Help choose a laptop

[virtual]

Hello all. I'm looking for a laptop for gaming and general use. so far i havent found a laptop that matches my needs. thanks for any help.

1. What is your budget?
About 2500$ but the cheaper the better.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15 and less. (or even bigger if its portable)

3. What screen resolution do you want?
at least 1440x900

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
3 hours

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. I play many games (now its fallout nv, but I like to play fps and rts too). I think medium settings is a realistic target. if not then low.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
programming mostly, watching an occasional movie

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
not important

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
at least 2 years, maybe more.


11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
not important

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 dont like hp. as far as i know they have battery problems, I've had an hp laptop before (compaq nc6120) and the battery capacity went down to 30 minutes after a year of use. if its not an issue anymore then its ok.
also please bear in mind where i live, not all exotic brand are available here.

13. What country do you live in?
Israel

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
1) The screen most be non-glossy. that's actually the hardest feature to find in a laptop. but if anyone an recommend a laptop with a glossy screen which is does not glare then it may be ok. what i mean is: glossy screens look like mirrors to me, i cant use them.
2) wieght: i intend to carry it on my back a lot so it most be not more the 2.5kg.

Thanks

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
HP Envy 14 is a great choice.

 

[Guest]

You could look for laptops with specs similar to the Asus G-Series.

Brandwise, you have the Dell XPS15 and Vaio F-series. You can customise them, so go for their best GPU (GT 425M (Sony) or GT 435M (Dell)) and the Core i7-840QM.

The Asus gaming model offers the best GPU though: GTX 460M ...you might want to keep an eye on this fact.



_____________________________________________________________________
Laptop advice guide: http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qE5IQ9tyAE

 

[virtual]

thank you both.

@Maizar:
I mentioned my bad experience with hp at my original post. Does the Envy has the same battery problems?

@LemonadeStand:
the XPS15 isn't available anymore where I live. the only XPS i can find here is the studio XPS16 which is too bulky for me.
the Sony costs (for some unknown reason) 2 times more then any other laptop with similar specs, so I try to stay away from it for now.
also what about the screens? As far as I know all the models you mentioned ( including the Asus) are glossy. Am i wrong?

 

[Guest]

@LemonadeStand:
the XPS15 isn't available anymore where I live.

Which website do you use for Israel?

The screen can be a problem. For e.g. when i was choosing my laptop 4 years ago, Sony made the best screens (they called it x-black). Now i don't know. Also you need to check if it's full 1080p or if you're happy with 720p (and/or want more than 766pixels on the y-axis).

Maybe you could try something cheeky, note down the screen specs and check in-store to see what it means.

 

[BeefBravo]

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220861

This is $1449 (well within your budget), it's a 15" format so it'll be plenty portable and comes with an intel i7, 1.5GB GeForce 460M, 6GB DDR3 and it's 1920x1080. I would recommend this for you.

I have an Asus G72 gaming laptop & it's great. Though the G72 isn't very portable. Anyway, this thing should outperform my G72 & I can play everything I throw at it on high settings.

 

[Maziar]

thank you both.

@Maizar:
I mentioned my bad experience with hp at my original post. Does the Envy has the same battery problems?

ENVY 14 has good great reviews around the web.I don't think you'll run in to problems.But if you want to be sure,ask from the people who own it in this thread
http/forum.notebookreview.com/hp-envy-hdx/493715-official-hp-envy-14-owners-lounge.html

 

[virtual]

@LenadeStand:
We use local etailers / retailers. But it doesn't really matter, as i can check the availability.

@beefbravo:
the g53 is a beast. but it weights 7.9lbs (3.5kg) which is too heavy, and it has a glossy screen.


@Maziar:
I read some reviews of the envy and unfortunately it has a glossy screen.

I have some weird idea to solve the screen issue:
What if I buy a business laptop (Lenovo t400/t500, Dell Latitude or something else) with "professional" gpu (Nvidia Quadro or AMD FirePro)?
Can i play games on this thing?

 

[Maziar]

Well,laptops with matte screen aren't widely available(compared to glossy ones)
And yes,you can play games on those cards but since they aren't built for gaming,they don't have as good as other card's driver support.

 

[hpfreak]

if i were you i would go with the HP Envy 17 1011nr
it cost around $1400,
but the specs seem to suite youtr requiremtents, the let down though, is the battery doesn't last a good 2.5 hours, unless you get the slice battery along with it.

if not than how about alienware? http/www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m15x/pd?oc=dkpdfv2&model_id=alienware-m15x
its a good deal that fits your budget.

if you have anything that you want to criticize the models, then tell us so we can know a bit more of what your looking for.

 

[virtual]

hi everyone again,

I did some really extensive research and this is what i came up with:

Acer TravelMate 5740G-524G50MN
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-TravelMate-5740G-524G50MN-Notebook.31612.0.html

now before I go hunting for an e/retailer who sells it: anyone knows anything helpful about this model, or acer in general?

thanks

 

[Maziar]

Acer may not be the best brand in terms of quality,but it makes good laptops with a decent price/performance ratio and that looks good and can handle games fine.

 

[marios50]

go for the asus g73 its not so portable but hey you get a bang for your buck.

 

[hpfreak]

go for the asus g73 its not so portable but hey you get a bang for your buck.

I TOTALLY AGREE!
i opted for one from BestBuy,
it is a factory-refurbished laptop, but heck! i never saw such great specs for 849.

intel core i7 720
1600x900
ATI Radeon 5870
full sized keyboard
6 GB DDR3
500 GB 7200 RPM HDD
4G WiMax Capable

if you want to invest 850 (930 including TAX) in a high performance computer, don't HESITAIT!
i have spent 4 months searching for a laptop, and i have to admit i couldn't be happier then this, i had been looking at the Envy 17 for a long time, but it was out of my budget, but this makes everything look so good!
i have to admit that i don't currently have it yet, it is to arrive the day AFTER christmas
but any way, this is going to be worth waiting for
i would encourage you guys to do it, because while i was debating with my parents about it, bestbuy removed it, probably because they sold out, but it's back, and it's your chance to get this pc, i found out that a mac comparible to this would cost 3500 dollars, totally a waste of money...
the reason that i was so encouraged to get it, was because it had a very nice cooling system to go along with the CPU and GPU, it has 2 fans, and a very good system to remove heat from the PC using the back, instead of the side, which i think is very good, because it keeps the computer from heating from lack of airflow, and it doesn't heat up the keyboard and ports themselves...
i hope you guys find what your looking for!

 

[Avro Arrow]

I think you should read my thread, it might help:
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/60098-35-general-laptop-advice