A laptop for a gamer and student?

crossfirehurricane

Honorable
Mar 25, 2013
5
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10,510
1. What is your budget?
Up to $1200, but I'm not set in it.
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Midsize, 13-15 inches
3. What screen resolution do you want?
Not important
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

5. How much battery life do you need?
I won't likely be too far from an outlet at any given time, but 4 hours at least.
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Yes! I'm not an intensive gamer, the only games I would run would be Skyrim, the Assassins Creed series, and The Witcher 2. I just want to be able to play full screen lag-free, but at least medium settings would be nice.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Basic student stuff. Photoshop. A webcam is a must.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
At least 250 GB
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Anywhere credible.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
5 years at least.
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
A DVD ROM and writer is a must, but a Blu-Ray player would be a fantastic plus, however not necessary.
12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
No preference, whatever will last me a long while with minimal hiccups.
13. What country do you live in?
USA
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Aesthetics and portability is important. I've had my eye on a MacBook Pro for a while but I want to explore other, more flexible options. I don't want something heavy and thick.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! :)
 

UniversityOfPi

Honorable
Mar 5, 2013
11
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10,560
Have you looked at something like an Alienware M14x?
Lenovo also has the Ideapad Y500 which is pretty cool

The main reason I push the alienware is because it has nvidia optimus (automatic switching graphics) so you can play hardcore games but still use it in school all day. They start at 1k but I highly recommend the $100 CPU upgrade to a quad core i7 from the default dual core i5. I'd also set aside $100 to max out the ram (2 8gb ddr3 @ 1600 mhz). You can take it another step further with an mSATA drive or upping the resolution from 720p to 900p, but if you're using a monitor and want to keep price down.
$999 configuration specs;
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-3230M (3MB Cache, up to 3.2 GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
14.0" High Def (720p/1366x768) with WLED backlight
6GB2 Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Slot Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
1 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M with Optimus™
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m14x-r2/pd.aspx
you can also get a small discount as a student when ordering through dell (it's like 3% or something)
 

crossfirehurricane

Honorable
Mar 25, 2013
5
0
10,510
I can see the Alienware being on option, but how bulky is it? In the end I'm taking my laptop with me virtually everywhere, so I gotta keep things small! I'll definitely consider it though.

How about an Asus N56VJ-DH71? I've been doing some research on it but I'd like to know your opinions on it, and if it's a good fit for my needs.

specs from here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230597

or how about a MSI CX61 0NF-621US?
 

robjon70

Honorable
Nov 28, 2012
11
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10,570

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