Mid Range Laptop Advice Needed

rein · 10-10-2012, 08:46 PM

Okay, I know there have been a lot of these threads but I need a little advice. I want to pick up an inexpensive laptop to use during the day while I am at work. The applications I use are not that big of a resource hog but I do have down time now and then and would also like to use the laptop for light gaming. Bear in mind I do not mind playing on a laptop with lower settings. (Would any of the below run something like GW2 on lower settings?)

I would like to keep the price ~$500 but would be willing to go a little higher if the trade off is worth it. Here are a few ideas I found on Amazon. I'm so far out of the AMD vs Intel loop I have no idea what I am comparing anymore.

399.00 option

499.00 option

519.00 option

629.00 option

muddi900 · 10-10-2012, 09:46 PM

I think this would serve your purpose better.
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad...lenovo+ideapad

If you shop around, you can get a better deal, or the same price with more options.

Chris_D · 10-10-2012, 09:55 PM

I would be wary of anything without at least a 7200 rpm HDD. When you are playing multi gigabyte games, load times at the start and between levels can be a real bitch. I gamed with a 5400 rpm HDD for almost 4 years and finally upgrading to a 7200 rpm 500 gig drive was night and day. Then, very recently I went to a 750 gig x 7200 rpm with a 16 gig SSD cache and the thing runs like a dream. I guess it's easy enough to upgrade the HDD yourself down the road but if you can get at least a 7200 rpm drive from day 1 then that would be vastly preferable.

rein · 10-11-2012, 06:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by muddi900

I think this would serve your purpose better.
http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad...lenovo+ideapad

If you shop around, you can get a better deal, or the same price with more options.

How do the intel graphic solutions compared to the shared ATI or 630M these days?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_D

I would be wary of anything without at least a 7200 rpm HDD. When you are playing multi gigabyte games, load times at the start and between levels can be a real bitch. I gamed with a 5400 rpm HDD for almost 4 years and finally upgrading to a 7200 rpm 500 gig drive was night and day. Then, very recently I went to a 750 gig x 7200 rpm with a 16 gig SSD cache and the thing runs like a dream. I guess it's easy enough to upgrade the HDD yourself down the road but if you can get at least a 7200 rpm drive from day 1 then that would be vastly preferable.

I will most likely update at some point unless I get really lucky and find a 7200rpm drive in this price range.

I am going to look around for more deals and take my time. I would like to get something ordered by the end of next week though since I have a trip coming up.

muddi900 · 10-11-2012, 06:39 AM

I have experience with Lenovos at that price range, and they are fantastic.

Khrymsyn · 10-11-2012, 10:07 AM

I'd say anything with an i5 and GeForce 630/640 would be good enough for GW2 gaming. I know someone personally who bought this :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246494
and she says Guild Wars works great!

rein · 10-11-2012, 05:53 PM

Well, I went a little higher on the amount that I wanted to spend but I got something I think I will be happy with.

Alienware M14x R2
6 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz (2 DIMMs)
Processor: Intel Core 3rd Generation i5-3210M Processor (2.5GHz, 3M cache)
1 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForceGT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus technology
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)

Picked it up from the outlet store for $742 including tax/shipping using a 25% off coupon. It sucks I had to pay taxes. It would have been under the $700 mark without them. Oh well... ...I think I will be happy with it.

Chris_D · 10-11-2012, 05:54 PM

Yah for 7200 rpm!
(the rest looks good too)

rein · 10-11-2012, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris_D

Yah for 7200 rpm!
(the rest looks good too)

That was part of my reasoning for going ahead with this one. I would have wanted a new HDD and more ram down the road. While I would have preferred 8gb of ram 6 should be enough for my needs. Plus, I get a better GPU and an alien logo that lights up purple (that has to be worth something right?).

muddi900 · 10-11-2012, 11:26 PM

You had to nerd out!

I am muddi on steam, by the way. But chances are you will encounter my brother rather than me.

10-10-2012, 08:46 PM	#1
rein .... Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The Natural State Posts: 6,715 Blog Entries: 4	Mid Range Laptop Advice Needed Okay, I know there have been a lot of these threads but I need a little advice. I want to pick up an inexpensive laptop to use during the day while I am at work. The applications I use are not that big of a resource hog but I do have down time now and then and would also like to use the laptop for light gaming. Bear in mind I do not mind playing on a laptop with lower settings. (Would any of the below run something like GW2 on lower settings?) I would like to keep the price ~$500 but would be willing to go a little higher if the trade off is worth it. Here are a few ideas I found on Amazon. I'm so far out of the AMD vs Intel loop I have no idea what I am comparing anymore. 399.00 option 499.00 option 519.00 option 629.00 option

10-10-2012, 09:55 PM	#3
Chris_D Colonist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Osaka, Japan Posts: 6,325 Blog Entries: 67	I would be wary of anything without at least a 7200 rpm HDD. When you are playing multi gigabyte games, load times at the start and between levels can be a real bitch. I gamed with a 5400 rpm HDD for almost 4 years and finally upgrading to a 7200 rpm 500 gig drive was night and day. Then, very recently I went to a 750 gig x 7200 rpm with a 16 gig SSD cache and the thing runs like a dream. I guess it's easy enough to upgrade the HDD yourself down the road but if you can get at least a 7200 rpm drive from day 1 then that would be vastly preferable. __________________ The Pulse of the Japanese Gamer \| G+ \| Twitter \| YT \| XBL: Mr GT Chris \| PSN: Mr_GT_Chris \| My Backlog

10-11-2012, 05:54 PM	#8
Chris_D Colonist Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Osaka, Japan Posts: 6,325 Blog Entries: 67	Yah for 7200 rpm! (the rest looks good too) __________________ The Pulse of the Japanese Gamer \| G+ \| Twitter \| YT \| XBL: Mr GT Chris \| PSN: Mr_GT_Chris \| My Backlog

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10-11-2012, 05:53 PM	#7
rein .... Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: The Natural State Posts: 6,715 Blog Entries: 4	Well, I went a little higher on the amount that I wanted to spend but I got something I think I will be happy with. Alienware M14x R2 6 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1600MHz (2 DIMMs) Processor: Intel Core 3rd Generation i5-3210M Processor (2.5GHz, 3M cache) 1 GB DDR5 NVIDIA GeForceGT 650M using NVIDIA Optimus technology 500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM) Picked it up from the outlet store for $742 including tax/shipping using a 25% off coupon. It sucks I had to pay taxes. It would have been under the $700 mark without them. Oh well... ...I think I will be happy with it.