Solved! Girlfriend needs a gaming laptop

shadowwolf9

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Jun 5, 2011
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I've always strictly been a desktop guy so I'm a little ignorant when it comes to laptop gaming. My girlfriend is going away to college this Fall and would like a decent gaming laptop.



1. What is your budget?

$800-$1000

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

15.6", no larger

3. What screen resolution do you want?

1920x1080, but not mandatory

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

Anything would be more powerful than her desktop, so I suppose a desktop replacement.

5. How much battery life do you need?

Not too important.

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)?

She'll want it to play games like WoW, The Sims 3, Dragon Age I&II with at least medium settings.

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

She's plans on doing some animation and possible 3D modeling in school, but I'm sure making these a prime focus would make the cost skyrocket.

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

500gb max

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

None really.

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

3 years

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

Blu-ray would be nice, but not necessary.

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.

I hold no bias really, but I've been looking at Asus and MSI laptops more than anything else.

13. What country do you live in?

United States

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

She'd mainly like this to be a gaming laptop, but if it can process animation or modeling programs decent enough that's a plus.

Thank you!
 
Solution
Hello ShadowWolf9;

A couple more options for you to look at:
Toward the lower end of your budget range:
Dell XPS 15 "Sandy Bridge" Core i5 Laptop $800 w/ GT 540M graphics card
Core i5-2410M CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GT 540M graphics. You could save $100 going with the GT 525 standard graphics card which will do WoW & Sims3 on High, DAO on medium.

At the top of your budget (actually slightly over with taxes) but with everything you're looking for:
Dell XPS 15 15.6-inch "Sandy Bridge" Core i7 Laptop w/6GB RAM & 1080p LCD $1044 w/ GT 540M graphics card and 20% off coupon.
Core™ i7-2630QM CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD 15.6" 1920x1080 LCD w/ GT 540M graphics.
The GT 540M is a mid-range...
Hello ShadowWolf9;

A couple more options for you to look at:
Toward the lower end of your budget range:
Dell XPS 15 "Sandy Bridge" Core i5 Laptop $800 w/ GT 540M graphics card
Core i5-2410M CPU, 4GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD 15.6" 1366x768 LCD w/ GT 540M graphics. You could save $100 going with the GT 525 standard graphics card which will do WoW & Sims3 on High, DAO on medium.

At the top of your budget (actually slightly over with taxes) but with everything you're looking for:
Dell XPS 15 15.6-inch "Sandy Bridge" Core i7 Laptop w/6GB RAM & 1080p LCD $1044 w/ GT 540M graphics card and 20% off coupon.
Core™ i7-2630QM CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB 7200rpm HDD 15.6" 1920x1080 LCD w/ GT 540M graphics.
The GT 540M is a mid-range graphics card but will handle the games you mention on High graphics settings and do a decent job on medium settings on more demanding 3D games.
It's also going to be great choice for animation & modeling programs.

You can play around with the options/features match your expectations to your budget goals.
 
Solution