Gaming Laptop Question

[edwardjensen]

I need a Laptop for gaming when I visit family. I already have a powerful desktop so I don't want to spend too much. Have been comparing Alienware refurbished and some other products. How does this HP look.
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor 2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2430M Processor (2.4 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) Turbo Boost to 3.0 GHz edit
2GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA] edit 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
750GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Display 17.3" HD+ HP BrightView LED (1600 x 900) edit
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
Networking 802.11b/g/n WLAN edit
Keyboard Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
Included Warranty Services 2 year limited warranty included

For $875.

Also will the graphics CPU/GPU be able to handle WoW/SC2 on medium/low high settings?

Thanks.

Ed

 

[edwardjensen]

I also found this from Sager:
Would it be a big performance increase?

Display 15.6" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M GPU with 1.5GB GDDR5 Video Memory
CPU Processor 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i5-2450M Processor ( 3MB L3 Cache, 2.50GHz)
Thermal Compound Stock Standard Thermal Compound
Operating System Genuine MS Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition ( 64-Bit Preloaded )
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 2 X 4GB
Primary Hard Disk Drive 500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Disk Drive in Optical Drive Bay with Caddy case 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Wireless Network Card Internal 802.11 B+G+N Wireless LAN + Bluetooth Combo Module
Primary Battery Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
Integrated Security Device Fingerprint Reader
Microsoft Office Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included in Price
Warranty Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty

 

[Rockdpm]

Either one of those will get you through the weekend with the family. Neither is good for long term gaming but, they'll do for low amount of gaming. I kinda like the sound of the Sager one better. a GTX 560m vs a 7690m?. Idk nothing about the new 7000 series but the GTX 560 will handle most any game right now on at least meduim. even tho the ager has a smaller Screen its better in my opinion. if your only gonna be running WOW and and Star craft you'd be fine

 

[edwardjensen]

Yeah screen size isnt a huge issuer. I was even thinking of an Alienware x11 or x14 just for portability reasons. It will only be used on ocassional weekends and when girlfriend drags me to starbucks to kill time.

Ed

 

[digitalzom-b]

Note that the screen size on the Sager is also a higher resolution, this could result in a much crisper image. However, I agree that the sager looks like a better choice, what's the price?

After a bit of research, the 560M seems like a much better graphics card (going off 3d Mark 06/11)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7690M.67737.0.html
http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-560M.48313.0.html

The 560M looks to be able to max out SC2, or at least play on high... not sure about at what resolution though, so keep that in mind.

 

[edwardjensen]

Sager was 1050 vs 860 for the first one price wise... Think it will be worth it?

 

[digitalzom-b]

It's hard to say. It comes down to what you want by weighing pros and cons;

If you want to play at the max resolution on the sager, you're going to see a drop in performance, but you're also going to have some pretty tiny elements on your screen at that size/resolution.

That being said, the larger screen/slightly lower res may be more enjoyable because of the size alone (HP), allowing for a larger image with viewing experiencing, and a lower resolution that won't stress the graphics card much. That said, you may want to weigh the benefits of the video cards. The 560M is much better, so you can always drop the resolution in games/Windows to find a nice size. The 560M can handle more games w/ higher graphics too, but that may not be so important to you with a laptop on the go. It's hard to say, but I would consider those things.