Looking for a gaming laptop around $800 more or less

[nightstrife408]

1. What is your budget? more or less around $800, less is better

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 17 inches or more

3. What screen resolution do you want? doesn't matter, the best to play diablo 3 in

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? i need it for gaming mostly

5. How much battery life do you need? enough, i guess around 2-4+ hours? it will be plugged in most of time i assume

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)? Diablo3, WoW, HoN, LoL i want to at least play in average settings

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) nothing else just mainly gaming and doing homework with microsoft word or something

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? i want over or around 500gb? i also want 7200rpm

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? maybe 4-5 years? this isnt important

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? i would like the basic dvd rom but blueray is always nice

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 prefer brands that ARE NOT: HP, Toshiba, or Dell. i have heard bad stories about these laptops and their heating issues

13. What country do you live in? USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Again i want this laptop for Diablo 3 mainly but i will play other games as well. I want the gpu and cpu to sort of stay high end also and i know this might sound stupid for a laptop around 800 but what could it hurt to ask. Also i want a good laptop that wont overheat THAT MUCH thanks again!

also i am currently looking at this laptop here: Asus G73JH-A2 17.3" LED Notebook - Core i7 i7-720QM 1.60 GHz ------ http/electsonex.com/index.php?route=product/product&filter_name=asus%20g73&product_id=58

are there any comparable laptops to this model that is a bit newer? i understand the laptop i linked is old and i want to be as up to date as possible while still in my price range

 

[Pyree]

Any reason for getting 17 inch?

With your low budget, smaller screen 14-15" with lower 720p+ res is better since the GPU don't have to do 1080p in games.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215404

Better yet, save another $100 and get a Lenovo Y580

 

[Memnarchon]

Hello.
The best 17" I could find around the speccs you want and good for gaming is:
Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875
Screen: 17.3" 1600 x 900 LED
CPU: Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.3GHz
RAM: 6GB DDR3
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
HDD: 750GB
$899 at newegg.

 

[nightstrife408]

how does the 650m compare to the radeon 5870?

 

[Memnarchon]

how does the 650m compare to the radeon 5870?

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

It's better and the notebook I linked has lower resolution (1600x900) so the difference will be much higher (around 30% on fps)

Also the notebook you linked has an older gen cpu that is "Clarksfield" (1,6Ghz/2,8Ghz turbo) back from 2009, which is clearly not even close to "Ivybridge" i7 3610QM (2,3Ghz/3,3Ghz turbo). I am mentioning this cause this will also affect gaming performance.

 

[edit1754]

The problem with looking for a laptop that is 17.3", gaming capable, and $800 or under is that the only type of display you are going to be able to find is 17.3" 1600x900, and not 17.3" 1920x1080.

1600x900 resolution in a 17.3" display makes things onscreen large, and 17.3" displays that have this resolution are usually cheaply manufactured LCD panels that have very poor image quality due to low contrast. 15.6" 1366x768 displays are the same in these regards. I would generally recommend to avoid this type of display whenever it is reasonable to do so. For example, there are a number of 15.6" laptops within your budget that have 1920x1080 resolution and dedicated GPUs.

If you are going to carry this computer with you often, getting a smaller computer might be a better choice anyway.

Nevermind the comments that suggest you to get a lower resolution in order to achieve better framerates. This notion is a misconception. Game performance should not be a reason to choose a 15.6" 1366x768 display or 17.3" 1600x900 display instead of a 15.6" 1600x900 display, 15.6" 1920x1080 display, or 17.3" 1920x1080 display. For one thing, you can always make up for drops in performance associated with higher resolutions by lowering to a non-native resolution, but you cannot as easily make up for the limits imposed on multitasking by a lower resolution. In addition, despite the fact that running in a non-native resolution causes blur, games will still tend to look better running in a non-native resolution on a 15.6" 1600x900 display, 15.6" 1920x1080 display, or 17.3" 1920x1080 display than they would look running in native resolution on a 15.6" 1366x768 display or 17.3" 1600x900 display, because of the sheer difference that typically exists between the image quality of these two classes of displays.

It is also worth noting that you should not hold it to a high priority to get a Core i7 processor unless you will often run applications that are bottlenecked considerably by CPU speed. The processor is of relatively little importance to gaming, because game performance is bottlenecked more by the GPU (particularly mid-range mobile GPUs) than it is by the CPU, and basic tasks are unaffected by your choice of processor.

-----------------

My recommendation goes for these. They allow you to get a decent GPU and a decent display at the same time, while staying close to your budget.

HP DV6-6C53NR (i5-2450M, AMD Radeon 7690M XT, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $799
- http/www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/HP-Pavilion-dv66c53nr/productID.243730200
- With this laptop, you will need to go into the BIOS and change the switchable graphics setting from DYNAMIC (automatic) to FIXED (manual) if you want to run OpenGL games such as Minecraft.

HP DV6z-7000 (A6-4400M, AMD Radeon 7730M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $754 after coupon code 20DEALIGG
- http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&config_id=7273816
- A8 or A10 CPU upgrades might be worth the cost, depending on the CPU-intensivity of the games you play or of other apps you run.
- The Radeon 7670M supports dGPU/iGPU crossfire (The 7730M does not), so you could downgrade to that and upgrade to the A8 CPU (which has a faster integrated GPU than the A6). But not all games support asymmetric crossfire.

 

[Pyree]

Nevermind the comments that suggest you to get a lower resolution in order to achieve better framerates. This notion is a misconception. Game performance should not be a reason to choose a 15.6" 1366x768 display or 17.3" 1600x900 display instead of a 15.6" 1600x900 display, 15.6" 1920x1080 display, or 17.3" 1920x1080 display. For one thing, you can always make up for drops in performance associated with higher resolutions by lowering to a non-native resolution, but you cannot as easily make up for the limits imposed on multitasking by a lower resolution. In addition, despite the fact that running in a non-native resolution causes blur, games will still tend to look better running in a non-native resolution on a 15.6" 1600x900 display, 15.6" 1920x1080 display, or 17.3" 1920x1080 display than they would look running in native resolution on a 15.6" 1366x768 display or 17.3" 1600x900 display, because of the sheer difference that typically exists between the image quality of these two classes of displays.
HP DV6-6C53NR - $799
- http/www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/en_US/pd/HP-Pavilion-dv66c53nr/productID.243730200

Are you kidding, the PO is looking for gaming performance. Anything that give better fps is a plus.
I would also like to see how stretching 720p to 900p or 1080p looks better than stretching 720p to 768p.
A slower 7690m XT on a full HD res screen. It's going to reduce games just playable on medium on GT 650m @ 720p on 768p screen to low @ 1050p on 1080p screen. It will stay medium at 720p but you have to stretch it to 1080p which will look crap unless you have some magical screen.
Quality of the screen should not be a priory, if you really hate that screen, you can use external screen at home and only suffer bad screen when you are using it on the run. But bad performance is something you can't change.
You are making that DV6 recommendation awfully lot even when they are clearly not the best. I am questioning your motive.

 

[edit1754]

Are you kidding, the OP is looking for gaming performance. Anything that give better fps is a plus.

The thing is that a lower resolution display doesn't give you framerates that you couldn't achieve on a higher resolution display with scaling.

[Stretching makes things look bad.]

15.6" 1366x768 and 17.3" 1600x900 displays tend to look bad no matter how you put them, whether gaming or not, native resolution or not. This is because these displays more often than not have very poor image quality due to low contrast. It's just how manufacturers usually choose to produce these lower resolution displays, don't ask me why.

Yes. Stretching does cause blur. Games tend to look better running at native resolution than non-native resolution on the same display, but games will usually look better running in non-native resolution on an excellent quality display than they would look running in native resolution on a poor quality display.

That aside, the Radeon 7690M XT is enough to run at least some of the mentioned games on decent settings without scaling down from 1920x1080.

You are making that DV6 recommendation awfully lot even when they are clearly not the best. I am questioning your motive.

There is no monetary or contractual incentive behind any of my recommendations. Disagreeing with my recommendations and accusing me of being a sales representative are two entirely different things.

In the $800 price range (a common budget), there aren't very many options that have decent dedicated GPUs (faster than the GT 540M) and at the same time have decent displays (15.6" > 1366x768, or 17.3" > 1600x900). These two HP computers are among the few that do fit that bill.

Most other options only meet at most two of these three things. Underlined are what prevents them from fitting the bill.
- ASUS N53SM-AS51: $799, NVIDIA GT 630M, 15.6" 1920x1080
- Sony Vaio SE: $829, AMD Radeon 6630M, 15.6" 1920x1080
- HP DV6tqe-7000 + GPU upgrade: ~$800, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1366x768
- HP DV6tqe-7000 + GPU/display upgrades: ~$949, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080
- Lenovo Y570: $699-$799, NVIDIA GT 555M 96-Shader (relatively close to a 540M), 15.6" 1366x768
- Sager NP6165: $949, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080
- Dell Inspiron 15R SE: $899, AMD Radeon 7730M, 15.6" 1920x1080

I am not recommending the DV6t 7000 Quad Edition right now anyway, because the currently available discounts are not enough to bring prices down to competitive ranges.

 

[ram1009]

gaming laptop=oxymoron. Especially on your budget.

 

[nightstrife408]

yes i know that but honestly i am just trying to run diablo 3 with little to no lag. i understand 15.6 in is way better for gaming but i want to stick to 17.3 in because i will also be watching movies and such.

thank you for the recommendations on the laptops but i really dont like HP brand as my brother has one and so does my close friend and they always over heat.

I am really considering that Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875

does anyone know of reviews or problems with this laptop?: Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875

 

[Pyree]

There is no monetary or contractual incentive behind any of my recommendations. Disagreeing with my recommendations and accusing me of being a sales representative are two entirely different things.

Can't be too careful these days. Too many spammers and bots posing as users making repeated recommendation on same laptop. Well, you pass the test.

We are arguing whether (stretching image and good contrast) vs (native image and low contrast) looks better. I think I can conclude there wouldn't be an answer. We see differently. On a scale of bad quality image, I rate fuzziness above lack of colour contrast and you rate colour don't look different enough (blend) over fuzziness.

 

[Pyree]

does anyone know of reviews or problems with this laptop?: Acer Aspire V3-771G-9875

It's new so there wouldn't be detailed review. But laptop in this price range are usually mostly plastic chassis construction and cooling with shared heat pipe and heat sink for 1 fan for GPU and CPU.

 

[nightstrife408]

It's new so there wouldn't be detailed review. But laptop in this price range are usually mostly plastic chassis construction and cooling with shared heat pipe and heat sink for 1 fan for GPU and CPU.

would that be good or bad? haha

 

[Pyree]

That would be average.

 

[shady hammad]

Hello mate , hello everybody
i would thank you everyone who help ppl and give his exp to them
i would ask about different between and best of them ? coz i start to get mad
i would to know best radeon card of them ?
i would to know if there best than them for price around 700 ~ 850 $ ?
Note : < i know price all of them is different but i am play geams and use internet and watch movie witch balanced or good price and Performance >
i like price and Possibilities last one < hp dv6-6c45ee (A7P33EA ) > give me advice about it plz


1- Toshiba Satellite S855D-S5253

AMD A10-4600M Accelerated Processor 2.3 GHz (3.2 GHz with AMD Turbo Core Technology 3.0) 4MBL2 Cache
6GB DDR3 1600MHz memory (max 16GB)
750GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive
15.6" diagonal widescreen TruBrite® TFT display at 1366 x 768 nativeresolution (HD), AMD Radeon HD 7660G Dual Graphics
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), SP1


2- Toshiba Satellite S855-S5268 ( most of hight price of them )

Intel Core_i7_3610QM Processor 3.3GHz
8 GB SO-DIMM RAM
750GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, AMD Radeon HD 7670M Graphics 2GB DDR3
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

3- Toshiba Satellite P755D-S5172

AMD A Series Processor 2.5GHz
6GB SO-DIMM RAM
640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, AMD Radeon HD 6620G
Windows Home Premium, 5.08 hours Battery Life

4- Toshiba Satellite S855D-S5253



AMD A10-4600M Accelerated Processor 2.3 GHz (3.2 GHz with AMD Turbo Core Technology 3.0) 4MBL2 Cache
6GB DDR3 1600MHz memory (max 16GB)
750GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive
15.6" diagonal widescreen TruBrite® TFT display at 1366 x 768 nativeresolution (HD), AMD Radeon HD 7660G Dual Graphics
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), SP1



5- HP Pavilion dv6-6c45ee (A7P33EA )

Microprocessor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5-2450M
Microprocessor Cache 3 MB L3 cache
Memory 4 GB DDR3
Memory Max Supports up to 8 GB DDR3
Video Graphics AMD Radeon HD 7690M XT (2 GB DDR5 dedicated)
Display 39,6 cm (15,6") HD LED BrightView (1366 x 768)
Hard Drive 500 GB SATA (5400 rpm)
Multimedia Drive SuperMulti DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support
Network Card Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Wireless Connectivity Bluetooth with WiDi
Intel 802.11 b/g/n
Sound Beats Audio
Keyboard Full size with integrated numeric keypad
Pointing Device TouchPad with on/off button and support for multitouch gestures
PC Card Slots Multi-Format Digital Media Card Reader

 

[Pyree]

2 or 5, leaning towards 5, especially if the price is good.

 

[sueminnie]

I would never do heavy duty gaming on a laptop by any means. Heavy gaming means heavy cooling and I haven't seen a laptop yet that can do that plus the shutter lag. build a gaming tower and you are good to go.