Solved! Need a gaming laptop $1500-2000

[Boxomilk]

Hello everyone. I'm in the market for a new laptop as my last one has died. My price range is $1500-2000. I travel a lot for work, so I need something pretty robust. I've looked at Sager and Asus laptops and like the specs and value, but I just don't feel like I know enough about laptops so I'm coming here for help.

I will be using the laptop for primarily gaming. It needs to handle World of Warcraft raiding at max settings, as well as new games (DA:2, Portal 2, etc.) as close to max as possible. The games I've really got my eye on in the future are Diablo 3 and Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I'd like this laptop to last several years into the future without suffering too much in quality though.

The specs I'd like to stay close to are:

17" screen 1920x1080 (absolute minimum)
a new Sandybridge processor
460M/485M or 6970M or equivalent (not sure which is better)
6+ gb of ram
500+ gb HDD (1 TB would be nice)

Neat little things like Blu-ray players/burners are nice but not necessary. I won't need any office software or anything like that either. Please let me know your thoughts and if you have any specific recommendations on builds and/or sites to buy from. Thanks.

 

[AntiZig]

Are you in Europe or US?
I'd recommend to check out boutique laptop/pc vendors, you'd be able to get the exact parts you want instead of having to settle for prebuilt wholesaler options.
If you're in US you could take a look at something like:
http/originpc.com - east coast
http/www.xoticpc.com - mid west
http/www.digitalstormonline.com - west coast

Looks like you have a good plan in mind. I'd say look around, do some research, once you pick something you want and have questions about the config, ask here. (Personally for me a big part of a laptop is the case itself, if I don't like it I won't buy the laptop no matter the hardware.)

Any clevo cases seem to be pretty good, Sager uses clevo cases afaik.
As you mentioned yourself Asus is a good one as well.

 

[WR2]

Hello Boxomilk;

Looking forward into the future I think the HD 6970M is a great choice for future games while keeping the budget in mind.
Sager NP8170-S1 ~$1854 configured w/o Win7. Add Win7 for $90.
Core i7-2630QM CPU, 8GB RAM, 2x 500GB 7200rpm HDD - chose RAID0 option - Blu-Ray reader DVD writer
1920x1080 LCD w/ Radeon HD 6970M graphics.

 

[WR2]

AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6970M review

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

[Boxomilk]

I'm in the US on the East Coast. I've never looked at Origin PC so I'll head over and take a look.

About the Win7. I have a disc for my home PC, would I be able to use that on the laptop?

 

[WR2]

@ Win7 PC, if it's an OEM version that came with the PC (like from Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc) then that license is tied to the PC only.

You'll need a valid Win7 license so if you don't have a spare license not in use (like from a Family Pack) you'll need to get that as well.

 

[WR2]

Also at the top end of your budget:
ASUS G73SW-3DE the 3D gaming version.
Core i7-2630QM CPU, 8GB RAM, 2x 500GB 7200rpm HDD RAID0 - Blu-Ray ROM DVD writer 1920x1080 LCD w/ Nvidia GTX 460M graphics.

 

[sunnyangel37]

I found this beauty on Newegg
http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220957

I then further went price shopping for you and found it cheaper on this website:

http/www.abesofmaine.com/item.do?item=ASG73SW-A1&l=AFFILIATE&kbid=TnL5HPStwNw-Rf0f5zizYl3OH_ZYz7ALCA

The graphics card should handle the games you wish to play just fine on high settings.

Let me know what you think, of the spec's or what it needs so I can help find a better suited laptop for you.

Also does it need to be portable, or desktop replacement. Ect..