Gaming laptop

cindyhove

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if there is a cheaper alternative to a laptop like this Dell Alienware one

http://http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-m17x-r3/pd

My son wants a good gaming laptop but as I know NOTHING about them I have no idea if this is good, bad or indifferent!

Please help a confused and befuddled mum out :eek:

Spank

Your link was blocked by my AV

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-m17x-r3/pd?refid=alienware-m17x-r3&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=1&~ck=dellSearch&isredir=true

Sorry only use desktops so can't help any further

closed

Lower/Mid end laptops £300-£500 can play games too, you need to start by looking at the min specs of the games, or by searching for the game name and a type of laptop on youtube (people record and upload their gameplay and often mention the hardware)

if they worked on the e-systems laptop, they will probably work on anything

jayme1

for the £1300 starting price for the alienware I personally would buy a £500-£650 laptop (which if you get the right spec will be more than capable of playing current and future games) AND use the ~£600 left over to custom build a proper gaming desktop rig that really would be future proof (or buy a big HD TV, a ps3 and an xbox), - or just save the money for the next gaming laptop whatever..

but, if you find out the games he wants to play then we can suggest laptops, but generally speaking something like this or this should be able to play most (if not all) games you throw at it.

gonzo127

to be honest 'gaming laptops' are generally overpriced rubish, this is because of the advantages and nessesary compromises needed to make a laptop do not lend themselves to gaming.

such as a track pad - this is no use for gaming, you need a mouse which means you need a desk, which means you dont have it on your lap

and a good graphics card - these require lots of power which means your battery will not last - general expected batter life from a gaming laptop when gaming - is around 1 hour give or take 15 mins - means you need to be near a plug, meaning is not really portable

gaming is also demanding on all hardware - means lots of heat - meaning you cant have it on your lap - so need a desk

but ok yes that laptop will play all the games and will look cool, yes you can get a laptop which will play all the games that will and will be cheaper, but you will 'miss' out on things such as the 3d screen (which i personally dont see much need for at the moment) really you will ned to find out what he wants (and what you can afford) as for ~£1300 you could get a monster proper PC which will last a hell of a lot longer than the laptop, or as someone else has pointed out could get multiple different devices to meet other needs as well

Weird_Nev

Try the Dell XPS Range.

Obviously, your son wants top of the range, but Alienware are just silly prices for "cutting edge" technology. I have just checked and the XPS range laptops start at £650 for something that will run current games and probably keep up for a year or so. If it were me I'd specify a 2Gb GT540m graphics card for another £60 to keep it future proof.

If it must be a laptop, the Dell XPS will play games absolutely fine. As posted above, you will need a mouse to go with it, but a £10 optical mouse will be fine for most gaming - plus a joystick if he's into flight sims.

to run games properly you need:
Windows 7 64Bit.
A decent processor- most likely an Intel Core i5 processor at the moment.
4Gb of Ram or more.
A discreet (separate chip) graphics card with 1Gb of video memory - this does 3D graphics processing (not necessarily to display in 3D, that's a screen feature) and the lack of this is what makes most laptops awful at games.

The graphics card is the key component. Nvidia GT 525m and GT540m's are good cards for gaming. I have a GT 420m, and it is about a year old but it runs current games like Metro2033, Battlefield3 and Portal 2 absolutely perfectly at the laptops resolution. The newer GT5xx series will massively outperform that card and will be good for the next 18 months aat least.

The main problem with laptops is that the processor and graphics can't be upgraded (easily or at all in most cases) - this means that the computer becomes obsolete for games after a couple of years. This is where it really does make sense, if you're serious about PC games, to buy a desktop in which the processor and graphics card can be upgraded as they become obsolete.

Just one final word - now isn't a great time to buy a computer. The floods in thailand have knocked out pretty much the worlds supply of new hard disc drives, amking them very expensive. either buy in the next couple of weeks at a price you're happy to pay now, or else hold off for a while until the situation stabilises.

AliceJenkins

Theres not really an alternative, Alienware is the only company i know of doing them.

gonzo127

AliceJenkins wrote: »

Theres not really an alternative, Alienware is the only company i know of doing them.

Alienware do top end stuff (most of it is pointless for most people, such as the 3d screen) whereas most makers who make laptops will make at least one which you can play games on

otherwise there are places like cyberpower who do custom systems will do some laptops

- however most places realise that gamers tend to know laptops are not gaming systems no matter how much someone bigs them up, they just can not compete with a proper gaming system

another thought however (depending on you internet connection) would be a cheaper laptop and onlive - please note i have not used the 'service' but it would be something to consider

bod1467

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/

Check these guys out. I'm also considering a gaming laptop and these are who I'd probably go with. Something like this ...

http://www.cyberpowersystem.co.uk/system/Xplorer_X6-9200_Notebook/