Advice for a new laptop

[flaming910]

I'm currently saving so I can get a laptop. Most of you would say that building a PC is better, and I know it is. The issue is that I'm going to be travelling to the UK and back to where I live(Dubai) since I go to uni soon, and idk if building a PC is going to be a good idea since I will have to move it a lot.

 

So I looked around, and I'm thinking going for this. Gonna get the i7-6820HK and the OS with it. Is there something else I could get for lower price but more performance? Planning on getting the laptop in a few months, and there is a slight chance I might get the EVGA SC17, or the Aorus X7 DT(new Aorus, apparently it is really good). Help me out, I don't want to waste my money when I could get the same/better performance for less money(I know a PC would be far better performance, but I think I need the portability, unless you can give me enough reasons to convince my dad otherwise).

 

Also, my budget is below 2000$, the cheaper the better, as long at it has similar performance to what I am thinking of getting.

[ShadyHost]

I know you said you know building a PC is better....but it is.

I spent $399 on the cheapest laptop I could find with a dedicated GPU. I spent another $70 to slap a 250gb SSD and also got a hard drive caddy to put in the DVD drive slot.

 

Why am I telling you this? The value of gaming laptops is AWFUL! Absolutely terrible! They are obsolete within a year or two and essentially paper weights in less than five years. Throw the rest of the money (if you can) into a decent desktop and just have a respectable laptop for some mobile games. I thought I would want to game on the go but honestly there's not much you can play without setting up a mouse/mousepad and carrying around a good pair of headphones to make it all worthwhile. Laptop fans are noisy, and you are tied to the wall most of the time anyway. 

 

My current laptop has a 5200u dual core and a 940m. You could shoot for something like the 7559 from Dell and have a very nice experience as that one has a quad core and a 960m. The 940m is pretty quick for stuff like Counter-Strike and I was even able to play Battlefield 4 at 1600x900 on low. (woo!)

 

Get the cheapest laptop you'd be happy using, and heavily consider the build quality and screen choices as that makes the most difference IMO. 

 

 

Let the hate comments roll in.....

[Badger906]

how into gaming are you/likely to play AAA titles? as the dell 7559 is a damn good laptop for the money, it only has a 960m, but it also has a decent battery and lasts unto 6 hours in actual use.

[flaming910]

49 minutes ago, ShadyHost said:

I know you said you know building a PC is better....but it is.

I spent $399 on the cheapest laptop I could find with a dedicated GPU. I spent another $70 to slap a 250gb SSD and also got a hard drive caddy to put in the DVD drive slot.

 

Why am I telling you this? The value of gaming laptops is AWFUL! Absolutely terrible! They are obsolete within a year or two and essentially paper weights in less than five years. Throw the rest of the money (if you can) into a decent desktop and just have a respectable laptop for some mobile games. I thought I would want to game on the go but honestly there's not much you can play without setting up a mouse/mousepad and carrying around a good pair of headphones to make it all worthwhile. Laptop fans are noisy, and you are tied to the wall most of the time anyway. 

 

My current laptop has a 5200u dual core and a 940m. You could shoot for something like the 7559 from Dell and have a very nice experience as that one has a quad core and a 960m. The 940m is pretty quick for stuff like Counter-Strike and I was even able to play Battlefield 4 at 1600x900 on low. (woo!)

 

Get the cheapest laptop you'd be happy using, and heavily consider the build quality and screen choices as that makes the most difference IMO. 

 

 

Let the hate comments roll in.....

I want to spend a lot of money on a desktop, but parents are against it, so I'm going to go for a pretty powerful laptop. I spent around 900$ on my current one, and I can run GTA V Lowest settings 1680x1050 at 30fps or so(goes up and down a bit). So I'm thinking of either going for what I put in the thread, or waiting for the Razer Blade Stealth and the Core, get that, then get a good graphics card to go with it, so it will be portable and powerful.

[flaming910]

20 minutes ago, Badger906 said:

how into gaming are you/likely to play AAA titles? as the dell 7559 is a damn good laptop for the money, it only has a 960m, but it also has a decent battery and lasts unto 6 hours in actual use.

Want to be able to play just cause 3, rise of the tomb raider, gta v, mad max, and some other games.

[Badger906]

7 minutes ago, flaming910 said:

Want to be able to play just cause 3, rise of the tomb raider, gta v, mad max, and some other games.

960m will be able to play all go these at decent settings/frame rates  

[flaming910]

20 minutes ago, Badger906 said:

960m will be able to play all go these at decent settings/frame rates  

Its a good option, but the base storage is bad, i have around 500gb of game files on my current laptop, so i would need a TB or more on a new laptop. 

[Badger906]

it has a 1tb drive! and anyway its 2016... you should be thinking about sticking an ssd in any laptop!! you don't need all 500gb of games at once.. so just get an external drive and just install them when you need them.

 

mechanical drives are terribly slow.. no point having a decent cpu if everything is held back by the hard drive.

yes more expensive laptops have both an ssd and a mech drive but you pay for it.

 

with the 7559 you have 2 options, add an m.2 ssd and use that as the boot driver, or go of the cheaper option and just replace the 1tb with a sensibly sized ssd.

[exercutor5]

9 hours ago, flaming910 said:

I'm currently saving so I can get a laptop. Most of you would say that building a PC is better, and I know it is. The issue is that I'm going to be travelling to the UK and back to where I live(Dubai) since I go to uni soon, and idk if building a PC is going to be a good idea since I will have to move it a lot.

 

So I looked around, and I'm thinking going for this. Gonna get the i7-6820HK and the OS with it. Is there something else I could get for lower price but more performance? Planning on getting the laptop in a few months, and there is a slight chance I might get the EVGA SC17, or the Aorus X7 DT(new Aorus, apparently it is really good). Help me out, I don't want to waste my money when I could get the same/better performance for less money(I know a PC would be far better performance, but I think I need the portability, unless you can give me enough reasons to convince my dad otherwise).

 

Also, my budget is below 2000$, the cheaper the better, as long at it has similar performance to what I am thinking of getting.

The Sager NP8678-S is good for the money, and with 3 cooling fans, it would cool well. But considering that you would be carrying it around, I would suggest getting the 15-inch version, which is lighter and easier to carry around. 

[flaming910]

8 hours ago, exercutor5 said:

The Sager NP8678-S is good for the money, and with 3 cooling fans, it would cool well. But considering that you would be carrying it around, I would suggest getting the 15-inch version, which is lighter and easier to carry around. 

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8678-clevo-p670rg-p-8651.html

After looking around a bit more, this seems even better. It may not have an SSD, but it would cost me 1745$ with increased RAM to 16GB and OS, while the first one I put would've cost me around 1850$. 

[Donut417]

On 2/8/2016 at 2:22 PM, ShadyHost said:

I know you said you know building a PC is better....but it is.

I spent $399 on the cheapest laptop I could find with a dedicated GPU. I spent another $70 to slap a 250gb SSD and also got a hard drive caddy to put in the DVD drive slot.

 

Why am I telling you this? The value of gaming laptops is AWFUL! Absolutely terrible! They are obsolete within a year or two and essentially paper weights in less than five years. Throw the rest of the money (if you can) into a decent desktop and just have a respectable laptop for some mobile games. I thought I would want to game on the go but honestly there's not much you can play without setting up a mouse/mousepad and carrying around a good pair of headphones to make it all worthwhile. Laptop fans are noisy, and you are tied to the wall most of the time anyway. 

 

My current laptop has a 5200u dual core and a 940m. You could shoot for something like the 7559 from Dell and have a very nice experience as that one has a quad core and a 960m. The 940m is pretty quick for stuff like Counter-Strike and I was even able to play Battlefield 4 at 1600x900 on low. (woo!)

 

Get the cheapest laptop you'd be happy using, and heavily consider the build quality and screen choices as that makes the most difference IMO. 

 

 

Let the hate comments roll in.....

 

I agree. I have a desktop and laptop. I wanted a high end laptop, but I never use it for gaming. I dont like the gaming experience on a laptop. I would put your money in to a light weight laptop that is easy to carry to class. Maybe look in to a 2 in 1. Get something with some good battery life. 

 

Then build a gaming PC when you have time. Honestly Im a full time college student. I dont not generally find time to game during the term. Im always doing homework or something else. 

[ShadyHost]

On 2/8/2016 at 3:14 PM, flaming910 said:

I want to spend a lot of money on a desktop, but parents are against it, so I'm going to go for a pretty powerful laptop. I spent around 900$ on my current one, and I can run GTA V Lowest settings 1680x1050 at 30fps or so(goes up and down a bit). So I'm thinking of either going for what I put in the thread, or waiting for the Razer Blade Stealth and the Core, get that, then get a good graphics card to go with it, so it will be portable and powerful.

I don't know what your parent's situation is, but I assume they aren't PC enthusiasts. If you actually think a desktop is the best move, then you should explain it to them in a way they can understand. 

 

I'm horrible at coming up with analogies....but let's compare this to buying a car. You wouldn't have them spend $6,000 on an old BMW that's obviously not going to last you very long in terms of reliability. You'd likely spend the same amount on something like a Honda or similar brand known for it's reliability.

 

Of course it doesn't translate perfectly to the situation with the computer, but it's a similar concept. Buying a $2,000 laptop for the sole purpose of entertainment is probably a poor decision. Maybe if you needed it for work, or if you travel a TON and you can't manage having a desktop. The $1,300/$600 split for a desktop/laptop I feel would be perfect and the desktop will last you much longer as it can be upgraded. Since you wouldn't be using the laptop solely or gaming it would keep your interest for much longer OR when it comes time to replace it you aren't stuck with a paperweight you're trying to sell on Craigslist for a price you're happy with.

 

I'm not trying to bash anyone here, it just doesn't seem like you NEED a laptop for gaming.

 

Also sorry for the really late response. I've been at school/work for the past few days. 

[ShadyHost]

16 hours ago, Donut417 said:

 

I agree. I have a desktop and laptop. I wanted a high end laptop, but I never use it for gaming. I dont like the gaming experience on a laptop. I would put your money in to a light weight laptop that is easy to carry to class. Maybe look in to a 2 in 1. Get something with some good battery life. 

 

Then build a gaming PC when you have time. Honestly Im a full time college student. I dont not generally find time to game during the term. Im always doing homework or something else. 

Couldn't agree more.