Looking for a 15" gaming laptop

[exodusprime1337]

I'm going back to college and was gonna pick up a laptop to go to school with but, figuring i'll be spending more time out of the house i wanted something i could do some casual gaming on.

I'm looking for something that can play games like cod:waw, mw, mw2(when it comes out), overlord, and source games like cs:s, tf2 and l4d.

Only requirement is 15" inch and less then 1700usd?,

i've been looking at things like

sager np8662
asus g51 with 2.8dual instead of quad
msi something, cant remember the model.

I don't know much about gaming laptops but something i can game with casually at around 1680x1050 would be nice. Thanks guys for any future help you'll provide.

 

[Mussels]

just remember to double check video cards - a desktop 9600GT and a laptop 9600GT are nowhere near the same thing.

 

[Papahyooie]

I have the Asus g50 and it is amazing, plays crysis very well, and any other game it just flys through, so I can only guess the g51 would be so much better. I'd recommend it to anyone, I love my G50. The sager looks really sleek though, if you dont want anything flashy. The asus definitly has the points in the flashy department with the lights and paintjob. I get compliments on it all the time, though mine is the yellow lightning style, not the blue.
However the sager has the ddr3 memory according to thier website, so thats something to consider, and it retails for alot less (albiet with 2gb memory instead of 4, and with the duo instead of the quad, but you said you would get the asus without the quad anyway). I'd assume if they were identically configured they'd retail about the same, with the sager winning out because of the DDR3 memory.
Also, research whether the sager uses MXM graphics standard if you care to be able to upgrade the video card later on. I know for a fact that the asus does not. Thier graphics, though discreet cards, are not upgradeable.
Also if it really matters, the sager is 15.4" screen and the asus is 15.6"

Id recommend the asus just because I have one, but I think it would really all depend on what you like in the looks department. That sager looks pretty sexy in a toned down sort of way, but the asus will turn heads. Depends on what you like, I say.

EDIT: just as a side note, if you care about music or sound all that much, and you go for the asus be prepared to tote some speakers around, the sound on the asus admittedly sucks. You may see people talking about the "subwoofer" on the bottom of the asus... its not a subwoofer its a fan port. Not sure about the sager.

ANOTHER EDIT: after some more looking at the sager, it offers standard internal bluetooth, and fingerprint reader, which sadly are not on the asus. And I was right about it being about the same price. Configured identically (exept for the bluetooth and fingerprint reader and ddr3 memory on the sager) with a 2.8 dual core, they are nearly the same in price. So the sager comes out on value it looks like, but the asus is more pretty imo.

All in all though, if you only want "casual" gaming, both are overkill imo. Id say save some money and get the asus G50 vt (x1 or x5). They are nearly the same as the G51 but with 9800Mgs instead of the gtx260m. More than enough grunt for casual gaming, and 6-700 bucks less.

 

[n-ster]

http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G50VT-X5-15-6-Notebook-REFURBISHED/dp/B0028FIQLK/ref=pd_cp_e_0

704$ (refurb)

 

[exodusprime1337]

thanx for the feedback thus far guys, yeah i'm kinda stuck, i do like the sager and hear awsome things about it, and configured i'd be payin about 1580 or so from xoticpc.com which i find to be a fair price for it, i didn't want the flash becaues i will be using it in school and the like so a clean professional looks is preferable. I hear good things about all of them, the fingerprint reader to me is a gimmick, but my e-peen says get a notebook with one so i can brag about it lol. keep the input coming, if you find another of comparable price let me know.

 

[Papahyooie]

If you want the clean look you cant beat that sager. It would look great in an office, in a school, or at the lan party. At the same time though, it's not just another hp or dell, or what everyone else has. Ive never heard anything bad about sager, and my friend had one briefly, but got rid of it in favor of a qosmio (a mistake imo.)
Definitely if you dont want flash, dont get the asus. definitely not a business as usual look (and the middle light cannot be turned off, under the emblem. The side ones can though)

Also, I found out the Sager does use MXM graphics modules, so they are upgradable if you get the itch in the future, though like i said, i think its more than enough power already.

Hell if you like the look of the sager, go for it. (of course satisfy your research first). Definitely within your budget, looks good, lots of features, plenty of power. Whats not to like? The MSI's are a good look, pretty good compromise between flash and class, but from what i can tell they are underpowered for thier price. (the reason i say this is the asus's at comparative prices to the MSI models have far more power at each price point. My asus was the same price as an MSI GX630 but the MSI had only a 9600M, slower processor, 2gb (verses my asus's 4) So yea they are underpowered at the price points, imo.

I say go for the sager, unless someone else suggests something that catches your eye.

 

[kurosagi01]

you all may hate me but for a budget of $1700 i would buy an alienware Area-51 laptop with an 9800M GT which gives you total of $1549
http://www.alienware.com/customize/...Code=PC-LT-AREA51M15X-AI1&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

 

[Mussels]

mobility 9800GT isnt the same as a desktop 9800GT - the mobiity 3870 is. i'd so choose the radeon with that laptop.


keeping it with just 2GB of ram and the included basic HDD and the 3870, its only $1100 - you can then add in a hard drive and more ram yourself later, keeping it well under your budget.

 

[Papahyooie]

Actually i'd almost agree, as im partial to flashy things, but he doesnt want any flash, plus the 9800mgt is slightly slower than the 260 thats in the other ones, plus its gonna take more power due to the die shrink on the 260, and run hotter. At only 100 bucks difference, i'd say go for the look he wants, though if you get the smoothed out lid version of the alienware its pretty toned down.

However, buying anything from alienware is going to strike a discord in 90% of the tpu population, lol.

 

[Mussels]

all the nvidia cards are slow as crap - even the 260 mobility is a G92 card, not a GT200 (they do NOT compare with the desktop cards at all)

I have nothing against alienware laptops at all. Its their desktops we done like.

 

[Papahyooie]

well i know they dont compare with thier desktop counterparts, but that doesnt mean they're slow. As long as you know that going in, that a 260 does not equal a 260m then there's no problem.

 

[Mussels]

well i know they dont compare with thier desktop counterparts, but that doesnt mean they're slow. As long as you know that going in, that a 260 does not equal a 260m then there's no problem.

point was, the cheaper 3870 mobility is probably going to be faster, as well as cheaper

 

[Papahyooie]

yea i saw that when i started configuring it, it IS cheaper. I didnt expect that. I was aware the 3870 was faster, but not that it was cheaper. Weird. I was configuring one just for shits and giggles and the 3870's price said -450$ from standard lol.

One thing tho, if battery life is an issue, does ATi have the hybrid tech that allows it to use a lower power onboard gpu to save battery life? The 9800 does apparently. Not that that usually matters to the majority of us, but something to think about anyway. I'd still go for the ATi tho.

Oh and another thing, those alienwares have hella high res screens... is ANY mobile graphics card powerful enough to game at 1280p???

 

[kurosagi01]

yea i saw that when i started configuring it, it IS cheaper. I didnt expect that. I was aware the 3870 was faster, but not that it was cheaper. Weird. I was configuring one just for shits and giggles and the 3870's price said -450$ from standard lol.

One thing tho, if battery life is an issue, does ATi have the hybrid tech that allows it to use a lower power onboard gpu to save battery life? The 9800 does apparently. Not that that usually matters to the majority of us, but something to think about anyway. I'd still go for the ATi tho.

Oh and another thing, those alienwares have hella high res screens... is ANY mobile graphics card powerful enough to game at 1280p???

i think its possible =p look at black panthers laptop,an 8800MGTX SLI playing something like 1920x1200 or something

 

[Mussels]

i think its possible =p look at black panthers laptop,an 8800MGTX SLI playing something like 1920x1200 or something

black panthers is equivalent to two 9600GSO's in SLI.


seriously, google - the mobility 3870 is actually pretty damn powerful.

 

[n-ster]

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

 

[exodusprime1337]

i kinda wanna stay away from alienwares, i've also been looking at real world comparison's of the gtx 260m vs the 3870 and i'm find the 260m is a bit faster in all areas, as well as having more memory then the 3870.

I do like the sager, i just really want to make the right choice here, to me the thing is beautiful looking, i could frag away in starbucks and nobody'd have a clue. I also like the fact that with a 2.83Ghz dual and 4Gb ram it's still cheaper then the alienware. i don't need a backlit keyboard neways, if i'm goin to a lan with it, i'll just bring a reg keyboard and mouse. As far as data i was gonna go with something like this.

sager np8662 15.4" gaming laptop

intel core2 t9600 2.8ghz dual core
4 gigs ddr3 1066
gtx260m
1680x1050 res screen

and standard averything else. It does say the vid card is user upgradeable, perhaps i'll buy a beefier card at a later date if i feel the need to upgrade... it's 1563 usd after config.. sounds like a good buy to me??

 

[exodusprime1337]

speaking of which should i go for the quad 2.0ghz or get a fast dual if i want to blend work and pleasure in one laptop... i'll really need help with that, it won't affect the price very much so it's a toss up..

 

[Mussels]

i kinda wanna stay away from alienwares, i've also been looking at real world comparison's of the gtx 260m vs the 3870 and i'm find the 260m is a bit faster in all areas, as well as having more memory then the 3870.

and $400 more cost, on the alienware

 

[Papahyooie]

250 more, according to when i configured it. But the sager is still cheaper than the alienware even with the cheaper graphics, so thats a moot point.

The sager sounds like a good match for you. The "sleeper" look is what you want, and the sager has that, but also looks sleek at the same time. Has a "refined" look instead of "boring" like so many others. Its really hard to get past boring without going to flashy (like the asus or alienware). More than enough power, plus the ability to upgrade the graphics (which the asus doesnt have btw) and I'd say go for it.

As far as the quad vs dual, the quad isnt going to help your gaming atall. It might help with multitasking a bit but the dual is no slouch anyway, and i really dont think you'd really notice a difference anyway. I'd go for the ghz and get the faster dual, as thats what will help in games, and multitasking really wont make any difference. Unless you do encoding or want to crunch with it, no point in a quad especially if its slower.

 

[Mussels]

^ dont forget that dual core = longer battery life

 

[exodusprime1337]

true that so sager it is, i'll be posting pics soon i'm ordering it now, perhaps i'll do a mini review for tpu, you don't see to many people buy mid range gaming notebooks from them