Moderate gaming laptop search

T

trugate

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Dec 22, 2004
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Hey all, I'm looking to find a decent laptop with specs similar to:

15"
quad core intel
nvidia 650m or equivalent or better
1080 IPS

The rest doesn't really matter, except I would love to see this for under $700, new/used/refurb/openbox.

Anybody got any ideas for models I can keep an eye out for? I love Asus as a brand but don't care much.

Thanks!
 
i picked up a refurbished Lenovo y500 about 5 months ago on e bay.
Specs i7 3630qm
8gb ram
650m
1080p

paid 600 back then. could pick one up even cheaper now.
 
I agree, Lenovo has the best value budget gamer laptops.
 
Thanks guys! I didn't originally list it as a requirement, but... do they have anything similar to those specs but with a touch screen? I'm having a tough time finding that.
 
Gamer laptops rarely come with touch screen. With a quick search I didn't turn up anything not even for any price. I think you have to choose between touch screen, and decent game capable gpu. You can't have both, definitely not at this price point.
 
Well, I mean there seem to be some examples like

http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/N550JV/

But when configured with a quad core intel the price goes waaaay up.

I'll just wait longer before I invest in a laptop. I have an AMD gaming desktop but I'm always on the go, and don't need something powerful enough to drive three displays anymore (mostly do development work now but still want to game when the urge arises).

Thanks anyway guys!
 
Just in case anyone goes looking for this sort of thing and comes across this thread:

Higher end gaming with touch: Lenovo Y50 Touch for ~$1200
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y50-TOUCH-Laptop-Computer/dp/B00K3F4KG2

Mid to higher end gaming with touch: ASUS N550JV/N550JK, various configs from $800-1300

Low to mid gaming with touch: Asus Q550LF for $600-800
http://slickdeals.net/f/6952178-asu...s-2gb-gt-745m-fact-refurb-600-fs-beach-camera

The Q550LF manufacturer refurbs sold from buydig, I JUST missed that back in May. Looks like a great laptop, I had the Q501LA which is similar in style (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231549) and I'm sad to have missed it...though the Q550LF didn't have a quad core, which is nice for virtualization, but for $600 I would manage...
 
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TigerDirect has the Asus Rog G750JS for 1299 right now. You may want to look into that. It doesn't have a touch screen but specs seem very nice for the $.

"Higher end gaming with touch: Lenovo Y50 Touch for ~$1200
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Y50-TOUCH-Laptop-Computer/dp/B00K3F4KG2" - Trugate

I've heard the standard FHD display that ship w/ the Y50 are very poor in quality and once you purchase you pretty much have to replace the display on them. There are youtube video's on how to do it but why bother? Before purchasing the Y50 I would ensure it's not the poor quality display that I've been reading about. It being TOUCHSCREEN may mean it's using a different once in fact. The one I read about was not a touchscreen.
 
I know that the panel they used in the Q501LA was actually pretty nice for a cheap IPS, was really warm colors and didn't get super bright though. I was satisfied with it, and viewing angles looked fine in the Y50 Touch unboxing videos I saw, but who knows.
 
I just got an ASUS Q550LF for ridiculously cheap ($300 at a local pawn shop and it looks brand new), been using it in place of my Lenovo Y510P for a few days. I had to turn down a few of the bells and whistles to increase framerates, but I really love the design, look, and feel of the ASUS. I'm really close to selling the Lenovo, which to be fair to the Lenovo, is a much more powerful gaming platform, but my gaming apparently does not require as much horsepower as I thought... If you can find a cheap ASUS of the same design, with the Geforce 745m or 750m, it might work out for you. I've been playing RIFT, LA Noir, Bioshock Infinite, and Metro LL to put it through its paces. It seems to work well and has not been noisy or hot when playing. I'm very impressed with it. if you want this design in a real ASUS ROG notebook, the G550 is the one. It has an 850m and a quad i7 over my 745m and dual core i7. I'll probably upgrade the Q550 to the G550 once people start doing stupid things to their G550's and I can get a motherboard from a broken one cheap...
 
I'm also looking for a so-so laptop. When it comes to desktops I have a decent idea of what to look for, but this would be my first laptop and I'm clueless.

I was told by a nice (and non-rip off) neighborhood store that I could get a refurb for 150-250, but I doubt it would be gaming worthy. I don't need touch screen, but Im still doubtful.

Listing intended uses might help:
-Watching movies, streaming vids, Youtube, etc.
-Internet browsing
-Internet browser games
-Playing older games. Rome Total War (1, not 2) and older would be a good example.

If folks would list the most important needed components, like CPU, GPU, etc, I could probably take the info and research solo from there. Thanks
 
For those looking for a budget friendly gaming laptop under $500 then I would recommend you visit this excellent page:

http://markmorgangenius.hubpages.com/hub/Cheap-And-Best-Gaming-Laptop-Under-500

The above page nicely lists the laptops with short review and videos for the respective laptop.

An actual gaming laptop is way above $700 which is appropriate for hardcore gamers. But still you can find decent gaming laptops under the budget of $500. I won't consider following laptops as true hardcore gaming laptops but anyways these will surely handle any sort of modern pc gaming very well.

1) Asus G50Vt-X5-RF - I own this beast and it is among the best options for budget gaming laptop you will find. It would be apt for even the hardcore gamers who are tight on budget. It is definitely a value for money product. See the above page which contains a short review and video for this laptop. I have played many heavy games like batman arkham asylum, fifa, call of duty on it and boy there is no lag.
.
2) Samsung Q430 - It is another option. The laptop has nice looks due to its aluminium finish. It is powered with a 2.66 GHz i5 Intel dual core processor. It has a 4 GB DDR3 RAM which can handle any sort of heavy games. The graphic card in it is NVIDIA GeForce 310M.

3) Dell XPS L502X : My friend has this laptop. It is a full gaming package. Get an i5 or i7 quad core with NVIDIA GeForce GT 540m graphics. This laptop has excellent quality JBL speakers with a Subwoofer. It is louder tham any laptop so far I have ever seen. The gaming on it is excellent. The sound from laptop fills the entire room well.

Hope this helps.

Must See This Page: http://markmorgangenius.hubpages.com/hub/Cheap-And-Best-Gaming-Laptop-Under-500
 
go after used workstation laptops best bang for your buck and all are upgradeable to a point
 
The integrated GPU in modern Haswell ULVs (HD4400) is faster than old mobile GPUs such as the 9800m GS and comparable to the GT 540m.
 
I'm interested in the specs as I'm after a used pc for moderate gaming. I'm seeing cheap prices, but w/o general specs to go by, I can't make a proper decision.

Going by what's posted here I guess:
Quad core to i7
650m
8gb ram

basically anything that will run what I listed a few posts above.
 
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