Gaming/Media Laptop for upcoming deployment

[Kild]

Have a few short month long things coming up (JRTC & BWMQT) then will deploy out to Afghanistan. I need a good, durable laptop to travel with me. Will playing Dark Souls, Borderlands 2, Skyrim, and Eador MotBW. Needs to be ready for Dark Souls 2 as best possible. Finally Blu-Ray playback would be excellent. I'd like to keep a price tag around $1300 but $2k isn't out of the question if necessary. Also any suggestions that could be made toward a builder, major retailer, or major manufacturer would be great sense I'll likely need hardware protection on the device. Thanks for any replies in advance.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'd recommend the Clevo 170EM built to your specifications

http/forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, etc. They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.

http/www.lpc-digital.com/notebooks.html

make sure to get the MAX discount for military personnel.
http/www.lpc-digital.com/notebook-review-members-military-and-student-discounts.html

The 170EM starts at about $1,300 and can be customized as you see fit. The upgrade to the 750 GB Seagate Momentus hybrid SSD / HD is one Id recommend highly.

 

[yillbs]

If this is your first deployment, i can understand the question. However, I would highly, highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend not taking it with you. I took one, it was cheap, but i took it. it was stolen, within a week. I thought meh, i just have some shitty friends.
Then i went to OCS, second one, stolen. I finally got a decent one figuring now that I was OC grade my shit wouldn't be stolen. After about 2 weeks, stolen. Your stuff WILL get stolen, and if it doesn't, it will get ruined. Depending on the unit, you are not even allowed to travel with 'em. If you are taking your first tour, id ask and be sure. Either way, the one jack posted will suffice. However.. i still highly suggest you do not take one with you. it will not come back.

 

[Kild]

Hey JackNaylorPE I appreciate the suggestion. I'm looking into their laptop listings now. Seems odd that the majority of them do not come with an OS installed but even still the pricing looks solid. The only thing really holding me back on this is the warranty itself. I've seen with Alienware, and even OriginPC, that you can add a warranty against dropping the laptop, water damage, etc... Sense I'm going to a deployed environment an additional warranty like this is going to be very necessary. So again, I appreciate the suggestion, but I don't think Clevo will work for me in this case.

 

[Kild]

If this is your first deployment, i can understand the question. However, I would highly, highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend not taking it with you. I took one, it was cheap, but i took it. it was stolen, within a week. I thought meh, i just have some shitty friends.
Then i went to OCS, second one, stolen. I finally got a decent one figuring now that I was OC grade my shit wouldn't be stolen. After about 2 weeks, stolen. Your stuff WILL get stolen, and if it doesn't, it will get ruined. Depending on the unit, you are not even allowed to travel with 'em. If you are taking your first tour, id ask and be sure. Either way, the one jack posted will suffice. However.. i still highly suggest you do not take one with you. it will not come back.

I've heard of similar situations in the past actually, where troops steal each others items, and yes this is my first deployment. The only reason I am not so concerned with it is I am going in behind several other guys in my unit (USAF doing Army support). We bunk with the Comms guys and share a lot of gear and electronics with them. So I know whatever laptop I bring is going to get used a lot between all of us. I'm very much under the impression from my friends down range that the guys I'm going to be bunked with are good troops. Thank you though, for looking out. Very much appreciated.

 

[yillbs]

BE Safe. It sucks, but at the same time, it's fun. Hard to explain, you shall see for yourself!