Looking for new laptop

[Crushar]

Looking to purchase a gaming laptop as mine is getting rather old. Looking for something under or very close to 1k, that will be able to play new and current games with good graphics. Size is not an issue and I would prefer windows 7.
If anyone can give some info or suggestions that would be great thanks!

[LochnarITB]

Looking to purchase a gaming laptop as mine is getting rather old. Looking for something under or very close to 1k, that will be able to play new and current games with good graphics. Size is not an issue and I would prefer windows 7.
If anyone can give some info or suggestions that would be great thanks!

I love my ASUS. I've been using the G73jh from BestBuy (-BST7 version) for going on 3 years now, pretty much non-stop. It's been pretty much bulletproof. It does a great job of throwing all the heat from the graphics card, a real laptop killer, out the back. ASUS would be a good place to start looking. YMMV.

[kandrathe]

Looking to purchase a gaming laptop as mine is getting rather old. Looking for something under or very close to 1k, that will be able to play new and current games with good graphics. Size is not an issue and I would prefer windows 7.
If anyone can give some info or suggestions that would be great thanks!

I've bought my last two gaming PC's from http://www.ibuypower.com

I'm happy with their PC's. I've never tried their laptops. I modified their lowest end laptop to include ssd boot, and 7200rpm 2nd drive + shipping is just over $1300.

Valkyrie CZ-28 Gaming Laptop
1 x Case ( Valkyrie CZ-28 17.3" Full HD 1920x1080 LED-Backlit Display Laptop w/HDMI Port, E-SATA, USB 3.0, Illuminated Keyboard, Li-Ion Battery, Universal AC Power Adapter - Original Metallic black )
1 x Processor ( AMD A10-5750 APU [CZ-28] - [CZ-28] )
1 x Memory ( 8GB [8GB x 1] 1600MHz DDR3 SO-DIMM Laptop Memory - Corsair or Major Brand )
1 x Video Card ( AMD Radeon HD 8970M 2GB GDDR5 Video [CZ-28] - [CZ-28] )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE] - Creative Labs Fatal1ty Gaming Headset - FREE with ALL Laptops )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE Game Download] - Crysis 3 + Bioshock Infinite + Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon - Free with purchase of any AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series Graphics Card (Single Card Only) )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE Game Download] - Sleeping Dogs + Hitman: Absolution + FarCry3 + 20% OFF code for Medal of Honor Warfighter - Free with purchase of AMD Radeon HD 7900 series video card )
1 x Free Stuff ( [FREE Game Download] - SimCity - Free with purchase of select AMD APU )
1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 120 GB ADATA SSD - Single Drive )
1 x Data Hard Drive ( 500 GB 7200rpm Serial-ATA Super Slim Laptop Hard Drive - Single Drive )
1 x Optical Drive ( 8x Dual Format DVD±R/±RW + 16x CD-R/RW Combo Drive [CZ-28] )
1 x Flash Media Reader / Writer ( Built-in 4-in-1 Media Card Reader/Writer [Laptop] )
1 x Sound Card ( HD Audio with Creative Soundblaster Cinema )
1 x Network Card ( Killer E2200 Gaming Networking )
1 x Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi + Bluetooth Combo [CZ-28] )
1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )
1 x USB Ports ( Built-in 2x USB 2.0 Ports + 3x USB 3.0 Port [Laptop] )
0 x Carrying Case ( None )
1 x Video Camera ( Built-in 2.0 Mega Pixels Digital Web Video Camera )
0 x LCD Pixel Protection ( None )
1 x Warranty ( Standard Warranty Service - Standard One(1) Year Limited Warranty + Lifetime Technical Support )

[Lissa]

I agree with Loch, Asus does build some powerful and long lasting gaming laptops. I would also add MSI to the list too. I would definitely look for laptops with GTX 760M or higher. Might want to check the following:

MSI Gaming Laptops on NewEggg

[Kurosu]

My go-to brands for laptops are ASUS and Lenovo which I usually recommend to friends and family as well.
ASUS laptops generally had a good price/performance ratio to me, and Lenovo laptops have decent quality materials from what I've seen but can be more expensive than the former.

My last laptop bought last year was a Lenovo E520, one of their budget/mid range models, which was around €800, but a rebate knocked like €100 off the price which made it very decent for the specs.

One piece of advice I can give is that an important part is to check the specs of the screen. Cheaper laptops have lower resolution and lower quality screens (typically 1366x768), and nowadays you should want something better. Sometimes pricier laptops are still stuck with a lousy screen, and you should definitely avoid those since they're just not a good buy for a gamer.


Is there any reason in particular why you want a laptop over a desktop? If size isn't a problem like you mentioned, you'd be much better off with a desktop model instead.

[Crushar]

Wanting a laptop as I am going to college next year and don't want to lug a PC back and forth. Will look into the Asus laptops though thanks!

[Kurosu]

I see.

By the way, there is an outlet section for Lenovo at http://outlet.lenovo.com , seems to have some pretty great deals if you're in the US, so I feel it's worth a look.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with the company and never used that particular service, I just like the brand and stumbled upon it on another forum and thought it might be useful.

[Drasca]

Avoid MSI. They have thermal design / throttling issues, and unbalanced CPU/GPU combinations. The other thing to avoid on laptops is anything with a AMD GPU. Go Nvidia, the drivers are just that much more stable, and you won't want to deal with the issues that crop up with AMD GPU's on laptops. It just isn't worth it.

The Asus ones are indeed nice! The problem is the more power you want, the larger/heavier/expensive it will get. The Asus gaming series, which nice and balanced, is not sub 1k. If you want power, you'll have to pay for it, and it comes closer to 1500$ than sub 1000. I am not a fan of IBP or Cyberpower, as there's better laptop boutiques out there. Maingear (New Jersey iirc), Mythlogic (free display calibration, based in Michigan / Wisconson area). Avadirect (huge parts selection, Ohio), Eurocom (Canadian), even Origin, just to name a few.

The Nvidia 750m is actually the minimum you need, and can come in a smaller form factor, as small as 10-11" displays, which can be lighter. There's a variety of models it comes in as well.

http://anandtech.com/tag/mobile is a nice place to look for comparisons, and particularly you'll see the actual benchmark results here:

http://anandtech.com/show/7287/analyzing...-laptops/3

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Comparison-...130.0.html

Buying laptops is all about compromise, and you'll have to consider what you want most: Power (Will be more expensive, less portable), Budget (cheaper, decent enough, but no power or portability), or Portability (Ultrabooks, can be sub 1k, but more potentially more expensive), and find the sweet spot that suits you best.

I mentioned thermal throttling before, and I will do so again. Laptops with poor venting will overheat, cook themselves, and not perform well. Asus does a good job here, the Clevo based models all do well, but MSI is known for having poor thermal design.

Basically if you want power and are willing to pay a little more, get a clevo based model such as from Mythlogic / Avadirect/ Eurocom, with a nvidia 780M, and ideally a solid state drive. Asus gaming series is quite nice as well, but they do not offer the highest power GPU (780m), but do offer nice aesthetics and a complete package with build quality too. If you want portability, get an Asus Zenbooks (or other ultrabook), but they usually lack gaming power. I chose the 11" Clevo's with 750m's, lots of power for their resolution, but lots of portability too.

Clevo mythlogic review
http://anandtech.com/show/7250/mythlogic...7sm-review

Zenbooks, get the Prime if you are getting the UX31A.
http://zenbook.asus.com/zenbook/

The UX31A's small, sleek and about 800$ at amazon right now, and utterly gorgeous. That's the go to laptop for portability. Last gen CPU, but you get a price discount for it. Everything about it is top quality though.

Looking forward to the Zenbook refresh that's coming up.