Need help in picking a gaming laptop

[woolfman72]

After reading a few threads i decided to post my own questions . I had originally went for the Y570 Lenovo 797.00 out the door.
But i just got an email from lenovo saying that my laptop would not ship for 30 days... So i called to cancel and the guy asked me to give him 2 days to get ahold of his "fulfillment team" to get a better idea of the actual shipping time. He also said they would take $35.00 more off of the laptop for the inconvenience if i would not cancel my order. Making it $762.00 But i have a feeling its going to be longer than i want to wait. So any suggestions of a laptop similar to this in the same price area?

2nd generation Intel Core i7-2670QM Processor( 2.2GHz 1333MHz 6MB)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64
NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M 2GB
8.0GB PC3-10600 DDR3 SDRAM 1333 MHz
15.6" HD Glare with integrated camera 1366x768
Industry Standard Touchpad
500GB 7200
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer)
6 Cell Lithium-Ion
Intel 1000 BGN Wireless
Bluetooth Version 2.1 + EDR

I know a laptop will not compare to a desktop but i am trying my best in my budget to get a decent gaming laptop that wont make me want to run to the computer room to play games on my desktop and have to listen to the wife complain that i am not out in the living room with her. LOL

1) What is your budget? 1000 or less

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

3) Where will you buying this notebook? USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I have no preference to brands

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? Yes with a decent warranty

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? Surfing the web and Gaming (WOW , Diablo3)

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? will be on my lap or a table. Very rarely will i transport it.

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? Yes, Games like WOW, Diablo 3 Maybe some Counterstrike when the new one comes out.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? Does not matter will rarely use it unplugged.

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 am ok with not seeing it.

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows 7

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer? I would prefer a midrange resolution (or max if it falls into the budget)

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen? I prefer the glossy screens .

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?Not really could look like a rock for all i care

15) When are you buying this laptop? yesterday

16) How long do you want this laptop to last? 2 to 3 years would be nice. (or if my wife has anything to say in it .. the rest of my life )

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? 500gb would do fine maybe even a bit less Do you want a SSD drive? Would love one but i don't think it will fit in the budget

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



Thank you for any help or suggestions anyone can provide.

[edit1754]

I would have advocated against buying the Y570 anyway.

The biggest issue with the Y570 is its display. It's 15.6" with 1366x768 resolution. 15.6" 1366x768 displays limit multitasking and productivity because they make things onscreen large, and they tend to have terrible image quality due to low contrast. I don't recommend this type of display to those who have a budget that allows them to get a laptop that has a better display and at the same time suits their needs, and don't require large text for eyesight-related reasons.

The secondary issue is the misleading branding of its GPU. While it's labeled as a GT 555M, the particular model of the GT 555M that the Y570 comes with is actually closer in performance to a GT 540M than it is to the GT 555M used in the Dell XPS 17 and in the previous-generation Alienware M14x.

Another falsely alluring aspect of the Y570 is that it is available in relatively cheap configurations with Core i7 processors. Buyers will see this and will be attracted to the Y570 because they don't realize that it's at the sacrifice of typically more significant components such as the display and that, in reality, most users have no need for a particularly fast processor because gaming is almost entirely GPU-bottlenecked and because basic usage sees no benefit from a processor upgrade.

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These three configurations of the HP DV6 all come with 15.6" 1920x1080 displays and faster GPUs:

HP DV6z Quad Edition (A6-3420M, AMD Radeon 7690M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $699 after coupon code 25LOGICBUY. Don't downgrade the display to 1366x768; don't downgrade the GPU.

HP DV6z Quad Edition (A8-3550MX, AMD Radeon 7690M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $769 after coupon code 25LOGICBUY. Don't downgrade the display to 1366x768; don't downgrade the GPU. The A8-3550MX is 40% faster than the A6-3420M.

HP DV6t Select Edition (i5-2430M, AMD Radeon 7690M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $799 after coupon code NBDTSAVE50 (if that expires, then $824 after coupon code 25LOGICBUY) - Don't downgrade the display to 1366x768; don't downgrade the GPU; don't upgrade to the 2GB GPU because the extra memory itself on the same GPU core won't make much of a difference for gaming.

The displays are anti-glare, contrary to your preference, but don't take a glossy 1366x768 display over an anti-glare 1920x1080 display. The point of a glossy finish is to artificially increase the perceived contrast of the display, but the inherently higher contrast of the HP's 15.6" 1920x1080 display will outweigh that.

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Options with even faster GPUs:

Sager NP6165 (i5-2430M, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 glossy) - $949 after scrolling to "Operating System" and selecting "Windows 7" (do this or else the laptop will come without Windows installed)

The New HP DV6t Quad Edition (i7-3610QM, NVIDIA GT 650M, 15.6" 1920x1080 matte display) - $999 after adding $75 more in upgrades and applying coupon code NBY3752 - Don't downgrade the display to 1366x768; don't downgrade the GPU; don't upgrade to the 2GB GPU because the extra memory itself on the same GPU core won't make much of a difference for gaming.

[woolfman72]

Thank you for these suggestions . I am seriously considering the last one HP DV6t adding the 32gb mssd har drive acceleration and adding bluetooth(to get to the $75 in upgrades for the coupon) for a total of $1,080.69 with tax (but ill use ebates to get 5% cash back)

[edit1754]

Also, if your primary goal is game performance and you don't mind .8 pounds more weight, then you can get a similarly-priced Sager NP9130 that trades out the GT 650M + i7 configuration for a GT 670M + i5 configuration.

Sager NP9130 / Clevo P151EM1 - XOTIC PC - Sager 15.6" Laptop
- Select Windows under OS
- Downgrade to 1333Mhz memory

[woolfman72]

I went ahead and ordered the Hp dv6t $1024.99 (but will get 5% cash back from ebates and a $40 credit from the hpprefered account deal along with 12 months no interest. mind as well use their money instead of mine) with this configuration

dv6t Quad Ed
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 1GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE Upgrade to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 7200 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• NO mSSD Hard Drive Acceleration Cache
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 6.0 hours of battery life +++
• 15.6-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Backlit Keyboard


thanks again for all the suggestions!

[edit1754]

Awesome. Let us know how you like it!