Solved! Student Laptop, Gaming Capable

[Andy411]

1_What is your budget?

Around $1,500, no more than $2,000.

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

15-16

3_What screen resolution do you want?

Prefer 1920x1080, but not necessary

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Up in the air - will be used in addition to a 1-year old gaming desktop (which is still working, for the most part...probably will last for another year or so). Primarily for school or gaming at others' houses.

5_How much battery life do you need?

Not super important, at least 2-3 hours.

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)?

Yes, I want to play some of the games that have come out recently and are coming soon (Starcraft, Civ5, etc) at medium/high. Would like it to play games coming out in the next year or so at medium settings.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Will watch movies in addition to gaming, but most important is word processing. While I could buy an external keyboard, a decent keyboard is very important to me.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

500GB ish. I have a desktop for all my music/tv/movies, so storage would be for games and basic applications)

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

newegg, xoticpc, or any other respectable sites.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

2 years minimum.


11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD player is needed, don't need burning. Blueray wouldn't hurt, but I don't really need it.

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.

Any, as long as the brand is respectable and has good customer service and tech support.

13_What country do you live in?

USA


14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I am a commuter student transferring as a Junior (at a 4-year university). I will be taking my laptop to school every day, using it between classes or possibly during class for note-taking, and need it to be somewhat durable. I don't need anything like a toughbook, but I want something that will survive for at least my final two years of college. I am fairly good at taking care of electronics, will use a bag/sleeve, but I don't want it to die after a year of use.

 

[Andy411]

I want to add...I already own an Asus Eee 1000HE netbook which has served me really well since I purchased it. However, its pretty much outlived its usefulness. I didn't install an active antivirus used openoffice as needed for word processing/excel, but I need something more powerful now. I'm taking some business classes using excel and access, and I'm sick of using the tiny screen with no processing power.

 

[sidewinderx2]

I want to add...I already own an Asus Eee 1000HE netbook which has served me really well since I purchased it. However, its pretty much outlived its usefulness. I didn't install an active antivirus used openoffice as needed for word processing/excel, but I need something more powerful now. I'm taking some business classes using excel and access, and I'm sick of using the tiny screen with no processing power.

HAHA! That's exactly the situation i found myself in earlier this summer My EEE PC 1000HE got replaced, and given to my g/f's sister. I got an Acer AS4820TG... which is like half your budget limit, and it's only a 14" 1366 x 786 screen, but it can run SC2 on High no problem, with 5 hours of battery life on wifi and browsing the web. Check it out here: http/www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-TimelineX-AS4820TG-5637-14-Inch/dp/B003VTZPQ6

If you have a desktop for gaming, and would like this laptop to be mobile, like taking it to class and such (thus replacing your 1000HE), i would suggest this laptop, since 15" and above is getting pretty heavy. Even this 14" laptop is noticeably heavier than the old 1000HE (though not back-breakingly so). You can use the money you saved to build a newer gaming desktop for like $800 (my future roommate just did this last week )


However, if screen resolution is important to you, you can try to customize either an HP ENVY 14 or ENVY 15. They are a pretty good package, with a decent CPU/GPU combination, and a potential for very good battery life if you include the slice battery. With the HP Academic student discount thing, you can get them for a pretty good price. Check them out here: http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/series_can.do?storeName=computer_store&landing=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=ENVY