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Hello fellow Teamliquid users ^^
Today my 6 year old iMac g5 died, and I'm looking to buy a laptop. The few I've been looking at so far are a little to pricey, such as the Alienware m14x (http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m14x/pd).
Basically what I'm looking for is a laptop that can run starcraft 2 on high settings, with no lag. I will be playing on low settings, but generally if it can run high, I know that in 200 food battles on low it won't lag. <$1000 is my budget, I've been looking at some so far:
Alienware m11x (http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m11x-r3/pd.aspx?ST=m11x&dgc=ST&cid=52212&lid=1344047&acd=s5UDMkBvf,14636207275,901pdb6671)
I like it, but it's screen is a little too small for me.
Lenovo IdeaPad (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146613)
I really really really like this one, but reviews say it heats up rather quickly, and it seems to die relatively fast.
HP Pavilion (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157045)
Once again, gets hot fast, and wifi and bluetooth work off of the same switch.
Having backlit keys would be REALLY great, but not essential. 320GB+ HDD is required, 4GBof ram+
is needed, and playing sc2 on high settings with 30+ fps is needed. Tomorrow I am going browsing at BestBuy, and will probably blog about that experience as well.
Anyways, please post any laptops would fit this criteria, especially if you have one and know what it's like!
As always,
Thanks TL ^^
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I can say that hte Ideapad is pretty good, ive used mine, the 560p, for over a year so far without any problems with graphics in sc2 or with big battles. Sure it does overheat fast, but I always have a laptop cooler so i never really notice much.
Genrally speaking, i tend to avoid dell products because most people say their products usually break down after warranty ends (after three years)
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I don't know a ton about computers, but I got my laptop from Best Buy so I'll tell you a little about my experience w/ it, and you can make of it what you will.
I got a Sony Vaio from Best Buy with i5, 4 gb RAM, nvidia 310m graphics, backlit keyboard, and ~680 GB hard drive. I didn't order it from their website, I just picked it up at the store. IIRC, it was around $800.
It runs SC2 just fine on low, even on 200/200 battles. I think the framerate would drop a little bit on medium/high 200/200 battles but I've never even tried, as I prefer low settings anyway.
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Thanks, these are very helpful, I will look at all of these soon
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Why exactly do you think you want a laptop over a desktop? Desktops give you a bigger bang for your buck. I bought an XPS M1730 3 years ago it was okay but then but now it's meh.. I personally would never buy a "gaming laptop" every again.
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I want a laptop so I can carry it around with me, I'm only in middle school so having a laptop for all my projects and stuff would really help. I have 2-3 of homework a night, and afterwords I play games. I could always bring it to my friends houses, like my friends that plays WoW all the time. I occasionally go over there, and there's nothing to do because he only has one computer. I think having 2 people playing together would be a lot more fun then watching one play, or lugging a desktop all the way over there.
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the acer aspire series comes out with good ones a lot, and they're on newegg. Mine is the 5742G-6600 but there are newer models with sandy bridge and the like all in the 700-1000 range, which is the usual price range that I choose.
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I think it makes a lot more sense to buy a desktop and a netbook. Best of both worlds: better gaming computer and lighter laptop to carry around. I'm pretty sure it ends up being cheaper or around the same price depending on the specs you wanted for the gaming laptop.
Also, while it would be harder to carry a desktop over to your friend's house, believe me, a laptop loses its value a lot faster than you would imagine.
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T.O.P.
Hong Kong4685 Posts
What size laptop do you want? You can't really run SC2 on high unless you want a really bulky laptop.
I disagree with the desktop lovers. Once I got a laptop, I can't go back to using a Desktop. It's just so much more convenient to be able to carry your computer anywhere.
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I don't like netbooks for 2 reasons
1. Keyboards are ridiculously hard to type on, and
2. They have relatively small Harddrives, espec less then 320gb
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I don't care about size, 14"+ is preferrable, actually. I don't like small laptops. Bulky is ok with me.
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On October 30 2011 09:55 T.O.P. wrote:
What size laptop do you want? You can't really run SC2 on high unless you want a really bulky laptop.
I disagree with the desktop lovers. Once I got a laptop, I can't go back to using a Desktop. It's just so much more convenient to be able to carry your computer anywhere.
You said it yourself. I once had a gaming laptop but I found myself using it as a stationary machine since it was way too bulky. They run way too hot, and gaming at those temperatures will make your parts die pretty quickly. The performance is also mediocre compared to the price you pay. Also if you are bringing it to class, you need to lug the power adapter as well since most laptops with dedicated GPU's last like 3 hours max on a 6 cell. Get a cheap and small notebook/netbook for a portion of your budget and use the rest on a desktop. The desktop will be faster than anything you can get on your original budget and you still have a mobile machine to do your work on.
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For a real gaming laptop, you're looking at something around $2000+, 2 hour battery life (which will deteriorate very quickly), and is difficult to repair.
You could alternatively get a 14" or 15.6" Lenovo laptop, I bought the E520 for $450 with a 9 cell battery that gives 10 hours of battery life.
Couple that with your own custom rig, my watercooled i7 system cost me $1050.
That comes to $1500. And you could go cheaper or more powerful if you want. More flexible and versatile. Netbooks these days are overpriced, get a cheap full sized laptop instead. This baby runs most of the games I want, and for the more intensive stuff, I have the desktop. Not to mention the girlfriend gets to borrow it when she needs to.
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I'm not taking it to school, I was going to use it at home to use for projects and such, I really dont care about bulk.
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Try tech support rather than blogs, we have some amazing helpers there
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I didn't even know that was there, can a mod move this post there?
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As someone who bought an alienware laptop to game on last year, I can tell you its better to buy a laptop and desktop separately. I bought an alienware m11x and regretted it, not because its a bad laptop. Its just a much better deal to buy a desktop for $500-600, which will run current gen games like battlefield on high settings and buy a notebook for $300-400. Unless you're changing where you are gaming every night its better to get a desktop for gaming and a laptop for work.
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The thing is my parents are divorced, and I switch houses every other week. On top of that, I stay with my grandma 1-2 times a week, so I'm constantly moving where I game. I also go to friends houses and stuff that play games, and would like to game there as well.
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^^ Very good one, if someone could find one like that but cheaper (I don't need a 750 GB HDD, I think finsing the same stuff with a 320GB HDD would be a lot cheaper) it would be much appreciated, I'm now on my phone, but I would search if I could.
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You definitely won't get the best price/performance ratio at Best Buy, your best bet is online.
I would suggest one of these at your budget:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230174 quad core i7, gtx 560M, although is recertified and 1600x900 res
http://www.logicbuy.com/deals/hp-envy-17-laptop/19986.aspx dual core i5, radeon HD 6850, 1920x1080 resolution.
im not sure whether or not these would be able to run sc2 on highest with 30+ fps throughout, but these, for the most part, offer the best price/performance at this budget.
you won't see many benefits from the quad core i7 if your primary usage is sc2.
EDIT: it's also fairly difficult to find a low capacity hard drive in a $1000 laptop.
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Hey I am in a pretty similar situation and was wondering anyone's opinion on the Asus G53Jw as a gaming and school laptop.
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On October 30 2011 11:54 LlOoKkIi wrote:
Hey I am in a pretty similar situation and was wondering anyone's opinion on the Asus G53Jw as a gaming and school laptop.
If you're in a similar predicament as the OP and cannot purchase a netbook and a desktop, it's a decent choice. however, the battery life on it would probably be subpar, and it's on the first gen intel processors, when you should be looking for one with a 2nd gen processor.
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I guess what I'm mainly looking for is a comp that can balance between gaming at a low-medium level, and is cheap.
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I happen to have a Alienware M14X ( Thank you Dr. Pepper Ultimate Gaming House ) and I have to say that it is a pretty nice computer, if a little bit expensive. It won't play SC2 on max settings but it should work on high. The Alienware is what I would suggest.
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ASUS G73, had it for 2 years already and it's still beasting BF3 on high, and what not!
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I still believe that Fusion is what you should always get for midbudget gaming laptops.
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EPT
