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I'm planning to purchase a new laptop sometime this year, and I've been reading reviews / information for the past 3 weeks now just trying to piece together what's currently out there and what's coming out over the course of this year. The purposes will be moderate gaming and general use; mainly stuff like Diablo 3, WoW, Torchlight 2, and possibly some occasional FPS games like Borderlands 2. I don't expect performance to match my desktop, I just want to be able to run the games with low-to-medium settings and have as smooth a framerate as possible.
I'm pretty sure what I'm looking for is impossible to find, though I'm going to try my best to come as close as possible to the criteria I have set for my standards. Price isn't really a concern, I'm looking for quality. Here is basically *exactly* what I'm looking for.
(1) Very thin chassis, as close to 1-inch or less as possible when closed.
(2) Battery life of approx. 4-5 hours or more when not gaming.
(3) Runs cool and moderately quiet when gaming. Fans that sound like jet engines and the laptop base exceeding 80 C will not cut it.
(4) Has a great touchpad. Absolutely has to have this. I want to be able to randomly play games while laying in bed or sitting on the couch, and do not plan on having to always use a mouse. I don't care if this is optimal, it's just something I know I'll do from time to time.
(5) Ranges 14-15 (15.6) inches in screen-size, would actually prefer a 720p (1376x768?) screen resolution (don't need microscopic text on the screen, and games would run better at lower resolution) but not super picky on this one.
So far I have only found three laptops that I feel like are the closest matches to my criteria. There is this laptop that is being currently sold at best buy:
Samsung Series 7 NP780Z5E
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...etal/8048198.p?id=1218863727568&skuId=8048198
I was actually amazed at this laptop as my previous encounters with Samsung laptops are that the touchpad is absolutely terrible. This time around they seem to have paid a little more attention to this detail. The size and specs are almost spot on what I'm looking for, although I'm not sure why this one comes with the Radeon 8770m and not the 8870m that is advertised on the Samsung page. Not really sure how lowering the screen resolution would deteriorate the gaming experience on this one.
Macbook Pro 15" Retina
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/compare/notebooks.html
If it weren't for the fact that MBPs heat up like a stove burner when you play a game, I would have already gone with this one. The price is absolutely ridiculous, but the quality speaks for itself. Meets all my criteria except for heat and noise, and also I'd prefer a Windows PC as I already have an Early-2011 MBP 15.
Sony Vaio S Series 15"
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...52921666495150&categoryId=8198552921644768015
Biggest drawback here is the battery life is a bit on the low side, and the GPU looks to be weak compared to the others. Also I feel like Sony will be refreshing this lineup at some point this year, so buying one now may be a bad idea.
Any recommendations of something else I should seriously consider? It's hard to tell what's coming out later this year?
Thanks for any help!
I'm pretty sure what I'm looking for is impossible to find, though I'm going to try my best to come as close as possible to the criteria I have set for my standards. Price isn't really a concern, I'm looking for quality. Here is basically *exactly* what I'm looking for.
(1) Very thin chassis, as close to 1-inch or less as possible when closed.
(2) Battery life of approx. 4-5 hours or more when not gaming.
(3) Runs cool and moderately quiet when gaming. Fans that sound like jet engines and the laptop base exceeding 80 C will not cut it.
(4) Has a great touchpad. Absolutely has to have this. I want to be able to randomly play games while laying in bed or sitting on the couch, and do not plan on having to always use a mouse. I don't care if this is optimal, it's just something I know I'll do from time to time.
(5) Ranges 14-15 (15.6) inches in screen-size, would actually prefer a 720p (1376x768?) screen resolution (don't need microscopic text on the screen, and games would run better at lower resolution) but not super picky on this one.
So far I have only found three laptops that I feel like are the closest matches to my criteria. There is this laptop that is being currently sold at best buy:
Samsung Series 7 NP780Z5E
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...etal/8048198.p?id=1218863727568&skuId=8048198
I was actually amazed at this laptop as my previous encounters with Samsung laptops are that the touchpad is absolutely terrible. This time around they seem to have paid a little more attention to this detail. The size and specs are almost spot on what I'm looking for, although I'm not sure why this one comes with the Radeon 8770m and not the 8870m that is advertised on the Samsung page. Not really sure how lowering the screen resolution would deteriorate the gaming experience on this one.
Macbook Pro 15" Retina
http://www.apple.com/why-mac/compare/notebooks.html
If it weren't for the fact that MBPs heat up like a stove burner when you play a game, I would have already gone with this one. The price is absolutely ridiculous, but the quality speaks for itself. Meets all my criteria except for heat and noise, and also I'd prefer a Windows PC as I already have an Early-2011 MBP 15.
Sony Vaio S Series 15"
http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...52921666495150&categoryId=8198552921644768015
Biggest drawback here is the battery life is a bit on the low side, and the GPU looks to be weak compared to the others. Also I feel like Sony will be refreshing this lineup at some point this year, so buying one now may be a bad idea.
Any recommendations of something else I should seriously consider? It's hard to tell what's coming out later this year?
Thanks for any help!
