Hardware Need help choosing a laptop

[tehnoobshow]

Hi guys,
So my dad was gonna buy me a new PC next month but he's suddenly changed his mind and said he will buy me a laptop instead (according to him our current desktop pc is fine) and he's willing to dish out up 500-550 pounds. But i need help choosing a good laptop.

I want one that is very fast and is good for high quality games and i would like the hdd memory to be around 500-600gb.
Also i would like one with a good movie and graphics card.

Oh and i wouldn't mind if it had hdmi output.

with all this in mind any suggestions?

would really appreciate it

thanks

 

[Raiser]

Don't know much about laptops but..

~550 pounds won't be enough for a laptop good enough to play high quality games on *high settings*.

To be the most cost-effective, I'd leave the gaming for desktop computers unless you have enough money to dish out for a gaming laptop.

 

[twiztidsinz]

Make a list of Mobile GPUs that will play the games you want: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Game...ds.13849.0.html
Search through online shops with a filter (Newegg.com can do this, but you're in the UK) for those GPUs or find a list of laptop models that have those GPUs
Get a minimum of a dual core @ 2.2GHz
Get a minimum of 4GB of RAM (6GB is nice, 8GB is pretty much overkill)

I recently helped my friend shop around for a laptop for college and he found a real nice one for just under $600 USD -- but then his dad went out and bought him one (slightly faster CPU, slightly weaker GPU, bigger screen).

Don't know much about laptops but..

~550 pounds won't be enough for a laptop good enough to play high quality games on *high settings*.

550 Pounds is $893 USD or $879 CAD... Stick to your first point.

 

[tehnoobshow]

Don't know much about laptops but..

~550 pounds won't be enough for a laptop good enough to play high quality games on *high settings*.

To be the most cost-effective, I'd leave the gaming for desktop computers unless you have enough money to dish out for a gaming laptop.
Damn that only just occured to me........i may have persuade to buy a more expensive laptop might be able to to if i get three A grades in my next three science gcse's.

QUOTE(twiztidsinz @ Mar 20 2011, 07:23 PM) Make a list of Mobile GPUs that will play the games you want: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Game...ds.13849.0.html
Search through online shops with a filter (Newegg.com can do this, but you're in the UK) for those GPUs or find a list of laptop models that have those GPUs
Get a minimum of a dual core @ 2.2GHz
Get a minimum of 4GB of RAM (6GB is nice, 8GB is pretty much overkill)

I recently helped my friend shop around for a laptop for college and he found a real nice one for under $600 USD -- but then his dad went out and bought him one (slightly faster CPU, slightly weaker GPU, bigger screen).

Thanks gonna look at this with him when he gets home from work.........might take a look at it by myself in the mean time.

 

[Raiser]

Don't know much about laptops but..

~550 pounds won't be enough for a laptop good enough to play high quality games on *high settings*.

To be the most cost-effective, I'd leave the gaming for desktop computers unless you have enough money to dish out for a gaming laptop.

Damn that only just occured to me........i may have persuade to buy a more expensive laptop might be able to to if i get three A grades in my next three science gcse's.

Don't get me wrong, with that much you'll still be able to get a decent laptop capable of running most games, just not on the highest settings (low ~ medium most likely).

 

[Advi]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

 

[tehnoobshow]

Don't know much about laptops but..

~550 pounds won't be enough for a laptop good enough to play high quality games on *high settings*.

To be the most cost-effective, I'd leave the gaming for desktop computers unless you have enough money to dish out for a gaming laptop.
Damn that only just occured to me........i may have persuade to buy a more expensive laptop might be able to to if i get three A grades in my next three science gcse's.

Don't get me wrong, with that much you'll still be able to get a decent laptop capable of running most games, just not on the highest settings (low ~ medium most likely).

Well i guess a laptop with mid-high settings would also be ok.

QUOTE(Advi @ Mar 20 2011, 07:27 PM)

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Yeah 600 probably the max he would be willing to pay.

 

[twiztidsinz]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

 

[Berthenk]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

Has been mentioned before, depends on the hardware inside the machine, so we're not replacing anything here.

 

[Advi]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

computing power =! quality, acer has pretty bad failure rates.

 

[twiztidsinz]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

Has been mentioned before, depends on the hardware inside the machine, so we're not replacing anything here.

Huh?

First off, no one in this thread (aside from me) mentioned Acer.
Second off, we're talking in general so specifics aren't an issue.
Advi was giving a list of cheap brands... Sony typically ISN'T cheap and Acer is, hence why I said "replace Sony with Acer".


QUOTE(Advi @ Mar 20 2011, 02:40 PM)

computing power =! quality, acer has pretty bad failure rates.

Can you back this up with anything more than anecdotal evidence?
Personally, I've not seen them fail any more than another big-name brand.

 

[tehnoobshow]

Personally i prefer sony and acer laptops over asus............

 

[Advi]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

Has been mentioned before, depends on the hardware inside the machine, so we're not replacing anything here.

QUOTE(Advi @ Mar 20 2011, 02:40 PM)

computing power =! quality, acer has pretty bad failure rates.

Can you back this up with anything more than anecdotal evidence?
Personally, I've not seen them fail any more than another big-name brand.

http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/

 

[tehnoobshow]

600 pounds is stretching it, but you can find a laptop that can play games at good settings for that price, just be sure to google components and check benchmarks for a general idea of how it will perform.

asus, toshiba and sony generally make good laptops for the money.

ultimately though, you would probably be better off making a desktop to play games.

Spoiler

I would help further, but the only major online retailer I know of is Newegg, being an american and all.

I'd replace Sony with Acer.
I think my friend got an Acer Aspire and he plays just about everything he owns on high or medium-high settings at 50~60FPS.

Has been mentioned before, depends on the hardware inside the machine, so we're not replacing anything here.

QUOTE(Advi @ Mar 20 2011, 02:40 PM)

computing power =! quality, acer has pretty bad failure rates.

Can you back this up with anything more than anecdotal evidence?
Personally, I've not seen them fail any more than another big-name brand.

http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/

I wouldn't mind an acer.......but probably gonna go for toshiba, sony or asus.

 

[twiztidsinz]

computing power =! quality, acer has pretty bad failure rates.Can you back this up with anything more than anecdotal evidence?
Personally, I've not seen them fail any more than another big-name brand.

http://www.squaretrade.com/pages/laptop-reliability-1109/

Good on you for not just randomly spouting off something as fact and actually having proof/evidence to back it up.

But, the data could potentially be skewed:QUOTE

Only malfunctions reported directly to SquareTrade are included in the data. Other malfunctions,
including software issues handled directly by the retailer, problems associated with product
recalls, and those fixed by software/firmware updates, may not be represented in this data.

But either way, you provided proof so I'm not going to argue and concede the point to you.

 

[Originality]

Consider the possibility of getting a Sandy Bridge laptop. Quote from wiki:

All mobile processors use Intel's Graphics sub-system HD 3000 (12 EUs).

Intel graphics aren't the best, but the HD 3000 has been shown to handle modern games like Starcraft 2.

 

[tehnoobshow]

Consider the possibility of getting a Sandy Bridge laptop. Quote from wiki:

All mobile processors use Intel's Graphics sub-system HD 3000 (12 EUs).

Intel graphics aren't the best, but the HD 3000 has been shown to handle modern games like Starcraft 2.

I want to play games like fallout 3, Mass effect 1 and 2, Portal and Crysis.

 

[Originality]

Wanna to play games like fallout 3, Mass effect 1 and 2, Portal and Crysis.

Want to try correcting the grammar?

I've heard Intel HD 3000 can play FO3 on medium settings, and I know it can play Portal flawlessly (Intel GMA 4500HD could, and that's 3 gens old). ME is a weird case though, since even though Intel GMA HD (last gen) is supposed to be good enough to run it, it won't launch. Don't know about HD 3000. As for Crysis... those who want to play it can use their gaming PCs using real graphics cards.

 

[EJames2100]

Does it have to have Windows?
Does it have to have a 1920x1080 resolution screen ?

And also is Intel HD 3000 Graphics acceptable ?

 

[Originality]

Maybe I should add, most of the Sandy Bridge laptops I've seen so far use Optimus technology. That means they'll come with Intel Hd 3000 AND a nVidia GPU.