Solved! Going to Dubai for at least a year, looking for a gaming laptop

[Horrigan]

Greetings everyone!

I'm currently shopping for a laptop because I'm moving to Dubai for my work in January. I'm a gamer and I don't have any laptop for the moment so I thought it would be the occasion to buy one and a good one at that.

Thanks a lot for your help guys.


1. What is your budget?

2000$ canadian ~

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

I don't care really unless I need a backpack to carry it.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

1920x1080

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

Desktop replacement laptop

5. How much battery life do you need?

The more the better. 4+ hours I'd say but I can make a sacrifice if it's not possible.

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)?

Medium-high

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

Nothing @ professional level

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

640gb at least

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

Dell.ca prefererably since the company I work for has some saves for some laptops there. Alienware if it is really worth it. Asus seems to be good though. Preferably I would like to have a choice between 3-4 brands so I can narrow it down to the one I want.

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

2+ years

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

DVD

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.

See 9.

13. What country do you live in?

Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

 

[perfectblue]

M17x for around $2000 CA you get 6990M or a M18x with GTX560M.
For the same price you can get a SAGER 8170 with 6990M+120GB SSD or a 8180 with SLI560M+120GB SSD. Processor, RAM, display resolution being same.

But mind you, none of these brands offer international warranty.

In the same time, there are ASUS G74SX with 560M and MSI GT780DXR with 570M giving international warranty of 2 and 1 years each.

Its upto you to choose. In my opinion if you can spend a bit more than 2k, then better go for alienware (as you will get more discount). Otherwise MSI with an SSD should do the job.

 

[x Heavy]

Check with the Embassy in Dubai and make sure the electricity is correct. Some nations run 50 phase power, others 60 like the USA. Voltages may be different as well.

 

[Guest]

ASUS G74-SX-A1 Sounds good.
Also according to Asus's build quality and Dubai's very high humidity you need a good body quality.

http/hothardware.com/Reviews/ASUS-G74SXA1-Notebook-Review/

 

[Horrigan]

Thank you for your help.

I think I will go for MSI.

Could you guys tell me the difference between

http/www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=319
and
http/www.msimobile.com/level3_productpage.aspx?cid=6&id=336


Both are the same price but one has a better cpu (2670QM). I don't get it. The more powerful one is less expensive there http/www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152282&nm_mc=OTC-sho6b0tCA&cm_mmc=OTC-sho6b0tCA-_-Notebooks-_-MSI-_-34152282 . do not compute.


Other than that someone has something bad to say about MSI?

 

[Guest]

I like ASUS frankly, but its your choice...

http/answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110911164627AApIg7M

http/answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111021180417AAQztbM

 

[Horrigan]

http/www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62146&promoid=1316

http/www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63030&vpn=G74SX-XC1&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1316

Guys could you help me on that one please. Could you tell me if the difference between the two is only 750gb hd, 4gb RAM and 3D support? The less expensive one seems to be quite a deal because I don't really care about 3D and 8gb of ram instead of 12 is not a big difference in practice if I am correct.

Thanks guys!

 

[perfectblue]

http/www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=62146&promoid=1316

http/www.ncix.com/products/?sku=63030&vpn=G74SX-XC1&manufacture=ASUS&promoid=1316

Guys could you help me on that one please. Could you tell me if the difference between the two is only 750gb hd, 4gb RAM and 3D support? The less expensive one seems to be quite a deal because I don't really care about 3D and 8gb of ram instead of 12 is not a big difference in practice if I am correct.

Thanks guys!

With the A1 model you get more 4 gig more ram, 750gb more space, 1 year extra warranty and ASUS mouse& backpack, compared to the XC1 model.

Both of the above laptops do not have the latest refresh of the i7 processor. As per your last question, 2670QM is one of the latest refreshed 2nd gen i7 processors. It is been upgraded from the last 2630QM processor and has 200 Mhz higher speed (2 vs 2.2 Ghz).

Though I own a MSI, I have to say that the ASUS customer service in UAE is better than the MSI. And your 2 year warranty will come handy if you choose the right model.

 

[Horrigan]

Both warranties seem to be the same, are you certain on that one?

2-year limited global hardware warranty. *different by country
1-year battery pack warranty

For both..