Solved! Recommendation for Laptop for College with Gaming Capabilities

[UnicornSlaya]

After being kinda disappointed with the specs on the new MacBook I decided to considered buying a different laptop. I've been researching for quite a while on a laptop i should get for college. I'm going to be using it as a primary computer and will take it around classes.

1. What is your budget?

Around $1000 but it's flexible

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Around 13 - 15 inches

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Honestly it doesn't really matter as long as it doesn't suck lol

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Somewhere in between. I need it to carry around class but I don't to have some 11 inch screen.

5. How much battery life do you need?

At least 4 hours but it's flexible. The more, the better

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)?

I'm going to be doing some gaming. I want to be able to play games like BioShock 2, Mass Effect 2, and Dead Space 2. with fluent frames. Medium settings would be ok but i'd be nice it were on high. I don't need to play the games at native resolution, just 1024 x 768 would be ok.

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

I want to be able to edit my AVCHD footage and watch some movies. None of my computers can edit it(they're all Pentium computers) so something that edit it would be nice.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

Around 320 GB or higher.

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

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

4 years for college.

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

Just an ordinary DVD ROM/Writer is good. I don't need Bluray.

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.

13. What country do you live in?

Philippines but my dad is going to buy a laptop for me in America.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Since I live in the Philippines I only have one chance at getting a laptop. I want something with solid build quality. I'm going to be needing it around March 29 or earlier, since that's when my dad's coming. Here are some of the laptops that I considered buying:

Acer TimelineX 4820TG i5, 640GB with 1GB 6550m @ $730 on Amazon.com

and

Macbook Pro 15 (2010) i5, 320GB with 256mb GT 330m @ $1200 from Apple Refurbished Store

I know that the MacBook Pro has really good build quality but I'm not sure how it'll do on some games... been looking for some benchmarks but they're only a few. Any other recommendations would be nice!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'd look for a model based upon the Clevo P151HM (from Sager, VoodooPC, Xoticpc, Prostar, etc). Clevo is an ODM who products are sold under those and other brand names.

http/forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html


http/www.pro-star.com/index.cfm?mainpage=productdetail&model=P151HM

 

[WindowsTeam_Kevin]

For those specs, I like the Toshiba Portege R705-41. It's got the 13.3 in screen, real small and lightweight, i5 processor 2.53 GHz Intel® Core, 4 GB RAM and 500 GB storage.

Also has an internal DVD burner. Might be worth a look. I also like the Dell XPS 14, which is similar, a little cheaper, has an i7.

Good luck on your search.

Kevin
Windows Outreach Team

 

[Espada]

I have the acer 4820tg, its a great portable laptop and does gaming! there might be three cons for you. Touchpad some people dont like, and some people do. Keyboard again some people like it some dont. I obviously like both of them. The one thing I dont like is The screen. Its an average screen for laptops at that price but I would pay a little more for a better screen/resolution. Ive been to so many owners lounge to see if they are built good/ good stamina since i take mine around. I havent seen one post since they came out about the hinges at all! <--- Timeline series from acer is great the build quality is nice. Im glad I went with it. I get about 4hr40+ sometimes 5hrs on battery life with the intel graphics.

 

[kkiddu]

Some models you could consider :-

Sager NP8130
Asus G53Jw
MSI GX660

 

[UnicornSlaya]

Some models you could consider :-

Sager NP8130
Asus G53Jw
MSI GX660

I looked at those laptops before, and the bad thing about those is they're not that portable and the battery life sucks. I kinda want something with long battery life (4-5 hours+) and good build quality plus some gaming, and the only laptops that I could find with those things is the 4820TG and the MacBook Pro 15.

Unfortunately, the MacBook Pro 15 refurbished is out of stock, so now I only have the 4820TG. I want to look at other options before taking a leap of faith

EDIT: Also, the size of the G53 is the same as the G73 lol.