Gaming and movie laptop with good screen, backlit keyboard

[Notepad70]

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
As low as possible, could go up to ~$1500

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen, would consider 15.6 if there is a significant cost difference for equivalent system ($200+ difference)

3) Where will you buying this notebook?
USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Probably no Sony or Acer for this

5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
No

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming, movies (streaming & disk), web

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

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Lightly to moderately demanding games. Diablo 3, Torchlight 2, Titan Quest, Sacred 2, Legend of Grimrock. I have a desktop for more demanding games. I am sensitive to low framerate so would prefer 35+ fps.

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
1 hour for desktop/web usage is fine.

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?
Online only is ok, seeing would be nice but stores in this area generally stock cheaper consumer laptops.

11) What OS do you prefer?
Windows 7

Screen Specifics

12) From the choices below, what screen resolution(s) would you prefer?
1920x1080, 17"

13) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen?
Undecided, will go into detail below

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No

15) When are you buying this laptop?
Either soon, or will hold off for another year

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
3 years minimum, prefer 5

Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
750gb; SSD not required

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?
Blu-ray reader, read and write DVD, CD


I'm looking into possibly replacing my current laptop. I bought it a couple of years ago (it is an Asus K50ID) and at the time I figured I could watch DVDs on it and play older games. I have a desktop computer for more demanding games. So, since I didn't want to spend money on a full-blown gaming laptop (hey I was only going to play less demanding games, so this cheaper one should be good, right)? However, I've been regretting not having spent more and going with the cheap laptop, as it isn't working out as well as I thought it would.

The K50 isn't a bad laptop, it just isn't best suited for what I bought it for. Plus, I have a few areas of pickiness.

The main is that I think the screen in the K50 is pretty bad in games and movies. It is OK at the desktop. I'm not a graphic artist and hadn't even heard the term "gamut" before starting to research laptops recently, but my eyesight isn't the greatest so I like good contrast and rich colors. My desktop uses a NEC 20WMGX2, which is a glossy IPS monitor and is beautiful. I know I can't get that level of quality in a laptop monitor, but with this K50 if I shift the slightest the screen starts washing out. I constantly have to reposition either myself or the screen.

Also, though the K50 is glossy and my NEC monitor is glossy, the K50 is worse about reflections interfering with the image (I don't have much of a reflection problem with the NEC). This seems to be largely because blacks and other dark colors do not have a lot of depth or richness.

So screen quality is important to me and my ailing eyes. I will be using the laptop mainly in a controlled environment, but if I won't lose much (or any!) color depth and contrast, I may go the matte route. (Though, I have some concerns that people report matte screens as looking grainy.) I'm kinda mixed on matte vs glossy--my NEC glossy is beautiful and doesn't have a reflection problem unless someone opens the blinds on a sunny day. My glossy laptop screen, however, seems to compound the lack of image depth.

Because I'd like to have the option of watching blu-ray at 1080, and my eyes aren't so great, I figure a 17" would make more sense than a 15". I can always increase the text size on the desktop if needed.

The K50 also turned out to offer lower framerate in some games that I would have hoped for, so a looking for something beefier on the gaming side (but I don't need a Radeon 7970 or whatever). I got chugging in Titan Quest at the beginning with not many monsters on the screen and gave up. With Legend of Grimrock, it was both chugging and blurred dark colors that made it unplayable.

Another thing I'd like to have is a backlit keyboard. My first laptop was an old IBM Thinkpad with an LED mounted at the top of the screen. I could press a key on the keyboard, and the light would toggle on, illuminating the whole keyboard and nearby areas on the table. Yet it didn't interfere with the image. It was great. The K50ID doesn't have any sort of lighting so I have a rigged USB LED that causes too much glare on the monitor. Screen lights like the Thinkpad had don't seem to exist any more, but a backlit keyboard would be close enough.

I was looking at the Asus N76VZ, but in a Youtube review it looked like it didn't have great viewing angles and had similar problem with the screen tilt causing bad washout. Ok, I guess all laptops suffer this some, but some are better than others. Also, it has a chiclet keyboard and I've read that it is not a good chiclet. (I like a good-feeling keyboard).

I've seen a few Youtube reviews of Sagers and it looks like their stock screen is much better for viewing angle and washout as you tilt the screen compared to my current computer, and I'm sure there are others, too.

Sorry for the length, but I wanted to try to be clear on what I'm looking for. I don't want to spend a lot of money, especially since it wasn't too many years ago I bought my current one, but the K50 may be a lesson in "cheaping out". So, if I'd rather spend a bit more than plan and get something that will actually work, than save $200 and get something that will leave me in a similar boat to where I am now.

So: 17"+ screen, blu-ray, moderately demanding games at 35+ fps, backlit keyboard (or screen-mounted LED), decent keyboard (not cramped, not slick keys etc). And of course a decent screen with good color depth and richness, and reasonable viewing angles for a laptop.

Does such a thing exist? Anyone else with bad eyes or who is semi-picky on visual quality who can comment on the N76VZ, Sager screens, or anything else? Open to suggestions, and I'm trying to set reasonable expectations

[Krayz]

You're lucky you live in the us so you can enjoy the greatness of Newegg and their incredible pricing.

Newegg.com - MSI GT Series GT70 0ND-202US Notebook Intel Core i7 3610QM(2.30GHz) 17.3" 12GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M

[Superb2]

yes your very lucky to live in us

[Notepad70]

You are right; that is one of the things that is nice. Even if my town doesn't carry much in stores that I can actually see, there is a good variety of stuff available online and for an OK price. Every place to live has its pros and cons.

Does the MSI have a real good screen? I haven't been able to find so much information (so far) about the screen quality on MSIs, but I'll look some more.

I was playing with my K50ID more last night, and here's where the problems with the screen seem to be (for me). At the desktop, when using a browser or looking at pictures, it is perfectly fine, unless the picture has a lot of dark elements. For movies it is mediocre. It is the worst in gaming (and I do a lot of gaming, so ) The blacks tend to wash out much more than average for an LCD. It's kinda like the backlight is too bright, and when I turn down the brightness I just lose what detail I was able to see so that doesn't help. Also it does pick up some glare, so leaning toward matte unless the 'graininess' I hear of is an issue for someone with similar pickiness to me.

The K50ID is a 15.6" 1366x768, and I've read that 1366x768 tend to be some of the worst panels.

Has anyone played Legend of Grimrock on the MSI, Sager, Asus N76 (or maybe G75), or whatever else and had a pleasant experience that does not rely on lighting all torches or casting the light spell? I think that could be a good benchmark game as it looks the worse of everything I've tried so far (visually) on my K50ID.

Thanks for the input so far!

[Notepad70]

Has anyone played dark games like Legend of Grimrock or Doom 3 on a laptop and have advice on a screen? Washed out black/dark seems to be one of the biggest issues where variance can occur.