Gaming Suggestions?

[sylux92]

I am looking for a decent laptop for college. I want to hear some recommendations. I want it to be good for gaming, with a decent CPU and GPU. I will welcome any suggestions, but I am looking for one preferably under $800. Also, is 17" too big to carry around to classes?

 

[Originality]

17" can be a lil large, but it's fine so long as you're comfortable carrying it. Chances are you're looking for a 15" though, since you want a balance between size and portability. FYI, I'ved used each of my 17", 15.6" and 12.6" laptops over the years going to University. Smaller screens are much easier to carry around, but you'll soon appreciate the improved visability of larger screens.

If you get a gaming laptop, or at least a laptop that's good for gaming, it will invariably have a fairly low battery life (2 hours if you're lucky). That's the price you pay for a good performance laptop. IMO it's better to focus more on battery life than performance for college use, but if you never stray far from a power plug, then you won't have any need for battery life.

My general suggestion would be the Acer Aspire 5740 that I'm currently typing on (since the power got knocked out for electrical works). It has a Core i5 and a 4.5h battery life, but the GPU is integrated so not that good. It can play Borderlands and Left 4 Dead and World of Warcraft at low settings though, so I'm sure it can handle the majority of the not-so-new games. It also cost only £550 (~$700, bit less). The main feature that made my dad buy it is the long battery life (which I've used to greatest effect not only at Uni but also travelling up and down the UK) and the powerful CPU to calculate his chess moves on.

There are far better laptops (ones with a dedicated GPU for instance), but they almost never have such a good battery life. It's your choice what you value more. Also, in a years time, there'll be Sandy Bridge CPUs that'll prolly offer new interesting variations on laptop components (they're supposed to be far more efficient than Core i3 and i5).

 

[myuusmeow]

I'd say 17" is huge, but then again my main personal computer is 8.9". Try out different sizes at stores, because you don't want to be stuck carrying around a huge heavy laptop. 15" is just about normal size for a normal backpack, if you want to go that route.

There are some laptops that have both integrated graphics and a dedicated card too that you can switch,
I'd look into those if you want gaming and battery life.

 

[Deleted User]

I'd say 17" is huge, but then again my main personal computer is 8.9". Try out different sizes at stores, because you don't want to be stuck carrying around a huge heavy laptop. 15" is just about normal size for a normal backpack, if you want to go that route.

There are some laptops that have both integrated graphics and a dedicated card too that you can switch,
I'd look into those if you want gaming and battery life.

17'' is a bit big to carry around to classes. If you want to carry your laptop around to classes then at most you should be looking at a 15.6'' laptop, even at that, I didn't like carrying my 15.6'' around to classes all that much. Inevitably, the bigger the screen, the heavier the laptop. You've also probably heard the argument for and against laptop, "gaming computers", but laptops in the sense of being a "portable computer" aren't really meant for gaming. They can't handle the heat as well as a desktop can and part-for-part they're more expensive.

Honestly, if you're looking for a decent GPU (this is 1-2 hours) at most, then this re-certified GTX260M looks like your best bet for (Unspecified Gaming)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prodct.aspx?...N82E16834220715
^Depending on how long you intend on gaming for you really show consider getting a laptop cooler.
At most you're going to get maybe 2 hours out of this laptop.

However, power isn't everything, and I'd strongly suggest that you look into a netbook that has an extensive battery life.
The reason I say this is because in the College/University setting you don't always want to be tethered to your power adapter.
It frees up your options and allows you more freedom in choosing your work-environment. Being able to work outside on a cool
day or in a cafe on a rainy day is just as valuable as a strong GPU, and it allows you to socialize better =P

They may not seem like it at first, but trust me you'll grow tired of lugging around your 10lb laptop
from class to class, day to day. Simply put, the sheer weight of a gaming notebook can cause back strain when coupled with your
textbooks and notebooks! Eventually, a 15.6'' notebook will end up sitting at your desk all day and night.

For that reason, I'll also recommend a netbook which is light, great battery life and portability and easy to fit into a backpack crammed with stuff XD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220682 - Advertised at 10+ hour battery life.

 

[Deleted User]

I did the same thing when going to sendary school. I have a Compaq CQ70 211-EM which is 17", it is way to big for lugging around to classes. It is also hard to get cases for something that size.

 

[Urza]

For that reason, I'll also recommend a netbook which is light, great battery life and portability and easy to fit into a backpack crammed with stuff XD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220682 - Advertised at 10+ hour battery life.

The main problem with netbooks however, is that pretty much all of them 10.1" or under have terrible keyboards, which I imagine is unacceptable for a system that's primary purpose will be taking notes, doing research and typing long essays on. If you do go the netbook route, make sure to take a 12" model. It makes a huge difference.

Assuming you have a place to put it, I would recommend putting 300-400USD into the netbook, then another 400-500USD into a desktop. That will quite easily buy you a system which will pretty much play anything on the market at high settings.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

For that reason, I'll also recommend a netbook which is light, great battery life and portability and easy to fit into a backpack crammed with stuff XD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220682 - Advertised at 10+ hour battery life.

The main problem with netbooks however, is that pretty much all of them 10.1" or under have terrible keyboards, which I imagine is unacceptable for a system that's primary purpose will be taking notes, doing research and typing long essays on. If you do go the netbook route, make sure to take a 12" model. It makes a huge difference.

Assuming you have a place to put it, I would recommend putting 300-400USD into the netbook, then another 400-500USD into a desktop. That will quite easily buy you a system which will pretty much play anything on the market at high settings.

I have a 10 inch netbook (it's the only computer I have at the moment) and the keyboard is actually nearly the same as a normal laptop's keyboard. I've also not (yet) encountered any real problems with it, of course I can't play games like CoD:MW2 with it, but as I primarily use internet browsers or music players (and occasionally for school I use text editors and all that) I don't see any need to buy a desktop. I paid €300 (which is about 400USD IIRC) for it and I must admit it's the best computer purchase I've ever made.

EDIT: if you want to know, it's a Samsung N130.

 

[Urza]

For that reason, I'll also recommend a netbook which is light, great battery life and portability and easy to fit into a backpack crammed with stuff XD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220682 - Advertised at 10+ hour battery life.

The main problem with netbooks however, is that pretty much all of them 10.1" or under have terrible keyboards, which I imagine is unacceptable for a system that's primary purpose will be taking notes, doing research and typing long essays on. If you do go the netbook route, make sure to take a 12" model. It makes a huge difference.

Assuming you have a place to put it, I would recommend putting 300-400USD into the netbook, then another 400-500USD into a desktop. That will quite easily buy you a system which will pretty much play anything on the market at high settings.

I have a 10 inch netbook (it's the only computer I have at the moment) and the keyboard is actually nearly the same as a normal laptop's keyboard. I've also not (yet) encountered any real problems with it, of course I can't play games like CoD:MW2 with it, but as I primarily use internet browsers or music players (and occasionally for school I use text editors and all that) I don't see any need to buy a desktop. I paid €300 (which is about 400USD IIRC) for it and I must admit it's the best computer purchase I've ever made.

Maybe it's just preference then, or less relevant for slower typists. I type about 130wpm (iirc), and on every 10.1">= model I've played with (at least a couple dozen) its cuts my speed by at least 30%. At one point I owned a 12" lt3103u which had the only keyboard I could do full speed on.

 

[Overlord Nadrian]

For that reason, I'll also recommend a netbook which is light, great battery life and portability and easy to fit into a backpack crammed with stuff XD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220682 - Advertised at 10+ hour battery life.

The main problem with netbooks however, is that pretty much all of them 10.1" or under have terrible keyboards, which I imagine is unacceptable for a system that's primary purpose will be taking notes, doing research and typing long essays on. If you do go the netbook route, make sure to take a 12" model. It makes a huge difference.

Assuming you have a place to put it, I would recommend putting 300-400USD into the netbook, then another 400-500USD into a desktop. That will quite easily buy you a system which will pretty much play anything on the market at high settings.

I have a 10 inch netbook (it's the only computer I have at the moment) and the keyboard is actually nearly the same as a normal laptop's keyboard. I've also not (yet) encountered any real problems with it, of course I can't play games like CoD:MW2 with it, but as I primarily use internet browsers or music players (and occasionally for school I use text editors and all that) I don't see any need to buy a desktop. I paid €300 (which is about 400USD IIRC) for it and I must admit it's the best computer purchase I've ever made.

Maybe it's just preference then, or less relevant for slower typists. I type about 130wpm (iirc), and on every 10.1">= model I've played with (at least a couple dozen) its cuts my speed by at least 30%. At one point I owned a 12" lt3103u which had the only keyboard I could do full speed on.

Could be. I type quite fast (I think about 100 wpm) but I haven't really noticed a difference in speed when typing on my previous computer (17 inch) and when typing on this one.

Also, to the interested, a quick Google search for reviews of the N130 gave me this, and it explains what I wanted to say quite well.

 

[Lodis]

17'' would be cumbersome to take to classes, even 15.6 will be annoying sometimes. You should take a look at the Alienware M11x.