Stuck on what kind of laptop to get

[meemster725]

What is your budget?
From $1200-$2000. Willing to go higher for better specs and quality (I upped my budget)

What country will you be buying this in?
USA

What size notebook do you prefer?
Mainstream (14-17”)

What brands do you like or dislike?
Like: Alienware, Sager, Asus
Dislike: none

Would you consider a refurbished laptop?
Possibly

What are the primary tasks you need this notebook for?
Casual Gaming, Graphic Intense 3D Gaming, school (writing papers, note taking), work (presentations, email), web surfing, video streaming, forgot to mention that I'm a photographer so I'll be using Photoshop a lot.

What games will you be playing?
Diablo III, Skyrim, Battefield 3

Where will you be using this laptop?
Will be used different places and Will stay on desk

How many hours of battery life do you need?
umm not to picky on battery life

Will you be buying online or in store?
online or in store

Which OS do you prefer?
Windows 7

List the screen resolutions that interest you:
1600 x 900 or 1920 x 1080

Do you prefer a glossy or matte screen?
Either is fine

Is the laptops design important to you?
Yes

Approximately what date will you be buying this laptop?
Possibly early or mid July

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

How much storage capacity do you need?
750+ GB

Are you interested in SSD for storage?
Maybe

Do you want a built-in optical drive, what type?
Yes DVD RW, BluRay is ok too

I've been looking into the Alien M14 or M17 and the Sager NP9150 as well as a G series Asus.

Thanks everyone for all your insights!!!

[Cubed]

im no expert but im getting some variation on a cleo p150em

[maverick1989]

Customize the NP9150 or 9170 (depending on what screen size you want; both those lie in the range you specified) and get the 7970m upgrade, downgrade the RAM and get the thermal compound upgrade. That should keep is at about 1500 for the 9150.

[meemster725]

Thanks so much for the replies!

So if I downgrade the RAM, how much should i downgrade it by?

Also, I wouldn't mind putting in more money for a better laptop.

[Kuroi-Tsubasa]

Thanks so much for the replies!

So if I downgrade the RAM, how much should i downgrade it by?

Also, I wouldn't mind putting in more money for a better laptop.

Downgrade it to whatever the base RAM is (4GB or 8GB). You won't need any more than that for the foreseeable future.

If you want to spend money on a better laptop, here are some suggestions:

• I wouldn't touch the CPU options. The only real-world difference you'll see is between dual- and quad-core systems, and only if the applications you run support multi-threading and benefit from more cores (like Rockstar games).
• Get a 1080p display. Full stop. Matte or glossy is up to you, but if you work in an environment with a lot of glare, matte is your best choice.
• Only change the default HDD option iff (if and only if) you need much more space than what is available at default (say, 750GB to 1TB). Otherwise, keep the default, and if you're okay with having less storage space, grab a decent, inexpensive SSD to give you the most noticeable performance boost you'll get from any of the hardware upgrades (for example, 128GB Crucial M4 for $99, or 256GB Samsung 830 for $225; iirc these sales are still going on).
• Upgrade the wireless card from the default to some Intel or Bigfoot card.
• I'd aim for the Radeon 7970M for your GPU option, or something in the Geforce 6xxM series.
• Spend whatever is left on a decent mouse, like the Logitech G9x (Newegg sale for $60).

Haggle over the phone to reduce the price on your laptop purchase. Treat it as if you were buying a car. Should save you at least 15%, if not more (I got 24% off my W520 brand-new).

[meemster725]

Downgrade it to whatever the base RAM is (4GB or 8GB). You won't need any more than that for the foreseeable future.

If you want to spend money on a better laptop, here are some suggestions:

• I wouldn't touch the CPU options. The only real-world difference you'll see is between dual- and quad-core systems, and only if the applications you run support multi-threading and benefit from more cores (like Rockstar games).
• Get a 1080p display. Full stop. Matte or glossy is up to you, but if you work in an environment with a lot of glare, matte is your best choice.
• Only change the default HDD option iff (if and only if) you need much more space than what is available at default (say, 750GB to 1TB). Otherwise, keep the default, and if you're okay with having less storage space, grab a decent, inexpensive SSD to give you the most noticeable performance boost you'll get from any of the hardware upgrades (for example, 128GB Crucial M4 for $99, or 256GB Samsung 830 for $225; iirc these sales are still going on).
• Upgrade the wireless card from the default to some Intel or Bigfoot card.
• I'd aim for the Radeon 7970M for your GPU option, or something in the Geforce 6xxM series.
• Spend whatever is left on a decent mouse, like the Logitech G9x (Newegg sale for $60).

Haggle over the phone to reduce the price on your laptop purchase. Treat it as if you were buying a car. Should save you at least 15%, if not more (I got 24% off my W520 brand-new).

Thanks so much. I had a question, sorry if its stupid but what does upgrading the 7970M do? I don't really know much about upgrades and stuff.

Thanks again so much!

[Mr_Mysterious]

It adds a few years of life to your laptop, provided you take good care of it.

The 7970M will allow you to play future games for a good while at good settings. Basically, it's the most powerful graphics card out there right now

Mr. Mysterious

[meemster725]

It adds a few years of life to your laptop, provided you take good care of it.

The 7970M will allow you to play future games for a good while at good settings. Basically, it's the most powerful graphics card out there right now

Mr. Mysterious

Oh ok, thanks. Sorry, I've never built my own laptop before. I've only bought the base models sold at the stores. I figured if I wanted a good gaming laptop, I should customize it myself.

[Mr_Mysterious]

Once you hit 5 posts here on NBR, if you decide to go for Sager, contact a reseller and ask about the NBR discount

Mr. Mysterious

[meemster725]

Once you hit 5 posts here on NBR, if you decide to go for Sager, contact a reseller and ask about the NBR discount

Mr. Mysterious

Thanks so much for all your help, I really appreciate it.