Gaming Laptop @ 2000-2500 $

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Hello, I know these threads might come up very often, but I've got a question of my own and I would really appreciate if anyone would help me out.

I understand the fact that best for gaming is a desktop.. I got one a good gaming desktop at home, but soon after I got it I had to change country ( Moved to UK) so I left my desktop at home. I might be moving again, probably will travel and visit other parts of this country ( or the world later on) so I really wanna get something easier to carry around.

I've been looking through reviews here and there and I found three laptops which caught my eyes. The money I'm willing to invest is in between 1000 - 1500 Pounds ( Thats around 1600 - 2500 USD). You might ask me what would I want to play.. tough question to answer to. I don't have something special in my mind, I actually don't even think I'm such of a hardcore gamer. I'm playing League of Legends a little, but like probably 5-8 games per week. I guess I just want to get a laptop to have it ready in case I want to try something out. I used to play all kind of genres when I was younger ( from FPS to strategy, adventure, racing, SIMS etc.) and I heard there are some sweet things to try with good graphics. ( Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Battlefield etc).

Here are the options which looked very tempting to me:

1. ASUS ROG G750JH-DB71

Good specs for the price I believe. Found many laptops around this price but with the 770M graphic card instead of the 780 one. Plus it has 24 GB of Ram and another free slot available so in case it's needed I could add another 8 GB of Ram to it. What really bothers me its the 1 TB HDD which is slow at 5400 rpm. I would have expected at least a 7200 one if not SSD. But to compensate I guess it has 2x 128 SSD in RAID. After all, I think I could change teh HDD for another one later on.

2. MSI G Series GT70 2OD-407US

I know this might sound umm.. weird, but I personally didn't hear about MSI until now. Someone mentioned to me about them and that they are gaming laptops. I've tried to look through reviews and all but I can't find decent enough info to make up my mind with them. From what I've read it seems spec-like they are beasts also, but they still got trouble with optimization. No idea really, so yeah any thoughts are welcome. Also, comes only with 12 GB of Ram.

and last one,
3. Alienware 17 ALW17-6877sLV

From what everyone says, Alienware is the best in Gaming Laptops, but for that they got spicy prices on their items. This one is around same price as the above laptops, but has a 770 instead of a 780 for graphics. The HDD is at 7200 rpm but the site doesn't say anything about having any SDD.

I'm really confused about what to get. I need a decent gaming laptop and one which will last me for next 3+ years good enough. You might be asking why do I wanna get from amazon, it's becuz I didn't find them anywhere else cheaper. If any of you know places where I can purchase them for a better deal, feel welcome to share.

Thanks in advance!
 

vash_021

Honorable
Jun 19, 2012
35
0
10,590
if I were you I would get the msi one it has gtx 780m 4gb same as asus and much cheaper it is also about 2.5 lbs lighter dont know about alienware's weight but it doesnt really matter as the msi and asus have better gpu

24 gb of ram os overkill
you only need that much ram if you are editing a video and stuff video rendering and the likes

for gaming and multi tasking i believe 8gb is enough

the msi has 12gb if you were able to customize the order you could save a few hundred dollars by downgrading the ram to 8gb

that my take on those 3
now you can go to xoticpc.com and customize it yourself and probably saving a lot of money but that site is US based (as far as my knowledge about that site is)
 

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Thanks for the site. I talked to someone on the site and they said they would deliver to UK also. Only trouble is for international orders they don't accept Card Payments or Paypal so will have to do it by bank transfer which is a mess :-/ They got really good prices indeed and building a Laptop there would be better I guess. Tho' I know the basics I want in my laptop, there's so much to customize I'll probably need answer over that also in the end. Thanks for reply, looking forward for more!
 

sora

Honorable
Oct 30, 2013
388
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11,010

Why don't you check on Amazon.co.uk instead of Amazon.com?
 

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Yeah I've talked to someone on the site and they told me I have to pay the delivery fees. I guess in the end I will pay around same amount as for getting it form amazon but good thing is I can customize it myself. Tho' I am gonna need help customizing it cuz there are so many options and I got no idea if all of them are necessary :-/

I'll come back on it when I manage to customize some so maybe I get some help finalizing my order :) Cheers!
 

vash_021

Honorable
Jun 19, 2012
35
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10,590
not just shipping fees (which you pointed out)

you will also have to pay custom fees which would increase your expenses by 150$ and up (just an estimate)

only items labeled as "GIFT" are the one that dont have to payed for custom taxes

have a look on this link
it calculates import duties
http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/187455719/
 

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Few questions tho' as I don't know for sure:

1. The Cooper Cooling Upgrade - Does it worth it? I understood it won't make a big difference but it will cool a little. It's 59 bucks, I could use it for something else.

2. External Display Video Adaptors - It says it comes with no Video Adaptors. That means I won't be able to connect laptop to a LED TV via HDMI ? I thought it's a basic thing for laptops at this price to have an HDMI adaptor, even my Asus X54C has one. Or that is about something else ? :-S

3. What's the difference between using 8GB Rams to 4 GB Rams ? Cuz if for example, I choose to get 16GB ( 4x 4GB) it will cost me 25$ more, but if I choose to get 16GB ( 2x 8GB) it will cost like 138$ more @_@

4. mSata SSD ?! I know it might sound weird but I've used HDDs all my life lol. Should I go for 2x 128 SSD in RAID mode ? and have a secondary 1TB 7200 HDD ? Please brighten me up *_*

5. Wireless Card - it comes with a Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Dual Band Wireless-N 1202 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module + Bluetooth 4.0 | Up to 300Mbps (2x2) by default ... but I've seen some people out there are not really happy with the card itself. Any ideas what WLAN card should I opt for ?

Thanks a lot again!


EDIT: Crap, I've just seen your post with the calculator after I posted this. For a 2500$ Laptop I'll have to pay like 400$ taxes wtf o_O That is much e_e
 

vash_021

Honorable
Jun 19, 2012
35
0
10,590


1. all 3 brands are reputable for creating top quality gaming laptops, you dont really need it

2. if you have a hdmi cable i think you could hook it up on your tv (if my 5 year old hp laptop with only core 2 duo could do it im sure this laptops can also do it) maybe the adapter is for something else

3. none really it just uses up all of your 4 ram slots instead of just 2 (if you dont plan to upgrade the ram in the future then i gues you should stick with 4 x 4)

4. dont know anything about raid modes but an ssd for your primary hardisk will increase boot time and games installed on the sd card a lot the performance will be huge

5.dont know anything about wifi cards

6. i looked into and you will have to pay [(cost of laptop) + (shipping)] * 20% tax <--- yeah thats a lot im in the same dilemma
 

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Found this for UK:

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS-G750-G750JH-T4106H_1498470.html but its 1700£. It's exactly the specs I am looking for.

and this MSI http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/MSI-GT70-GT70_2PC-1282UK_1590199.html @ 400£ cheaper. But with 8 GB of Ram instead of 16 and the Video card is 870M 6GB.

What is the difference between the 870M and 780M ? Cuz the MSI looks pretty decent, can add more Ram if needed later on but don't know about the video card. Does it worth paying 400 more pounds for a 780M ? Is there a huge difference ?

 

lenesu_ro

Estimable
Mar 13, 2014
7
0
4,510
Thanks. I'm inclined to pick one of these two really, Asus or MSI. Alienware is just too expensive to get it to a build around same as the other two. What I'm worried about is that, from all I've read on different forums and reviews, I understand Asus has reallt bad customer service if you get in trouble with your laptop or any part of it :-/