New Gaming Laptop

DarkJaggered · February 2016

Well this is the only spot I could think of going to ask this question sense there isn't a tech gear/computer subforum... I'm in the market to get a new Gaming setup and will be going with a laptop. Anyone know of a good site to buy from? That brands to look at? If any of said brands very coming out with new stuff soon? Price range is 1500 to 2000.. and I'm looking at a laptop cause I'll need it for when I'm traveling and wanting to game.

Johngo0036 · February 2016

Hi,

Asus have some very nice gaming laptops at very reasonable prices,

I would say Alienware but hey that is like the Rolls Royce of gaming laptops..

tinythinker · February 2016

I know the links are from Amazon and are in the $1300 price range, but they give a chance to see different spec/price options and reviews fairly easily so you can consider whether the upgrades in the $1500-$2000 range are worth it:

MSI GE72 APACHE PRO-242 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop | Or visit the MSI site

ASUS ROG G751JT-WH71(WX) 17-Inch Gaming Laptop, Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M 3GB DDR5 VRAM, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD (Win 10 Version) | Or visit the Asus site

ContraTempo · February 2016

I got mine from XoticPC and I love it. They offer a variety of brands but I went with a Segar for more bang for the buck. The biggest feature XoticPC offers is that they will "Redline" the operating system. That means they go in and take out all the bloatware, fix the insane settings, turn off unnecessary processes, etc. The result is a very stable machine with FAST boot time and run speed. Since you are already pushing the envelope to do gaming on a laptop you do want it optimized. AIRC that service was an extra $50 and came with a recovery disk with the redlined OS on it. Best $50 I ever spent. This also made it better than getting it direct form Sager/Clevo since they don't offer that service.

Other suggestions:

Get SSDs, not hard drives. Just forget the hard drive. Leave them out completely. The speed of SSDs is just amazing. As a bonus, it runs much cooler and weighs less with no hard drive. If you MUST have a hdd (for backup or whatever), get an external.
Get the latest, fastest NVIDIA chip you can afford. It should be made using the Maxwell process which runs faster and cooler. XoticPC will overclock it for you to it's maximum stable speed for a modest fee. Unless you do that for a living they are much better at it than you.
When deciding how much performance you are willing to pay for, remember that you will own this machine for years so something that is just enough today will be painfully sluggish in a few years. Choose your processor and memory accordingly.
Don't try to get a compact case. The smaller the space they cram those components into the hotter it will run, and heat is your laptop's number 1 enemy. I keep mine up on a wire rack which gives it lots of ventilation and gives me a little space underneath to store my gamepad :-)
A 15in screen will use less power than an 18 inch screen. It will also produce less heat. You have to ask yourself if the bigger screen is worth it to you. Mine is hooked up to dual 27in monitors 95% of the time so the screen is just for those rare
times I take it traveling. YMMV.
Get an extra charger if you can afford it. I wish I had. Mine has not had any problems but it occurred to me that when it does go out (they all do eventually) I will be without my computer for days until a replacement arrives.
Don't pay extra for stuff you won't use. Extra drive bay if you don't need it (and with SSDs and one optical drive you won't). Backlight keyboard, touch screen if, like me, it will be hooked up to monitors and a keyboard most of the time anyway. You can get a good backlight USB keyboard for a good price on Amazon.
Look for their package deals. For instance, I got the Redlined OS, processor, and graphics for less than the regular price of any two of those by getting their "Boost Package" for $99.

Good luck!