Trying to Pick a Gaming/Music Laptop

Xetahex

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Aug 23, 2010
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18,510
1_What is your budget?

$1000-1500, preferably including a decent 1-4 year warranty with accidental damage protection.

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Any size would work I guess I'd only go for something small like a 10" if it was a really good deal

3_What screen resolution do you want?

Doesn't really matter, HD video quality would be nice though.

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Desktop replacement for the power but I'm gonna haul it around so hopefully it's not like 20 pounds or something.

5_How much battery life do you need?

I'm almost always plugged in so not much.

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

Definitely want high detail games. I play Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft, would like to play Final Fantasy XIV or SWTOR when they come out.

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Video streaming, programming (running an IDE like Visual Studio or something), music production software like Ableton Live, Reason, etc.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

Preferably over 250 GB, something like 500 would be great, I have like 150 on my current laptop and it's not enough.

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

amazon.com, alienware.com

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?

At least 3 years.

11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

DVD/CD-RW Combo, Blu-Ray not needed but a nice bonus.

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I will not buy HP, Toshiba or Compaq (I know Compaq is HP but they're both awful). Non-Alienware Dell I will only buy with a great warranty.

13_What country do you live in?

USA

14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.

I'm trying to get a good laptop for school and gaming. My current Apple does not have the graphics card to play Final Fantasy XIV, and only will play Starcraft 2 in low detail or too choppy to play multiplayer medium detail. I could also use something with a much larger hard drive than the one I've got, I'm a DJ and need to store a lot of music and often I don't trust external drives because they tend to fail a lot. I use my laptop probably 2-8 hours a day so it needs to be durable and hold up, my current Macbook Pro is falling apart. :(
 

Xetahex

Distinguished
Aug 23, 2010
5
0
18,510
Right now I've got a few laptops in mind:

Asus G51-JX
Asus U43JC-X1
Alienware M15x
iBuyPower Batallion 101
Acer Aspire 17"

I'm not sure on Alienware quality but I love the design features (custom LED keyboard colors, the 'alien' design and all that), I like the features of the Asus computers but Im not sure how well they hold up and the iBuyPower computer looks cool but I'm not sure on the warranty from them.