Buying A Gaming Laptop Help Please

QPR10

My nephew wants a Laptop he can use for gaming, checking his e-mails & Internet access, he isn't interested in using it for anything else.

He went to the shops browsing with a friend & chose
Toshiba L670-19E

I wonder if this is discontinued can't find much about it on the net & it had one bad review on Amazon.

He knows once we decide on a model I will try & use cashbank, comparison sites etc. Just looking for model suggestions.

Help please

bob_man_uk

looking at the spec it runs intel's integrated graphics, now, from experience, for games, intel graphics have been.. well... atrocious, you may find yourself with a hole in the pocket and an upset nephew.

there are a wide range of cheaper alternatives with better dedicated graphics chips, though tbh, if your nephew wants a serious games laptop, you wont find many in high street shops.

forgotmyname

Not only do the games need a good CPU they also need a decent video card.

Laptops fall down on this they dont have the space/power for really decent high end cards.

You need to look at the games they want to play then look at the recommended spec, Ignore the minimum spec.
Take the recommended spec and add 50% to each part. Look for a laptop with AT LEAST that spec.

Anything less will be relegated to propping doors open or a footrest. My daughter wanted a laptop i tried talking
her out of it but she wouldnt listen.
Now she wants a desktop.

Desktops are so much cheaper and easily upgradeable unless you buy a dell or HP etc. with a weird board/case size.
Then you probably need a new case as well.

Dell lockout RAM settings also, So you need to purchase from them or find out what brands/timings they used. Of course
there are no labels on the OEM stuff to help you. Got a Dell here and i have tried 7 different brands now and it still crashes.

Fit the original stick and its fine. BUT sooo slow....

Its-A-New-Age-Thing

you know some of these desktops are gettin fancy small and compact, theres almost logic nowadays in gettin a high powered compact desktop much easier to tit about with and upgrade than a laptop and a small compact lcd and flingin them both in a decent sized targus case, cheaper to repair cheaper to upgrade less hassle to tit about with etc etc

just my opinion though...................

Esqui

Gaming and laptops don't go together all that well, unless you start spending £700+ or so. I would certainly go for a desktop for gaming: cheaper, lasts longer, easier to upgrade. Is being able to sit at a coffee table and play games really worth the extra?

JasX

If you are serious about getting a gaming laptop you can get a few pointers here:

http://www.notebookcheck.net/

go to 'purchase consultation' and check the box 'I want to play demanding games' and it'll bring up a list of recent reviews of 'gaming' spec machines.

Lowest I've seen that might be close on the performance and still reasonable value were the msi GX series (eg GX740) for around £800, you'll notice from the site you can easily spend £1600, £2400 plus.

Also once you get into gaming grade machines even if you are spending £1500 you'll find 1-heat is a problem and will only get worse over time as the machine clogs up with dust, expect to buy a cooler stand as it starts to get old. Also no suprise if its running hard and throwing out alot of heat its not exactly 'energy efficient' and even the biggest batteries only last 1-2 hours tops.

Basically you spend alot of money, won;t get great value and will probably find yourself with alot of limitations down the line you can;t upgrade your way out of at all.... hence people start asking/suggesting things like do you really need a gaming laptop or could you make do with a desktop which would do mich better and cost from £400.

either way good to find out what games he's playing and look at the recommended specifications for runnign that game, make sure you get a separate/dedicated graphics card whichever router you go down.