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Can you help me find a gaming laptop for my husband?

Apr 5, 2012 4:46 PM

I am not a gamer, but my husband is. He's also an awesome guy and our anniversary is coming. His current computer is woefully inadequate for his game of choice (Lord of the Rings Online). I'd like to surprise him with an upgrade, but don't really know what I'm doing (I do know a desktop would be cheaper and more powerful, but it wouldn't fit his gaming style or our house). So, what I'm really hoping for is a good deal on a laptop that will do better than just keep up, one that I can buy ideally without consulting him. :) I posted the link to the specs from LOTRO below in the hopes that they might be useful. Thanks so much in advance!

http://www.lotro.com/getting-started/211-system-requirements

andra00 andra00

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Price range you're hoping to see?

xavoc xavoc
vote-for3vote-against

Good question. The answer is I'm not really sure? Ideally less than $1000. Really ideally less than $700. If it was a fabulous, amazing, etc. deal, slightly over? I also have no idea if that's just insanely unreasonable.

andra00 andra00
vote-for2vote-against

Some people will scream holy murder for this, but...

This is probably a good place to start, make sure you upgrade the video card, and if you can afford it... Upgrade to an SSD.

This site often lists coupons for Dell systems
http://www.techbargains.com/product/xps

Some people hate them, some people love them, I've had pretty good support out of them the last couple years as long as you spring for the upgraded warranty.

xavoc xavoc
vote-for2vote-against

most people I have heard that own gaming laptops say that it's almost always an alienware machine. I've heard the the MX11 is a good deal as for as performance / price. I built my own desktop, so can't say directly, but even if you don't go alienware, you might want to start your search at dell to check out the specs of the alienware laptops.

theant theant
vote-for2vote-against

for a gaming laptop #1 thing to look at in the specs is a dedicated video card. if it uses intergrated video, it will be useless for gaming in the long term.

theant theant
vote-for2vote-against

based on your specs listed above though, you might be able to get away without a separate GPU... but it will not be able to play any newer games down the road.

theant theant
vote-for3vote-against

Basically the thing to keep in mind here is that RAM and HD can be upgraded later, Video Card, Screen (Unless you use an external monitor), and CPU cannot. So, he can always buy an SSD later if he wants, or add more RAM. Usually for cheaper than what Dell's prices are to build it into the system.

xavoc xavoc
vote-for2vote-against

@andra00: Also, there are new CPUs coming out in the next 2 months from Intel... They'll be slightly faster, but use less power (battery life/heat output) in the process.

I don't know what your timeframe is here. It might be better to just allot the money and let him pick his system out. I know it's not the same thing to some people.

xavoc xavoc
vote-for3vote-against

@theant: or if one of the add-ons revamps the graphics later, which WoW has done several times. But, nobody wants to play on a laptop that runs fine in the woods, but during a raid/in town crashes and burns. :|

xavoc xavoc
vote-for2vote-against

@xavoc: I agree... always get the best you can afford, it will pay out in the long term.

My personal experience with all the systems I have bought/built over the years, is that the CPU/RAM are always the items I wish I had upgraded at the start. It's not hard at all to add another hard drive or replace one (make sure you back up)... changing the CPU is quite a bit more involved. And I always want more RAM, if for no other reason than to make a RAM drive to pretend I have an SSD when I don't.

theant theant
vote-for3vote-against

I recommend this one:
http://tinyurl.com/co8nogf

$850 with coupon code FXP3F0HKJKQS97

Intel Core i7-2670QM 2.20GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD, 1GB GeForce GT 525M + Optimus and 1920 x 1080 display.

thefenst thefenst
vote-for3vote-against

@thefenst: I would spend the extra $100 to get the 540m video card.

xavoc xavoc
vote-for1vote-against

Do you know what sort of specs his current laptop has? I don't think it's going to be a problem, but it would be helpful if we knew for sure we weren't suggesting computers that will turn out to be weaker than the one he already has.

disturbed0ne disturbed0ne
vote-for0vote-against

Wow. Thanks all. Sorry it took me so long to get back. To summarize the above, what I'm getting is Priorities: 1) CPU (since once you've bought it you've got it) 2) Graphics Card/RAM 3) Hard Drive Space. @disturbedOne It's a good question and I can snoop, but right now I don't know what he has. I'm pretty sure anything would be an upgrade though, b/c I do know that it's a multiple year old Dell Inspiron that was never really meant for gaming. @xavoc Our anniversary is in June so I can potentially wait a while until purchasing. @thefenst Thanks for the link, I'm going to check it out.

andra00 andra00
vote-for1vote-against

@andra00: Anything we can do to help. Prices on computers drop fairly quickly, so if you have a while before you need to buy, you might want to wait so you can get better tech for the same price in late May.

thefenst thefenst

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