Laptop advice
 

So as most of you know I recently tranferred to UVIC and I'm in need of a new laptop because I used to rely on my desktop at home for my entertainment and work needs. Now I am in need of a laptop that does both because I live on res. I did a little research on the youtube reviews, a little shopping, but I can't seem to decide because of the amount of variety, reputation, and amount of extras you can have and such.

My criteria:
- i5 or +
-15 inches around
-good graphics card that can run basically HoN or Dota 2 on high settings
-best under $1000 or around
-I will be moving it around back and forth from Van to Vic so mobile is a small factor. If it's really mobile I can even bring it to classes as a bonus
-don't really care about other bonuses as much because I don't understand lol
-almost forgot that I don't want it to get really hot easily like AMD or fan working hard to keep the system cool

I did do a little shopping on the weekend this week at memory express and ordered a Lenovo for approx $1170 (+tax and everything):
Lenovo IdeaPad Y570 0862-62U w/ Core i7-2670QM, 8GB, 750GB, 15.6in LED HD, Blu-ray Combo, GeForce GT 555M, Win 7 Home Premium 64-bit at Memory Express

I checked some reviews and see that you can only run battlefield 3 on low-medium settings but WoW at around medium only. I mean this seems reliable to me but I don't trust how reliable it is when I actually use it and try it. I don't want to be stuck with something I don't like for a couple years.

I hope someone has actually sort of come across this and can point me in the right direction. I'm not a computer geek and I just require something simply to game and be able to do my work on at school. If you can do a link me that would be great if you actually have had experience or seen something you know about it. Thanks

I'm not sure about Dota 2, but my current laptop which is running a i5-2410M/GT 540M manages to run med/high on HoN, so a GT 555M should be more than enough to run HoN on high.

I'd advise getting a laptop stand/cooler if you plan to game because these things can get pretty hot under stress. My old Dell XPS got so hot it fried my hard drive before.

Lenovo offers really good bang for buck specs, but I've had some noise and heat issues with the two ideapads that I've owned in the past. They also tend to be a tad heavier than their competitors, but I guess it reflects in its price.

Acer Aspire 3830TG (the model with the i5 and GT540)

I have the older model (older i5 and 5470) and it has been wonderful for the past year and a half.

Message me if you have any more questions.

Thanks for the input guys. I just don't have a clear idea how an GT 540 runs vs GT 555 and such. Most importantly I pretty much just need the CPU and video card, the rest I can upgrade really myself.

The Acer Aspire 3830TG was $549 at Memx just last week. I bought one. It's has a 13.3 inch screen no optical drive so it's small and easy to carry. At home you could connect it to larger monitor.

There was the Asus for $849.99 with i5 and GT 540 14.3" screen. I mean yea I can connect it to a bigger screen at home, but I'm not leaving a monitor in Victoria. 15 inches is a good carrying size and larger visuals. 14 inch is a little too small and 17 is going to be heavy for sure.

With my criteria I mean the Lenovo looks like the best bang for the buck, just trust issues since I don't buy/look into laptops that much.

The 4 hour battery life seems a little weak to me and for me 15.6 and about f6 pounds is too big and heavy for portability.

Mmmmm I will be plugging it in my dorm and such. 4 hours seem like its low and the 15 inches is heavy but I'm using a Vaio Presario C700 that weighs 10lb and 1 hour of battery life and 15.3 inches. Comparing, I think the Lenovo would be lighter so too heavy or too low battery life in comparison to what I used to use isn't really much on average. For me 4 hours is great and the weight I think was 3-5 pounds when I tried the demo. Question is, is it worth the bang for the buck? So far I think it is, but I mean if there is a better one out there then that would be great since I don't know about laptops that much

that 4 hours is probably a lot less in real life.

Look at redflagdeals.com for a sale.

Some deals.

Newegg.ca - ASUS A53SV-NH71 Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory DDR3 500GB HDD 7200rpm DL DVD±RW/CD-RW NVIDIA GeForce GT 540M

http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary...28&action=init

If you're planning on just doing some light, casual gaming, and don't expect to play upcoming 2012 games on high settings, then a GT 540M would probably suffice. If you're planning on using it to game for a couple of years... I would suggest raising your budget and going with something a bit better.

You should check this out: Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech
It'll give you a rough idea of which graphics card would be most suitable for your needs based on what type of games you wanna play.

Advertised 4 hours is probably like 3.5 hours. It's about enough according to the amount of courses I have

The Asus is not bad. Still sifting through the Lenovo's to see if I can find a better one. i7 processor would be a pretty good bonus considering its the top of the line as of now and I won't need to worry about new games coming out

Which FPS range is about smooth. Idk where to put the line at for FPS lol

60+ is optimum, but 30~40 is still fairly playable. Under 20 you'd probably not wanna play the game lol.

I have a GT540M right now, and I can play skyrim in low settings with around 30~ish fps. BF3 is around 20~ish FPS on low playing multiplayer. I can run Rage on high, but the environment takes a little time to load from time to time. SC2 is playable at around 40ish fps with medium settings as well.

I guess the 555M should be fairly better. I plan to be able to play MW2 and such later or Diablo 3 so I'm guessing the 555M should be good for another year

I.m gussing 3 hours maybe less. The Acer claim 9 hours but Cnet tested it and got just under 5.
Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG-6431 Review - Watch CNET's Video & Read Our Review

I got a 25% off code from dell on certain laptops.

Dell XPS 15

2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.10 GHz)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Elemental Silver Aluminum
15.6 in HD WLED TL (1366x768) with Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
1TB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M 2GB graphics with Optimus
8X Tray Load CD/DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
1 Year Basic Mail-In Service Plan
Offer Expires 23/1/2012 at 5 am EST.


$881.24 With the 25% discount

Code
2SXFN4$PC?H8B4

Dell Mystery Coupon | Dell Canada

^Would the Dell be better deal than the Lenovo though...?

The Dell's a pretty good deal. It offers a bit more compared to other brands which are around the same price. With the lenovo, you pay an extra $200 for a 64GB SSD, upgrade to a GT555M, and a blu-ray drive. The Dell is lighter and has better battery life though. (5ish hours actual battery life)

sager 8130


except mines upgraded to 2670 and 750gb hd with 8gb ssd hybrid
runs dota 2 on max 1080p at 60+fps, 40 during teamfights, around 68C
skyrim on ultra 1080p at 30-60, 72C
38C on idle
i get 2-3 hours while watching movies on full brightness and high performance
can probably get 3-4 if its just for notes and internet (assuming you turn brightness and performance down)

So Sager, I can modify my own parts and they will add them, just pay the price difference. I don't need the Blue ray disk and all the other bonuses that come with the Lenovo, they are just bonuses. I need the CPU, 15", and good video card only pretty much.



vs

What's the deal with Sager? I haven't heard about them until now... looking at same spec'd 8130 that fs604 has and the price is right.. i really wanted a mac pro reliability wise but don't have over 2g's to spend on one just to be able to play games...
Any bad things about sager? They're not the greatest looking things on the market.. but that can be looked over due to price for what you get

What about an Asus G53? They're usually around the 1k price range on sale and can run things quite well. Doesn't get very hot at all due to some excellent ventilation work by Asus and the fan doesn't get loud until the GPU is at ~85 degrees Celsiu . It's just they're quite heavy at 8-9 pounds and the battery lasts ~2.5 hours on average if you use on the lowest power settings.