Looking for Powerful yet portable Gaming Laptop

theabbott1911

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Nov 1, 2014
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Hello all, my alienware m17x r4 has recently bit the dust and I am in the market for a new laptop. My budget hovers around the 1000 dollar mark. A few laptops I have found all have their pros and cons.

The first of these laptops is the Lenovo y50. The internals of this laptop seem to be great but the screen and user interface (keyboard & touchpad) is disappointing. http://www.xoticpc.com/lenovo-y50-59418226-p-7528.html

The second laptop that I have found is the MSI GT70 dominator-895. This pc is a beast on the inside and the user interface seems very nice. The down side is the size of this computer. Not very portable.
http://www.xoticpc.com/msi-gt70-dominator895-p-6948.html

The last laptop I will include is the Sager NP8268. The inside of this computer blows me away (especially since they offer the option to upgrade to a Gtx970m graphics card! ). The problem I see with this laptop is the brand; I've never heard of the company before and this frightens me.
http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8268-clevo-p150sma-p-6986.html

I hope that some of you may clear up my mind and lead me in the right direction to choosing the right one! As a side note I need a laptop that can be taken with me into a classroom to take notes and whatnot and also be able to play games.

Honorable mention:
Asus GL551JM
http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-gl551jmdh71-preorder-p-7755.html
 
Solution
There are very few portable laptops that are good for gaming. For a gaming laptop you need a fast card and CPU. Fast card and CPU = more heat. More heat = more space needed to dissiapate it and larger heatsinks. Larger heatsinks = larger laptop.

Plus few people like to play games on a sub 15.6" screen so the market for a small gaming system is, well, small.

Alienware 11 and 13 are good, although the smaller ones are no longer made but you can find them used.

Check out www.xoticpc.com and see what they have listed for small screens in the gaming section.

flamefire999

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Nov 9, 2013
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Sager is a good brand, but it isn't really a portable laptop. But really at the price point of $1000 you will get price or performance, not both. I would go for the Asus because even though the Sager has a little bit better CPU and GPU, it's heavier and doesn't include an OS. It's also starting at $1100 and with an OS included that will go up to almost $1200. You can get a better laptop at that price. The Asus is about as good as you can get for that price. Unless you want to get a $200 laptop and a $800 desktop, then you've found a good laptop.
 

theabbott1911

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Nov 1, 2014
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I thank you for such a quick response. The Asus was not one of my top choices because of the user interface. I do not like the touchpad and the screen resolution is said to have bad viewing angles. The main reason I was looking at the sager was for that option to put a Gtx 970m in there. I did not know that the is was not included and that is another price that has to be added. So I guess right now it's between the less expensive and more portable Asus or the better performing and more expensive sager.
 

flamefire999

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Nov 9, 2013
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If you want a 970m go with the Sager. I think that the Asus is good because how often are you going to be looking at the screen from the side? And it's the best entry level gaming laptop you can get for the $1000 range
 
There are very few portable laptops that are good for gaming. For a gaming laptop you need a fast card and CPU. Fast card and CPU = more heat. More heat = more space needed to dissiapate it and larger heatsinks. Larger heatsinks = larger laptop.

Plus few people like to play games on a sub 15.6" screen so the market for a small gaming system is, well, small.

Alienware 11 and 13 are good, although the smaller ones are no longer made but you can find them used.

Check out www.xoticpc.com and see what they have listed for small screens in the gaming section.
 
Solution

theabbott1911

Estimable
Nov 1, 2014
3
0
4,510
So after contacting xotic pc today I was told that the biggest bang for my my buck was the sager np8651. This thing is truly a beast. It's thin, it's got the 970m and it is relatively cheap. So with all of these points made, what's wrong with it. I am unfamiliar with sager and buying one of their laptops frightens me. So bottom line, is sager a good brand and where is the flaw in this laptop. Again I really appreciate that you guys are willing to devote some of you time to help me!
 

Rafi Khan

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Sep 22, 2013
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This should help a lot with your decision.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc4ZWlAEqP8

I only just heard about the HP Omen (I believe weaker graphics) but it seems like a nice choice that offers extreme portability.
 


Sager is a good brand, you don't hear much from them because they are a higher end brand with a lot less ads than HP/Lenovo/Dell etc... They really do not make their own systems fully, they buy a laptop chasis and then finish the assembly, customize it and do the support.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sager_Notebook_Computers