[magicjames92]

Hi everyone. I'm buying a laptop and was hoping to get suggestions. I want to use it for gaming and adobe creative suite. 14-15" screen. Max price of $1200. Thoughts?

Thanks!

[Brain?!]

magicjames92, on 14 September 2011 - 04:02 PM, said:

buying a laptop
I want to use it for gaming

[Daman]

alienware

[magicjames92]

Brain- I still have a desktop, this is just for ease on the go, LANs etc

I'm looking at the alienware m14x (a bit expensive) and Asus G53SX right now.
Alienware: nicer build quality, lighter
Asus: Better specs, cheaper

[Blaze]

Just get one of those 500$ laptops to play games at LANs. No need to spend 1200$ on a laptop

[Brain?!]

magicjames92, on 14 September 2011 - 04:43 PM, said:

Brain- I still have a desktop, this is just for ease on the go, LANs etc

Oh, okay.

Blaze, on 14 September 2011 - 04:54 PM, said:

Just get one of those 500$ laptops to play games at LANs. No need to spend 1200$ on a laptop

That would be great if he wants to run NES emulators

[Nallycz]

I ended up getting the ASUS G53S. I5, GTX460m, 500gb hdd. It runs pretty well and came with what I'd consider minimal bloatware. I haven't had any trouble playing anything on it.

Just 2 complaints thus far:

1) Switching between power modes (high performance, battery saver, etc) there are ASUS options and they do change your desktop background... that's all... kind of annoying, but doesn't really much matter.

2) I spent a day trying to find a laptop case that would fit it and you HAVE to get a 17" laptop messenger bag due to the odd dimensions of the cooling system.

All in all, I've been pretty happy with it, but it's also my first laptop so not sure how much that says.

I'll be at the LAN saturday if you want to ask me any questions about it or see it in person. Should be able to recognize me by laptop with the 6Gv2 attached.

[TinFoil]

Sager/Clevo manufactures notebooks for other companies, namely Alienware. The only caveat is the fact that any order you make for a laptop requires around a month for processing and manufacturing, and that you have probably never heard of the brand before.

But if you want an Nvidia 55x/580M on the cheap, then there's not really much better you can do for the price. I have the NP5160 + 540M and play BFBC2 on medium settings at 1600x900 with DX9.

This post has been edited by TinFoil: 14 September 2011 - 05:43 PM

[Messer]

TinFoil, on 14 September 2011 - 06:41 PM, said:

Sager/Clevo manufactures notebooks for other companies, namely Alienware. The only caveat is the fact that any order you make for a laptop requires around a month for processing and manufacturing, and that you have probably never heard of the brand before.

But if you want an Nvidia 55x/580M on the cheap, then there's not really much better you can do for the price. I have the NP5160 + 540M and play BFBC2 on medium settings at 1600x900 with DX9.

Can you back up the reputability of the vendor (provide feedback of anyone who has bought from them before)? I'm sure they're a legitimate business, but you may want to be suspect of the manufacturer putting in the cheapest PSU they could find that would work for this.

[magicjames92]

Nallycz, on 14 September 2011 - 06:32 PM, said:

I ended up getting the ASUS G53S. I5, GTX460m, 500gb hdd. It runs pretty well and came with what I'd consider minimal bloatware. I haven't had any trouble playing anything on it.

Just 2 complaints thus far:

1) Switching between power modes (high performance, battery saver, etc) there are ASUS options and they do change your desktop background... that's all... kind of annoying, but doesn't really much matter.

2) I spent a day trying to find a laptop case that would fit it and you HAVE to get a 17" laptop messenger bag due to the odd dimensions of the cooling system.

All in all, I've been pretty happy with it, but it's also my first laptop so not sure how much that says.

I'll be at the LAN saturday if you want to ask me any questions about it or see it in person. Should be able to recognize me by laptop with the 6Gv2 attached.

Hey, how is the weight? It's like 8.6 lbs and that's a lot more than I'm used to. Too much to take to class a couple times a week? Also, keyboard and trackpad, how are those? I heard they were the biggest downside to it.

[Joga]

Messer, on 14 September 2011 - 07:26 PM, said:

Can you back up the reputability of the vendor (provide feedback of anyone who has bought from them before)? I'm sure they're a legitimate business, but you may want to be suspect of the manufacturer putting in the cheapest PSU they could find that would work for this.

As a user of a Sager laptop for the last 4 years, I can certainly vouch for their quality Actually bought mine from XoticPC too (which has excellent customer service). Sager/Clevo has really good bang-for-buck compared to most other OEMs.

[Warkid1993]

TinFoil, on 14 September 2011 - 06:41 PM, said:

Sager/Clevo manufactures notebooks for other companies, namely Alienware. The only caveat is the fact that any order you make for a laptop requires around a month for processing and manufacturing, and that you have probably never heard of the brand before.

But if you want an Nvidia 55x/580M on the cheap, then there's not really much better you can do for the price. I have the NP5160 + 540M and play BFBC2 on medium settings at 1600x900 with DX9.

I've got the Sager Np8130 a few months ago. Best bang for the buck i could find. It's not a flashy case like alienware or w.e crap people buy but it's definitely solid in design (separate heatpipes for GPU and CPU, keeps really cool) and the specs are also quite solid. I paid about $1.3k and i love it. Only problem is the sound card is underpowered and you might need an amp for a good set of headphones. Overall, the gtx 560m on this lappy is adequate and stays cool (can be upgraded tho to higher level cards if you want to spend more money). The i7 sandybridge i have is also pretty damn nice. SO yea, sager rawks.

[Nallycz]

magicjames92, on 14 September 2011 - 07:26 PM, said:

Hey, how is the weight? It's like 8.6 lbs and that's a lot more than I'm used to. Too much to take to class a couple times a week? Also, keyboard and trackpad, how are those? I heard they were the biggest downside to it.

I don't have much to compare it to, being my first laptop, but the weight I got used to for the most part after carrying it to class a couple times. The big issue isn't just the laptop, but the behemoth of a bag you need to carry it as well.

Trackpad seems alright, I keep my deathadder nearby even on the go, so I rarely use it. As far as gaming on the go goes, definitely bring your dedicated mouse with you. As far as browsing the internet and such, trackpad will suffice.

Keyboard is another issue since I don't care to bring my 6Gv2 to class with me, but after using the Cherry Black switches I can't tell if I need to deeply and firmly press the laptop's keyboard due to manufacturing or due to muscle memory due to different keyboard switches.

[Blaze]

Brain?!, on 14 September 2011 - 03:58 PM, said:

Oh, okay.



That would be great if he wants to run NES emulators

Honestly, have u looked at the specs of modern laptops? As long as u just play like TF2 SC2 and HoN (which is apparently what LanKnights is about) they will do fine.

Oh, and don't forget minecraft.

This post has been edited by Blaze: 14 September 2011 - 09:28 PM

[magicjames92]

Hey everyone, thanks for all the input. I ended up going with the m14x because of portability, plus I got a decent deal that included the alienware backpack and headset.