Another, probably redundant "what laptop should I buy?" thread...

[tiesto]

Need the advice of EB's resident expert hardware geeks... I am gonna be getting money to put towards a laptop for Christmas, as my desktop is a Pentium 4 from 2003... Not really a big PC gamer (mostly non graphic-intensive games) but it would be nice to be able to run Half Life 2 ep 3 and Diablo 3 when they are out. Must meet these requirements:

-around $1000-1200
-have a soundcard with surround options plus its own headphone jack (for DJing)
-decent-to-awesome graphics card
-Windows 7

Thanks for the suggestions!

[MCD]

i'm interested in this as well for my brother.

all he plays on his old dell inspiron laptop is command and conquer and since there is a new one coming soon, it would be cool if it can handle it at good to high settings.

[Fragamemnon]

I'll leave this to prole-I don't go any further than the netbook in terms of stuff I actually buy with respect to portables. Though I think his response will be some permutation of republic of gamers, in all likelihood.

[Tauntaun]

PC GAMING!

[Eel O'Brian]

$950, pretty much the same specs as mine with a little better GPU

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Blue/Black/9556072.p?id=1218124204092&skuId=9556072&st=asus

$1050, better processor

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+FX+Edition+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Centrino%26%23174%3B+2+Processor+Technology/9605365.p?id=1218130485627&skuId=9605365

$1150, same processor as above, but with 6GB RAM and a 500GB HDD

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Black/9556125.p?id=1218124208054&skuId=9556125

$1300, quad-core processor, 6GB RAM, 640GB HDD

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Quad+Processor+-+Black/9568149.p?id=1218125774394&skuId=9568149


It's sort of hard to beat Best Buy for prices on mid-range gaming laptops nowadays.  I'd go with the $950 option, according to your specifications.  It has a S/PDIF output for surround.

[Van Cruncheon]

eel nailed it all. pick one of his suggestions!

[Human Snorenado]

eel nailed it all. pick one of his suggestions!

That's a trick- if you pick the Gateway you're obviously blind and don't need a laptop to begin with!

[Eel O'Brian]

The $950 option would serve all your needs, and you'll be okay specs-wise for the next 2-3 years.  It can run Crysis at med/high with some tweaking.   If you want to blow the doors off Crysis and Crysis 2, go with the $1300 option.

eel nailed it all. pick one of his suggestions!

That's a trick- if you pick the Gateway you're obviously blind and don't need a laptop to begin with!

I think MAF had that Gateway and was happy with it.

[Eel O'Brian]

The biggest thing that's going to affect any gaming you do is how well it's been optimized.  Some games are gonna run like dogshit no matter how much you tweak it or how powerful your rig is (Saint's Row 2, for example).

[huckleberry]

Just something to keep in mind if you are buying the RoG laptop. If you purchase one from Best Buy you don't get the sweet ass warranty that Asus provides....1 year accidental damage protection is pretty damn good, along with an additional 1 year warranty. 

[Himu]

ASUS REPUBLIC OF GAMERS

[tiesto]

Yeah, I was definitely considering the Republic of Gamers line even before this thread.

Eel - thanks a lot for the info, the $1150 one looks like it has great potential.

[huckleberry]

The $950 RoG is definitely a sweet deal.  I returned the one I bought a few weeks ago - only because the resolution is too low for my tastes - but for gaming it ia a beautiful thing indeed.  Crysis on high, L4D2 maxed, Borderlands maxed....all played perfectly.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220639

$1199 with free shipping and the sweet Asus warranty. Resolution of 1920x1080 - perfect laptop.

[tiesto]

Went to Best Buy to look at Laptops today... the Sony VAIO was really nice for $800 (this one: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+VAIO+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+White/9528996.p?id=1218119763906&skuId=9528996&st=sony%20vaio) , really like the style of it. Anyone have any experience with that one? I wish I could upgrade the graphics card a bit... never really upgraded a laptop before, is it difficult? But I'm really considering the ASUS G51JX. Unfortunately it isn't out yet and is a bit pricey:

http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=G51JX-A1

Gonna try and find out a release date, if not the one Arde linked to looks awesome.