Need a new Laptop

V-PV-P State College, PA Member
edited January 2010 in Hardware
I need a new laptop and I figure black Friday is probably the best time to get one. I am into gaming and I play games like Counter Strike Source, Modern Warfare 1 and 2, GTA IV, NBA 2K10, etc. My current laptop can handle most of them on bare minimum settings but I would like laptop that can run this on high to max settings. My budget is about $1200 so can you guys suggest some good deals? Oh, I'd like a big HDD but I'll still be okay with a 250 GB if everything else is good. I do multi-task a lot too so dual core is a must. I don't have to have an operating system bundled with it, I have a copy of Windows 7 I got from school laying around.

Thanks a lot!

Comments

  • Dilbert-FirestormDilbert-Firestorm Nuclear Wasteland, Gretna, LA New
    edited November 2009
    get an asus G71gx-x2 from newegg if the price falls to your level on black friday. the machines great. currently newegg is selling it for 1499. a bit above your level of comfort.
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited November 2009
    I like that one but I was looking at this which has the same graphics card and basic setup but i can get it from amazon for $1999 which is just at my limit:

    Gateway® P-7908u FX Edition

    Worth it? Just to put it in terms I can understand, what kind of framerates would I be looking at for Crysis?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited November 2009
    I'd recommend avoiding Gateway. Their failure rates are atrocious. Asus has a much better build quality in my experience as does Lenovo (though Lenovo's aren't made for gaming as much as productivity allegedly).
  • Cliff_ForsterCliff_Forster Icrontian
    edited November 2009
    ardichoke wrote:
    I'd recommend avoiding Gateway. Their failure rates are atrocious. Asus has a much better build quality in my experience as does Lenovo (though Lenovo's aren't made for gaming as much as productivity allegedly).

    Ardi has a point. Any company that purchases emachines to improve their customer service reputation has to be approached with caution.
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited November 2009
    Has anyone personally had problems with them? I ask because my friend has had a gateway fx laptop for a little over 18 months now and he couldn't be happier with it. I'm gong to wait until Xmas to make my buy so just fill me in on anything that would help my decision.
  • shwaipshwaip bluffin' with my muffin Icrontian
    edited November 2009
    http://tech.icrontic.com/news/asus-toshiba-sony-best-apple-in-laptop-reliability

    you might give that a read
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited November 2009
    Big help shwaip. I actually have an hp AND a Toshiba and surprisingly the chart holds true for both. The HP's screen is shot withing 2 years if getting iyl and the laptop was rarely moved from where it was sitting while the toshiba which moves around all the time since I took it up to Penn state win me is still going strong after 2 years. One problem I've seen in both is that they always seem to have problems reading DVDs after having them a while. Is this a common problem for laptops? Anyway keep posting any new deals you may stumble upon. Thanks guys.

    Sorry about the typos... I'm on my iPod:D
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited November 2009
    V|P wrote:
    Has anyone personally had problems with them?
    Me personally? No, because I would never purchase a Gateway. My sister has one though, it started having problems pretty much the day it went out of warranty. The motherboard finally gave up the ghost completely a few months back (probably about 2 years after purchase). Instead of taking my advice and buying an Asus Eee netbook, she spent the 300 dollars to replace the motherboard in it... I love how they never take my advice when I tell them something they don't want to hear (like don't fix the not under warranty Gateway or buy the 3 year extended warranty on this new laptop) yet as soon as there's a problem, who do they expect to drop everything and fix it?:rarr:
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited January 2010
    How does this laptop look?
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Blue/Black/9556072.p?skuId=9556072&id=1218124204092

    It's a bit bulky for me and I'm looking for something with blu-ray. If I were to get the above laptop, can someone give me some info on replacing the drive with a blu ray burner?
  • BandrikBandrik Elkhart, IN Icrontian
    edited January 2010
    V|P wrote:
    How does this laptop look?
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B2+Duo+Processor+-+Blue/Black/9556072.p?skuId=9556072&id=1218124204092

    It's a bit bulky for me and I'm looking for something with blu-ray. If I were to get the above laptop, can someone give me some info on replacing the drive with a blu ray burner?

    That's the laptop I just picked up from Best Buy. It's a very rock-solid gaming laptop with one of the best dedicated graphics cards you can get in a laptop in that budget range.

    Looking at the reviews, it's pretty much received critical acclaim. The backlit keyboard is wonderful (looks nice, feels good to type on), it games like a champ, it has a second SATA harddrive bay if you want to add even more storage later over the 320GB drive, has a nifty quick-launch micro OS that gives you basic functionality in just a few seconds (web browser that handles flash, IM using a modified version of Pidgin, and more), and so on.

    The main drawbacks I've seen people state are the following:
    • Screen is "too small" vs 17"
    • Lower pixel resolution than other laptops, especially 17" ones
    • Speakers are a bit weak
    • Battery life is wimpy at just a little over an hour, less if full out gaming

    Though honestly if you wanted the 17" bigness, then you'll be stuck dealing with an enormous laptop that barely fits anything and is a pain to lug around. So to me those weren't really cons. The speakers I found to be adequate and if you want better, use headphones. And for battery life, it's just a tradeoff to have this much muscle in a notebook.

    Oh, and if you like this model but want a little more power in it, check online. They have the G60VX-RBBX09, which is about $200 or so more, but has a faster CPU, 640GB storage (probably just adds a second 320GB in that other drive bay), a bigger battery, and a few other nice tweaks all in the same mid-sized 15" body.

    Hope this helps, if you want to know anything else about this laptop and my thoughts on it, just ask. ^_^
  • V-PV-P State College, PA Member
    edited January 2010
    Well one of the main things I'm concerned about is the optical drive. Both laptops I've had (HP and Toshiba) had the optical drive fail on me with the same problem (unable to read/write DVDs after a couple months). From what I've heard, Asus is one of the more reliable brands so this shouldn't be a problem I'm hoping. In any case, do you know if it's possible to switch out the drive in this particular laptop with a blu-ray capable one (I know the res isn't high enough to support full hd but I'll be burning blu-rays).
  • BandrikBandrik Elkhart, IN Icrontian
    edited January 2010
    I can't tell for sure if you can switch it out yourself. I do know though that there are other offerings of ASUS gaming-series laptops that have Blu-Ray in them. My friend has one that is similar to mine, but is the 17" version and has Blu-Ray. Doesn't seem sold in stores, he got his from a direct seller of ASUS laptops.

    And yeah, I keep hearing that ASUS laptops are one of the most reliable and built-tough ones yet.

    Having said that, I did have to exchange in my first one. My second one is now acting a bit wonky (just made another thread under general hardware) where the fan is being a bit annoying. Not sure yet what to do with it. I assume it's just another fluke since nobody else seems to be having the problems I have seen. But for what it's worth, I'm mentioning it here (I'd still get an ASUS though).
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