Which laptop is the better buy? (2)

[Blingy]

I'm on the market looking for a new laptop to use for college/gaming. My desktop is 3-4 years old with a 2.4 dual core, geforce 250 GTS, and 3gigs of DDR2 RAM. The laptop I'm planning to buy will probably replace my desktop that I normally use for gaming. I currently play Borderlands 2, Mass Effect 3, Dead Space 2 with medium settings around 25 fps but I can play League of Legends on high with 50. I'm hoping the laptop that I get will be able to play these games and other high cpu/gpu demanding games such as Skyrim and Battle Field 3 on high/ultra settings.

I was searching through some sites with black friday sales and came across 2 that I found in my budget range ($1200 max). I'm hoping you guys could help me decide on which is the better buy. Storage/screen solution/Blue ray player aren't a big concern but I think battery life would be because I'm going to be carrying it around and using it on campus.

(1) http/ncix.com/products/?sku=77720&vpn=9S7-16FK11-021&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1200
(2) http/ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=70410&vpn=9S7-16F311-002&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1030

These prices are really pushing on how much I'm willing to spend but I need a new laptop that will probably last me for the next 3-4 years. I checked around Newegg and Amazon for good sales but weren't able to find much. I start school in January and thought that the sale was a good chance to buy a mid-high end laptop but were disappointed with the prices. I also live in Canada so some sites might be unavailable for me.

Do you think I should settle with either of these laptops or should I wait and see if a better deal comes up in the future? Feel free to post up any other laptop suggestions, any help is greatly appreciated !

 

[Labrynthian]

Well the MSI GX60 is a good laptop with good specs, but as you said, the price could be an issue. After you throw in warranty and dot the i's and cross the t's, it'll go up by at least another $100-$200. If you're starting in Jan, it's probably a better idea to get a laptop now, configure it and get used to it before term starts. Jan isn't too far away. And I don't think much is going to change in the next 4 weeks as far as technology or prices are concerned. If you're REALLY lucky, prices may drop in the 3rd week of december, because a large percent of the moron population is still convinced the world is going to end on december 21, but i wouldn't count on it 😀

Anyway, take a look at the Lenovo Ideapad Y580. It's a very good 15.6 inch gaming laptop, with pretty much the same specs as the MSI GX60, but for a solid $200-$300 less, depending on where you get it from. It's a very good and reliable laptop, my mate has one. It's also the cheapest laptop with a good i7 processor, 8GB RAM and a NVIDIA GTX 660M card, which is pretty good card and will handle most of your games on high settings. So take a good long look, open up the MSI link and compare the two of them, and you'll realize the Y580 is a solid deal. Just make sure you get it from a decent place. Keep me posted

 

[Labrynthian]

Ooo sorry. Forgot to post the link.

http/www.theverge.com/products/ideapad-y580/4604

 

[Blingy]

Best answer selected by Blingy.