Gaming Laptop at $700 Range

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MooMooCow

Limp Gawd
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Jun 12, 2007
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I know that for 700 bucks I won't be playing Crysis 2 at max settings, but I'm just looking for the best bang for the buck in the $700 price range. I reside in Cali so I have access to Microcenter, Fry's and BB's. I would prefer a 17" gaming laptop, but I understand that the screen size might be a little hard to come by at my current price range. I'd also like at least a Sandy Bridge i5. I can't shell out a grand for a laptop at the moment, so getting something like a Sager or Malibal really is out of the question.
So far I've found this Lenovo, but I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to mobile gaming these days, so any help would be appreciated.

If I missed any threads that are already currently active regarding this topic, please point me that way. (I understand there's a thread going on for a buyer in France, but I figured the difference in vendors would warrant a new thread) Thanks.
 
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Not gonna happen for $700. You're looking at at least $1000 for a decent (read: plays modern games at 1680.1050+ resolution without significant quality reduction. Your best bet is to look for a used g74 or something alike, but even then it will be a long stretch.

That lenovo will get you only to about 1600.900 with medium-low settings in most modern games.
 
I'll gladly take medium quality with little to no AA. So I suppose I should revise my OP lol
 
Well, as he is saying you wont be able to do 1080p res so I wouldnt even worry about a 17" inch screen. You will get better specs and performance if u go with like a 15.6" or smaller. For that price, I would look for used deals here on the [H]ard or even on craiglist. Honestly, I think u should just hold out until you have more saved up.
 
This is from notbookcheck.com in reference to the benchmark that they performed on the GT555 (like whats in the lenovo you linked)

The performance is depending on the used version of the card (see above). The 3DMark 06 performance for example ranges from 8857 points (Lenovo Ideapad Y570) to 13000 points (MSI GX780R). The GT 555M in the Lenovo therefore is just a fast GT 550M. The average GT 555M (with 144 shaders) is positioned in the lower high end class and enables users to play demanding games in high settings at 1366x768. Only Metro 2033 had to be played in lower settings in our benchmark tests (see below).

1366x768 isnt too great.
 
I found a friend of mine a laptop new for $550 that can play any game, albeit at low resolution and low settings. But it worked. So it is possible.
 
I would think a decent llano laptop should work For him around that price not sure about getting one with the higher resolution
 
I just bought that Lenovo (Y570). Seemed like the best performer for the price. Will get it tomorrow, I'll let you know if its any good.
 
Ya let us know what you think about after you get a chance to play with it.
 
MooMooCow said:
I know that for 700 bucks I won't be playing Crysis 2 at max settings, but I'm just looking for the best bang for the buck in the $700 price range. I reside in Cali so I have access to Microcenter, Fry's and BB's. I would prefer a 17" gaming laptop, but I understand that the screen size might be a little hard to come by at my current price range. I'd also like at least a Sandy Bridge i5. I can't shell out a grand for a laptop at the moment, so getting something like a Sager or Malibal really is out of the question.
So far I've found this Lenovo, but I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to mobile gaming these days, so any help would be appreciated.

If I missed any threads that are already currently active regarding this topic, please point me that way. (I understand there's a thread going on for a buyer in France, but I figured the difference in vendors would warrant a new thread) Thanks.
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I point you to this thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1642167. It's $199 above your budget, but there's a $100 rebate, putting you only $99 over at $799+shipping. For that machine, it's not half bad at all.

It doesn't have a 17" screen, but it is 1920x1080.

Edit: NVM, too late. But if anyone else has a similar budget, don't pass up that Asus.
 
Newegg has Asus G53 with GTX 460 for around $800. I have used it, and it is really cool still can play BF3.
 
Bomo said:
I point you to this thread: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1642167. It's $199 above your budget, but there's a $100 rebate, putting you only $99 over at $799+shipping. For that machine, it's not half bad at all.

It doesn't have a 17" screen, but it is 1920x1080.

Edit: NVM, too late. But if anyone else has a similar budget, don't pass up that Asus.
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Actually, I was really really close on getting that laptop as it was only 100 bucks over my current budget and completely destroys the Y570 in all aspects. But then I talked to the person I'm getting the laptop for and realized that he wouldn't be running anything amazingly fancy on it. WoW, Sims 3 and some other older games such as Dead Rising. He also told me to save that 100 bucks, so who was I to argue? :p

Thank you guys for helping me pick out a laptop for my given budget, but in the end I decided to go with the Y570 as it was the closest thing to my budget. I'll ask the person I'm giving it to how it handles and post a response if it doesn't involve me necroing a thread lol
 
Been playing with the Y570 a bit last night and tonight. It seems great for the price, maybe better than I hoped. Probably not going to be maxing out Metro2033, but I wouldn't expect that for $650. I played some older games on it and it had no problem like HL2, L4D, UT3, etc. So surely WoW or Sims3, will run. DIRT ran well and so did FEAR2. Of course I was running on medium settings, but performance was nice. Installing Crysis 2 now to see if it can even handle it at all (not expecting anything other than low settings). But overall I am not sure I could have done much better for under $700.
 
you will regret your choice. that asus is atleast 50% faster than the lenovo.
 
Well I was just playing Crysis 2 on the Lenovo. Granted it was on High settings, but still very playable at a little over 30FPS.
 
aintz said:
you will regret your choice. that asus is atleast 50% faster than the lenovo.
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I saw the benchmarks for both laptops and I can definitely agree with you. I actually did try to convince my friend to take the Asus as it's better than the Y570 by a mile and half, but he wouldn't have any of it. (saved me 130 bucks... so who am I to blame)
 
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the y570 is lighter and easier to move around, i had one for a week before returning it. now im on a 430dollar acer 3830tg thats just as fast as the y570 lol.
 
aintz said:
the y570 is lighter and easier to move around, i had one for a week before returning it. now im on a 430dollar acer 3830tg thats just as fast as the y570 lol.
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And how praytell did you snag such a machine at that price? I literally *just* got my Y570 from UPS ten minutes ago.
 
fuck man. bought a y570 (its AWESOME) this month but newegg has NO RETURN policy... would pik this up..
 
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