Finally feeling the need to treat myself for all my hard work (hey, let me justify this!)

I like my old Alienware m15x, but have heard mixed things about the newer ones. Any suggestions for a new kick-ass gaming laptop?

Thanks in advance!

11/26/2010 11:44:58 PM

asus is a good popular brand for gaming laptops

no way in hell you need to spend $2-3k on a laptop though unless you want a mac

i got this a month ago message_topic.aspx?topic=591091#14361678 and it's about as maxed out as i could get it

i7 620M (2.66 GHz)
15.6" LED Backlit, 1600x900
8 GB DDR3 RAM
128 GB Crucial RealSSD C300 SSD

spent $1300 on it, and i'm selling the original 4 GB RAM and 320 GB 7200 RPM hard drive that came with it to knock the effective cost even lower

[Edited on November 27, 2010 at 12:33 AM. Reason : questionable adjective]

11/26/2010 11:51:49 PM

asus laptops get blow some serious heat, and most of the time the vents are pointing right at your right mouse hand

11/26/2010 11:56:30 PM

Ya, only asus laptop I've put my hands on was a friend's. It felt cheap and plasticy and WAS very hot. Though it certainly wasn't one of the top models.

11/27/2010 12:07:56 AM

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/OrderItemDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&langId=-1

That's a pretty solid laptop with a SSD which is probably the single best upgrade you can get these days to make your computer feel faster.

11/27/2010 1:36:49 AM

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=5664878

Here's one with a 3D display (and glasses) as well as dual HDs, with one HD being solid state.

11/27/2010 1:46:45 AM

Um.

If you have 2-3k to blow, why not get a gaming desktop AND a gaming laptop? Easily within budget, even with some serious fucking hardware.

11/27/2010 3:12:05 AM

Thinkpad W series is on my hit list.

HD screen, wacom tablet in the palm rest, then the cous de grace - a fold out second screen to keep you email, chat and RSS streaming while you game

Quote :

"Processor1 Intel Core i7-720QM Processor (6M Cache, 1.60GHz) Operating system12 Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Display type 17" WUXGA RGB-LED-BL + 10.6" WXGA LED-BL System graphics NVIDIA Quadro FX 2800M 96-core CUDA parallel computing processor 1GB (dedicated) Total memory12 2 GB PC3-8500 DDR3 SDRAM 1067MHz SODIMM Memory (1 DIMM) Pointing device Ultranav + Number Pad + Fingerprint Reader Primary Hard Drive4 320 GB Hard Disk Drive, 5400rpm Optical device5 Multi Recorder Optical Drive (12.7mm) Battery60 9 cell Li-Ion Battery Bluetooth None Integrated WiFi wireless LAN adapters10 ThinkPad bgn Wireless"

Quadro 128 core + quad core i7 - and you can run RAM up to 16GB. This thing will rip through HD video, 3D editing, and anything else you can throw at it without breaking much of a sweat

[Edited on November 27, 2010 at 9:16 AM. Reason : yes plz.]

11/27/2010 9:03:12 AM

Quote :

"That's a pretty solid laptop with a SSD which is probably the single best upgrade you can get these days to make your computer feel faster."

Link takes me to an empty shopping cart.

Quote :

"Here's one with a 3D display (and glasses) as well as dual HDs, with one HD being solid state."

Haha! Holy shit, a 3d screen on a laptop? That's a bit much. Plus I'd prefer something closer to the $2,000 mark.

11/27/2010 11:46:11 AM

hahaha must see ASUS ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i606f47SK90

11/27/2010 8:20:41 PM

hard to justify a new gaming laptop when the pc gaming market is pretty dead and all the games coming out are back ports designed for shitty xbox360 hardware..

[Edited on November 28, 2010 at 10:09 AM. Reason : lenovo w-series with extra screen takes the cake on laptops though]

11/28/2010 10:07:44 AM

^Things are warming back up this spring and summer. Portal 2, the new Crysis, et cetera. It's been a resoundingly awful 2010 for PC gaming though, yes.

11/28/2010 12:36:02 PM

Quote :

"lenovo w-series with extra screen takes the cake on laptops though"

How much do those weight? For work I have a 17" WUXGA+9*&^& (1920x1200) dell and it's almost 10 lbs. I can't imagine if they started cramming extra crap in the screen.

[Edited on November 28, 2010 at 4:43 PM. Reason : sd]

11/28/2010 4:43:13 PM

I'd not recommend the dell XPS series if you plan on using it in your lap a lot. Mother fucker burns my legs if I'm not wearing pants, and apparently laptop heated balls are bad for your little swimmers.

11/29/2010 1:04:36 PM

^It's also an overrated brand. I too owned one, and I don't recommend them.

11/29/2010 4:22:18 PM

Starcraft II came out a few months ago, how PC gaming is dead is beyond me...

11/29/2010 4:31:28 PM

seriously and both Black Ops and New Vegas look way better on PC.

Plus Minecraft!!! haha. Didn't PC game sales go up like 103% in August because of SC2 alone? With 1.5 million copies sold in the first 48 hours?

11/29/2010 4:48:49 PM

^,^^ most people haven't been saying it's dead, but that this is a dead period for developers and game launches for PC exclusive titles. SCII has been literally the only major title in a long, long time, and we still have a ways to go before the next round of them. SCII was a big deal, but it's one game. Speaking for the platform as a whole, we've been in a major drought period while waiting for the return of the flagship PC titles (of which StarCraft was one, yes).

11/29/2010 5:36:07 PM

pc gaming that generates any revenue = flash popcap browser games, mmo's (and wow is really the only one of note), sc2. the rest are dwarfed, by orders of magnitude, by their console counter parts. this is so much the case that game engines are designed for xbox 360 (lowest common denominator) first and then back ported. better lighting, higher framerates, post processing (AA and antistrophic filtering) and higher res textures are about the only advancements you see over console gaming. what was the last good engine designed with the pc in mind? pc gaming is emphatically dead, there just happen to be a few console scraps thrown to the pc market to keep the enthusiast hardware market going. I can't think of a single game that taxes even a midrange setup these days

11/29/2010 6:12:03 PM

Quote :

"I can't think of a single game that taxes even a midrange setup these days"

Huh? How bout ANY of the newer games. Crysis still does. Dirt 2, Stalker, Metro 2033, Alien V Predator, BFBC2, etc. Plenty of games still tax higher end systems with settings turned up. Especially if you're playing at 1920x1200 or 2560x1600.

But I agree to the major drought period. I wouldn't say PC games are going to die out but designers need to get back to their roots and stop porting so many shitty console games to PC and start doing their own thinking.

11/29/2010 6:22:38 PM

Clevo!

15.6"
http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=16491

17.3"
http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_configurator.asp?PRID=17560

11/30/2010 2:50:02 AM

Yep, go for the clevo.

I'd say you could go with xoticpc.com as they have fair prices and will price match.
I got a sager np8662 last year and am quite happy with it.

[Edited on December 1, 2010 at 10:41 PM. Reason : info++]

12/1/2010 10:40:38 PM

what a helpful first reply qntm

you direct him to a product thats out of stock

12/2/2010 5:12:29 PM

it was in stock the other day. the point is, you can get a plenty kick-ass laptop for less than 2-3k

12/2/2010 5:18:27 PM

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

I'll never buy a different brand laptop.

[Edited on December 2, 2010 at 5:30 PM. Reason : ]

12/2/2010 5:30:07 PM

^think the OP is looking for a much more powerful computer. With Apple you're paying for the brand and pretty case, not the hardware. Currently you can get a much more powerful computer for half the price as a Macbook Pro.

Only reason I have one is because I like the case, the battery life is great, and it's pretty. Although my 13" MBP isn't designed all that great. The bottom flexes too much and clicks every time I put pressure on the left side. Also the clips that hold the bottom make noises when you put pressure on it too. Quite annoying.

For real computing I use my desktop though.

12/2/2010 5:33:56 PM

Quote :

"15.6" LED Backlit, 1600x900"

that kind of resolution is what i'm looking for in a new laptop, but it seems you can't get that without paying $texas. I'm typing on a 4-5 year old Dell with a 15.6" LCD with 1680X1050 that I bought for $500-$600. Why can't they make a 15.x laptop today with similar resolution for the same money?

12/2/2010 6:23:52 PM

Quote :

"With Apple you're paying for the brand and pretty case, not the hardware."

I wouldn't call the case just "pretty". It's solid aluminum, which helps to protect it from water, dropping damage, and scratches. It also comes with a lot of other really useful things that you can't find on other laptops. The power cable is awesome. It's magnetically connected so if it is knocked out it doesn't cause any damage. It also waits for a good connection before charging which helps to protect against the inevitable battery death that plagues PC laptops. It also automatically adjusts to ambient lighting as well as having a back lit keyboard, and the mouse is by far the best I've ever used on a laptop.

I'm no mac fanboy, I prefer android to ipod/iphone/ipad, the desktops and servers are waste of money for most purposes, but their laptops, while pricey, are worth it.

12/2/2010 7:17:07 PM

I agree to a point. Plenty of other laptops have all those features you mentioned (aside from maybe the magnetic power adapter). True the aluminum might save the laptop in certain circumstances but it flexes and clicks and makes cheap trash can lid noises and it's annoying. I've already gotten the bottom replaced once and it still does it.

Last time i took it to the apple store the genius bar literally said, "well don't put any weight on it while you're typing, hover your palms over it and it won't make the flexing/clicking sounds." I was like WTF and left. I think I'm going to have to resort to taking the bottom off myself and adding foam pads to prevent the sounds.

Plus I could get a much more powerful laptop for half the price. But to your point I bought it for other things than the performance of it and yes the trackpad/browsing experience is by far the best on any laptop.

12/2/2010 7:45:32 PM

Quote :

"it flexes and clicks and makes cheap trash can lid noises and it's annoying. I've already gotten the bottom replaced once and it still does it"

I've seen several and I've never heard of that, but I don't doubt there are problems, but those would come with any laptop. I consider it like a luxury car, sure you can faster car for cheaper, but you don't get all the things you get from a luxury car. I'm just presenting it as an option as far as high end laptops go. If performance is your primary requirement, by all means, get a PC, but if you want the bells and whistles for the experience as well as high end performance, I'd suggest the macbook.

12/2/2010 8:07:14 PM

^that's more than highly debatable. I used 2 mac's at work for over a year before the business went under (went from a G5 mac pro to a C2D iMac.) Near the end all but one of the 5 art guys were bringing their PC's in because we'd get more done in a day on our sub-$1K hardware than we were getting done on our $3K iMac's.

(We were all working in Adobe CS5 products, and we didn't even have win7 at this point. Vista Enterprise x64 was running circles around OSX.)

12/2/2010 10:21:33 PM

Just two posts ago I said:
"the desktops and servers are waste of money for most purposes"

Come on, I'm not trying to do an all out mac v. pc flame war. I'm just suggesting the benefits of a macbook as a high end laptop for personal use, which is the context of the thread.

12/2/2010 11:10:38 PM

I'm not flaming; I just wanted to say it comes down to your use. I use CS5 products to pay bills; and the PC experience (for me) has been far superior to the Mac experience.

If we're spending $2000 to browse the internet or an industry I have no experience in; sure.

12/2/2010 11:56:35 PM