Hows my new laptop?

[SHIELDHEAD]

Hey guys, i recently decided to ask my parents for this laptop for school and was wondering if u guys think it will fulfill my needs.
http/www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=552780&CatId=4935

-It should be able to max Source engine games (TF2, Portal 2, and L4D2 especially) *Nvidia GT 540M*
-It should run some higher end games at lowish res (BC2 and Crysis 2) *Nvidia GT 540M*
-The i7 should run as good if not better than my core i5 750 in my desktop
-And last is should be somewhat future proof for me to program on it later in college (ie: Masters in CS)

Oh and last if anyone can shed some light on if it has bluetooth built in so i can use a razer gaming mouse with it and if anyone has an idea of the battery life id like to know that too.

Thx guys =D

 

[wintermint]

The CPU is good. The screen resolution is ***. The gpu is decent: http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html

 

[illfindu]

Okay so the I7 in there is a good choice you will have no problem at all with day to day tasks and the 540 is more then enough power for source engine games. You will be able to play games like bc2 at around 50 fps with medium maybe high settings and crysis 2 on medium with about 35 fps both very playable. Now ill say this i actually have a bachelors in CS from Marsit college ny working on masters and for most people it takes pretty close to 6+ years so if you are just about to start school it defiantly wont last that long but any programming work they give you for at least the next 4 years beside maybe some heavy phone app stuff ( which is getting taught more and more) that uses heavy emulation will run totally fine. Btw the battery life should be fairly decent 6 cell batts are the small ones.

 

[SHIELDHEAD]

The CPU is good. The screen resolution is ***. The gpu is decent: http/www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-540M.41715.0.html

its 720p and i dont want a huge laptop or a large screen so i save battery

 

[illfindu]

Shield unless your gonna be gaming a lot with the system constantly plugged in I tend to agree a year or so back I got a new wide screen laptop for school it was kinda a media laptop and the battery life was rubbish like 2 hours plus it got old carrying around some thing so heavy and big. Its a good system. And on a side note I can not say enough good things about ASUS one of the best values in almost any product in almost any situation there really top draw.

 

[SHIELDHEAD]

Shield unless your gonna be gaming a lot with the system constantly plugged in I tend to agree a year or so back I got a new wide screen laptop for school it was kinda a media laptop and the battery life was rubbish like 2 hours plus it got old carrying around some thing so heavy and big. Its a good system. And on a side note I can not say enough good things about ASUS one of the best values in almost any product in almost any situation there really top draw.

i dont see your point lol this should get atleast 4-5 hours of battery life, i know going into this that you need to plug it in to game(my school has outlets everywhere), and i utilize the internet as my primary study tool for math videos, research, word etc... Yes i need one

 

[sidewinderx2]

Screen resolution isn't tied to screen size (well, it's correlated, but not directly related). You can have small laptops with high-res screens. But yeah, most computers around that price range will have about the same screen.

That laptop you posted is pretty nice, although i'm not sure about it lasting 4-5 hours. It might... but i kinda doubt it, since the i7 2630QM it comes with is one of the more power-hungry i7s. For battery life, you really would want one with a lower power draw (reference: http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Mobile_processors , the TDP column)

As a CS major that just graduated, i can tell you for certain that the i7 is pretty much overkill for any course-related programs you'll be running. an lower end i7 or i5 will be plenty good. Visual Studio/Eclipse/Notepad++/emacs really doesn't require 4 cores to run well, lol. For gaming, the Nvidia 540M will be good for most games that will come out this year or the next, at least on Medium if not higher. For Source Engine games, the 540 is an overkill.
If you really want to be more mobile (as in, more battery life), you might want to look into a 14" and under laptop with a lower-powered i7 or i5 CPU. If you don't care about battery life, then that laptop you posted will be perfectly good for your needs

 

[illfindu]

I agree with you battery life point shield i wasnt arguing that I was simply makeing a side point about maybe stepping up resolution and screen size or even mobile GPU's that as you get bigger more powerful your battery life tanks big time

 

[SHIELDHEAD]

Thanks for your input guys, for the most part i expect to keep it plugged in most of the time and like the fact that everything is a bit overkill so i can use in years to come. Im not seeing this being a mobile platform, but a mobile desktop if u get what i mean.

 

[trogdor796]

I have a very similar ASUS. Same specs but slightly larger hdd and a a little more RAM. Besides that it's identical. Should run source games maxed, most modern games on medium settings(I can run BC2 on mine medium and get like 40fps).

As for battery life, since school hasn't started for me yet, I haven't done a whole lot of testing away from an outlet. But from what I have done, I think 4-5 hours is what to expect, probably closer to 4 though. Note that this is with the screen brightness turned down and performance mode turned off.

I would go with it. ASUS is an excellent brand, I think you'll be very satisfied with that laptop, especially for that price.

 

[SHIELDHEAD]

Best answer selected by shieldhead.

 

[illfindu]

Its defiantly a rock solid rig I think you will be able to enjoy most games at playable levels and a long life time in terms of use for every day tasks. as Trogdor said and I said earlier the fact that its a good rig built bye ASUS a knock out brand just makes it better. If I had to buy a laptop right now I would go with some thing like this or wait a little bit and get a Llano based one but they are coming out really slow from what iv seen. All in all good pick