Buying a new higher end gaming laptop

[Recce]

Hello, everyone!

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
$3,000

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen

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

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
No preference.

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
I plan on buying new, so no.

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming, web surfing, watching movies, listening to music

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Both. I need to be able to lug it around if need be, but for the most part it will be on a desk.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Yes; SWTOR, Rift, Skyrim, BF3, CS:GO, DIII, SCII

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Looking for 3 hours of non-gaming usage.

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?
I'm fine with buying it before seeing it.

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

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
I prefer anything 1080p, however if I have to compromise on resolution to say 720p for portability's sake I don't mind.

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

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
I care more about build quality (read: durability) than aesthetics, though a good-looking machine would be a plus.

15) When are you buying this laptop?
Whenever I come to a decision - it could be today or could be a month from now.

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
2+ years.

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
I need only 300gb or so of immediately available hard drive space. If I have to store my larger media such as my music and videos on an external hard drive I won't have an issue doing so.

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
I don't need one per se. If the form factor is slim/portable enough to explain the lack of an optical drive I have no qualms with carrying around an external optical drive.

A couple of other things to consider:

-I've been through 4 laptops in the last 3 or so years (an Alienware m11x, 2 HP's and a Lenovo), so I want a laptop that is built well. I'm not overly abusive to my laptops though.
-The laptop will be mainly used at a desk, but will be occasionally taken through airports, on buses etc so while a smaller computer would be nice it's not too big an issue.
-I expect games to be at least ran on 'high' settings.



Thanks a lot for your help,
Recce


EDIT:
Though the laptop will be mostly on top of a desk I change where I live semi-frequently and don't always have room for even a sff desktop, so splitting my funds on a desktop and laptop wouldn't work for me.

[Recce]

Bump.

Currently looking at the m18x, m17x, the Razer Blade and Origin/Falcon Northwest.

[Chazy90]

I wouldn't advise you the Razer Blade if it will stay most of the time on your desk.
For 3000$ you should get SLI and a SSD.

[Recce]

I agree - I was mostly looking at the Blade because of the solid aluminum case. Origin makes some powerful machines but I'm leery of the durability/build quality of the Clevo cases... maybe the Alienware m18x is a good choice.

I'm all ears if you've got any recommendations splinter22prime.

[jwolf7722]

Razar Blade is junk from all the reviews I have read (GT 555M card for 2800). For that kind of money I would go with the Alienware m17x r3. Its rather large but very portable (carried mine around campus for a year plus). It will supply high end power with moderate portability.

If you want SLI go with the Alienware M18x. That system wont be very portable though.

[Chazy90]

Well i think it would be best to wait until the end of the month for ivy bridge. Your option will still be the same but you will get a bit better CPU with less heat and power consumption. Basically there is the m18x and the Sager NP9270 (or Clevo P270WM). I don't know of any other Laptops with SLI.
So here the links if you want to configure them:

Alienware M18X - Gaming Laptops

Sager NP9270 / Clevo P270WM - XOTIC PC

Nine P270WM - MALIBAL

[mcmikel]

I have been reading tons of info on the forums and I came across Recce post and had to sign up and respond. I too am looking for a laptop along the same lines as Recce so I would be interested to hear what everyone says. I have a core I5 tablet that I use when I travel but like Recce, I need to be able to transport the laptop (beast) on occasion through the airport, to and from work, etc.

I also have had quite a few laptops, everything from gaming to business. I am wanting to buy soon, but trying to make sure my purchase will last at least 2 years, if not more. Not trying to hijack the thread but does anyone know if you choose an Nvidia SLI configuration, can you use just one of the graphics cards?

I use to have a Dell XPS 17 (gaming laptops before Alien ware) and it had SLI which had the capability to turn one of the graphics card off when I wanted to. I finally saw a picture with two power supplies being used for an SLI configuration on a Sager and those bricks combined are massive!

Thanks for posting Recce, glad to know I am not the only one looking for a gaming laptop with similar specs. Decisions decisions…

-Michael

[Recce]

Okay, so the Blade is definitely out. If the Ivy Bridge / Kepler releases are going to be that significant of a difference I don't mind waiting.

That being said if the m17x is already pretty big and heavy the m18x has got to be even more ridiculous. The Origin Eon 17-S has me intrigued.

And I'm glad to see you're on the same train of thought Michael. Let me know what you decide on... because as of now I'm having a hard time deciding myself lol.

[Chazy90]

The Kepler is already out and ivy bridgy will be out late this month but only for the high end Laptops.
Well you have to decide if you want SLI or not. Of course it's very big and heavy but it's more powerful. If you're deciding for just 1 dgpu than you could also look at the MSI Laptops.

GenTech PC - MSI GT783R-658US 17.3 inch GeForce GTX580M 2GB - GT783 - 2100$

GenTech PC - MSI GT70 0NC-008US NV GTX670M 3GB GDDR5 - GT70 - 1550$

[mcmikel]

Will do Recce.

Right now I am at a cross roads on a decision.

Do I go with a "Medium gaming/portable" laptop or a "True gaming" (Desktop replacement) laptop.

"Medium gaming/portable"- this would be a laptop with a single GPU, Ivy Bridge mobile and would have a somewhat decent battery life (2-3 hours for a laptop of this magnitude) for those times I would be using it for basic email, web browsing, etc on the move. Also this particular laptop top weights around 8.6 pounds and is about 1/4 inch (+) less in thickness than a true gaming laptop.

"True Gaming" (true Desktop replacement)- SLI gpu, desktop I7 processor (E Sandy Bridge since no one knows when the desktop Ivy Bridge will be out 2013?) with maybe 1 hour of battery life for basic stuff. Weight is around 12+ pounds from what I can tell and the thickness at its height is around 2.7 - 3 inches.

If for True Gaming, than I will probably get the Sager NP9270 (fully loaded of course) if for medium gaming/portable than I will probably wait for the MSI GT70 to have the GTX675M because I am not too fond of the GTX 670M. Not sure why MSI did this... Fantomasz posted a link in another post about the GT70 with Ivy Bridge and the GTX 675M combo showing up in Germany: http://www.deviltech.de/deviltech.ph...0889/Fragbook/

I really like MSI but when the GT70 showed up on all of the resellers sites with the GTX670M, I was seriously let down. If the MSI GT70 with a GTX 675M shows up in the next month or so, that will be my decision.