Help me decide which laptop to buy?

[Sinistrus]

Hello all, I had found a deal that I posted about before and sadly it turned out the guy was a scammer. So now I'm looking for a new laptop, cheaper is better, but I'm looking for best bang for my buck. I'm looking to play games: Dota 2, Eve online, WoT, Diablo 3, etc etc. I don't bring the laptop with me everywhere I go, and I'm big enough to carry a bigger laptop so the size is nothing but a good thing. If it wasn't for the a10 processor on the msi, it'd be not that hard of a decision (I'd prefer an i7), but the 7970 is much better than the gtx670mx. Anyways, I'll list off the 4 models I'm looking at.


MSI gx60 1ac-021 us: $1090

15.6" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Backlit Matte Type Display
AMD Quad Core A10-4600M 2.3GHz
8GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 4GB (16GB max)
AMD Radeon HD 7970M w/2GB GDDR5
750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
Windows 8 64-bit
No backlit keyboard
2 year warranty

Prostar P150em: $1025

15.6" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Backlit Matte Type Display
Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor, 2.3 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.3GHz), 6MB Smart Cache
8GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 4GB (32GB max)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX w/3GB GDDR5
750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
No OS
No backlit keyboard
1 year parts, 3 year labor warranty

Prostar P170em: $1215

17.3" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Backlit Matte Type Display
17.3" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Backlit Glare Type Display, Super-Wide Viewing Angles (Either screen is same price)
Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor, 2.3 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.3GHz), 6MB Smart Cache
8GB, PC3-12800/1600Mhz DDR3 - 2 x 4GB (32GB max)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX w/3GB GDDR5 with Optimus
750GB/7200rpm 16MB Cache Buffer SATA-300 (SATA II 3GB/s)
No OS
Sexy backlit keyboard
1 year parts, 3 year labor warranty

MSI 7625: $1000

17.3" FHD LED-Backlit 1920x1080 (No clue if this is Matte or Glare, would prefer Matte, but I'd need to figure that out)
Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Mobile Processor 2.40 GHz 6M Smart Cache, Max Turbo Freq. 3.40 GHz
8GB (4GBx2) DDR3-1600 SODIMM Memory
NVIDIA GTX GTX670M 1.5GB PCIe Video
750GB 7200RPM SATA300 Hard Drive
No OS
No backlit Keyboard
1 year warranty


Everything else is similar or identical, optical drives etc, so I didn't mention it.

Thank you everyone for your opinion!

 

[DarkSable]

The first one is out - there's no reason to get an A10 if you also have discrete graphics; the advantage of the APUs is that they have decent onboard graphics.

Between the second two, they both have a quad core processor and 8GB of ram, which are good.

Their screens are the same resolution, but they have the same graphics card, as well.

The backlit keyboard seems like a fair waste - I mean, what gamer is staring at his keyboard?

For 1.2k I'd see if I could find at LEAST a 675M, if not a 680M... out of just those three, I'd pick the P150em.


That being said, if you don't bring it everywhere with you, I would HIGHLY recommend considering a small-form-factor desktop. For the same price you'll easily double or triple your performance, and it'll still be easy to transport. (Not as easy as a laptop, yes, but fairly easy. Mine travels between school and home all the time, and has made several plane flights.)

 

[Sinistrus]

The first one is out - there's no reason to get an A10 if you also have discrete graphics; the advantage of the APUs is that they have decent onboard graphics.

Is it really that bad? I thought it was a bit behind the i7, but since most games are gpu limited, not as big of a deal. Am I wrong?

For 1.2k I'd see if I could find at LEAST a 675M, if not a 680M...

I've been looking, have not seen anything that would have a 675 and definitely not a 680 for less than 1400.

That being said, if you don't bring it everywhere with you, I would HIGHLY recommend considering a small-form-factor desktop. For the same price you'll easily double or triple your performance, and it'll still be easy to transport. (Not as easy as a laptop, yes, but fairly easy. Mine travels between school and home all the time, and has made several plane flights.)

I bring it with me when I visit my girlfriend in Germany, for some school projects, and when I visit my parents, so laptop it is. Thanks though.