Looking for a temp. (1-2yrs) Desktop replacement for gaming

bigk9900

Honorable
May 19, 2012
2
0
10,510
1. What is your budget?
$1000 is about as high as I'd like to go.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15"-17"

3. What screen resolution do you want?
Ideally 1920/1080

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Mainly a Desktop Replacement (Explanation below)

5. How much battery life do you need?
I am looking mostly for a desktop replacement so I don't foresee a need for a super long battery life

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)?
WoW, SWTOR, Diablo 3, Rift, Starcraft 2. I'd love to be able to play these at medium to high, but as I'm currently barely playing them on low on my desktop PC I could live with that as well.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Outside of gaming I plan to use the computer to type papers for school, however if I could use it to watch bluray movies that would be neat, not necessary however.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
Enough for the gaming software mainly. I think 500g would be enough, maybe 750g-1t to be safe, I'm not really sure here.

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2 years would suffice, (again, explanation below)

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I believe most of my games require a DVD ROM to install, and as I mentioned Bluray would be neat if budget friendly.

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.
Admittedly I know very little about laptop brands. The only laptop I've owned was a Dell Inspiron that is now 10 years old and no longer functioning. I'd prefer a laptop that is reliable and durable but I have read contradictory reviews on pretty much every major brand so again, not too sure nor do I care which brand provided the machine is durable.

13. What country do you live in?
USA Lower 48

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I have already read through many posts with people asking for advice on a laptop to play many of the games I have listed. that said, I apologize for adding yet another one to the pile. A lot of the replies to similar posts suggested HP, Sager, Asus, and so on. They all seemed like good options in my price range with the Sager pcs from xoticpc.com being the most appealing. Link here: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np6175-clevo-w170er-p-4345.html?wconfigure=yes Although I am unclear if I should be looking at an i7 processor over the i5 and a 2g gpu over a 1g.

So here are the problems I am currently facing:
I am moving to Hawaii for a job in June. This has led me to consider a laptop since it will be less cumbersome to take with me. I'm fairly certain a good desktop pc will be better for gaming, however I need something that can be a bit mobile for at least the next year until I am firmly settled and established which makes the laptop more appealing at this time as well. So the challenges I currently face in choosing a laptop include:
A limited budget due to moving costs.
A short window for manufacture/shipping (Would need it to me by June 5th.)
Service support outside of the lower 48. Xoticpc's service plans seem to only cover products within the lower 48 as did HP's. So finding a computer that, should I require service or replacement, would not require me to travel back to the mainland is priority.

I would appreciate any suggestions you all may offer. Thank you.
 

hpfreak

Distinguished
Nov 29, 2010
805
1
19,010
Since you're planning on keeping it for a year or two. Would you consider a factory refurbished laptop?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230352

This is the Asus G74, great for gaming, makes a great desktop replacement too.
It runs for 949.99 USD with Free 2 day shipping. Depending on when you order it, it will be at the door in time, Newegg has a good reputation for shipping and customer service.
 

bigk9900

Honorable
May 19, 2012
2
0
10,510
Thank you for the suggestion. I've no problems with a refurbished laptop, I assume an extended warranty would be advisable if I chose to purchase a refurb. machine?

Mainly I am trying to find the best option available for me within my budget. Since the price is similar to the Sager NP6175 I'm curious how the performance stacks up between the two, particularly with regards to the GPU. Also is the 1600/900 resolution going to be sufficient for gaming? sadly I'm not terribly tech savvy so I know very little about particular pc specs.