Bamboozled with all specs information re laptops

melb

hi there am buying my teenage son a replacement laptop for the refurbed Toshiba which has served him well for 3-4 years but is now literally coming apart at the seams.
He does normal type things on it ie playing music (all the time), web browsing etc but one thing he has said it is missing is the ability to play games on (don't know what he's tried to play).
Please can anyone tell me which of the various areas of specifications I need to look at when I am searching. I know on a couple of websites you can tick the "gaming laptop" button on the search but nothing was coming up even up to £400 and I only want to spend about £250 to £300 - obviously this will be a refurb.
Please can anyone help or tell me if any particular make is better than another for gaming. I am tempted to go for another Toshiba if possible as we have been happy with the current one.

Cycrow

The reason nothing comes up is because gaming laptops tend to be alot more expensive, as they need higher specs to play games.

what you need will depend on what games are being played on it.

At the very least, you will need to get a laptop with a dedicated graphics card.

But laptops in general are not good for playing games on.
And you wont get anything suitable for < £400

InsideInsurance

"Gaming" computers are generally ones that are designed to play a game at top resolution, top graphics options and maintain full speed in the game. As such they are very expensive computers.

Most games you can run perfectly well at mid level graphics, mid level resolution etc and whilst its not as good an "experience" it doesnt technically hinder your ability to actually play the game. A decent mid range laptop able to do this wouldnt be sold as a gaming laptop though.

melb

thanks for replies so when you say medium range, which part of the specifications should I be looking it? is it the processor, the graphics card? I don't know which area I need to compare. thanks

agrinnall

The four key requirements for gaming are processor, RAM, graphics card and storage. Basically more and faster is best. As it happens I've been looking for one that comes in under £1000 for a project at work, and there aren't very many, this is the one we have recommended and we're waiting to get approval to buy it (so you can see the spec levels):

http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=ECC_BUNDLE_4737305&opt=&sel=PCNB

But it's £949, I don't see any way you'll get a gaming computer of any sort for the budget you're talking about. You could try looking for refurbished ones, the Dell Outlet sometimes has them, but I still think they'll be way above your price range.

paddyrg

Models designed for playing games typically have the latest and greatest components as they're appealing to an audience with lots of spendable money (not their parents!). As such, you pay a hefty premium. It'll almost certainly be cheaper to get a fairly humdrum laptop to work as a laptop, and a secondhand/previous generation games console like a PS3 Or XBox360.

ptrichardson

In simply terms, a gaming laptop has a dedicated Graphics card.

Depends on what type of games he wants to play as to what laptop I'd recommend though - its one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions.

DebtClearer

I don't want to derail the thread but if anyone could advise me how much I would need to spend to get a laptop to play this game called FM 2015 I would appreciate it.

PC System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4, Intel Core, AMD Athlon XP: 1.6GHz+ V/7/8: 2.2GHz+
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, ATI Radeon 9800, Intel GMA X3100 - 128MB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 3 GB available space

wealdroam

DebtClearer wrote: »

I don't want to derail the thread...

Then why didn't you start a new thread then?

Grumpysally

Last year DD1 bought a custom built gaming laptop. It cost over £800! She told me that was a bargain! (she bought it herself)

ptrichardson

DebtClearer wrote: »

I don't want to derail the thread but if anyone could advise me how much I would need to spend to get a laptop to play this game called FM 2015 I would appreciate it.

PC System Requirements

• OS: Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8
• Processor: Intel Pentium 4, Intel Core, AMD Athlon XP: 1.6GHz+ V/7/8: 2.2GHz+
• Memory: 1 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVidia GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, ATI Radeon 9800, Intel GMA X3100 - 128MB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 3 GB available space

To be able to play, around £300. For good performance, around £450.