I,m considering getting a laptop and I was told somone here might help me to know what to look for in a gaming one.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Flo

We need to know your budget and what kinds of games you play (any action or RPG's?)

No action no rpg's, mainly casual gaming and some adventure. Basically whatever Big Fish has to offer.

I'm thinking now that a gaming PC is more geared toward the action and RPG games right?

I don't want to pay a whole lot, $500 to $1000.

The main thing to check is the video card. Look for a computer with dedicated graphics memory and either ATI Radeon or Nvidia Geforce graphics.

Do you want to buy the laptop from a local shop or would you consider ordering online?

Also, what size screen do you want?

Found this HP at staples, I am assuming this is a good one, but it is $1200 plus 15% tax, a bit more than I wanted to pay, can I do with less than what it has.

Edit: Just found it on sale for $827.


2.0GHz 2nd Generation Intel Core i7-2630QM processor
8GB system memory
1TB (2x500GB) hard disk drive
Blu-ray player and SuperMulti DVD burner
17.3" HD BrightView LED display
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Radeon HD 6770M graphics
Beats Audio with HP Triple Bass Reflux Subwoofer
Integrated webcam, with built-in mic
Connectivity options include Gigabit Ethernet LAN and Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n
Ports include 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 and HDMI
Full size Island-style keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
Up to 9.5 hours battery life
Brushed aluminum in dark umber finish
Dimensions: 1.24" /1.42"(H) x 16.38"(W) x 10.83"(D)
Weight: 6.72 lb.
1-Year limited warranty



Actually this is the one on sale for $827 with slight differences. But this one seems better. What do you think?

2.4GHz/1.5GHz AMD Quad-Core A8-3500M Accelerated Processor
6GB system memory; Expandable up to 16GB
750GB SATA hard disk drive
Super Multi DVD burner
Blu-ray Player
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 wireless technology
17.3" LED display
Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
AMD Radeon HD 6755G2 Dual Graphics
Built-in HP Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer
Built-in HP TrueVision HD low-light webcam
HP ProtectSmart protects your hard drive from accidental drops
Connectivity options include Gigabit Ethernet LAN and Wireless LAN 802.11b/g/n
Ports include 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 and HDMI
Full size island-style keyboard
Up to 10.5 hours battery life
Brushed aluminum alloy finish in dark umber
Dimensions: 1.24"/1.42"(H) x 16.38"(W) x 10.83"(D)
Weight: 6.72 lb.
1-Year limited warranty

They both look fine to me. I'm a little concerned about the AMD Radeon HD 6755G2 Dual Graphics in the second one from what I read here:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6755G2.57278.0.html

It would be nice to know if you can turn off that "dual" feature and just use the high end graphics when you're playing games. If you've got the model number of the laptop, we can try to look that up.

Model QE365UA#ABC

That seems to be an HP Pavilion dv7-6160ca (QE365UA#ABC)

What I found was ***this***.
So it appears that you are able to change your graphics to be "Fixed Mode Switchable Graphics" and then select the high end video card. This is recommended if you play any games that use OpenGL. (Some games use OpenGL instead of DirectX.) However you may need a BIOS update to do it if the laptop is using an old BIOS version.

Thanks Jenney