Looking for a semi Gaming laptop

[TheMatt1984]

not sure if this is the right place for this but if it isn't... moderators feel free to move it lol

Ok, so, i'm in the market for a new laptop and i'm totally unsure of what's out there in terms of laptops. desktops are a different story though but regardless...
i'm looking for a semi gaming laptop that'll play all games at decent settings. not necessarily MAX across the board.. but enough to look good enough to not say, Omg this looks like it was made it the 90's (slight exaggeration ) but i'm looking to pay no more than like 6-700 TOPS
so that means nothing super duper high tech i.e. Alienware. (i can't stand alienware anyway for personal reasons but whatevs lol) but yeah i don't wanna save up for too long otherwise i'll just get bored and impulse spend lol. anyway
what could i get for 6-700 USD that'll play games at decent settings?
Links would be cool if you got em
i frequently shop Newegg,Amazon & Tigerdirect, but that doesn't mean i'm not open to other online stores. doesn't need to be online though, hell i'll even do bestbuy if its a decent enough Laptop lol. sooo any suggestions would be cool
thanks In advance

 

[Kursah]

Check out gaminglaptopsjunky.com

I bought a refurb'd Dell 3540 with warranty. Comes with 4GB DDR31600, 500GB HDD, haswell i4200u w/4400gpu for 2D and AMD HD 8850M gpu. Kinda finicky with drivers...but I finally figured it out and performance is great on both GPU's. Comes with 1-year warranty, ships from Dell directly. Had 4 USB (1 2.0 and 3 3.0), it does NOT have HDMI...which whatever I've never used my laptop on my TV...it does have a VGA out.. has very good sound...powerful headphone jack...works very good for full size heapdhones..not as good for sensitive earbuds. Has a very good Wifi adapter too... DVD burner... solid chassis, uses metal for parts of the outer shell. Even so the weight isn't bad at all. Keyboard is solid...though it's not backlit...but the rest is well worth not having that feature.

I slapped a 1TB SSHD and another 4GB of DDR3L in mine, was a nice boost. Comes with Windows 8 Pro and Windows 7 Pro on disc..so you have the choice.

I paid $525 shipped...runs closer to $800 new. Solidly built, runs quiet even at full fan, solid battery life...I average 7.5 hours for school/work use with the screen up 2 stages from dimmest setting. Anti-glare 1080p TN panel is very good surprisingly. I highly recommend this laptop!

Edit: Welcome to TPU!

 

[TheMatt1984]

@ Kursah, hmmm i checked it out and it seems like a good deal!
no idea how i'd increase the ram though lol. (never tinkered with a laptop, though i'm sure i could find tutorials online or *gag* pay a pro to do it lol)
same with the HDD. BUT i'm sure i don't need a ton of space for it as i have a desktop that i use for my at home gaming lol
that thing has a 149gb main drive (os and small programs go there lol), a 3tb for all my storage needs and a 1tb for my games
but yeah... thanks for the suggestion!! i'll keep it in mind!!

 

[Kursah]

Adding a 2nd stick of DDR3L 1600 CL11 SODIMM RAM is easy...two screws, one cover let's you access the memory slots and hdd. Takes less than five minutes. There's youtube videos that you can search for.

Bang for the buck. I couldn't find better and I was in the range for $700 or less too. The HD 8850M is close to a 760m iirc. The Intel 4400GPU is about 1/3 of that maybe a little better than 1/3....but still good enough for running many games in lower to medium settings on battery (how I get extended gaming sessions without charging) or when plugged in I use the 8850M which runs many of my games medium-high at 1080p with smooth frames.

You don't need to upgrade the ram or HDD...but more memory does help a little...and the HDD it comes with is slow...but gets the job done just fine. No need to replace either.

I use about 1TB for my games on my gaming rig...but I stick to strategy, Skyrim, Borderlands 2, and a few space flight sims on my laptop. It's a well built unit. After figuring the drivers out...I'm extremely content. Intel + Nvidia's Optimus technolgy is the the way to go, but costs more... but this Intel + AMD solution, once setup right (do WIndows 8 x64 drivers, not 8.1...that's what made the difference), the performance is solid.

Good luck on your search and please let us know what you get! If you find a better value than the Dell 3540, let me know! I spent weeks searching and researching and researching more before I made this decision...it fit my needs though. If you can afford closer to $900 you'll get much better gaming...but at the cost of battery life.

 

[Arjai]

Check out gaminglaptopsjunky.com

I bought a refurb'd Dell 3540 with warranty. Comes with 4GB DDR31600, 500GB HDD, haswell i4200u w/4400gpu for 2D and AMD HD 8850M gpu. Kinda finicky with drivers...but I finally figured it out and performance is great on both GPU's. Comes with 1-year warranty, ships from Dell directly. Had 4 USB (1 2.0 and 3 3.0), it does NOT have HDMI...which whatever I've never used my laptop on my TV...it does have a VGA out.. has very good sound...powerful headphone jack...works very good for full size heapdhones..not as good for sensitive earbuds. Has a very good Wifi adapter too... DVD burner... solid chassis, uses metal for parts of the outer shell. Even so the weight isn't bad at all. Keyboard is solid...though it's not backlit...but the rest is well worth not having that feature.

I slapped a 1TB SSHD and another 4GB of DDR3L in mine, was a nice boost. Comes with Windows 8 Pro and Windows 7 Pro on disc..so you have the choice.

I paid $525 shipped...runs closer to $800 new. Solidly built, runs quiet even at full fan, solid battery life...I average 7.5 hours for school/work use with the screen up 2 stages from dimmest setting. Anti-glare 1080p TN panel is very good surprisingly. I highly recommend this laptop!

Edit: Welcome to TPU!

+1 Very solid advice.