Gaming laptop

[vibrantxxninjas]

I have two friends who are offering me their old gaming laptops and i dont know which one to buy.

Option 1: acer 3820tg (1 year old)

13.3" 1366x768 led screen
Intel i3 380m @ 2.4ghz
4gb ram
500gb hdd
Ati hd 5650 1gb
Windows 7


Option 2: asus g50vt (almost 3 years old)

15.4" 1680x1050 lcd screen
Core 2 duo t9400 @ 2.53 ghz
2x 320gb hdd
4gb ram
Nvidia 9800m gs 512mb


So which one is better? Also should it be safe to buy the asus because its 3 years old or is it better to get the newer acer laptop?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chainzsaw]

Hello,

The first option is better. However I wouldn't take either - and would instead save up for your own.

How much are they offering each laptop?

Edit: Gaming laptops tend to have issues with heat and possibly parts failing. I used to use one - I actually still have it, but I don't use it anymore (Asus G73) due to heat problems with it (and some other issues as well). Thats why I recommend buying a new one - that way you get a warranty. If something breaks after you buy one of those laptops - your footing the bill for the problem and the costs could possibly add up to more than what they are worth.

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

Hello,

The first option is better. However I wouldn't take either - and would instead save up for your own.

How much are they offering each laptop?

Edit: Gaming laptops tend to have issues with heat and possibly parts failing. I used to use one - I actually still have it, but I don't use it anymore (Asus G73) due to heat problems with it (and some other issues as well). Thats why I recommend buying a new one - that way you get a warranty. If something breaks after you buy one of those laptops - your footing the bill for the problem and the costs could possibly add up to more than what they are worth.

The acer is $400 and the asus is $325

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

Also the asus has a blue ray drive

 

[Chainzsaw]

Also the asus has a blue ray drive

I don't trust blu ray drives in laptops anymore. Mine died 3 times in a row for my gaming laptop. I took care of it, but only after watching 1-2 blu ray movies, it killed my drives somehow even after RMA'ing it (even bought Power DVD to play em). After the 3rd time...I just didn't care. So now I own a laptop with a broken blu ray drive that doesn't even read dvd's or cds, which doesn't bother me too much since it's retired now and only used as a back up.

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

I don't trust blu ray drives in laptops anymore. Mine died 3 times in a row for my gaming laptop. I took care of it, but only after watching 1-2 blu ray movies, it killed my drives somehow even after RMA'ing it (even bought Power DVD to play em). After the 3rd time...I just didn't care. So now I own a laptop with a broken blu ray drive that doesn't even read dvd's or cds, which doesn't bother me too much since it's retired now and only used as a back up.

So the acer would be the better option then since its also a lot newer?

How does the hd 5650 compare to the 9800m gs?

 

[gianoli516]

@Chainzsaw - I have a G73 too, but have had no issues with it. I deploy a lot, and have never had an issue with heat, or the blue ray drive.

@Vibrantxxninjas - I dont recommend getting either laptop. Put your money towards a newer one (like Chainzsaw said, get that warranty).

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

How does the a6 3400m eith the 6520g gpu hold out in gaming? Because there is a laptop on sale right now for $400 at futureshop

 

[Chainzsaw]

@Chainzsaw - I have a G73 too, but have had no issues with it. I deploy a lot, and have never had an issue with heat, or the blue ray drive.

@Vibrantxxninjas - I dont recommend getting either laptop. Put your money towards a newer one (like Chainzsaw said, get that warranty).

Luck you with the blu ray drive. I don't know why it crapped out on me. IMO I think it was because I got it when it was first coming out...so maybe I got a faulty batch or something. Maybe it was a combination of Power DVD and one of the newer Blu rays at the time. I just don't know. I asked Asus if they could tell me what the problem would be after I sent it back the 2nd time, they never got back to me.


http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-9800M-GS.12932.0.html

The 9800M GS is an old card. I would get the 5650 over the 9800M due to the lower power requirements as well as decent graphics performance. However I still stand by not getting either.

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

Would the 6520g work for medium settings in gaming? Also notebookcheck.net i have always found to be unreliable imo as their benchmarks never seem to match videos of benchmarks on youtube

 

[Chainzsaw]

According to this:

http/www.anandtech.com/show/4616/llano-in-the-wild-toshibas-satellite-l775ds7206/4

It might do low to medium depending on resolution. That is an A6 laptop. However for better game play you might want to bump up to an A8 laptop.

 

[vrumor]

You wont find a "gaming" laptop at or anywhere near your budget. Anything with integrated graphics is gonna blow for gaming period. Sure low MAYBE medium settings but not on anything worth a damn. I build custom HTPCs around the E-350 chipset. And without a low profile GPU they arent very good at anything even blu ray playback. And the E-350 would be comparable to some of the laptops you are lookin at.

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

You wont find a "gaming" laptop at or anywhere near your budget. Anything with integrated graphics is gonna blow for gaming period. Sure low MAYBE medium settings but not on anything worth a damn. I build custom HTPCs around the E-350 chipset. And without a low profile GPU they arent very good at anything even blu ray playback. And the E-350 would be comparable to some of the laptops you are lookin at.

My last laptop was an e-350 and trust me the a6 is a huge improvement over the e-350

 

[vibrantxxninjas]

Alright, so my final dilema...
What performs better, the 6520g or the hd 5650 when it comes to gaming?