Gaming Laptop Without a Webcam

[thyrokio]

I'm looking for a gaming laptop without a webcam. It's for someone who's stuck at the hospital for a while, it's forbidden to bring in laptops with a webcam there, even if it's covered/disabled.

I looked around on the Dell/Lenovo/HP/Toshiba etc. sites, but haven't found a gaming laptop without a webcam, there isn't even an option to not take one when you customize them.

The laptop would need to run Skyrim very well on low settings. Acceptable gameplay on medium would be ideal (since it would mean that low would play perfectly).

Knowing that such a laptop is probably very rare (laptops without webcams seem to be business oriented, not suited for gaming), I'd take pretty much anything that can play Skyrim well.

I'll fill out the stickied questions too. (These requirements are loose, which is an indicator of my near desperation. Do not hesitate to recommend anything.)

1. What is your budget?

Up to about 1300$ (I'd bump this to about 1500$ for something really worth it, but I'd need to tighten my belt for a bit). Don't hesitate to recommend stuff.

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

14-17 inches.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

720P (1280x720) and higher.

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

No preferences, as long as it doesn't weight 25 pounds, it's fine.

5. How much battery life do you need?

No preferences, gaming on a battery probably isn't ideal.

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, Skyrim: Playable at medium, very fluid at low settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

Watching videos, web browsing... (basic stuff)

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

128GB SSD, or fast HDD. (Storage capacity less important than perfomance.)

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Anything that's trustworthy (I live in Canada/Montreal). I've bought from Newegg/NCIX and Dell before, had no problems.

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

1-2 years.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD writer preferred, could do without.

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 preferences.

13. What country do you live in?

Canada/Montreal.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I've already filled this out in my "intro".

 

[jaguarskx]

Sadly, camera are rather ubiquitous in laptops nowadays. It's almost like trying to find a camera with no flash. Even business laptops and netbooks all have cameras.

Unfortunately, it seems the hospital needs to update their archaic policy. I remember a time when no cellphones with cameras were allowed in hospitals.

Would your friend settle for a PSP Vita? It's not a laptop by any means and it cannot play PC games, but at least it can be used to play games especially if your friend is going to be in the hospital for an extended period of time. It's better than going insane from boredom.

 

[WR2]

You might think about working with one of the boutique custom notebook builders and see if they can make it happen for you.

Give the guys at http/www.xoticpc.com/ a call and see if they can hook you up.

 

[jaguarskx]

You might think about working with one of the boutique custom notebook builders and see if they can make it happen for you.

Give the guys at http/www.xoticpc.com/ a call and see if they can hook you up.

The problem with that is you may need to ask for a custom bezel because all standard bezels will have a hole for the camera. Sure you can ask them to not even install the camera, but if the hole is still there for the camera lens people who just causally look at the laptop will automatically assume there is a camera.

 

[WR2]

It would probably be easier for them to just take the webcam out entirely (it's a USB model) and custom fabricate a solid or rubber plug for the webcam hole in the bezel.

 

[jaguarskx]

The problem with that is people may just assume it's a protective cap for the camera lens.

 

[WR2]

Ask the XoticPC guys for certification is webcam free.

 

[jaguarskx]

I really doubt a piece of paper will carry much weight with hospital security.

The best thing to do is to ask for a custom bezel and how much that will cost and how much of a delay that will cause when assembling a laptop.

 

[thyrokio]

I'll try asking the guys at http/www.xoticpc.com. Thanks for all your comments guys, much appreciated.

I'll try to offer him a PsP vita, but I doubt it would work.

Would an Ivy bridge laptop's IGP (a intel HD4000) run Skyrim on low settings at a 720P resolution? I tried it on my desktop (i7-3770K with a HD4000 IGP), and it ran at 40-60 fps at 1440x900 on low settings, it was playable. Would a laptop CPU's hd4000 be that much weaker than my 3770K's?

I'd have to wait a bit though, since they don't seem to sell them yet.

 

[WR2]

It's pretty close on the HD 4000 Graphics. Your 3770K would have provided a lot of extra support to playable frame rates.

Intel HD Graphics 4000 Benchmarked in Notebooks
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4000-Benchmarked.73567.0.html

 

[thyrokio]

Hmm, you're right, it's too borderline.

 

[thyrokio]

Update!

About the PsP Vita, since there are two cameras on it, it's also forbidden. Basically, if it has a camera, a patient can't keep it with him. This is true for the psychiatry section of the hospital, perhaps the other section's rules are looser?

I sent an email to the guys at xoticpc.com, I guess they'll answer tomorrow (next business day?).

Is such a double post offending? Should I have simply edited my last post?

 

[thyrokio]

Issue resolved.

I bought a Hp laptop with a decent video card and took out the webcam in front of the guys at the hospital (We agreed that this was reasonable in advance). They saw me physically removing the webcam and reclipping/screwing the LCD bezel before I gave it to my brother (who's a patient there).

Here's the model, if anyone is curious.

HP Pavilion dv6-6c50ca (http/www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1917488), i5 2450m, 6gb ram, AMD Radeon HD 7690M XT, etc.

Laptop runs Skyrim at medium settings very smoothly, along with every other game I tried on it.

 

[thyrokio]

Best answer selected by thyrokio.

 

[WR2]

Thanks for the update.
It's an usual situation but you can bet it will come up again.