Support NeoGAF

[Golden Slumbers]

So I posted this a couple weeks ago looking for a new laptop for school and I got a good recommendation, but I realized the size was just too big (17.3").

Hey Gaf, I'm looking for a new laptop mainly for school. I don't know much about specs and stuff, all I know is I'd like something that will last me a while and preferably something sleek and good looking. I probably won't be doing any gaming on it but I do download a lot of music and movies if that matters. Price range is $800-$1,000. Any help pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated, thanks!

I just wanted to update this to say I'm looking for something around 15.4". Also I am in the U.S. Everything else is the same as my post quoted above. Thanks again!

 

[catmincer]

So I posted this a couple weeks ago looking for a new laptop for school and I got a good recommendation, but I realized the size was just too big (17.3").



I just wanted to update this to say I'm looking for something around 15.4". Also I am in the U.S. Everything else is the same as my post quoted above. Thanks again!

I bought this upon suggestion of someone here. It's a decent size, looks good and has good specs and the speakers are loud/clear.

 

[K.Jack]

Hey, I'm new to laptops and know very little. I need one mostly for school but also to get my feet wet in basic pc gaming. I saw a $429 ASUS mentioned earlier that seemed a perfect fit for me, but after further browsing I found an ACER with more memory that seems decent for just a little less $. I'm a little confused; any advice?

What ASUS?

I'm looking at 15" laptops under $2000.

Which do you guys prefer in this range? My main worry with the ghost is the heat / fan noise. Has anyone has some first hand experience with these models?

I've been looking at:

lenovo y50:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00LPM2LUY/

msi ghost pro:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Produc...90&cm_re=msi_ghost_pro-_-34-152-590-_-Product

msi gt60:
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00LJI78SO/

I'd choose the GT60.

So I posted this a couple weeks ago looking for a new laptop for school and I got a good recommendation, but I realized the size was just too big (17.3").



I just wanted to update this to say I'm looking for something around 15.4". Also I am in the U.S. Everything else is the same as my post quoted above. Thanks again!

Sager NP7358.

 

[pizzapizza64]

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $750
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight).: 11-14 inches, as lightweight as possible
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all).: Mainly indie games like Rogue Legacy and Kentucky Route Zero.
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc.: I need it to be versatile and lightweight.

 

[K.Jack]

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $750
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight).: 11-14 inches, as lightweight as possible
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all).: Mainly indie games like Rogue Legacy and Kentucky Route Zero.
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc.: I need it to be versatile and lightweight.

This

 

[pizzapizza64]

This

Cool; have you used it before?

Looks like it has everything I want!

 

[K.Jack]

Cool; have you used it before?

Looks like it has everything I want!

I haven't, but the Thinkpads are seen as Lenvo's most well built line, which is why I chose it.

 

[pizzapizza64]

One more (and final question). I have a MacBook Air with the following stats:
1.3 ghz intel core i5 processor
4 GB DDR3 ram
Intel HD graphics 5000

Should I just put windows on that using boot camp or virtual windows (whatever that's called) to play the indies I care about?

Or will it run super hot and sound like it's dying?

 

[K.Jack]

One more (and final question). I have a MacBook Air with the following stats:
1.3 ghz intel core i5 processor
4 GB DDR3 ram
Intel HD graphics 5000

Should I just put windows on that using boot camp or virtual windows (whatever that's called) to play the indies I care about?

Or will it run super hot and sound like it's dying?

Well, the Air's HD5000 is better than the HD4600 of the laptop I chose. I'd probably go the Bootcamp route, if you don't mind the small screen size.

 

[pizzapizza64]

Well, the Air's HD5000 is better than the HD4600 of the laptop I chose. I'd probably go the Bootcamp route, if you don't mind the small screen size.

I legitimately appreciate the advice.

 

[GutsOfThor]

Country where it will be purchased- United Staes
Maximum budget-$500
Max size-15.6"
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all)- Little to no gaming at all
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc-Looking for great battery life. This laptop will be mainly used for school.

These two have caught my eye and I'm leaning toward the Toshiba but I've never owned a Toshiba computer before so I'm a little hesitant.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-amd-a8-series-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-jet-black/7716338.p?id=1219286766617&skuId=7716338

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-laptop-amd-a6-series-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-revolutionary-blue/7502095.p?id=1219276504633&skuId=7502095&st=categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10

 

[shockdude]

So I discovered something about the Lenovo y510p worth sharing.
I've been using decent earbuds for so long that I never realized that the built-in speakers sounded like absolute crap. No bass whatsoever.

Except...I noticed that when I plugged my earbuds back in, the audio had no bass for a second, before the bass returned.
In other words, the audio drivers were cutting out the bass frequencies to the laptop speakers!

Reinstalling the same audio driver (6.0.1.7030) didn't help, but installing the older driver (6.0.1.6890) restored proper bass to the built-in speakers. Now they sound fantastic.

The funny thing is I'm pretty sure the audio drivers were fine when I first got the laptop, but again I've been using earbuds for months now so w/e.

 

[Jarrod38]

What are some of the best current gaming laptops in the $600-$700 range that will have the ability to play Steam games like TF2, CS:S and CS:GO? I would have to have the screen be 1920x1080.

 

[K.Jack]

Country where it will be purchased- United Staes
Maximum budget-$500
Max size-15.6"
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all)- Little to no gaming at all
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc-Looking for great battery life. This laptop will be mainly used for school.

These two have caught my eye and I'm leaning toward the Toshiba but I've never owned a Toshiba computer before so I'm a little hesitant.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/toshiba-satellite-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-amd-a8-series-6gb-memory-750gb-hard-drive-jet-black/7716338.p?id=1219286766617&skuId=7716338

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-15-6-laptop-amd-a6-series-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive-revolutionary-blue/7502095.p?id=1219276504633&skuId=7502095&st=categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10

Toshiba is solid, much more than HP, in the budget range.

So I discovered something about the Lenovo y510p worth sharing.
I've been using decent earbuds for so long that I never realized that the built-in speakers sounded like absolute crap. No bass whatsoever.

Except...I noticed that when I plugged my earbuds back in, the audio had no bass for a second, before the bass returned.
In other words, the audio drivers were cutting out the bass frequencies to the laptop speakers!

Reinstalling the same audio driver (6.0.1.7030) didn't help, but installing the older driver (6.0.1.6890) restored proper bass to the built-in speakers. Now they sound fantastic.

The funny thing is I'm pretty sure the audio drivers were fine when I first got the laptop, but again I've been using earbuds for months now so w/e.

When I first saw the word "crap" I was like whaaaat. Their Harman Kardon speakers rival MSI's Dynaudio speakers as the best available.

I'm glad yo got that sorted.

What are some of the best current gaming laptops in the $600-$700 range that will have the ability to play Steam games like TF2, CS:S and CS:GO? I would have to have the screen be 1920x1080.

This is it.

 

[Zero2kz]

So, I have been wanting to get a laptop for awhile. At first I just wanted a cheap one for video streaming and what not since I have a pretty powerful desktop.

Of course my reasonable thinking has been thrown out the window and now I want a gaming laptop. Nothing too crazy.

I am about to just bite the bullet and get the highest end Y50 (Not the Ultra HD one). http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/?sb=:000001C9:000120E6:#customize

Seems like it is a highly suggested laptop? Didn't want to spend a ton of money, looking around $1,200-$1,400. I guess my question is, is there anything new coming in the near future that would be worth waiting for? I don't really need a laptop this instant.

 

[Gruso]

For anyone who remembers my dead GPU woes from a few pages back, the old P150HM is up and running again! Read on for saga.

The GPU was an AMD 6970M, and packed it in after 3 years of hot n' heavy gaming. I scoured ebay for a replacement, and they're out there, but for an Aussie it's a few hundred bucks to get hold of one. So I went back to the builder, LBO, and asked what they could offer. The options:

- Nvidia GTX670M $299
- AMD 6970M $399
- AMD 7970M $499

I was feeling a bit burned by AMD, and reluctant to spend half a desktop rig on one old GPU, so I opted for a minor step down to the GTX670M. These aren't exactly great prices for used video cards in any language, but they do come packaged in a full kit with new heatsinks, a tube of ICD, and any support I needed for the install. Physically, the install itself was a snap, and the temperatures seemed good. Then came the drivers...

The latest nvidia installer didn't recognise the hardware. Some digging around on notebookreview pointed me down the path of modded infs. This eventually got the hardware recognised, but the installer was failing further on. LBO pointed me to the driver & modded inf they use (from laptopvideo2go) but I had no luck with those either. Eventually they sent me an updated BIOS, which I flashed without issue, but it didn't fix the problem.

In the middle of all this I had fired up an Ubuntu live stick to see how it handled it. No issues - card recognised, drivers installed, even played a bit of Nexuiz to test it out. I figured this would be my fallback option, and it would be kind of fun to have an Ubuntu laptop, and discover how much of my Steam library has Linux versions available.

Getting back to Windows, post BIOS update and still no drivers installed. This was the moment I'd give in and install Ubuntu. But I'll just try this one more time... I went in via Device Manager to manually update & pick the the inf. It threw an error, and a penny dropped.

"The hash for the file is not present in the specified catalog file. The file is likely corrupt or the victim of tampering"

Driver signing! With that disabled, the driver installed. VICTORY. Super stoked to revive what was a $2k laptop, and hopefully give it another few years of life. (But part of me is almost disappointed I wasn't forced to go the Linux route, and enjoy the adventures therein. Maybe at some point I will.)

 

[K.Jack]

So, I have been wanting to get a laptop for awhile. At first I just wanted a cheap one for video streaming and what not since I have a pretty powerful desktop.

Of course my reasonable thinking has been thrown out the window and now I want a gaming laptop. Nothing too crazy.

I am about to just bite the bullet and get the highest end Y50 (Not the Ultra HD one). http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/?sb=:000001C9:000120E6:#customize

Seems like it is a highly suggested laptop? Didn't want to spend a ton of money, looking around $1,200-$1,400. I guess my question is, is there anything new coming in the near future that would be worth waiting for? I don't really need a laptop this instant.

New mobile GPUs, based from Nvidia's upcoming 20nm Maxwell, are expected out by the holiday season. So I'd wait.

For anyone who remembers my dead GPU woes from a few pages back, the old P150HM is up and running again! Read on for saga.

The GPU was an AMD 6970M, and packed it in after 3 years of hot n' heavy gaming. I scoured ebay for a replacement, and they're out there, but for an Aussie it's a few hundred bucks to get hold of one. So I went back to the builder, LBO, and asked what they could offer. The options:

- Nvidia GTX670M $299
- AMD 6970M $399
- AMD 7970M $499

I was feeling a bit burned by AMD, and reluctant to spend half a desktop rig on one old GPU, so I opted for a minor step down to the GTX670M. These aren't exactly great prices for used video cards in any language, but they do come packaged in a full kit with new heatsinks, a tube of ICD, and any support I needed for the install. Physically, the install itself was a snap, and the temperatures seemed good. Then came the drivers...

The latest nvidia installer didn't recognise the hardware. Some digging around on notebookreview pointed me down the path of modded infs. This eventually got the hardware recognised, but the installer was failing further on. LBO pointed me to the driver & modded inf they use (from laptopvideo2go) but I had no luck with those either. Eventually they sent me an updated BIOS, which I flashed without issue, but it didn't fix the problem.

In the middle of all this I had fired up an Ubuntu live stick to see how it handled it. No issues - card recognised, drivers installed, even played a bit of Nexuiz to test it out. I figured this would be my fallback option, and it would be kind of fun to have an Ubuntu laptop, and discover how much of my Steam library has Linux versions available.

Getting back to Windows, post BIOS update and still no drivers installed. This was the moment I'd give in and install Ubuntu. But I'll just try this one more time... I went in via Device Manager to manually update & pick the the inf. It threw an error, and a penny dropped.



Driver signing! With that disabled, the driver installed. VICTORY. Super stoked to revive what was a $2k laptop, and hopefully give it another few years of life. (But part of me is almost disappointed I wasn't forced to go the Linux route, and enjoy the adventures therein. Maybe at some point I will.)

Good stuff. At least it was still much cheaper than a brand new laptop.

 

[Gruso]

Absolutely. And coupled with a fresh upgrade from 7 to 8.1, it feels like a new one!

 

[Excko]

I'd like to take a moment to thank K.Jack for his input when I asked for assistance.

I received the Y50 4K on Tuesday morning, and I played with it. I had some issues with the hard drive being at 100% access for a bit, but I finally figured out it was the Intel Rapid Storage Technology causing the issue. I uninstalled it, and then the issue went away.

This thing is a power house. It boots up under 5 seconds. Games look amazing on it, and when hooked up to my 50" tv, it is simply mind blowing. I only tried 2 games (Dust, an Elysian Tail, and Diablo 3), and everything was silky smooth.

Kudos to you K.Jack for the recommendation.

 

[HPhins54]

Country where it will be purchased - USA

Maximum budget - $750

Max size - Don't really have a max size. However, I don't want it to be too small. Looking for 15.6 to 17 inches for the screen.

Planned usage - All around use. Watching videos, web browsing, word documents, etc. I would like to do some gaming. Mainly looking to knock some stuff off my Steam backlog. Games like Deus Ex HR, Bioshock Infinite, Dragon Age Origins, Guild Wars 2 (Don't know if laptops in this range can play this), KOTOR, the first two Batman games, Civ 5, and possibly WoW. Medium settings would be great. If I have to play games at low in order to achieve 30 fps, I'm cool with that.

Whatever else you find relevant - I'm coming from a desktop. Planning to go back to school soon, so I want something I can carry around. I'm not too familiar with laptops. My plan is to throw in a SSD for the OS. I was going to get a 1TB external for games and movies. I'm assuming this setup should work well. I do want HDMI so that I can hook it up to my TV. I'm pretty sure almost any laptop at this price range will include HDMI. I'd like to have an optical drive, but if I have to get an external one, I'm okay with that.

After doing some browsing, I found this. Thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152586

 

[Eric_Gilmore]

Country- USA
Max Budget - $2000 (willing to go higher on this)
Max Size - Don't really care about screen size, just trying to find one that isn't gigantically fat.

Planned Uses - Casual uses like web browsing watching movies etc. I'm gonna be playing games like Metal Gear Rising, Dark Souls 2, and some USFIV. I would like to play at 1080p with a solid frame rate if possible. (If I'm willing to drop 2 grand on this I hope it could do this much.)

I have been looking into the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro-052
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHT1C/ref=asc_df_B00JKCHT1C3285405?smid=A2KYIV02F0JSJ6&tag=mysimon-ce00-mp01-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395129&creativeASIN=B00JKCHT1C

It has a pretty decent battery life outside of gaming and I'm perfectly comfortable using a mouse instead of the track pad, which I hear sucks. The only thing I'm worried about is how hot the thing can get when gaming, but this is because of the small size. Overall I think I like it I was just wondering if there was something comparable for a similar price or maybe better.

 

[Malleavel]

Is these a good Deals? this one has dedicated GPU but I dont know much about laptops:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314561&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS082314&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS082314-_-EMC-082314-Index-_-LaptopsNotebooks-_-34314561-L08B&RandomID=738911291384413220140824111840

then there's this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314539&cm_re=acer-_-34-314-539-_-Product


and finally this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9152163&CatId=4939#spec



Oh, to answer K.Jack, I ended up buying this but it was DOA, so I have to return it for a refund.

 

[Cloudius12]

Country- USA
Max Budget - $2000 (willing to go higher on this)
Max Size - Don't really care about screen size, just trying to find one that isn't gigantically fat.

Planned Uses - Casual uses like web browsing watching movies etc. I'm gonna be playing games like Metal Gear Rising, Dark Souls 2, and some USFIV. I would like to play at 1080p with a solid frame rate if possible. (If I'm willing to drop 2 grand on this I hope it could do this much.)

I have been looking into the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro-052
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHT1C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It has a pretty decent battery life outside of gaming and I'm perfectly comfortable using a mouse instead of the track pad, which I hear sucks. The only thing I'm worried about is how hot the thing can get when gaming, but this is because of the small size. Overall I think I like it I was just wondering if there was something comparable for a similar price or maybe better.

I have the MSI GT70 Dominator, it has comparable specs, though a bit fat. That particular one is alot slimmer. Ultra Street Fighter IV and Dark Souls II maxed, no problem. The battery life in the GT 70 is not really good unless you leave in on Balanced power option.

Also because of how much power the GPU requires, you won't be able to use it unless you're plugged it.

 

[IndustryX]

Hey all need a laptop for my little sister, she's been saving this summer and I want her to get a decent laptop that will last her a few years.

Country where it will be purchased- Canada

Maximum budget-$700

Max size-15.6"

Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all)- Web browsing, photo editing, and general use (Netflix, iTunes) The Sims 4 and Roller Coaster Tycoon

Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise. - something with good-great battery life as this is for school, also 1080p resolution would be a bonus. As would HDMI out.

 

[K.Jack]

Country where it will be purchased - USA

Maximum budget - $750

Max size - Don't really have a max size. However, I don't want it to be too small. Looking for 15.6 to 17 inches for the screen.

Planned usage - All around use. Watching videos, web browsing, word documents, etc. I would like to do some gaming. Mainly looking to knock some stuff off my Steam backlog. Games like Deus Ex HR, Bioshock Infinite, Dragon Age Origins, Guild Wars 2 (Don't know if laptops in this range can play this), KOTOR, the first two Batman games, Civ 5, and possibly WoW. Medium settings would be great. If I have to play games at low in order to achieve 30 fps, I'm cool with that.

Whatever else you find relevant - I'm coming from a desktop. Planning to go back to school soon, so I want something I can carry around. I'm not too familiar with laptops. My plan is to throw in a SSD for the OS. I was going to get a 1TB external for games and movies. I'm assuming this setup should work well. I do want HDMI so that I can hook it up to my TV. I'm pretty sure almost any laptop at this price range will include HDMI. I'd like to have an optical drive, but if I have to get an external one, I'm okay with that.

After doing some browsing, I found this. Thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152586

Stretch for this.

Country- USA
Max Budget - $2000 (willing to go higher on this)
Max Size - Don't really care about screen size, just trying to find one that isn't gigantically fat.

Planned Uses - Casual uses like web browsing watching movies etc. I'm gonna be playing games like Metal Gear Rising, Dark Souls 2, and some USFIV. I would like to play at 1080p with a solid frame rate if possible. (If I'm willing to drop 2 grand on this I hope it could do this much.)

I have been looking into the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro-052
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JKCHT1C/?tag=neogaf0e-20

It has a pretty decent battery life outside of gaming and I'm perfectly comfortable using a mouse instead of the track pad, which I hear sucks. The only thing I'm worried about is how hot the thing can get when gaming, but this is because of the small size. Overall I think I like it I was just wondering if there was something comparable for a similar price or maybe better.

With that budget, wait for the new Maxwell cards, which are dropping in a few months. They'll be faster yet less power hungry, which should mean lower temps in a laptop like the GS60.

Is these a good Deals? this one has dedicated GPU but I dont know much about laptops:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314561&nm_mc=EMC-EXPRESS082314&cm_mmc=EMC-EXPRESS082314-_-EMC-082314-Index-_-LaptopsNotebooks-_-34314561-L08B&RandomID=738911291384413220140824111840

then there's this one
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314539&cm_re=acer-_-34-314-539-_-Product


and finally this one:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9152163&CatId=4939#spec



Oh, to answer K.Jack, I ended up buying this but it was DOA, so I have to return it for a refund.

Of those I' take the first one.

Hey all need a laptop for my little sister, she's been saving this summer and I want her to get a decent laptop that will last her a few years.

Country where it will be purchased- Canada

Maximum budget-$700

Max size-15.6"

Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all)- Web browsing, photo editing, and general use (Netflix, iTunes) The Sims 4 and Roller Coaster Tycoon

Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise. - something with good-great battery life as this is for school, also 1080p resolution would be a bonus. As would HDMI out.

This is the cheapest decent, 1080p laptop available.

 

[Rushersauce]

Guys, I need help. I got a laptop with an AMD A8-6410 (BEEMA) + R7m260 it's kind of fast because of the dual graphics, but the processor falls short (Beema = Jaguar cores). Should I change it for a laptop with an I3 + 820m? or, should I keep it? That's all I can afford for the same price

 

[chunk3rvd]

Kind of OT but I know you guys have the knowledge here as you helped me pick a great laptop myself - my girlfriends laptop has been dying for a few months now and she's after a new one. She only uses it for web browsing, uni work (office) and watching tv shows. Ideally Windows 8.1 and she's not fussed about a touch screen or any gimmicks like that. Ideally 15.6" or bigger since she likes to watch stuff on it. Any particularly good deals going at the moment laptop GAF?

Edit: forgot to say - I'm in the UK. Thanks!

 

[AgentOtaku]

Country where it will be purchased - United States (preferably Best Buy)
Maximum budget- $800-1200
Max size- "13-15"
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all) - Moderate gaming (IE: Source, maybe UE3 based stuff, 2D, Indie) and basic browsing/OS functionality
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc - This will be a family desktop that is replacing a 2010 Macbook Pro. Big thing is atheistically pleasing IE: The Mrs. HATES how most laptop look. Tend to lean towards Toshiba/HP designs in this regard. Lightweight please (pleasant to travel with) and QUIET! ....had a Asus Gaming Laptop a few years back and almost noise alone made me bail on the thing

Sorry if this is too NitPicky and thanks again guys!

 

[way more]

School is starting again and my netbook from 2009 blew up, (quite literally, a capacitor in it starts to smoke if you attempt to charge it.) That little guy amazed me with the fact that it's Windows XP didn't last as long as it's physical components. Now that a new academic year is upon us I realize I may need a replacement.

Given that since April my laptop had been used strictly for watching youtube vids (without logging in) chatting on IRC, and watching my ripped TV shows my demands are very minimal. I was actually surprised by what you can get for $500 these days. I realized the most important thing for me is that this laptop be able to support a nice stick of 8gigs and the screen be a min of 13.3 inches (so I can play FTL and other simple games.)

I believe my question can be be boiled down to, what is the min specs I need to look at for a processor and mobo to support a nice stick of 8g Ram which I would plan on upgrading myself?

Country: USA
Budget: $600
Size: 13.3
Usage: Non-Gaming
Misc: What's the world of buying used laptops like?


The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge series seems nice, practical, and speedy. Amazon


Windows x64 here. This might be the one, Asus, Intel Baytrail-M N2930 1.87
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYXGEJO/?tag=neogaf0e-20


Nevermind, the AMD-10 sounds better than the Celron Quad Core and this Dell has that.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-in...-drive-moon-silver/3979692.p?id=1219094930107

I kind of feel like a square buying a basic dell, but whatevs. I'll just buy some extra cool stickers.

 

[K.Jack]

Guys, I need help. I got a laptop with an AMD A8-6410 (BEEMA) + R7m260 it's kind of fast because of the dual graphics, but the processor falls short (Beema = Jaguar cores). Should I change it for a laptop with an I3 + 820m? or, should I keep it? That's all I can afford for the same price

Keep the one you have, because the GPU is a lot stronger than the 820M.

Kind of OT but I know you guys have the knowledge here as you helped me pick a great laptop myself - my girlfriends laptop has been dying for a few months now and she's after a new one. She only uses it for web browsing, uni work (office) and watching tv shows. Ideally Windows 8.1 and she's not fussed about a touch screen or any gimmicks like that. Ideally 15.6" or bigger since she likes to watch stuff on it. Any particularly good deals going at the moment laptop GAF?

Edit: forgot to say - I'm in the UK. Thanks!

Doesn't take much of a laptop to do what she needs. This looks nice.

Country where it will be purchased - United States (preferably Best Buy)
Maximum budget- $800-1200
Max size- "13-15"
Planned usage (what kind of games or specific games it must run, if heavily gaming at all) - Moderate gaming (IE: Source, maybe UE3 based stuff, 2D, Indie) and basic browsing/OS functionality
Whatever else you find relevant, misc. things such as desired battery life, screen resolution, fan noise, etc - This will be a family desktop that is replacing a 2010 Macbook Pro. Big thing is atheistically pleasing IE: The Mrs. HATES how most laptop look. Tend to lean towards Toshiba/HP designs in this regard. Lightweight please (pleasant to travel with) and QUIET! ....had a Asus Gaming Laptop a few years back and almost noise alone made me bail on the thing

Sorry if this is too NitPicky and thanks again guys!

Go with the Y50.

School is starting again and my netbook from 2009 blew up, (quite literally, a capacitor in it starts to smoke if you attempt to charge it.) That little guy amazed me with the fact that it's Windows XP didn't last as long as it's physical components. Now that a new academic year is upon us I realize I may need a replacement.

Given that since April my laptop had been used strictly for watching youtube vids (without logging in) chatting on IRC, and watching my ripped TV shows my demands are very minimal. I was actually surprised by what you can get for $500 these days. I realized the most important thing for me is that this laptop be able to support a nice stick of 8gigs and the screen be a min of 13.3 inches (so I can play FTL and other simple games.)

I believe my question can be be boiled down to, what is the min specs I need to look at for a processor and mobo to support a nice stick of 8g Ram which I would plan on upgrading myself?

Country: USA
Budget: $600
Size: 13.3
Usage: Non-Gaming
Misc: What's the world of buying used laptops like?


The Lenovo ThinkPad Edge series seems nice, practical, and speedy. Amazon


Windows x64 here. This might be the one, Asus, Intel Baytrail-M N2930 1.87
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KYXGEJO/?tag=neogaf0e-20


Nevermind, the AMD-10 sounds better than the Celron Quad Core and this Dell has that.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-in...-drive-moon-silver/3979692.p?id=1219094930107

I kind of feel like a square buying a basic dell, but whatevs. I'll just buy some extra cool stickers.

I'd go with the Thinkpad.

 

[Rushersauce]

Keep the one you have, because the GPU is a lot stronger than the 820M.



Doesn't take much of a laptop to do what she needs. This looks nice.



Go with the Y50.



I'd go with the Thinkpad.

Thank you, kind sir. Will do.

 

[shamanick]

Looking for a new all-purpose laptop.

Country where it will be purchased: Canada
Maximum budget: $1200, but I would be willing to go a little higher if necessary for my needs ($1500)
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): 15"
Planned usage: Multimedia, medium-high gaming capabilities

Important:
Build quality (screen, keyboard, touchpad) is most important. Macbooks are nice but they are Macs. I would strongly prefer a metal chassis.
128 GB SSD and 1 TB HD would be nice


Sort of important:
Screen resolution
Backlit keys

Not important:
Battery life
Weight

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[BumperLips]

GAF I need laptop help

Recently my MSI GT683R died. It just straight out shut off and I found out it was a short circuit. (I've had this for about 3 years now)
Don't have a warranty on it anymore and if its the motherboard or the gpu (560m) that they have to replace itll be 300 and 500 respectively.

Question is, do I go through with it? Or should I just cut my losses and buy another laptop. I mean, this one is pretty powerful and I don't think theres anything similar around for the price of replacing the parts.
Though tbh I can settle for a less powerful one. As long as it can do WoW and PoE on low reliably.

 

[K.Jack]

Looking for a new all-purpose laptop.

Country where it will be purchased: Canada
Maximum budget: $1200, but I would be willing to go a little higher if necessary for my needs ($1500)
Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): 15"
Planned usage: Multimedia, medium-high gaming capabilities

Important:
Build quality (screen, keyboard, touchpad) is most important. Macbooks are nice but they are Macs. I would strongly prefer a metal chassis.
128 GB SSD and 1 TB HD would be nice


Sort of important:
Screen resolution
Backlit keys

Not important:
Battery life
Weight

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

I'd hate to tell you to buy something, when Nvidia has new cards launching in October/November.

If you must have it now, this plus this is the obvious recommendation, if we're going with the $1500 CAD budget. Canadian prices are so high that the $1200 budget doesn't get you much, and you'll have to do your SSD install yourself with everything available.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Thanks for the response K-Jack

 

[SuperEpicMan]

I was thinking of getting a the upper end 15 inch retina Macbook Pro, does anyone know how they are with games and what I could expect?

 

[Quixzlizx]

I was thinking of getting a the upper end 15 inch retina Macbook Pro, does anyone know how they are with games and what I could expect?

The only Macbook Pro with a dedicated GPU is the $2500 model, and the 750M is OK, but nothing special.

 

[AnotherDustInTheWind]

I'd like to take a moment to thank K.Jack for his input when I asked for assistance.

I received the Y50 4K on Tuesday morning, and I played with it. I had some issues with the hard drive being at 100% access for a bit, but I finally figured out it was the Intel Rapid Storage Technology causing the issue. I uninstalled it, and then the issue went away.

This thing is a power house. It boots up under 5 seconds. Games look amazing on it, and when hooked up to my 50" tv, it is simply mind blowing. I only tried 2 games (Dust, an Elysian Tail, and Diablo 3), and everything was silky smooth.

Kudos to you K.Jack for the recommendation.

I had the Y50 4K for a day but I hard to return it. The freaking yellow-issue on there was making me lose my mind.

 

[shamanick]

I'd hate to tell you to buy something, when Nvidia has new cards launching in October/November.

If you must have it now, this plus this is the obvious recommendation, if we're going with the $1500 CAD budget. Canadian prices are so high that the $1200 budget doesn't get you much, and you'll have to do your SSD install yourself with everything available.

Thanks K.Jack! Canadian prices do suck. I'm looking for a 15" so I'll look at the MSI line for those.

 

[Mr Cola]

Hello friends, in a quagmire, I am considering a new laptop because my current one wont be able to run the new fifa 15 game, a game with which I will spend 1000+ hours on next year, comes out in September. A few complications, first is I would love to buy one from amazon as my experience with their customer support is second to none and I get it delievered free and next day with prime. Also I am from the UK.

Looking for a laptop that can run this one game and not die, dont care about max settings, I play on low but it would be nice to be able to play this in a window while doing other things, which I can do with fifa 14.

Country where it will be purchased: UK
Maximum budget: £650 (around $1100 based on conversion)

Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): Dont care
Planned usage: Multimedia, medium gaming, multitasking

Important:
I would love 1TB but can like with 750, good keyboard would be nice

Basically it has to run these settings

Recommended Specifications:

OS: Windows V/7/8/8.1 -64-bit
CPU: Intel i5-2550K @ 3.4Ghz
RAM: 8GB
Hard Drive Space Required: 15.0 GB
Supported Video Cards: ATI Radeon HD 6870, NVIDIA GTX 460
DirectX: 11.0

Minimum Required Specifications:

OS: Windows V/7/8/8.1 -64-bit
CPU: Intel Q6600 Core2 Quad @ 2.4Ghz
RAM: 4GB
Hard Drive Space Required: 15.0 GB
Minimum Supported Video Cards: ATI Radeon HD 5770, NVIDIA GTX 650
DirectX: 11.0

Sort of important:
Semi decent battery life

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

 

[AmyS]

No idea if this has any validity, but:

NVIDIA Rumored To Launch GeForce GTX 980 and GeForce GTX 970 Maxwell GPUs

A few days ago, a leak emerged of two upcoming mobility based GPUs based on the Maxwell architecture. The GPUs included the GeForce GTX 980M and GeForce GTX 970M. While it was previously assumed that NVIDIA’s mobility generation of Maxwell chips would be codenamed GeForce GTX 880MX and GeForce GTX 870MX that would have caused some confusion in the market, NVIDIA planned to keep their lineup simple by skipping the 800 series branding and moving on with the GeForce 900 series branding scheme. But NVIDIA seems to be not only skipping the GeForce 800 series naming scheme for the mobility lineup but they are doing the same for the desktop lineup. Hence the products which were supposed to be called the GeForce GTX 880 and GeForce GTX 870 would now be called GeForce GTX 980 and GeForce GTX 970 instead.

So according to the report, the Maxwell generation of graphics cards will now be branded as the GeForce 900 and GeForce 900M series.

There will also be a GeForce GTX 960 sooner in the lineup but that card is expected in the October time frame. As for pricing, NVIDIA is expected to keep their current pricing model for the GeForce series intact keeping the GeForce GTX 980 at the $499 US price and GeForce GTX 970 at the sweet price point of $399 US. The GeForce GTX 960 may launch at a price range of around $299 US but that remains to be seen since that product is still a couple of months away from launch.

* NVIDIA GM200.GM210 (Maxwell Architecture, High-Performance for Telsa/Quadro Arrives later for Consumers, Successor of GK110)
* NVIDIA GM204 (Maxwell Architecture, High-End Consumer, Successor of GK104, First GeForce 800 Series Products likely to feature)
* NVIDIA GM206 (Maxwell Architecture, Performance Minded, Successor of GK206, Mid-Range GeForce 800 Series products to feature)
* NVIDIA GM107/207 (Maxwell Architecture, Entry Level, Successor of GK107, Entry Level GeForce 800/700 Series To feature, Already introduced on GTX 750 Ti / GTX 750)

Edit, Link:
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-rumored-...ell-gpus-september-skips-800-series-branding/

 

[Malleavel]

Just want to pop back in here and say thanks for the advice. you guys helped a lot with my laptop search.
Anyway, While i'm waiting for it to ship, I found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231495

It says i's a gaming laptop, but then again, I don't know that much. Anything $500 off seems great, is it a good deal?

 

[K.Jack]

Hello friends, in a quagmire, I am considering a new laptop because my current one wont be able to run the new fifa 15 game, a game with which I will spend 1000+ hours on next year, comes out in September. A few complications, first is I would love to buy one from amazon as my experience with their customer support is second to none and I get it delievered free and next day with prime. Also I am from the UK.

Looking for a laptop that can run this one game and not die, dont care about max settings, I play on low but it would be nice to be able to play this in a window while doing other things, which I can do with fifa 14.

Country where it will be purchased: UK
Maximum budget: £650 (around $1100 based on conversion)

Max size (can be in screen inches, dimensions, weight): Dont care
Planned usage: Multimedia, medium gaming, multitasking

Important:
I would love 1TB but can like with 750, good keyboard would be nice

Basically it has to run these settings

Sort of important:
Semi decent battery life

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Take this: Change CPU to i5-4210M, Memory to 8GB, an HDD to 1TB that's £650.00 on the dot.

No idea if this has any validity, but:

Edit, Link:
http://wccftech.com/nvidia-rumored-...ell-gpus-september-skips-800-series-branding/

Thanks for the info. The 980M and 970M will be interesting.

Just want to pop back in here and say thanks for the advice. you guys helped a lot with my laptop search.
Anyway, While i'm waiting for it to ship, I found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231495

It says i's a gaming laptop, but then again, I don't know that much. Anything $500 off seems great, is it a good deal?

Just want to pop back in here and say thanks for the advice. you guys helped a lot with my laptop search.
Anyway, While i'm waiting for it to ship, I found this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834231495

It says i's a gaming laptop, but then again, I don't know that much. Anything $500 off seems great, is it a good deal?

Good deal, if you absolutely cannot pend more than $1k.

 

[Retro_]

Read the OP and looked in the recommended machines for my budget, but they seemed out dated.

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $500-700
Max size: No real preference
Planned usage: If it can run DOTA 2 and some fighting games at 60 FPS I'd be happy.


Basically want something I can use for school primarily. I'd like to play some PC games on it but it's not a priority with this machine. I plan to buy next week at some point

 

[Diomedes]

I'm intrigued by Gigabyte's offerings. I'm looking for FHD 1080 screen, good GPU, SSD or possible to install own, don't care for optical drive or touch screen gimmick, and want it it to be fairly thin.

Although forthcoming Nvidia announcements have me hesitant to jump into anything right now, I am keeping my eyes open.

Any suggestions from their current available lineup? Or possible options that might get a GPU bump to watch out for?

Thanks.

 

[K.Jack]

Read the OP and looked in the recommended machines for my budget, but they seemed out dated.

Country where it will be purchased: USA
Maximum budget: $500-700
Max size: No real preference
Planned usage: If it can run DOTA 2 and some fighting games at 60 FPS I'd be happy.


Basically want something I can use for school primarily. I'd like to play some PC games on it but it's not a priority with this machine. I plan to buy next week at some point

This is the best you'll do.

I'm intrigued by Gigabyte's offerings. I'm looking for FHD 1080 screen, good GPU, SSD or possible to install own, don't care for optical drive or touch screen gimmick, and want it it to be fairly thin.

Although forthcoming Nvidia announcements have me hesitant to jump into anything right now, I am keeping my eyes open.

Any suggestions from their current available lineup? Or possible options that might get a GPU bump to watch out for?

Thanks.

Expect all of the gaming laptops to get 980Ms, 970Ms, or 960Ms. Gigabyte, Asus, MSI, Clevo will be updating to the new GPUs asap.

edit: this just popped up, proving my point

I'd wait for the 900M series

 

[AgentOtaku]

what kind of laptop could run Dark Souls 2 @ 720p or above and 60fps3?

thanks

 

[Linkyn]

Just ordered this beauty for 1299 €.

Spoiler

MSI GS70 2PE Stealth Pro.

 

[DrKelpo]

got my 13 inch macbook pro mid 14 last week.

played roller coaster tycoon 1 on it... runs like a charm.

 

[K.Jack]

what kind of laptop could run Dark Souls 2 @ 720p or above and 60fps3?

thanks

I'd say GTX 860M or above. But at this point you may as well wait the month or so until the GTX 900M series comes out.

Just ordered this beauty for 1299 €.

Spoiler

MSI GS70 2PE Stealth Pro.

I've already seen advertisements for the new one, with the GTX 970M....