I need help with a gaming laptop for a high schooler

[Breesgal9]

I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop for a Freshman who will be taking video game programming classes and playing games. I hope to spend no more than $1500. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[bobmanuk]

the best advise i can give is dont, seriously, laptop processors are no where near as powerful as you would think, as someone who spent a lot of money on a mid range gaming laptop, I wish i had have spent the bulk of my money on a powerful desktop and a cheap portable laptop instead of getting an underwhelming core i7 that is outmatched by an i5.

If you really need a laptop for everything then im sure someone else will be able to provide a good answer

 

[g-unit1111]

the best advise i can give is dont, seriously, laptop processors are no where near as powerful as you would think, as someone who spent a lot of money on a mid range gaming laptop, I wish i had have spent the bulk of my money on a powerful desktop and a cheap portable laptop instead of getting an underwhelming core i7 that is outmatched by an i5.

If you really need a laptop for everything then im sure someone else will be able to provide a good answer

That used to be true. While they're not perfect laptop CPUs have come a long way in the last few years. The i7-6700HQ that's common in most laptops in this price range is a true quad core. Even higher end models can use the same 6700K that you get in your desktop, or the X99 equivalent i7-6820HK. Where the real differences lie is in the graphics. Now NVIDIA did away with the "M" designation of its' previous generation mobile GPUs and they definitely were not the same as their desktop counterparts. Now that's all gone away with the new generation. The new generation does away with the M designation and the graphics are much better. They're still not on par with the desktop GPUs because they're made to run on a battery but the graphics have significantly improved with the 10xx laptops.

 

[JeffDaemon]

He probably won't need much for his course, to start he will just be doing basic design. However for gaming I would look at no less then a 1060 nvidia based laptop. Shoot for the new version of alienware 15 laptops.

 

[g-unit1111]

He probably won't need much for his course, to start he will just be doing basic design. However for gaming I would look at no less then a 1060 nvidia based laptop. Shoot for the new version of alienware 15 laptops.

Over Sager or MSI or Asus or Lenovo or any of the hundreds of other reputable brands out there? Alienware is just rebranded Dell with a higher price tag.

 

[JeffDaemon]

Alienware most certainly does not rebrand dells, as Dell has no laptops with the same case or 1060hrs. The Alienware 13 base config is also the cheapest 1060 laptop available.

However stepping back, everyone you listed has released their initial 1060 offerings too quickly and all suffer from bad issues, mostly with removing heat. Alienware took some extra time and designed a special heatblock in its backend sufficent enough, so it suffers less problems.

 

[g-unit1111]

Alienware most certainly does not rebrand dells, as Dell has no laptops with the same case or 1060hrs. The Alienware 13 base config is also the cheapest 1060 laptop available.

Alienware is a subsidiary of Dell. Their hardware is made in the same factory, and their systems are supported by Dell's technical support. Quote from the first line of Wikipedia's article: "Alienware is an American computer hardware subsidiary of Dell."

https/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alienware

 

[logainofhades]

Dell bought out Alienware 10yrs ago. Alienware is nothing more than an overpriced dell.

 

[GreyCatz]

Someone really needs to put up a sticky about why everybody hates Alienware... In the meantime, the OP did ask for some advice on gaming laptops around $1,500. So let the flamewars begin with this MSI:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-aluminum-black/5515003.p?skuId=5515003#spoke/reviews&ref=199&loc=TnL5HPStwNw&acampID=1&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-q_Z00ws6AqePrGw70ODIwQ&ref=199&loc=TnL5HPStwNw&acampID=1&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-gFBF6iX884qOtNzAtr.mrw

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[g-unit1111]

Someone really needs to put up a sticky about why everybody hates Alienware... In the meantime, the OP did ask for some advice on gaming laptops around $1,500. So let the flamewars begin with this MSI:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1060-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-aluminum-black/5515003.p?skuId=5515003#spoke/reviews&ref=199&loc=TnL5HPStwNw&acampID=1&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-q_Z00ws6AqePrGw70ODIwQ&ref=199&loc=TnL5HPStwNw&acampID=1&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-gFBF6iX884qOtNzAtr.mrw

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

Funny that's exactly the one I'm looking at.

 

[JeffDaemon]

I think the msi looks great and is nice and thin, still runs damn hot. Look up the owner thread on notebook review forums.