Gaming on hybrids or just go with a laptop?

[LemonMango]

Hey guys,

I'm going to be travelling for a couple more years and I'm torn on buying a laptop or a hybrid. I want the tablet features of a hybrid to be able to use as an e-reader or video player where ever I like, but I'd like something capable of playing games at medium or so settings (Skyrim, Deus Ex, Mass Effect 3, etc.).

Ultrabook hybrids get outside my price range (no more than $1000USD is preferable, but I'd consider more), smaller hybrids are underpowered, and laptops lack the tablet advantage. What I'm wanting isn't really going to be around for another few years, eh?

If I go the way of the hybrid, is my best bet the Asus Transformer series or Lenovo Yoga? If I go with a laptop, is it the Lenovo Y50?

Thanks a mllion, I know you get these basic questions a lot.

 

[Warukyure]

Besides gaming, what are you really using this computer for?

If you are going to game and its essential, forget the hybrid features and get a gaming laptop. If $1000 is the max you can spend, then yes, the Lenovo Y50's are the best at that price point. While there are some weak features of it, such as the screen, the most important thing is that at that price point its one of the few if not only option to get both an i7 and a GTX 860M. Other laptop manufacturers at that price point will usually use the 840M which is much weaker or downgrade it to a U series processor which would limit some games.

Having had a hybrid myself (the ASUS T100A), they are kinda nice if you want something light, simple, but ultimately they are weak. Really weak, in both RAM and storage. The Yoga 15's or Flex 15's are ok too but you're paying more for the gimmick.

 

[orlbuckeye]

The biggest thing about gaming laptops is they are mostly non-touch which is a feature of hybrid but a gaming laptop with a discrete graphics card will be a better fit for your gaming interests. You can easily use and e-reader app or media player on a laptop I do. I use GOM media player on my laptop because it's easy fro me to set aspect ration to 16:9 and to stretch to full screen.

 

[LemonMango]

I'll also be using the laptop for media, photo editing, and communication. I've resigned myself to the fact that I can't be too fussy with weight if I want something good.

I've been looking around and it seems like some nice laptops are available if I push my budget by $100, such as an Acer v15 Nitro, Asus ROG GL55 series, or an MSI. If that little bit more will make enough of a difference, I'll do it.

So generally I'm looking for at least a GTX 860M, I will pay more for an i7, and need to look at some more in-deth reviews if I want a quality screen? When looking into details about the screen, what should I consider other than colour/contrast and IPS vs TN?

I've been looking at notebookcheck.net mostly. Any other sites to recommend for comparisons and information?

Thanks again.

EDIT: I'm waiting for Cyber Monday to purchase my laptop and I've never bought one around this time. Any retailers I should keep an eye on?

 

[Warukyure]

If you're gonna be doing media/photo editing, NOTHING, and i mean NOTHING on god's green earth will match an IPS in terms of colour reproduction. But you'll end up paying for it something.

Either the ASUS ROG or the ACER Nitro would be nice. As for MSI, its relatively harder to find a lower priced machine from them since they usually focus on the might higher end of the spectrum and their Lower end models close to $1000 are usually only packing an 840M.

Make sure you check the specs, because for the Acer Nitro, the lower end ones, the ones about $1100 are not IPS, you need to go up to the ones near $1200~$1300 ish to at least get IPS. Don't bother with 4K, for the time being its too much strain on the GPU.

Also, if you're gonna be moving around a lot, like daily, the ASUS ROG is a much heavier laptop, its thick, but it never runs too hot. As well ASUS has a really good warranty program, if you break it in a year, they replace it entirely (One time only).