Ultra portable gaming laptop

[Cameron Reed]

Alright everyone I've been looking around for quite some time to find the perfect laptop for college. The catch is I DJ and also Game. So obviously a Macbook (lololol) is out of the question but I still want something portable enough to drag around to shows ect;

Also I've looked at a few such as the samsung ativ book that fit the bill for being thin but lack some muscle for intense gaming. The series 7 17" is nice with the 8870 but the 15" model lacks in graphics with only an 8770. The Lenovo gamer series is another brand I've noted for it's relatively cheap base but it doesn't quite fit the bill for size.

Desired Parts:

cpu: i7

ram: 8<

gpu: gtx670 or equivalent amd radeon (7900 series?)

Here is the survey:

1. What is your budget?
<1500

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15 inch screen
3. What screen resolution do you want?
not really picky, but decent enough.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
...both...somehow

5. How much battery life do you need?
over 4 hours would be nice

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)?

League of Legends
Borderlands 2(max settings)
Skyrim (max settings)

examples ^ will probably end up buying new games, so future proofing is a must at least for the next 3 or so years

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

Djing, so using serato or traktor. Also entertainment purposes such as netflix

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I’m good with anything over 500gb also a hybrid drive would be nice.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
not in particular

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3-4 years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
doesn’t matter

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.
also doesn’t matter, except for alienware not a fan.

13. What country do you live in?
USA
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[yillbs]

Ultra portable isn't really an option with gaming. They have some pretty portable gaming beasts, Such as the samsung chronos 7. It's got decent specs, and in your price range, but as far as " ultra portable " goes.. that's probably not going to happen.

 

[yillbs]

Actually i see you already wen't that route, didn't even read that part. The 8770 is not a bad card by any means. I have the 15 inch model, it's got everything you want, and it games more than enough, i assure you. It's still a decent gamer. What's the faults you have with it?

 

[Cameron Reed]

Yeah ultra portable may be going a bit far, the more searching I've done the more I've realized that so I guess I just want something that isn't super bulky and under say 6 pounds?

edit: As for my gripes about that model, none really it is still in competition I just couldn't find many reviews for the card so I had nothing to base it's performance off.

 

[yillbs]

so what's the issue with the chronos 7 15", I have it.. it does everything i need, and i need a lot. Any exact details as to what the problems you forsee are?

 

[yillbs]

We keep posting before the other is done, haha, my apologies.

I use the 8770 daily, and it's fast, portable, 6 hours of battery ( easily ), the HD display is epic, it's touch screen, which believe it or not, comes in handy. It can play any game i've thrown at it.
This may not mean much, but it plays planet slide 2 on ultra, Artic combat on ultra, and BF3 on high, with very little frame rate issues. it's a solid laptop, of course.. it has it's problems, some which are extremely annoying.. almost took mine back, but i woudl not let that card put you off it, it has everything you want, and more.

 

[Cameron Reed]

none really, it looked like a great option both aesthetically and performance wise. I just wanted to see a gaming performance review, and I'm open to other suggestions just to see what's out there. Also, I'm pretty sure the series 7 15 inch got screwed in the USA, it only received the 8770 while I've hear that the European counterpart received the 8870 which I assume would be quite the performance boost.

 

[Cameron Reed]

just read your latest post, the samsung ativbook also looks comparable I'm not sure what the differences really are

 

[jaguarskx]

From what I've seen the GTX 670m is only offered in 17.3" laptops which generally weighs in at over 8lbs. I have not seen one in a 15.6" laptop.

The most powerful graphics core in an ultabook is the GT 650m, but they are more than your budget.

 

[yillbs]

the 8870 is a bit of a boost.. but it's not that much of a boost, the 8770 is still on par with what it is. It gets things done and it games well. At least in my experience.