Hi, All...

Hubby has decided to buy me a laptop for gaming.. I am really happy about it ,cause if my desktop ever fails...I will always have a backup computer...

My question is: What card should I look for...I will be playing "Adventure Games" Only !!

Also what are some of other good features to have with a laptop....I know nothing about laptops so I want to make sure I get a lot for the money he wants to spend...

I cannot go over $1,000 dollars ...That means tax will have to be included...

Thank You for any suggestions...

He, he... I TOLD you to ask hubby to spring for one for you!

I'll let Jenny and Inland help you out here... Right now HP and Dell are having President's Day Sales through this weekend, so this weekend might be a good time to get a deal. Don't know about Acer or Asus or any of the other OEM brands.

Hi, Dar. How exciting... $1,000 should get you a decent machine. My brother and sister in law just bought laptops and kept it under 1k and so far have been able to play all the games... just finished Lost Horizon's ... looking forward to seeing what you end up with. .. Adding.... they bought HP and talked with HP and upgraded their video card on a machine that they liked.

Just to have some place to start, Newegg has this HP laptop for sale for $600 (after a rebate) and free shipping. I don't know about that Raedon 5650 graphics - it does have switchable graphics to use for less demanding graphics tasks. With the pretty big budget you have, you can probably get something much better though.

HP Laptop

Draclvr has indeed sent you to a good place to start! Just in one price category there is 172 choices!

My wifes Dell XPS seems to be a good value for the money and as Drac noted they have a sale going on for a few days now.
It has an LED screen that is brighter and more crisp instead of an LCD on some of my other laptops. She really likes it. It also has decent battery life when not plugged in (unlike mine >.>.)

Other recommendation(s) is to go to a local store and see what screen size you are going to feel comfortable playing adventure games on, some may be to small. Are you going to play with it actually in your lap or further away on a desk for instance. On your lap you will be using the touchpad instead of a mouse most likely and you will find some work better than others if you try some out at the store.

I would get a good laptop cooler regardless if it ends up on your lap or stays on a desk, heat is the enemy of all computers but laptops in particular with virtually everything generating heat just under the keyboard.

A consideration as well is many laptops have terrible speakers and I find when I am playing a game that does not have subtitles, I need or want to wear headphones. It does not help I have a couple of conures screaming their heads off everytime they see something move outside, but it does bring the point home that even a laptop with decent speakers does not do as well with background noise as a desktop with external speakers. Again the XPS has some of the clearer and louder speakers than my other laptops (but those birds can cut through my two sons guitar amps while they are both playing).

If it is in the budget I would look at a service agreement that covers accidental spills over the basic stuff that usually comes with it.

Hmmm seems I am only adding on to the price with a couple of these suggestions - I better stop!

I gave up desktops a long time ago and have enjoyed using laptops for gaming as I do not like being tied down to one spot and I hope that you will have the same experience.

I have an Asus gaming laptop that I love, when I bought it two years ago it was $900, I see that Best Buy has the newer ones for $1200, so that is over your limit. It has a NVidia 9800 (for laptops) and it plays RPG and action games without any trouble. I agree that you would need either small speakers or headphones, I would find it hard to play any game, even Adventure with a touchpad so I would plug in a regular mouse.

I am sure there are other laptops out there that play games, my grandson's HP does and it is supposed to be a "Media" laptop, his even sounds good.

I always keep my laptop on a table on a cooler, I just don't feel comfortable playing a game on my lap.

Thank You for your advice..The laptop would only be used in case my desktop went on the fritz..

I would need a mouse also..I also would need it to be wireless capable for the internet..

My concern is the grafhic card...I do like HP..Hubby wants me to buy it from Dell cause he has an account, but I have to see if they carry HP...

I put this together on the HP site... see what they think of this ...total is :

Total: $924.99
You saved 14.0%

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Free standard shipping
Save up to $319 instantly (on customizable models). Offer includes:
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- $20 off Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student
- Free Upgrade to Norton Internet Security(TM) ($29 Savings)
Save 50% off 6 cell and 9 cell batteries

Your dv6tse series


Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit edit
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-460M Dual Core Processor (2.53 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz edit
Graphics card 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD 5650 DDR3 switchable graphics [HDMI, VGA] - For Dual Core Processors edit
Memory FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) edit
Hard drive 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection edit
Office software No Additional Office Software edit
Security software No additional security software edit
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++ edit
Display 15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768) edit
Touchscreen No TouchScreen (includes HP TrueVision Webcam) edit
Primary optical drive SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support edit
Networking Intel Wireless-N Card edit
Keyboard Backlit Keyboard with HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader edit
Your running total

Price $1,074.99*
Instant rebate -$150.00
Mail-in rebate -$0.00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total: $924.99
You saved 14.0%

Umm... No. HP and Dell are completely different companies.

Winfrey, that configuration looks good to me.

The one for $600 at Newegg has the same graphics as does the one Winfrey put together. It does have a Core i5-460M, but for your adventure gaming only needs the Core i3 would be more than adequate. Most all laptops come with wireless networking built in.

I'm still not sure about the Radeon 5650 graphics, however. As you can tell, you will have to do some comparison shopping. Consider Acer and Asus laptops too....

XPS from dellMarket Value1 $988.99
Total Savings $139.00


Dell Price $849.99


PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5-480M (2.66GHz, 4Threads, turbo boost up to 2.93Ghz, 3M cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook edit
SERVICE PLAN 1 Year Basic Service Plan edit

VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 420M 1GB graphics with Optimus edit
MEMORY 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months edit
COLORS Silver Anodized Aluminum 15.6" HD (720p) WLED Display with 2.0 MP webcam edit
Software & Services
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) edit
WIRELESS CARDS Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 1000 with Wireless Display Support edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit

KEYBOARD Standard Keyboard - English edit
MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broadband Selected edit
Personalize
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP DataSafe 2.0 Online Backup 2GB for 1 year edit
My Accessories
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
XPS 15 XPS 15
Integrated Network Adapter Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card
Adobe Reader Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0
SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3

Winfrey ..That LT looks good with the rebate...

Jenny...I think Dell carries HP...I haven't checked yet....

Drac....That is a concern...The Graphic card....My desktop has a "NVDIA GeForce 8600GT, and I never have any problems playing games..

don't think you will find HP at Dell dar

No way will you find HP at Dell!

Dar, if Jenny thinks that Radeon 5650 is a good graphics card for your needs, then that answers that question. But like I said, do some comparison shopping.

The Nvidia GT 420M in the Dell that Winfrey configured would also be OK for adventure games.

Going to Dell to buy an HP computer would be like going to a Ford dealership to buy a Chevy. Dell and HP are competing companies.

Asus is a nice laptop and always rated as one of the most reliable laptops out there, unfortunately HP has a history of staying toward the wrong end of any of the malfunctioning charts I have seen. This is not to scare or push anyone away from a laptop they like but it is of benefit to consider these things when looking to purchase.
Virtually none of the name brands manufacture their own laptops. They buy their laptops from what is called an Original Design Manufacturer (ODM). Then, they install the hard drive, processor and system memory. Installing these last three components is very easy to do, and leaving these for "the last minute" allows for a wide range of custom configurations. Once these companies add in these three components, they have a complete notebook. They then put their label on it and market it.
HP and Dell get their barebones machines from ODM’s Quanta, Compal, Wistron, and others most likely.. For instance, if you search the interwebs you can read where HP and Dell have placed orders for 3D notebooks from the ODM Wistron.
So, what does this mean? It means don't get hung up on the brand name when looking to buy, because the company who owns that name probably didn't build your laptop. Instead, focus on the things that matter like that video card.

Thank You, RNL

I learned a lot about brand name products...I guess you can sum it up by saying...Why buy something because of the name brand....

Tech support and their track records are the best reasons - Dell was recently involved in a legal suit for selling defective PC's, mostly to business, my own among them.

Suit Over Faulty Computers Highlights Dell’s Decline

My last purchase from them, an XPS 720, had every single component RMA'd (literally every component). The turn-around time, Guaranteed Overnight Shipping is nothing more than a marketing ploy. Overnight means their central parts department gets the package in the mail the next business day, no weekend’s sorry - it can still take as many as 10 days to reach you.

ODM's are basically a natural progression of outsourcing - why contract with multiple manufactures for individual parts when you can hand your design specs to a single company that assembles them all.

Thanks, Inland...

I will show Hubby your post...

Thanks, RNL, for the info on laptops. I am in the beginning looking stages myself. Info like this really helps.

Thanks, Inland, for the DELL info. I have a DELL laptop right now (my DH uses it all the time) and am not real fond of it.

My desktop is a DELL refurb and it has served it's purpose, but I'm need to upgrade for these newer games requiring hardware Shader 2.0.

lazydaisy,
If you are researching a laptop I look for ones that are “Clevos’ and as Inland mentioned above about tech support I look for a company with 100% US based tech support as that is one it not the top reasons I purchase from a particular vendor. The track record of the vendor is just as important.

I feel that what seems to be a more expensive purchase up front at a boutique builder actually ends up being less expensive in the long run. I get better parts, no installed bloatware, and tech support that does not need to go down a list of things before either sending you to second level support or send you another part in the mail.

A partial quote from Notebook Review on Clevo:

“CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)
They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.
Established in 1983, as an ODM (Original Design Manufacturer), they sell barebones ranging from laptop to portable computing solutions for both AMD and Intel processors. Clevo is one of the world's most preferred ODM partners and markets their products in more than 50 countries, and have established service centers in the USA, Germany, Britain, China, and Taiwan”

Happy hunting!

Thanks, RNL
How do I find out if it is Clevos or not? You seem to have so much info that I'm unaware of in my research.

An example of a boutique builder? Can you name names on this forum?

I do like to get quality when I purchase, however, I was a little turned off by this with the purchase of a Fujitsu about 7 years ago which I thought was quality and good tech service. The machine itself is quality, but it is one of those laptops "bitten" by the bad 17"LCD's of that era. When other companies stood behind their products and replaced the LCDs; Fujitsu did not stand behind theirs at all -- hated their attitude when it was obviously a defective part. They did offer to replace it, but insisted that it would cost $750 even though it was only 13 months old. Yeh, 1 month out of warranty.

I've had the same thing happen with my Samsung Netbook. Thought Samsung was quality until 100's of people started having the same problems with the video cable that I am having. Also a couple of months out of warranty. They are ignoring that also.

After the Fujitsu fiasco, I bought a low end Dell because I needed a laptop at the time and refused to invest lots of dollars again.

So now, I want quality, but from a company that will actually stand behind their products. Are there any out there?

xoticpc.com
powernotebooks.com

There are others...

Do a search on "What is a Clevo" some of the information is old but it gives you an idea. And you might be able to pick out some business names you are familiar with.

Please remember that you can have a bad experience with any builder as you have experienced and I have read where people have issues with Clevo based units but the chances of that happening with some good old research makes that much less of a 'happening'.

I look for desktop replacements so my machines I currently have now, (except for my wifes Dell - amazingly she has not killed it yet) or am looking to buy for future replacements, do not go to far from an outlet yet still gives me the freedom to move from one outlet to another even if not in the same house! You may be looking at something different. I believe you can find something that will fit as the choices are many, you dont have to max out a lot of stuff like I do (its a illness I think).

Look at these as they have many models (I am just throwing a few out there with different price points)

If you are looking at laptops only
http://www.malibal.com/ (Based in Nevada - I own a couple of these - all are Clevo machines)

If you want to look at desktops and laptops
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/
(laptops are similar in pricing to the Malibal ones - again Clevo based laptops)

they have desktops that play 3D too
http://www.digitalstormonline.com/3dpc.asp
(this almost tempts me into getting another desktop but I dont have a big enough desk)

If you have just won the lotto
http://www.falcon-nw.com/
(if I wanted a paint job that would make a Bentley blush I would look at these - the laptops are again Clevo based)

Sager is another name, even some Alienware models are Clevo based.

I owned an Alienware before they went with the Clevo models recently and was that thing an absolute piece of garbage, although I did part it out to replace broken parts on the Dells we had at the time so maybe it worked out better than it could have. (They looked like poo but they ran fine until the next item broke.) The price I paid for that is in part what has led me to do more research on the ODM's.

Thanks, Jenny and RNL -- what a lot of work you've done to help me out. I'll check out that info and get to work on more research.

Had to take a quick peek at the Falcon -- pretty machines!! But I'm not planning on spending my whole retirement in one place due to earlier experiences.

I also am looking for a desktop replacement. We are starting to travel more, and I want to take "everything" with me.