Gaming laptop

I'm in the market for a new gaming laptop.

I don't really have any budgetary limit. At this point in my life I just want the very best I can buy. I have nothing else to spend my money on these days (retirement is great).

Any help appreciated.

Oh, my! This is going to be FUN! I'm going to message Winfrey and have her weigh in because she did a LOT of research for the same thing recently. She was also looking for a high end gaming laptop and was looking at several brands and models. I mentioned looking at the Razer Blade and after even more research that's what she settled on and hasn't looked back since! They also have 17" models.


https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/razer-blade/windows

I’ll come back after feeding horses. But yes I love love my Razer

Ok, I'm back. hagatha as Drac said I did a lot of research (kept coming back to Drac with questions...lol) and what I decided I liked was the Razer computer. This is what I got: Razer - Blade 15.6" Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q - 512GB SSD . (Advanced Model)
I got the 15 inch because I move it back and forth from my office and living room...well I used to now it sits in the living room ..lol
The 15 is fine for me but if you want a bigger screen and won't be moving it around a lot look at the 17 inch... I have the RTX2070, you will have to ask Drac if that is enough for your games(I believe you play more dark side than I do)
They are pricey but I really like it. I also bought a Lancehead Razer mouse cause I can use it with either my left or right hand.. I am left handed.. ( it also works great just on my leather couch) The keyboard is controlled by a program called, razer synapse 3. Lets you change colors of each key and movement if you want...great for me as I have my special keys a different color. The only thing I would add is the 4k model.... I should have bit the bullet and just done it. but I didn't. I am very...very pleased with my Razer!

I just looked at the link Drac provided, I could have fun configuring that Razer Blade Pro 17.

The first site I looked at had as their top 2 the Razer and the Alienware Area 51-R1 (though now there is an R2) as their top two picks. That Razer looks pretty nice. It's thin, too, though I tend not to move my gaming machine since I have a spot set up for gaming just off our living room.

Razer does make a great laptop and has received great reviews, but Razer's pricing seems to be the one drawback consistent with unboxer/reviewers for their laptops in general. You might want to check out some similar spec laptops from other popular manufacturers, just to get a comparison.

Excellent advice, Trail. That's what we were doing when Winfrey was researching. Battery life and user reviews were two more important things we looked at.

I have had back to back good luck with ASUS laptops. My 17 inch Windows 7 Asus never had an issue in the 10 years I used it regularly. I've now got an Asus 15.6 inch laptop with Windows 10. It's become my main "ride." What I like about this one is it has an Nvidia graphics chip. Nvidiea routinely updates their drivers, whereas the Windows 7 laptop had an AMD graphics chip for which I could never update the driver, since it was in a laptop and Asus never had any updates on their website. With Nvidia, the updates come directly from them.

Your Razer looks pretty sweet, Winfrey.

ASUS is also one of my favorite brands.

Thanks, JKEerie. Yes ASUS has some nice computers.

So, back to the gaming computer.

I was starting to poke around the Razer site when my husband started to experience severe pain (his cancer is in the base of his spine). We had a rather terrible few weeks until he had his medications adjusted properly and I forgot all about my gaming computer.

However, it turns out that my husband didn't forget about it. Unbeknownst to me, he went ahead and ordered me the Alienware as a surprise. So I guess that's what I'm getting. Never mind, it will be an awesome computer. I've enjoyed the one I have now and in fact it still runs most games (the battery doesn't charge properly any more, though). I'll get the Razer next time around.

Nice hubby to be thinking of you, especially when not feeling well. I am sure you will enjoy your Alienware... enjoy!!!! And my best to your husband!

Awww. How sweet of him.
I hope his health improves.

Awww... that warms my heart!

Wow, what a great surprise!

He does that a lot these days. He surprised me with a new car a couple of years ago.

I guess he figured that as I liked my original Alienware I'd want another one. And as I say, it'll be great. It does have a couple of issues (battery life, and they do run hot) but overall I'll love it. Not sure when it will get here.

His health will never improve, I'm afraid. The medication he's on is known to prolong lives for years, so we should be okay for a while. He isn't a young man -- he's a bit older than I am -- so it's not one of those awful stories where someone retires and drops dead six months later. We've had time to have a lot of fun, and we intend to have a lot more.

Hagatha, I guess you just have to take the joy and fun as it comes. I know you're going to enjoy every minute you can!

You know, one of the few good things about our situation is that you focus on what's really important. We no longer worry about the nonsense couples tend to squabble about. Every day is worth savouring.

When my 2nd husband got his cancer diagnosis, we did the same thing!

Excellent sentiments, hagatha !! And all the best to both of you

Thanks, guys.

So, it turns out that Dell can't get all the parts for the top of the line gaming laptop. I am now back into looking at a Razer instead. I hope they aren't having similar problems.

I'm sorry to hear you won't be getting your Alienware laptop.
Do you know if it's a matter of waiting 2 months for the parts? or is it that they have no idea when or if the parts will ever be back in stock again?

Interesting. Keep us posted hagatha!

They have no idea. The sales person I talked to today said they had the parts now, so I ordered it a second time, and then I got a second call back five minutes later saying they couldn't fill the order. At that point I just cancelled the order altogether and decided to move on. That Alienware has fantastic specs, but I can't get it.

I'm on the Razer sit e now, but it's very confusing to me. There's no-one you can chat with to put together a machine or an order. That was what I liked about Dell -- they have a direct chat line to their sales department.

I have no idea how to order a computer just by looking what's on the Razer site, and I have no idea if the computers are even customizable. I don't know the brand at all.

EDIT: There is no phone number anywhere on their site, either.

Looking at the Razer site, https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops
It looks like all their laptops are preconfigured.
If you want a certain configuration, like a certain video card or a certain size screen, you look for the laptops that have what you want.

For example, if you want a 17" laptop
https://www.razer.com/shop/pc/gamin...:system-laptops:system-display:17%2Binch

Then look for the models that have the video card you want.
It looks like there are 3 in stock.

If you want a 15" check here
https://www.razer.com/shop/pc/gamin...:system-laptops:system-display:15%2Binch

I would not choose one with a dinky little 256 MB SSD. That's not going to be big enough for many games if you play the big RPG's. I notice their only 17" laptop with a 1 TB SSD is sold out, but they do have some 15" laptops with 1 TB SSD's. A 512 GB SSD might be OK, depending on how many big games you have installed at once.

If you see a laptop you like, there should be an "Add to Cart" button on the page with the laptop details.

Yes, I saw that the one that looked best is sold out. Frustrating.

Given the large price difference between the Alienware and the 17" Razer, I'll probably take the plunge and order the best one I can find and if it isn't exactly perfect, I can update in a few years.

I actually found one on Amazon, the 17" Razer Pro with the RTX 2080 and equivalent specs to the one I was looking at on the Razer site, and in the specs it says it's got a 1 TB SSD. I'm going for it. As I say, if it isn't perfect, I can get something else. a couple of years down the road.

It will certainly be better than my current machine, which is clearly winding down. The battery no longer charges more than 58%, it keeps overheating, and it has reached the end of its awesomeness.

W
You can get a new battery, but the overheating is a problem. It's probably full of dust, which keeps it from cooling properly, and cleaning dust out of a laptop (without harming it) is a lot harder than cleaning dust out of a desktop.

I hope you enjoy the new laptop.

I think I will like it. There is some question as to the size of the hard drive (it's listed differently in two different places and I'm waiting for that information) but even the half-pint 512 hard drive should be good enough since I rarely have more than one game on my computer at a time, anyway, and the computer will be exclusively for gaming so it won't be cluttered with unimportant stuff.

At some point I might even get myself a gaming desktop for my office, which would give me even more options. I just like having the laptop so I can sit where I like. The new one will be a lot more portable, too.

Good Luck, hagatha

It turned out that the one on Amazon was the 512 BG hard drive, so after having a look at how full my existing 1TB hard drive is, I finally decided that I'd get the 15" laptop with the 1 TB hard drive. I've loved the 18" screen I had, and would have liked the 17", but on the other hand this one will be truly portable and it'll be nice to be able to relocate at will for a change.

Let us know how it is when you get it, and what game you "christen" it with.

I would have loved my first game to be Cyberpunk or BG 3, but that's not happening, so I'll have to rummage through my "to play" list and see what I can come up with. It's a pretty deep pile of games. There's stuff in there I don't even remember buying.

Yes, I thought of Cyberpunk and BG 3 when I thought of what to christen it with, but unfortunately Cyberpunk isn't coming out until November and the BG 3 release date hasn't been announced yet.

Have fun testing it out.

It arrived. Now I have to work out what game to install.


EDIT: I'm really boring! I don't seem to have any new games. I'll have to download something older and see what it looks like instead. Time for some new RPG's to arrive!

Does anyone have a recommendation for the best way to back up the system? This is the first computer I've bought that didn't include that as part of the setup instructions. I have an image of my old Alienware that was made for me last year when I updated it to Win 10, but I'm not sure that's the best option.

There is a lot of software out there to do backups and images on an exterior drive. As far as files go, I use Carbonite to back up everything incrementally every day. I'm lazy - I want it to be automatic!

Some that are recommended by tech newsletters include Macrium Reflect, Acronis True Image and EaseUSTodo.

You can do a duckduckgo search for
backup Windows 10

Here's one site I found
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-make-full-backup-windows-10

Thanks. I'll check those out tomorrow.

So far this machine is buttery smooth. It does seem to run a bit hot, like my Alienware did, so I've put it on a fan, but I think I'll invest in a better fan for it since the one I have is a cheapo.

And I love the 15" size. The screen is nice enough that the size difference doesn't matter, and I'll be able to move anywhere in the house or even outside in the shade. The other improvement is that the Bluetooth on my Alienware never worked properly, so I can now use my Monster headphones for gaming.

Now if only one of those new RPG's would hurry up so I can play them! In the meantime I'll continue with Enderal and Fallout 4, though F4 will be a pain because I have a ton of mods on it, which I'll have to reinstall.

Good to hear you like it so far!

Yes, the 15" size means it will get hotter than a 17" size.
The larger the laptop, the less problems from heating.
That's why you'll never see one of those little 13" laptops with a high end video card.


Do you mean a laptop cooler?
If so, make sure the fans in the laptop cooler are pushing air the same direction as the fans on the bottom of the laptop.


That's good that you're satisfied with the size, and that you got one with a good screen.

Sounds like this new laptop is going to be a good one for you!

Thanks for those tips, Jenny. I will investigate the fans for the correct type.

Yes, I think it will be a good fit. I do plan on also getting a gaming desktop, but that won't be for a while yet. This one I can use in the living room so I can look out the window. And I got the 1TB hard drive so I can use this machine for other things if I choose. Certainly I'll have my photos on here, plus my Photoshop.

Hurrah !! Sounds all good, hagatha

It is! Loving it so far.