Best semi-gaming laptop for ~$1K

[vitalix]

Hi guys and gals,

I am looking to find a laptop with the following requirements:
1. 1080P screen
2. Backlit keyboard
3. Good battery life (doesn't have to be MBP, but would be nice for 4-5+ hours for general web use)
4. Gaming capability (e.g. play BF3 or BadCo2 at medium settings)
5. Preferably 15" (open to 17" if it's not TOO big)

I don't play games all that often, but like having the capability of playing, when I have free time. My son is also getting older, so thinking if I get a decent chipset, when I hand the laptop down to him, it should still be usable, at least for a couple years unless he gets frag-happy.

Some of the ones I have been looking at are the XPS L502X/L702X and 15Z, HP Envy 17, Alienware m14x, Asus G53/G74, MSI RT683 (although can't tell if the kb is backlit or no). Some of the ones in this list are refurbs I've seen on Ebay (that still have a warranty, can't afford some of these new).

I'm sure this question comes up a lot; anyone have any suggestions at my price point and requirements above, mebbe from someone who's pulled the trigger recently on a laptop that fits the above specs?

For example, would a nVidia 540M or Radeon 6850 be enough for me vs the heavy hitting 6990 or 560M+?

Thanks in advance as always!

Vitaly

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
For playing BF3 on medium settings,cards like GTX 560M is required.Battery life and gaming don't play nice with each other though.
ASUS G53 gets my vote,it's battery should last around 2-4hrs for non-gaming purposes

 

[WR2]

Laptop graphics card and roughly equivalent desktop graphics cards.

Radeon HD 6850M or GT 555M = Radeon HD 5670 desktop graphics card

Radeon HD 6870M or GTX 560M = GeForce GTS 450 desktop graphics card

GTX 570M or Radeon HD 6970M = Radeon HD 5770 desktop graphics card

Radeon HD 6990M or GTX 580M = GeForce GTX 560 Ti / Radeon HD 6870

 

[vitalix]

Thanks for the replies everyone!
So on ebay I found an Alienware m17x with a Q9000 and GTX280M-SLI, and an XPS 15 with a 540M, both for around $800.
I know the 280M is old-school, but with SLI, the benchmarks look pretty good, benchmarks on Notebookcheck place it above the GTX 560M. Outside of tesselation, is there anything I would be missing in modern games?
My desktop is a Radeon 6950 with all the eye candy on, and games look nice, but would it really be noticeable with the older cards, such as the m17x above?

 

[Maziar]

I wouldn't really recommend m17x because of it's oudated CPU and the lack of driver support for old cards like that.

 

[soccerdocks]

I would say that the ASUS G53 is your best choice. Sears is currently selling one online for less than 1k. http/www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_SP101A9634S5694757301P?sid=IDx20070921x00003a&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=00326751000

 

[Cainman]

If you can give up the backlit keyboard check out the clevo p151hm. Better video card than the g53 because of the memory bus.

 

[vitalix]

Best answer selected by vitalix.