Portable gaming/work laptop

[sparky1_2007]

Hey Guys, ive been searching and searching and i think i've found the perfect laptop for what i want.

13-15"
mild gaming abilities
good battery life 4-5hrs with mild use


Sony Vaio S13 Premium

now, i've been searching around and i've only been able to find 2 other laptops in it's class

the gigabyte u2442 & the acer ultra m5

out of the 3, the sony sounds like it's going to be the best fit for me with it being a 13".

the acer is 15" and build quality isnt that great from what i read, and it has the 640m LE, where-as the vaio s13 has a bios mod that i can unlock the 640m LE to overclock it to it's full potential (800-1,000mhz)

the gigabyte has better specs overall, but it is not readily available at major retailers and i would dread a warranty return on the thing if anything were to break.

i've looked into the asus zenbook with the gt620, but i dont think that it would cut it for me, i want to be able to get ~50-60fps average at native resolution and from what i've seen online, the vaio can do that with the BIOS mod.

link to bios mod incase anyones interested.http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/677079-sony-vaio-s-bios-mod-gt640m-le.html

so, my questions to you guys is is there any other laptops in this class (portable, fairly light and has the ability to run newer games (mostly BF3) at a reasonable FPS.

 

[HaX]

check out the g46vw, gtx 660m on a 14" laptop, crappy resolution (better in the future?), pretty light weight for what it has in it.

 

[sparky1_2007]

check out the g46vw, gtx 660m on a 14" laptop, crappy resolution (better in the future?), pretty light weight for what it has in it.

specs are nice, but the laptop itself looks pretty crappy IMO, but i'll keep it in mind, thank you!

im planning on going to my local microcenter once i get my christmas bonus to try said laptops out and see which one i really want.

 

[Globox]

specs are nice, but the laptop itself looks pretty crappy IMO, but i'll keep it in mind, thank you!

im planning on going to my local microcenter once i get my christmas bonus to try said laptops out and see which one i really want.

Samsung Series 5, G55. Keep those options open

 

[sparky1_2007]

Samsung Series 5, G55. Keep those options open

series 5 doesnt have a dedicated graphics card unfortunately, and the G55 looks like it would be too bulky.

keep in mind i am coming from an x200 that weighs 3.5lbs with a 12" screen and i'd like to keep the form factor right around the same dimensions if possible.

the only reason a 15" is in my list is because machines like the acer ultra m5 & sony vaio s15 are relatively thin and light with the S15 weighing in at 4.4lbs and ~1" thick all around and the ultra m5 right around the same.

 

[Globox]

series 5 doesnt have a dedicated graphics card unfortunately, and the G55 looks like it would be too bulky.

keep in mind i am coming from an x200 that weighs 3.5lbs with a 12" screen and i'd like to keep the form factor right around the same dimensions if possible.

the only reason a 15" is in my list is because machines like the acer ultra m5 & sony vaio s15 are relatively thin and light with the S15 weighing in at 4.4lbs and ~1" thick all around and the ultra m5 right around the same.

http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=72811&vpn=NP550P5C-T01CA&manufacture=Samsung
tuned this one up for my parents, haven't heard any complaints from them since. And it will do everything under the sun.

 

[sparky1_2007]

http://www.ncix.ca/products/?sku=72811&vpn=NP550P5C-T01CA&manufacture=Samsung
tuned this one up for my parents, haven't heard any complaints from them since. And it will do everything under the sun.

ah, ok, the one i was looking at was had a HD4000 in it, not the GT630.

 

[pelo]

The GT630m will perform roughly on par with a Trinity 7660G, so that Kepler 640m LE will outperform them both quite handily.

The GT620m in the Zenbook sucks, barely outperforming the on-die HD4000.

There aren't many gaming capable notebooks that are also very portable. Adding a discrete GPU means more cooling, higher price and a beefier laptop.

It might be a good idea to wait for Intel's Haswell and AMD's Richland next year if you don't mind waiting ~7 months. If you want to buy now then the Sony Vaio S 13.3 or 15.5 are your best bet. Sony is usually a step above the rest when it comes to cramming in powerful components in a tiny form factor.