Newbie needs advice for buying a gaming laptop for college

[TrueTexan]

Hey everyone,

I'll be starting my fall 2014 semester at Tx A&M's engineering college. The engineering college reccomends everyone to get this:
http/store.edutechu.com/p-2010-dell-latitude-e6540.aspx
Although I think I can do better for that price. I'm an avid gamer and I don't really want to bring my desktop. The 2 most important things for me are reliability and performance. Everything else I don't really care about. My budget is $1000-$1500. I'll need this laptop to last me the 4 years of college I'll be using it for. Lastly how would a laptop with in my budget compare in performance to my current desktop computer which runs a 7850 2gb, 8gb of ram, and a I3 2120. Thanks a ton for any help and recommendations! Also when is the best time to purchase a new laptop?

-Cody

 

[ingtar33]

I can't click that link but acording to your link it's a dell latitude e6540 right?

that's actually a pretty badass laptop they're suggesting. the hd 8970m is basically equal to a 880m, it's top of the line mobile gpu... and it's comparable to a desktop r9-270x. throw in the top end mobile i7 and that's a pretty hard combo to beat. i'll see what i can find, but i suspect the "gaming" laptops will run a bit more for the same performance.

btw: that laptop is probably a bit better of a gaming machine then your desktop.

 

[TrueTexan]

Cool. I think it actually might come with a 4 year warranty plan. I'm not to familar as to what is good as I've never bought a laptop. The price they are selling it for is $1466.

 

[ingtar33]

yeah... i'm looking around for a better gaming laptop, and i'm not finding one for that price... heck, many of the "gaming" laptops in that price range are significantly inferior.

the big issue you should have with that dell, is the poor battery life... that 8970m destroys your battery; this is why typically nvidia gpus show up in "gaming" laptops, because they're much more power efficient. But apparently it also adds $$ to the price, cause i can't find a 880m for that price range... the best i found was a 870m, and the laptop itself was painfully inferior.

 

[pheeww]

hi, try out this laptop for gaming...
http/shop.lenovo.com/usstudents/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/

it is pretty neat and slim profiled laptop but the info on its ability to handle the heat and battery life is still not available...