gaming laptops

[botanika]

I unfortunately lost my 15 inch retina macbook pro and was thinking about doing something as a change for its replacement like a gaming laptop. Specifically I'm looking at alienware 14 or 17, although pricey or the Toshiba Qosmio that is bland but decent specs for the coin.

Actually I had a nice gaming experience with a few games on my macbook as it had a gorgeous high res screen but its GPU and lack of Hdd space is making me consider other options in the general price range. Im not a hard core gamer and dont travel often with a laptop so im not as concerned with size and weight. I definately want something that has an excellent screen and that will be hard in moving away from Apple but having a laptop with Nvidia gtx 770 or 780 would be fun.

Anyone got any recommendations and advice?

[Jumpstarter]

http://www.razerzone.com/au-en/gaming-systems/razer-blade

[botanika]

The razor blade screens are pretty awful and cheap.

I checked out the MSI dragon edition (kinda ugly and only single fan), alienware 17 and Toshiba Qosmio. All had nice screens but I'd have to go for a lower spec 765GPU if i want an alienware at a lower price... so I have to start thinking about spending more coin on the 780M spec 17.

Edited January 16, 2014 by botanika

[-RC-]

Before i sold my PC this was the site that I got all of my components off.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1538_1544&zenid=047fdcc44be1c6216cf3200cb9eef29e

[botanika]

Before i sold my PC this was the site that I got all of my components off.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1538_1544&zenid=047fdcc44be1c6216cf3200cb9eef29e

Thanks man. Good site...except Im in asia and surrounded by cybermarts.

[Xenodimensional]

I don't know what the go with Alienware is, right after I got mine last year they downgraded or removed most of the customisation options on their website (cpu, ssds, raid etc) and made the chasis less cool looking. I'd chat to one of their friendly consultants and see if they can still do custom rigs and get one that suits your requirements. I ended up on pretty good terms with them (either that or they got sick of me emailing them questions every day for a month or two) and saved nearly 2k on my build plus got the backpack and three year onsite warranty thrown in. They're definitely pricey but are also unbelievably solid and mine hasn't skipped a beat (and what I do to my computers constitutes abuse of machinery... non-stop GPU & CPU rendering and usage in occasionally adverse conditions). Their screens are phenomenal.

[Anodyne]

Sorry I know nothing about hardware and this may be off-topic, but depending on what type of games you want to play the Steam Box might be an option? Well somewhere down the line anyway, when they actually start releasing them. Like I say it's not my field at all, so I might have misunderstood, but it also sounds like using the (free) SteamOS might be a way to squeeze a better gaming rig out of your own hardware? I like the idea, it'll be interesting to see what happens with it.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Anodyne

[migraineur]

If you're not traveling with it then why not build your own? It'll be cheaper and you can build a beast! You can use a laptop as a desktop replacement but you won't get as much power of your machine and it'll be harder and more expensive to upgrade in the future.

[botanika]

If you're not traveling with it then why not build your own? It'll be cheaper and you can build a beast! You can use a laptop as a desktop replacement but you won't get as much power of your machine and it'll be harder and more expensive to upgrade in the future.

yeah I realise I could build a better desktop but I still need some element of portability and it wouldn't be just for games. I'm also looking at a few smaller units the alienware 14 and MSI 15 inch although the 14 is almost same price as the 17!

Steam units could be great but i dont think any are released yet. Im sure Ill end up getting a PS4 at some stage but like the immersive experience of laptop and headphones for some games.

cheers

[botanika]

Anyone have any experience with the new MSI GT60 with 3k screen? Maybe I need to hold off and wait until more laptops are released in 2014 with higher res screens.

[migraineur]

Console gaming has the benefit of being so easy to setup and they act as media players which is handy. It also makes multiplayer setups easy when you've got some friends over. The PS4 controllers have built in headphone jackets too so you can plug headphones into them.

I used to be a big PC gamer but using a PS4 makes it easy for my girlfriend to join me too.

[PsillyBean]

I can vouch for the Asus republic of gamers laptops. I have the G55V and it does everything i need.

[botanika]

Console gaming has the benefit of being so easy to setup and they act as media players which is handy. It also makes multiplayer setups easy when you've got some friends over. The PS4 controllers have built in headphone jackets too so you can plug headphones into them.

I used to be a big PC gamer but using a PS4 makes it easy for my girlfriend to join me too.

Yeah I'm pretty sure I'll get a PS4 when more games come out like Witcher 3, Dragon Age 3, DS2 etc.

It's not really a good time to buy a laptop right now other than what mac offer in the 15 retina. The MSI GT60 with 3k screen is exactly what I'm after spec wise but is an ugly bit of kit. Lenovo are also releasing the Y50 with 4K screen and next gen gpu's mid year and I imagine other brands will follow suit with higher res screens. That bumps up costs and can create some scaling problems but the hardest thing Im finding at the moment is the idea of going from the beautiful retina display to the somehwat dated 1080p. The 15 retina with GT750 gpu can still play a lot of games to a reasonable level.

I played some Crysis 3 on Xbox360 last night. It is still good!

Asus will likely come out with some better models. I might just hang ten for a while.