MMO Gaming laptop - UK

Hi everyone,

I've been out of the laptop loop for a good while so thought I'd post up here.

General Questions

1) What is your budget?

I'd like to not spend more than £500. I know that won't get me the most powerful laptop ever but that's how things are! I can go over that for the right machine but wouldn't want to go too far over.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?

c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen


3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.

UK

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

a. Like: HP, Toshiba
b. Dislike: None really

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?

Yes

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?

Games! SWTOR and STO primarily. Also basic win7 tasks like office and browsing, email etc.

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?

Largely desk and around my flat, if I do take it other places I won't have to carry it far (car)

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?

Yes. SWTOR being the newest most intensive. I'm looking for a spec that's along the lines of i3, 4GB RAM or more, A graphics card that's minimum HD6490M, preferably more powerful.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?

No more than one really I hardly ever use it on battery and I have a netbook with 8 hours of battery.

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?

Happy to buy without seeing.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc.

Windows 7

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? Keep in mind screen size in conjunction with resolution will play a large role in overall viewing comfort level. Everyone is different. Some like really small text, while others like their text big and easy to read. Click here for Screen resolution information.

I'd like 13.3" or 15.6" at 1366*768, I'd consider a little higher but not much. 1600*900 is really too high for me.

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?

Either

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?

As long as it's not a dog, not really.

15) When are you buying this laptop?

Pretty much now

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?

I generally keep them no more than two years, one is more like it.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?

500GB ideally, could survive with 250 or 320 for the right graphics card. No SSD necessary.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?

DVD-RW is fine.


I found this:

https://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_5750G_1086985.html

My partner has the 17" version of this general model (with an ATi card) for nearly a year and it seems a fairly solid and reliable beast. I know Acers in the past had a bad rep. Can anyone comment or suggest something else?

Many thanks for any help.

 

try buying the acer timeline any model will do..

 

This has a GT 540M in it, the most powerful I've come across for less than £500.

ACER Aspire 5750G Core i3-2310M Windows 7 Laptop LX.RAZ02.136 - Laptops Direct

 

Options with GT 525M

http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/InventorySearch.aspx?c=uk&cs=ukdfh1&l=en&s=dfh&brandid=7&fid=7895
Dell 15R Laptop - Laptops | Ebuyer.com

I don't know if there are any Dell Outlet UK discount codes floating around.

 

HP Pavilion g6-1220sa 15.6" Laptop - Charcoal Grey at cheap prices | PC World

The A8's integrated graphics should suffice.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-6620G.54675.0.html

But the Acer with the GT540M in the earlier post would be a better option.

 

I've jus found the Alienware M11x which has:

i5 1.6GHz cpu
GT540M 1GB
4GB RAM
250GB HDD
11.6" 1366*768
etc.

and a great review form NBR.

All for £685 including EPP discount i am entitled to. If I sold both of my current laptop and netbook (the Alienware would make them both redundant) I'd be no more than £200 worse off, probably less.

I think we have a winner.

Thoughts?

 

The M11x is a good choice, go for it.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

I just have! Posted in the M11x orders thread, £685.40 paid for an i5 M11x R3. Estimated delivery 12 January.

Thanks for the help and comments!

 

Cool welcome to the AW community! If you have stream, join our Alienware stream group (link in sig).