Gaming laptop for ~1500

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jonathanleshin

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So I finally got my PhD. Yay! As a graduation gift, my folks are getting me a laptop. And by getting me a laptop, I mean paying for the one I want up to about ~1500 dollars. I am hoping you fine folks here might make some general or specific recommendations about what to get.

Some specific information. I know I want a Dual Core, 15.4" monitor, dedicated graphics, 2 gb of ram, XP, wireless card, and a hard drive that runs at 7200. I also need good warranty/service, preferably with in home servicing (I've got twin 2 year olds). I plan on doing light gaming, mostly RPG's or strategy gaming, not really an FPS fan.

So a few questions

1) What kind of processor should I get? Is there a big difference between the 8X00 and the 5X00 from Intel? I'm not looking for fastest necessarily, just best power/battery/dollar value.

2) Where should I get it from? I need good service, and not all the boutiques have inhome servicing. I know that Velocity micro does, but I couldn't find good info on AVA's warranty. I'd love to check out Puget Systems, but none of their laptops are in stock so I can't even check out the configurations or determine their laptop warranty information. I've also heard good things about Toshiba's laptops and service, but the configuration options are poor. Same thing with lenovo. I'm not saying in home servicing is a deal breaker, but definitely preferred. Also, 2 or 3 yr warranty?

3) Which dedicated graphics chip is best right now? Nvidia or ATI? and what number?

4) Lastly, what is a really good laptop mouse. Touch pad is well and good for surfing the web, but if I wanna do gaming, I need a mouse.

Thanks for all your help folks. Y'all came through when I bought my last computer (as Ironfoot). :cool:
 
Jonathan,

Give our sales team a call--they can give you pricing that's not on the website. We have a lot of products getting ready to launch, so that's why the laptop page looks the way it does.

Heather
 
Thanks Heather I will.

Just out of curiosity, what type of warranties do you guys offer. Do you have ones that have the option of onsite fixes or is it only offsite stuff (like shipping it back for a fix).

I know you may not want to answer this one, but do you guys tend to have problems with your laptops (high return rate) or would you say they are relatively stable (for a given value of stable of course).
 
We will do onsite if the situation merits it--it's not something you pay extra for, but it's done case by case.

Fortunately, our laptops rarely have major problems--they're pretty reliable, pretty stable. Usually what I end up dealing with is a failed hard drive or a bad stick of memory, but those are things that are extremely simple to fix onsite--we can either send parts and the customer can do it themselves, or we can work with a local shop/tech if the customer isn't comfortable removing screws.

If it's motherboard related, though that's really rare, it will have to come back in...and that's pretty much the norm for all boutiques, because we all work with companies like Sager, Prostar, and Asus for chassis (case+motherboard) issues. It's a little different than it would be with Dell or Toshiba, because those manufacturers use proprietary chassis and are large enough to "certify" local dealers to work on their products.

You're going to get great service from any of the smaller companies you listed--I am very familiar with VM's warranty program (ahem), and somewhat familiar with AVA's. The only slightly different thing that we offer at Puget is free lifetime labor on all of our systems, even out of warranty. Each company has slight differences in service.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks a bunch. I am mostly comfortable to do stuff on my own (built my desktop) but notebooks can be a tricky beast. My dad is pushing toshiba or lenovo (both of whom his company buys quite a few of) but they have horrible configuration options if you want dedicated graphics. I've heard good things about VM and you guys, and decent things about
AVA. Only downside with AVA is it looks like their warranty/service is less comprehensive. I live on the East coast, near DC, so the relative closeness of Richmond is in my mind. That said, I'm interested to talk to your sales group to see what you have to offer. I'm willing to wait a little bit for laptops to come into stock, I don't need it right away. Is there like a new laptop processor series coming out or something?
 
VM would be the closest to you, as the crow flies, since they are located in South Richmond. As I said, I don't think you'll go wrong with either VM or Puget--it just comes down to what you like the best--we both produce great products and have great service offerings.

If you'll send me an email at heather@pugetsystems.com, I'll hook you up with one of our sales team--they're way better versed in what's coming through product lines than I am (I just fix 'em, usually).
:D
 
Thanks so much for your help. I'll send an email tomorrow, twins tire you out. I'm not ruling out Puget by any means. I'm just trying to correlate all the various data-bits. I definitely want a boutique. I have never been thrilled with the big boys. My lab never has had anything but trouble with our dell laptops but the University requires it or Apple.
 
Hey, I'm honored to be in the running--and you should definitely do your research, because $1500 is a lot of money to spend on ANYTHING. The guys here on the forums can recommend other boutiques, but along with Puget, VM, and AVAdirect, there's also Maingear. When I think "quality and good support", those are the four manufacturers that come immediately to mind.

Good luck!
 
This article compares some newer gaming laptops, although they aren't from the boutiques mentioned:

http://anandtech.com/mobile/showdoc.aspx?i=3396

I like how the conclusions point out the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Also, note that most gaming laptops have a 17" screen. There are some 15" ones around, but their graphics cards are usually not as fast as those in the 17" models.

If you are willing to go for a 17" model, the Gateway P-7811FX is definitly worth a look:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892825&type=product&id=1211587727985

It is one of Gateway's retail-exclusive models (in this case, Best Buy is the retailer). Previous ones, Like the P-6831 and the P-6860, have gotten some decent feedback in reviews and here on the forums (there were a few long threads somewhere in the Mobile Computing subforum, which may be a better place to get some feedback). There is a review here, and I believe it is also included in the roundup in the first link.

Considering the fact that it is on sale this week for $1250 (plus a free game of your choice), it is probably the best bang-for-the buck right now as far as gaming laptops are concerned. I'd go to Best Buy and play with the one on display just to see how it is.

The only thing that you will probably have to look into is the support and extended warranty/in-home service. I don't have any experience with Gateway's support, and I don't know if the retail laptops or the FX series get modified or special support.

Anyway, as Heather said, it's definitely something you want to do your research on. Good luck and congrats on the PhD.
 
If you're willing to swap competent tech support for price go for cyberpower. I got a nice notebook for cheap using a online coupon (may wanna look for one yourself) and after working out problem on my own is a great notebook for the price. You'd definitely want to have at least software experience before getting one, however.
 
For a desktop I might be willing to drop some of the support. For a laptop not so much. Does anyone know if there is a new laptop chipset/processor coming out. I'm willing to wait a little if it might drop existing prices. Also, which of the current proc's are the best dollar/speed value.
 
well for a manufature go hp
graphics NVIDIA
for processor go intel because they run cooler and use less power

i have a hp 17" dv9700
3gb ram
320gb hdd
NVIDIA Geforce8400m gs
intel core 2 duo t5550 1.83ghz
great for gaming i can play crysis at 25-30fps steady
 
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