Solved! Comparison Question on Gaming Notebooks

[roblov1]

1. What is your budget? $1500 - $1600

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15.4"

3. What screen resolution do you want? 1080p

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? desktop replacement

5. How much battery life do you need? 9 cell +

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)? Skyrim, ME3, WoW as high as I can get it knowing the limitations with a GTX 560

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) Adobe Photoshop Illustrator, Movies, General Use
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 750GB @ 7200RPM

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. newegg.com, sager.com, Xoticpc.com, tigerdirect.com

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 5yrs +

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? open to blueray if it's in the budget though it's a luxury

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. MSI, Sager

13. What country do you live in? US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I'm really trying to get the best bang for my buck and I'm comparing several similar options.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152267
seems like a really good deal right now.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP8130
Also looking at the sager NP8130 in a similar configuration, but with a 95% matte screen and an I7 2670 instead of the 2630 and the blueray option.

Which would be the better buy or is there another out there that's a better deal than these 2 in my price range? (With a better GPU perhaps)

Also, I'm concerned about keeping the computer cool. Is that an issue with either?

 

[Emperus]

Check out the Toshiba Qosmio range. They are ultimate gaming oriented desktop replacements. Also pass a look over the Dell XPS range.

 

[roblov1]

Not a big fan of the XPS as they're usually a bit overpriced and it's hard to fine a good deal on the right specs. Not sure about Toshiba either as I bought my father one a year ago and he's had some issues with it.

Any other recommendations from anyone regarding the question?

 

[TJguitar]

The Asus g53sw would be ideal if you could find it at that price, which i suspect you could.

 

[roblov1]

All the g53sw's I see are only a GTX460. I'm looking for a stronger GPU for the price. Why would ASUS in general be a good option?

I also see this one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152293 with a GTX570 that might even be a better choice and in my price range. I'm just not that familiar with MSI computers.

 

[jwhetsell]

asus a53 series is a good bet beacause a laptop will never compare to a desktop. this will allow you to play most games at a lower setting and be competative to a point of gaming on a laptop. most games will play at 30fps or a little less but for laptops in this price range or any other you will be fine

 

[roblov1]

All the Asus A53's I see come with a lower end Radeon or Nvidia graphics card. I'm looking for something with a minimum of a GTX 560 and may go higher. My budget certainly supports it. I'm trying to just find out which is the best designed laptop for the price. I'm asking because even though I have a great desktop, my career may end up with me being on the road often.

 

[AntiZig]

Hello, I think, jwhetsell meant the Asus G53 series, which come with GTX460/560 depending on the model. (check out xoticpc website)

In general, both sager and asus use dual fan cooling scheme, so unless you're sitting in a 80F room, the build it cooling should be sufficient for most applications. If you're not satisfied with temperatures you can always get a cooling pad.

as far as MSI goes, they are a well known gaming brand, one thing I'd like to point out about the one you linked on newegg, that one is a 17" laptop (you first post says you want a 15" also note typical size today is 15.6 not 15.4). So, might want to rethink if you want to lug around 10lbs if you're on the go.

As far as "best designed laptop for the price", that's a pretty broad requirement. Hardware wise, you will get what is written on the box. As far as build quality, MSI, Sager and Asus G series are all gaming level laptops, so I would expect the build quality to be similar, personally I don't have experience with all 3.

hardware wise, out of the two MSI you linked 780DX is just the updated version of 780R, which basically gives it a newer revision CPU and slightly better GPU (although looking at 560 vs 570 the gain is about 10 fps at best).

So, out of all that's out there I'd advise looking at Sager NP8130/50/70, Asus G54/74 and MSI 780. Figure out which features/case design you like more, then pick the hardware and find the cheapest retailer. Other way around, if you don't care about case design, pick out the hardware you're comfortable with then see which model will offer you that hardware for the best price. Until you do that, jumping around trying to compare 12Gb of ram to 2670 isn't going to get you anywhere.