Laptop $1500 or less

[Recklessrog]

1. What is your budget?
No more than $1500 but preferably closer to $1000

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14-16"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
1080p preferably

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

5. How much battery life do you need?
at least 3-4 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)?
I would just like to be able to run games. I mostly play SC2, Diablo 3, Dota 2, GW2 and BF3(low settings fine but medium would be nice)

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

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

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
newegg, amazon, tigerdirect, etc. (Open to any well known computer retailer)

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3-4 years

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

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.
Anything. I look more for quality in the laptop itself than brand

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
A few laptops I'm considering, but in no way inclusive are:

New Dell XPS 15
http/www.dell.com/us/p/xps-15-l521x/pd

ASUS N56VZ
http/www.amazon.com/ASUS-N56VZ-ES71-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B007Z92SJU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343233260&sr=8-1&keywords=asus+n56

Lenovo IDEAPAD Y580
http/www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y580/

 

[kulmnar]

The Lenovo IDEAPAD Y580 looks good because it has a GTX660M video card with 2GB GDDR5 vram which will play Diablo 3 and SC2 at 1080p resolution and high settings, BF3 of course will require medium settings at 1080p but you can play at high settings at 720p. However, make sure you pick the Y580 model that comes with a 1920x1080 screen if you want to game in full HD (several other y580s come with 1366x768 resolution screens).

 

[Recklessrog]

Best answer selected by Recklessrog.

 

[Recklessrog]

Thanks, I think I will get the y580 if I go for gaming over an ultrabook

 

[edit1754]

If you haven't ordered yet, you need to make sure you keep this in mind when buying the Y580: Do not buy any of the models that come with the 1366x768 display. Limit your purchase decision to the models that come with the 1920x1080 display.

1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have 1366x768 resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast. The same applies to 17.3" 1600x900 displays, and you should make a point to avoid this type of display when it is reasonable to do so.

Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 (i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy display) - $999 + tax
- Sign up and sign in here: http/shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/na/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?affinity=barnesnoblegold (Barnes and Noble Gold discount page)
- http/shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:00003940: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 1TB 5400RPM) - $999
- http/shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:00003943: (i7-3610QM, GTX 660M, 15.6" 1920x1080, 1TB 5400RPM + 32GB SSD for hybrid cache) - $1139
- These models come with the 1920x1080 display. There are other models that come instead with a 1366x768 display, but those models are not recommended unless you need the larger text. 1366x768 resolution in a 15.6" display makes things onscreen large, and 15.6" displays that have this resolution tend to have very poor image quality due to low contrast.
- Click the green "Activate eCoupon" button in the cart.

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For a similar reason, you should not buy the ASUS N56VZ-ES71, due to the fact that it comes with a 15.6" 1366x768 display. However, the N56VZ-RB71, available from Microcenter for $999, comes with a 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display.

The N56VZ may or may not be the best option for you, but if you do end up buying the N56VZ, then the RB71 would be the model to buy, not the ES71.

http/www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0394503

The GT 650M included in the N56VZ is the GDDR3 version instead of the GDDR5 version. It is slightly slower in some games, and noticeably slower in others. The GDDR5 version of the GT 650M isn't too much below the GTX 660M in the Y580 though.