsoft OS. Knowing this will narrow your field down a bit.
For myself, I don't like Macs and have never needed them for their video/music capabilities. Therefore, it was an easy choice for me. In the past, I've looked at Dell and HP to see what builds were available. My experience with their customer service has gone downhill of late, but I would still consider getting a computer from them since it's the closest I can come to building a computer without actually building a computer (laptop or desktop).
You could try to get them to get you a lower end laptop and then just put some basic games on there for when you have some down time when you're out and about. For more extensive gaming at a lower price than PC gaming, you might want to invest in a console if you don't already have one. Just be careful about it if you end up living in the dorms. A friend of mine had his brand new X-Box stolen the first week he had it (granted he kept it out in the common area).
If I were you, I'd go low-mid range. Gaming on a laptop can be convenient, but if you're in Uni and you're taking a full load of courses, then chances are you may not spend enough time gaming on it to warrant the purchase.
Personally, I'd stick with a netbook as Saltiness suggested (the ASUS 1000HA is getting good marks). It won't play many games besides Diablo 2 and perhaps Warcraft 3, but honestly having a gaming laptop in college is more trouble than it's worth.
Weaboo List
http://forum.notebookreview.com/
Good?
Have you looked at Dell yet? They have VERY affordable full size laptops.
XPS M1330
Inspiron 13
That said, it sucks taking a desktop back and forth from college to home ( even if you only do this once every other month, its a pain) so you'd probably want a cheap laptop that can store homework, play your .mp3s and surf the web for when you head back home.
See, problem is that at uni there are huge computer rooms to use if you want to type shit there. So the only real bonus the laptop at uni gives you is in lectures - which is a bloody bad idea because I suspect it will hinder rather than help your work. If you really need to type up lecture notes then OK. But tbh there just is not the need for the laptop to write essays when you'll be better off using the desktop.
And again, the problem with gaming laptops is price, quality, upgradability, lifespan, portability, HEAT.
I recently bought a 15" laptop because I wanted more power than a netbook, but still needed mobility. I recently realized that for the $700 I spent on a laptop I could have spent $350 on a netbook and the other $350 upgrading my desktop to be a gaming beast.
So I would recommend bringing your desktop because college dorms are not always dungeons, but buying a netbook to take to class.
Edit, should that be insecure? >_>
Personally, I think a 15" laptop is a pretty good half-way house if you want to actually play some games. You should be able to find one with a 9600M at a reasonable price. It'll pretty much play everything out there (even Crysis, but don't expect the world). Game requirements aren't really going to go up for a while whilst everyone is focussed on developing for all three next-gen systems at once, so you've probably got a couple of years breathing room on most new releases.
Get a laptop lock! You should have one anyway.
I was very sceptical to the 13.1" Macbook screen, but it's all about the resolution. 1280x800 at 13.1" is approximately five times as awesome as 1024x768 at 15", which is what my last laptop had.
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Performance+and+entertainment&series_name=dv6t_series
16"
Under 7lbs
Not too pricey.
You'd just need to bump up the graphics card in the customization (to one of the ATI options). It should be able to play Assassin's Creed.
The only big concern would be heat. HP laptops do tend to generate way too much of it. Buy a cooling pad and you're set, though.
Our first game is now available for free on Google Play: Frontier: Isle of the Seven Gods
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10118685&catid=25315#
EDIT: I've been talking to others, and they keep saying, "but it's a DELL..." like that's some kind of bad thing. I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but what's wrong with DELL exactly?
So, to the OP, if you get this laptop, apparently you should be wary because it's a DELL.
I have a Dell laptop, and so do both of my friends. As far as I'm concerned they're pretty good, all my work PCs have been Dells as well and I've never had an issue with them. I wouldn't go with them for a home desktop as they tend to use a lot of proprietary hardware (it's just harder to upgrade) but that's not an issue with laptops.
I have had a couple of memory issues with my XPS but the warranty coverage has been good (apart from the whole india thing).
My issue with that laptop would be that it's got an Intel graphics chipset, so basically it's not going to be playing many games, and the screen resolution is a bit low, although I think you're boned in that respect with the newer Dell laptops.