Just know that your laptop’s battery life will decrease drastically within 10 months of use (maybe less since you want one with a GPU).
Invest in a cooling pad like **Chrnocide ** mentioned. Laptops run hot, a laptop playing games could burn skin.
Sacrifice CPU power for GPU (better the gpu, better the FPS for your gaming).
In the end, the real purpose of buying a laptop is for mobility. If you can’t for see yourself using a laptop often on the move, I would highly suggest using the money for the laptop to build your own desktop (at 700 bucks you can build a mean gaming rig).
Like everyone has said, wait for that black friday, laptop deals are on fire that day.
With proper care of your battery, you can avoid battery issues. Things such as removing the battery when being plugged in and not charging. Or keeping the battery cool by using a cooler. I have the 2 fan version of the Cooler Master fan and it’s great for smaller sizes (below 17").
I believe most GPU choices when customizing laptops online is between a GPU with some amount of RAM or the same model with a higher amount of RAM. I don’t have a lot of experience with video cards but I believe the higher GPU RAM (VRAM) helps more with textures at higher resolution. I’ve also read for some lower end cards like the ATI 5470 (the one in smaller notebooks), some of the CPU options are overkill.
(And if you want touch and Wacom tablet abilities you could go with the tm2t which is a bit weaker than the dm4t in CPU and GPU and probably $100 more, but has longer battery life and just a teeny bit smaller and lighter. I have all these suggestions for these 14" laptops because my friend is also getting a new laptop. He’s probably going with the ENVY if a good deal comes around and I’m also going with the tm2t.)
EDIT: After seeing a couple of ASUS 14" notebooks, some of them look great for the price but I don’t know of the best price/performance model as their site is a little difficult to filter.
I’m liking that Acer laptop, 17" screen is a bit big though.
I guess I’m going to have to wait until Black Friday/ Cyber Monday. I don’t really know how to look for and catch deals, or how to recognize if I’m getting a good laptop for the price.
When looking for a laptop, for the basic needs plus gaming at a medium level, what key things should I look for?
Video card should be one of the first things to consider. But really… you want something for gaming you should look at desktops… the walmart specials will give you more heartache than they are worth in the long run.
The nvidia 4-series is a more forward-looking design, and seems to perform better than the 3, at the same prices.
Regarding the nvidia 3-series, they are power efficient versions of the 2-series. The name change is marketing, but they are good cards. If you get a black friday deal, don’t say no. I’m pretty happy with the performance of the 330M
Man that laptop looks awesome… and the price is amazing. The battery life is only 2-3 hours though? Forgive my ignorance, but that doesn’t sound too awesome.
Any other suggestions guys? I don’t if I’m going to wait until black friday. I would like to, but i don’t have enough knowledge of computers to make the best purchase, and i don’t have the patience or time to be on my computer hitting refresh constantly.
With a budget of 900$ ( it is $950, but i’m reserving the 50$ for shipping), what do you guys think is the best option? Any other suggestions? Great deals?
Experience with them. I have owned all three, and I have had to fix MANY of those brands more than any… also general reviews for them are so-so… There are always exceptions for some models are good)
Like I mentioned, I prefer Toshiba/Asus and dell isnt bad either. (we have had 2 dells in my house and never had any problems)
My fellow southern californian, can you make me some recommendations?
I would like to get the Dell XPS15, but i don’t think i need something quite that good.
something that is a little cheaper, but not too much worse, i think would be right for me. or should i just get the XPS15?
i’m not the biggest gamer, mainly because i don’t have any time, but i would like to start playing WoW, SC2, or Diablo 3 in the future.
i don’t imagine i would be taking advantage of the XPS15’s capabilities to the point where i would be getting my money’s worth. i’m willing to get the XPS15 if it is the best bank for my buck though.
The three models you are listing cover the spectrum of sub-$900 laptops with a touch of power.
The Acer 7552 (AMD/ATI) has the largest screen, and the lowest battery life.
The Acer 7542 (Intel/Nvidia) is competitive, but has slightly better battery. - you had said even this isn’t ideal.
The Dell has everything the 7542 has, but has the best reputation, and like Ed pointed out, lets you get the larger battery. The $100 differece over the Acer for the battery is completely worth it.
The specs of the three machines are not very different aside from battery, so you would definitely make use of the Dell’s specs.
Well if you never want to worry about those 3 games performing poorly, then you should always go with more power.
And I have to partially disagree with ed on HP’s. The main issues I’ve had with HP in the past had usually come down to heat issues (design or build related, and I know that’s not always the only problem). But since this past year, it seems that HP has really upped their quality. I’ve seen the dm4t series and the build quality is much higher than the laptops from 2/3 years ago. And with the Core i3/5 processors being more efficient, heat problems are less likely.
With that said, I believe Asus has been the most reliable and Dell still more reliable than HP in the past. I haven’t been reading that there have been many issues with the current gen HP’s, but then again it’s only been a year. I still recommend the HP ENVY 14 if there’s a good deal on it over the XPS as it’s a better bang for your buck (again, only if you get $300-400 off). And I think the dm4t is at a low price and can handle your games at low/med settings (also very portable).
I guess one big reason why I’m suggesting HP over Dell is that you get more for less (and reviews have been very positive for current gen HP’s). And it looks, in my opinion, that HP has raised their quality. But yeah, as I’ve said before, you can’t go wrong with what’s been suggested so far.
I really dont recommend gaming on laptops, imo because you cant upgrade the vid card, plus, gaming laptops are mad expensive.
Also, if you plan on buying a laptop, one of the key elements is it being portable. I dunno about you, but anything over 3lbs and bigger than 12’ screen is bulky.
And the best laptop brands are HP/Toshiba/ASUS. Dell is good because of their customer service, but i’ve always felt dell laptops are cheap for some reason.
XPS’s are better than ACER’s by a good margin. Also the number one thing to look out for in a gaming laptop is heat. You will guaranteed burn yourself or overheat your computer without a cooling pad.