Gaming Notebook
 

Hey guys, I don't know a whole lot about gaming notebooks. I have been looking at an Alienware (I know to most people it seems like a waste of money, which is why I'm asking for some advice on what else to look for) and they seem pretty good for what I want. I'm not really worried about weight or size, I am willing to get a 17" or so. I just want something I can use for games like SC2, Diablo 3, Battlefield 3, etc. and be able to take it places. Any other suggestions for brands to look for and to shop locally would be greatly appreciated. Money not an issue.

I dont know much about gaming notebooks but i think if you wanted to play games like Diablo 3 or Battlefield 3 I would definately hold out until at around October or sthing...i'm sure something more powerful will come out by then.

I have an alienware m11x and I love it!

Super small and super portable so I can bring it to school everyday. Battery life is pretty good too 4-5 hrs of moderate usage. Plus its powerful enough to play all modern games at good settings. I use it for SC2 mainly and can play on the high setting and get good fps.

No regrets at all, the only bad thing is the screen is a bit too reflective in sunlight but thats really minor. Oh and there's no optical disk drive but I never had to use it anyway.

Get an Asus.

i had a Asus G73
it lasted about a year before it died on me
Asus customer service was terrible

Alienware laptop is a true gaming laptop brand

If you want to play lower end games, you can get away with less. But if you want to play SC2, Crysis and Diablo III for more than an hour or two with out over heating... Alienware.

I always wondered why people get gaming notebooks.

Why not a full on desktop pc?

For me? I have a 700 square foot apartment that I'm raising a kid in. We don't have room for big desks. Laptops on the other hand are... handy. They work just fine on lap desks, dinner tables, coffee tables and folding tv tables.

I think a lot of people prefer a laptop in general and really at this point, even a gaming laptop only costs marginally more than a gaming desk top, but comes with the added benefit of being able to play where ever the hell you want.

because it'a baller to have a gaming notebook and a gaming desktop. :hotbaby:



j/k

Asus has better spec, better warranty, lower price
Dell is garbage

+1 on the Alienware MX11. Best purchase ever. Ran Crysis 2 so smoothly on it!

Make sure you don't buy it from futureshop though. Build one on the dell website as you get it for a cheaper price with much much better specs.

I bought my MSI GX-740 during boxing day for $950+taxes, regular price for $1799 at the time.

pretty beastly machine. can easily replace a desktop. only downside is the power consumption. on battery when you set the 'mode' of the laptop to 'turbo battery' you get about 4 hours of usage (depending what you're doing). max performance on battery you get maybe an hour tops. this machine is definitely a power whore, but i figured if i were sit down and game for a couple hours, chances are theres probably a power outlet near by :P

i7 processor
17'' screen
radeon hd 5870 card
4gb memory
500gb HDD

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16834152192

Asus G73SW-CST7 @ Staples for $1349 ...

Intel Core i7 2630QM
8GB DDR3 (expandable to 16GB)
2 x 500 GB 7200 RPM HDDs
1.5GB Nvidia GTX460M
17.3" 1920x1080 FullHD screen
DVD, Wireless N, Bluetooth, Webcam, etc.
8 lbs

If you use coupons from RFD, you should be able to get another $100-$150 off of that price ...

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/ca...affixedcode=WW

also had a m11x, great portability, ran sc2 on high no problems.

found screen was too small to game on, upgraded to a 13.3inch, acer 3820tg.

core i3
4gb ram
dedicated 1gb ati radeon 5650
500gb hdd

739.xx taxes in , which was a few months ago from ME.

Find a laptop with an expresscard 2.0 slot.
Build a DIY ViDock.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gami...periences.html

unless the laptop runs an optimus.

Advantages are, you can upgrade the video card as new games come out and increased battery life (assuming it's a non-optimus featured laptop).

Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Lenovo's W700 series or Eurocom (support Canadian!). You can go nuts with customization.

Maybe even the new 17" quadcore Macbook Pro? The 17" PC laptops are huge - not very portable, whereas the Mac has a smaller form factor which is why I went with the Mac.

Do a little bit of research, and buy/build the best laptop for your needs.

I own:

The Alienware plays any under the sun! The screen is AMAZING! Weighs a ton tho. I payed alot for it when the R1 (first revision) was released, my usb port broke off the motherboard and then they sent me a R2 with better specs than the R1, so I got more than my money's worth now. They now have the R3 out with a 3D screen and different video card configuration and now run sandy bridge motherboards. From what I've been reading, the new R3's are not at efficient at gaming due to the video cards.

Honestly the best looking laptop!
http://www.hidevolution.com/media/ca.../m17x_02_2.jpg

They did just release a 14in model and presumably a 18in soon too.

I would check on www.notebookreview.com and look at the forsale section, most of the warrenties are transferablle and you might be able to snag a awesome deal on a 17in R2.



Surpisingly the Mac plays World of Warcraft pretty well. Other than that can't do higher end games. Super portable

Hows is the warranty garbage? You drop or spill water and its your fault you can get a replacement. It pays for itself as soon as you get a replacement, and if they stop selling the model they will replace it with a equally powerful version thats out.

Asus comes with that too , for 1 year.

Just bought a new asus.

b/c bringing your desktop to a friend's house for a LAN party is a PITA
my friend used to do that and it took him forever to set up while everyone else was playing on their laptops :alone:
he gave up and just got a laptop

You aren't going to be able to run battlefield 3 well on a laptop.
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The alienware a few posts above should do fine..

i have a dell xps1730 with 8800m gtx sli and so far its still doing great .. haven't been able to play games lately.. its just been a facebook, forums, surfing the web for me...

I would agreee to the post above about alienware! +1 to alienware! do you really need a gaming laptop? if not.. i would recommend just getting a gaming desktop pc... for the price of alienware laptop.. i think you would get a super high end for gaming desktop pc...

I always like to game on a desktop. I can connect a way way bigger monitior to my desktop then any LCD screen a laptop can provide. Also I find using an actual keyboard is better for me. Most of the new games would only run on good or low settings on a laptop while on a desktop I can crank it up max settings. Before I always though there isn't a big difference of graphics but now I do lol.

Not to mention the built in sound card on laptop is pretty crappy so audio is not great. Is also cheaper to upgrade a desktop then a laptop.

I try gaming on a laptop before and I just can't handle it. The keys for me are too close to each other. in the end I give my laptop to my sister lol.

I still think is going to take a long way for gaming to have the same video and audio effects of a gaming desktop with decent price. I think my new desktop only cost about less than $1000 with a 24inch LCD monitior with pretty decent specs. I am sure with that price I won't be able to get a decent gaming laptop with.

Well you pay for having portability. You can hook up a external monitor and keyboard/mouse to a notebook too when your at home. I personally use a headset if I'm gaming, on my notebook.