Hardware Best 15 inch laptop?

[benno300]

Hey tempers,

I would really like to know what you guys think is the best 15 inch laptop out now.
I would like to be able to play games on this (minecraft maybe even Skyrim?), I want it to have an full hd screen and at least 500gb of memory and 4-8 gb of ram and my budget is 1000-1200.
I have searched myself but all the laptops I found have a lot of issues like very noisy fans and such, I hope you guys can hel me out on this one
Thanks in advance,

Benno

 

[Originality]

Last I checked, no laptop/PC screen has ever been "non HD". If you mean 1080p on the other hand, no 15" screen has ever been 1080p (that I know of).

Try the Alienware M15x as a starting point, and look for equivalent ultrabooks from other manufacturers. Lenovo, MSI and Asus are good brands to start with, although also consider Toshiba, Samsung and Acer. Remember that when it comes to gaming on a laptop, there are 2 things that are more important than anything else. First is the graphics (if it doesn't tell you what graphics it has, it will only have integrated graphics). Second is the cooling. The bigger and more exotic the cooling system is, the less likely it is to overheat/burn out on you. Seriously, I've seen many a fried HP laptop due to bad cooling design. Anyway, as long as the graphics are strong enough, you can game on it (and as long as the cooling is good enough, you can get by without needing to buy a cooling pad... at least for the first couple months).

And no matter what laptop you like, always check out the reviews. I expect other users on the forums to start spouting some "Alienware/Dell/Acer/HP are crap" B$ - don't listen to them at first. First look at independent reviews, public reviews, and any review available... then look back here and see what we think. The reviews will tell you much more than any individual person's bad experience with on these forums.

 

[Berthenk]

Since you're Dutch I recommend you take a look around Tweakers.net, especially their Notebook Best Buy Guide of both April and February. There's a lot of reviews by the Tweakers team themselves and even more by users.
Also, check out Hardware.Info.

From here on out you're pretty much on your own.

 

[Rydian]

For deciding on the graphics, use this chart as a rough guideline, since the model numbers aren't that obvious in their designations (for example an HD 5430 is weaker than an HD 4890).
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu_list.php

And yeah, don't assume brand is everything.

 

[benno300]

Thank you all for answering, because pf the advice you guys gave me I think I'll be able to find my perfect laptop
Another question: is it better to wait for new ivy bridge laptops?

 

[Originality]

Ivy Bridge will have no effect on your gaming. What it may have an effect on is your battery life. Waiting is up to you, just keep in mind that if you wait long enough, something better will always become available. That cycle can continue forever.

 

[the_randomizer]

I recommend that you avoid Dell like the plague. Most other brands will suit your needs just fine.

 

[Originality]

I recommend that you avoid Dell like the plague. Most other brands will suit your needs just fine.

It begins...

 

[C-Kronos]

I recommend that you avoid Dell like the plague. Most other brands will suit your needs just fine.

It begins...

Well, Dell isn't exactly known for their quality.. That's not to say that all of their laptops are bad though; so, it's really important to check out various reviews on a specific product. By the way, isn't HP getting out of the computer business at some point? That would mean lack of proper support just in case something went wrong and if you didn't have the technical knowledge to repair it, you'd be screwed or you'd end up paying a good bit of money for some place to rip you off to repair it.

On a side note, my personal issue with Dell is they don't leave you with many options when it comes to upgrading one of their products..

Also, I wouldn't be so concerned about loud fans, you're probably not going to find a quiet laptop with "good" cooling.. Well, it really all depends on what you need the laptop for; in terms of gaming though, my comment is still valid.

Why are you intent on getting a laptop for gaming? For a lot of high-end games, a desktop is the way to go.

 

[Rydian]

The thing about HP dropping retail computer stuff was false.

Also laptops aren't meant for upgrading, across the board.

 

[benno300]

@[member='C-Kronos']
I want a gaming laptop because i need a new pc but i need to use it in college too so because I still want to play games i want one.
OT:What do you guys think about the new msi ge60 it seems all my the things I want are in there

 

[Originality]

There are better and there are worse, but it seems good enough. Looks like it has standard cooling though. Look for reviews to get a better idea of how it performs.

@[member='Kronos'], Dell are known for cutting corners. They still make some very good laptops. The only reason why they seem to have a higher failure rate than most, is because they produce a lot more than most (Dell are also known for mass production, hence cutting corners to maximise profit). In reality, they're not much worse than Acer.

 

[benno300]

@Originality
are there better ones for this price?
(1100€)

 

[the_randomizer]

It begins...

I worked for Dell Small-Medium Business Tech Support, I know firsthand how bad they are, and I am entitled to my opinion. Their monitors, however, aren't half bad.

Why are you intent on getting a laptop for gaming? For a lot of high-end games, a desktop is the way to go.

I beg to differ. My Lenovo can run games just fine with a laptop cooler.