Need Help Finding a Laptop

[DTPleeoswald]

Move in day for Cincinnati is September 15th for me so I would like to have my laptop by the first at the latest to get everything set up, so this does give me some time yet for prices to go down and newer hardware to come out and get the best deal but I've wanted to at least start looking. I was wondering if anyone knew of anything off the top of their head for places for me to look (I've checked a lot of actual sites like HP, Dell, Samsung, Sony and retailers like Best Buy, Buy, and New Egg) or just laptops they have in mind.

Minimum specs for college are an i5 processor and 6 GB of DDR3 RAM (majoring in civil engineering that's why I need a good processor and a lot of RAM). My personal minimum specs are just a Blu-ray drive, screen under 16" (portability is key and I plan on buying a monitor from Newegg to plug my laptop in and has a TV tuner on it to save space in my dorm), and a good graphics card (the hardest part for me to find).

I need a graphics card to basically run BF3 or some other new games.

My ceiling is $1,300 for my laptop (then $200 for the monitor).

Thanks a lot for any help or ideas guys.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

OK, so HP is out because of the price cap. Their elitebooks are nice, but they are expensive. Stay away from Best Buy/Staples/Office Depot as their laptops are not true business nor game oriented. You also pay a lot more because of the crap software they put on the systems. I have seen a lot of issues with Lenovo systems after IBM sold the brand out, so I wouldnt mess with them.

As for your minimum specs, this is what I found:

Toshiba makes a nice laptop. This is the only one on Newegg with a BlueRay and your other specs:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214049

I dont know about Samsung laptops. They make great monitors. This is what I found, but you will have to add RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834131116

Its video card is a little lower on the GT side.

Now, if you can live without blu ray, your options grow a lot more.

I decided to stick with Asus as I know a few gamers love that brand and have got a lot for their money and performance in games.

The link below are Asus i5 series laptops. These are two that have quite a bit of difference with all the components. You will have to add RAM to them, if they can go higher than what they already come with.:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=32%7C34%2D220%2D807%5E34%2D220%2D807%2DTS%2C34%2D220%2D901%5E34%2D220%2D901%2DTS

The link bellow are two Asus i7 series laptops, both G models. Dedicated graphics and lots of RAM. The difference between the two are RAM amount, screen size, and port count. Both use the NVidia GTX 460M graphics chip http://www.nvidia.com/object/product...-460m-us.html:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=32%7C34-230-027%5E34-230-027-TS%2C34-230-028%5E34-230-028-TS

So there you go. You cant go wrong with that Toshiba. Ive always liked the brand myself as well. They seem to last a long time and are built well. Asus has a good reputation as well and is a good option for a little higher end parts without the bluray.

My .02 on it

Crunch

[Vreki]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Now, if you can live without blu ray, your options grow a lot more.

Or maybe get an external blu ray drive?

[DTPleeoswald]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Is the GTS series better than the GT series from NVIDIA? I found a similar one earlier today but had an i5 (2.3 GHz) but the gfx card was a GT 540M. Again understanding gfx cards is hands down my weakest points when it comes to hardware.

Thanks a lot though for the suggestions. I'll definitely review these later tonight/early morning when I get off work. Looks like I got a great start haha.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Yea, the performance format for Nvida is GTX then GTS, then GT. Then of course, the higher the number the newer the chip. So a GTX 500 then 400 then 300. 470 is greater than 460 but both are less than 530.

Crunch

[DTPleeoswald]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Ok I figured the higher the number the better but wasn't sure on which letters to go by. Thanks Crunch. I'll put some look into these now that I'm home.


Oh and I think I read some where that if you're using a monitor with a laptop you want to match the screen resolution as close as you can right? Or is that not an issue? (plan on using HDMI instead of VGA cables, wise decision?)

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Its usually not an issue. You can set the monitor in dual monitor mode and have the monitor in one resolution and the display in another. I havent seen it be a problem anyway.

Crunch

[DTPleeoswald]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Thanks a lot Crunch. Might order my monitor this week sometime then so they don't sell it out.

[Vreki]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

By a strange coincidence, I was just asked to research a laptop for my nephew.
I came across this list, it might help you: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Compute...s.13849.0.html

[DTPleeoswald]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Hey thanks a lot for the list Vreki. That'll help me narrow down the graphics cards a lot.

[Stev0esque]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Help for finding a laptop: Its probably where you last left it

[DTPleeoswald]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Anyone ever heard of the brand name Force or Sagerson? I'm thinking about getting one of these from xoticpc.com because I can get one with a gtx 560 and still get it for right around 1300

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

I havent heard of either.

Crunch

[Scinto]

Re: Need Help Finding a Laptop

Anyone ever heard of the brand name Force or Sagerson? I'm thinking about getting one of these from xoticpc.com because I can get one with a gtx 560 and still get it for right around 1300

These guys? http://www.sagernotebook.com/

They seem pretty good from the reviews that are around.