@Chavtheworld said:

"Good" and "Gaming Laptop" do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the phrase "mid price". You insane dawg.

Get out of the basement grandpa, you're behind the times.

Or at least make an effort to read the thread for examples first. >.>

@Tennmuerti said:

@s10129107 said:

There is no such thing as a mid-priced gaming laptop. Either shell out a lot of money (which will not be worth it believe me) or put a quarter of that money into a serious desktop.

You can buy a serious desktop for $250? Sweet!

I figured a gaming laptop to be 1500 dollars. And, ok, i was exaggerating for effect. Truth be told though, i did build a top of the line desktop 4 years ago that still runs most things really well now with just a small ram upgrade for 600 total. I Also have an HP gaming laptop that i spent 900 dollars on in a WOOT sale and have been kinda dissapointed with. Its one year old but I have to scale everything down. i don't like running things at anything but native resolution.

A few generations ago i had a Gateway gaming laptop that had horrible overheating problems until the connection to the powersupply burnt out. On either laptop I had to keep it plugged in all the time. If I were the OP i'd buy a cheap laptop, unless he's an architecture or engineering student, and a nce desktop.

I'm speaking from experience having been burnt twice, and i wouldnt have bought the second one had i not needed it for solid modeling programs and MATLAB.

@s10129107 said:

@Tennmuerti said:

@s10129107 said:

There is no such thing as a mid-priced gaming laptop. Either shell out a lot of money (which will not be worth it believe me) or put a quarter of that money into a serious desktop.

You can buy a serious desktop for $250? Sweet!

I figured a gaming laptop to be 1500 dollars. And, ok, i was exaggerating for effect. Truth be told though, i did build a top of the line desktop 4 years ago that still runs most things really well now with just a small ram upgrade for 600 total. I Also have an HP gaming laptop that i spent 900 dollars on in a WOOT sale and have been kinda dissapointed with. Its one year old but I have to scale everything down. i don't like running things at anything but native resolution.

A few generations ago i had a Gateway gaming laptop that had horrible overheating problems until the connection to the powersupply burnt out. On either laptop I had to keep it plugged in all the time. If I were the OP i'd buy a cheap laptop, unless he's an architecture or engineering student, and a nce desktop.

I'm speaking from experience having been burnt twice, and i wouldnt have bought the second one had i not needed it for solid modeling programs and MATLAB.

Key phrase 'a few generations ago'.

Buying a clevo or sager laptop today and you're guaranteed something that will last years. Good gaming laptops don't overheat any more if you clean out the dust semi-regularly. And you can get some great performance ones for only a few hundred dollars more than that $900 sale desktop you spoke of. Unless you're in the UK, then the price of laptops doubles while that of desktops stays about equal to the US, making laptops here prohibitively expensive.

The fact is though, your experience is no longer valid. The new mobile chipsets have been great for the past 3 years. Gaming laptops for around $1000 are really quite good. And considering that's what people are happy to spend on a macbook, if gaming is important to you, then it's more than worth it, even with the vastly diminished battery life and added weight.

@s10129107:

I had some bad experiences with gaming laptops several years ago also, but thingsa have changed a LOT in the gaming laptop situation.

Like I mentioned in this thread i bought a $1200 Asus 17" 2 years ago, it still ran BF3 and Witcher 2 at 1920:1080 on high just fine last year. Granted i was pushing the framerate but it was only noticable rarely during real heavy stuff. Most other games I could set to max on it. At that price I had to do some looking, normally from a manufacturers website it would cost a bit more, but look and ye shall find. At $1500 you are looking at some very beefy stuff. A $1000 easily doable for a decent midrange laptop, especially if you knock down the screen to a 15" for portability. Same for heat problems again this is no longer a problem for the better manufacturers.

Like has been said in this thread (and several like it before on laptops) laptops have been doing a lot of catching up, in price and quality over the years, to desktops. They will obviously always remain more expensive, but the markup way more reasonable then 5 years ago. A few years changed a lot.

@Vitor: Yea UK gaming laptop prices are insane for some reason, and even tho I live in EU (shitty part) it was far cheaper for me to find a good deal and import from US even with shipping and tax rather then as a buddy in UK

I got an ASUS 17 inch laptop for $1,350 about 8 months ago and it blazes through anything I throw at it. It is portable, powerful, and perfect for someone who has kids and needs a laptop for its portability and it's ability to save space. It is really unbelievable that people think that laptops aren't an affordable and viable gaming platform. This isn't 2005, alot has changed even in the past couple of years.

@Wallzii said:

@Chavtheworld said:

"Good" and "Gaming Laptop" do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the phrase "mid price". You insane dawg.

Care to elaborate? You can build a high-end gaming laptop for around $1,500 that will shame any desktop using anything less than a GTX 570. Throw in some overclocking, and you can make that a GTX 580. Is that not "good" enough?

As for the earlier comment about building something for a quarter of the price, you're dreaming. 3/4 sounds about right for the basic components. Good luck finding a GTX 570 or HD 7870 paired with an i5 for $400. You're still going to need an HDD, RAM, power supply, case, and just for shits we'll leave the monitor out.

@Tennmuerti said:

@Chavtheworld said:

"Good" and "Gaming Laptop" do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the phrase "mid price". You insane dawg.

Get out of the basement grandpa, you're behind the times.

Or at least make an effort to read the thread for examples first. >.>

Okay, let's look at an example from the thread:

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-laptops-ct-95_51_147.html

The most expensive on there, M14x with a GTX 650m. Ohhh fancy 650! That sounds good right? Using THE graphics card test we can see that the GTX 670m (the poxy 650's next model up) ranks a dismal 63rd. Where does that put the 650? Probably worse than ~100 cards, including the GeForce GTX 260 a card which can be bought for $90 dollars.

$1400 laptop loses to sub $100 desktop GPU. Yep.

@Chavtheworld said:

@Wallzii said:

@Chavtheworld said:

"Good" and "Gaming Laptop" do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the phrase "mid price". You insane dawg.

Care to elaborate? You can build a high-end gaming laptop for around $1,500 that will shame any desktop using anything less than a GTX 570. Throw in some overclocking, and you can make that a GTX 580. Is that not "good" enough?

As for the earlier comment about building something for a quarter of the price, you're dreaming. 3/4 sounds about right for the basic components. Good luck finding a GTX 570 or HD 7870 paired with an i5 for $400. You're still going to need an HDD, RAM, power supply, case, and just for shits we'll leave the monitor out.

@Tennmuerti said:

@Chavtheworld said:

"Good" and "Gaming Laptop" do not belong in the same sentence, let alone the phrase "mid price". You insane dawg.

Get out of the basement grandpa, you're behind the times.

Or at least make an effort to read the thread for examples first. >.>

Okay, let's look at an example from the thread:

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-laptops-ct-95_51_147.html

The most expensive on there, M14x with a GTX 650m. Ohhh fancy 650! That sounds good right? Using THE graphics card test we can see that the GTX 670m (the poxy 650's next model up) ranks a dismal 63rd. Where does that put the 650? Probably worse than ~100 cards, including the GeForce GTX 260 a card which can be bought for $90 dollars.

$1400 laptop loses to sub $100 desktop GPU. Yep.

Did you just compare an entire selection of hardware and software motherboard/ram/hdd/power/fans/case/screen/gpu/cpu/OS to 1 GPU in price? What the fuck?

And Alienware at that, the most overpiced gaming laptops there are. /facepalm

5 min search here is something already better then your precious 260 http://www.btotech.com/_e/dept/10/17_Custom_Laptops.htm and an i7 to boot, or http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%204802&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&Order=PRICED&PageSize=20, a new 680m (not even on your chart yet) at a lower price http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP9150, same 670m cheaper http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP9130

Nor does "good" and "gaming" say anything about price, i'm hapilly playing on my dual SLI 6990's. Gaming looks pretty good from up here let me tell you.

Price for a laptop will always be more, this is a no brainer.

"mid price" refered to is mid price for a laptop. like this at a 1k range http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214604 with the lower res, the small hit in GPU power doesn't matter

Here is something maybe more to your taste and "high range" http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?oc=dkcwgr1&c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=alienware-m17x-r4 that 7970M sitting poretty high up there, overpriced 1700 Alienware for the entire thing.

And this is with the laptop prices fluctuating all the time, a cursory 20-30 min glance, spend a few weeks waiting, searching, or looking for deals from time to time and you can drop all of the above even lower.

@Chavtheworld: That was the single most idiotic post I've ever seen.

Tell me, when you compare a laptop to the desktop price would it not make sense to compare it to EVERY part?

Hey guys, this ENTIRE laptop is worth more than a single GPU! No shit.

And I could find an Alienware desktop PC also that was vastly overpriced, big deal.

Desktops will ALWAYS be cheaper and faster. That doesn't make gaming laptops redundant.

@Tennmuerti: @Vitor: I can't even bother to reply properly to people who genuinely thought I was comparing the whole price of the laptop to one component. I just couldn't be arsed to find the actual value of a 650m. Jesus fucking christ you people are dumb.

You asked me to look at an example in the thread. So I did, and now you complain more. I give up.

@Chavtheworld: 'Good and gaming laptop do not go together'

Judging by the fact that mobile GPUs are in your 'benchmark' test, clearly you're either trolling, deluded, or a laptop stole your lollipop many years ago and you've been resentful since.

I just cannot fathom why some people are so down with bashing laptops as soon as someone suggests gaming.

Guess what, we're not all 14 year old boys who are forever at home in their parents house. Some of us go to university away from home, others travel for work. Laptops suit as far better than a desktop ever would and a decent one will max out any current gen game, no heating problems, no performance issues.

I am just going to toss this out there; why not get a mid range mac book Pro and install Win7 on it? My friend has been gaming on his mac tower for years with boot camp. Then you would have both OSs.

@Chavtheworld said:

@Tennmuerti: @Vitor: I can't even bother to reply properly to people who genuinely thought I was comparing the whole price of the laptop to one component. I just couldn't be arsed to find the actual value of a 650m. Jesus fucking christ you people are dumb.

You asked me to look at an example in the thread. So I did, and now you complain more. I give up.

There is no actual price for a 650m it comes inbuilt with a laptop. And what did you want to do with that price compare it 1 to 1 to a non mobile GPU? lawl. How would that even matter for anything? It's more expensive? No shit.

Doesn't matter what we though, you presented it that way, skewing the hyperbole via several layers. Next time have a non asinine comparison or expect to be called on the nonsense.

I also presented you with half a dozen much better alternatives and specs for comparisons. One of my examples is also from this thread btw. Another example is a top 10 card for a bit of a price increase. But yes give up, it's what I'd do if I had no actual argument on "good" and "gaming laptop"

No wait, i'd have the decency to admit my bad and politely bow out.

The main issue with gaming laptop is that they aren't upgradeable in any of the ways that matter to gamers, and buying one now with a new console generation right around the corner is a terrible time to jump in as it will probably be useless for new games within the next 18-24 months even if you spend big $$$ on it. And anything below top of the line usually gives up too much to be worth it in most people's eyes.

This thread is getting pretty scary, mostly because people seem unclear on what the OP's budget and expectations are, if you don't have a clear recommendation within the guy's budget, what are you doing arguing about completely irrelevant points in here, you just make us all look like a bunch of psychos.

@Kidavenger: Because the OP might glance through the comments, see that everyone's saying that a gaming laptop is not worth the investment and might believe that as it seems to be the majority opinion. Except he'd be wrong, and a bunch of misinformation would have swayed him from a potentially decent purchase.

Also, if he's going for mid-range, I doubt he cares about future proofing it for the next gen. A mid range desktop couldn't be sure of that as we know nothing of what's coming out in 2 years. Hardly matters though, I'd say getting 2 years of use out of a mid-range laptop is plenty of bang for your buck.

@Vitor: Really all you have to do is post a decent laptop that meets his budget, how can anyone argue with that?

Lots of people are going nuts over specs with very little applicable examples of laptops with confirmed prices.

Someone should make up a guide to gaming laptops and get it stickied, these topics come up enough and it seems like a lot of people probably don't know what they are talking about.

@Kidavenger: I posted several links with $1k price range laptops :P (which is about inline with his euro budged) OP was also provided before that with several less specific links to do his own choices and start digging.

Don't see a prob correcting misinformed people, if they want to start beef over it theyre welcome to a tussle. I personally get a kick out of arguing on the forums. Maybe i'm a sicko :)

@Kidavenger said:

@Vitor: Really all you have to do is post a decent laptop that meets his budget, how can anyone argue with that?

Lots of people are going nuts over specs with very little applicable examples of laptops with confirmed prices.

Someone should make up a guide to gaming laptops and get it stickied, these topics come up enough and it seems like a lot of people probably don't know what they are talking about.

I would have tossed him a suggestion but when he said Euros I immediately realized I have no idea where one shops for decent prices on laptops in Europe.

@sgjackson said:

@Kidavenger said:

@Vitor: Really all you have to do is post a decent laptop that meets his budget, how can anyone argue with that?

Lots of people are going nuts over specs with very little applicable examples of laptops with confirmed prices.

Someone should make up a guide to gaming laptops and get it stickied, these topics come up enough and it seems like a lot of people probably don't know what they are talking about.

I would have tossed him a suggestion but when he said Euros I immediately realized I have no idea where one shops for decent prices on laptops in Europe.

Nowhere. It's all absurd.

Germany seems the best from what I've seen recently but it's almost cheaper to fly to America just to get a laptop and come back than it is to buy one out here. The only place I could have recommended was Kobalt and they shut down.

@Kidavenger said:

The main issue with gaming laptop is that they aren't upgradeable in any of the ways that matter to gamers, and buying one now with a new console generation right around the corner is a terrible time to jump in as it will probably be useless for new games within the next 18-24 months even if you spend big $$$ on it. And anything below top of the line usually gives up too much to be worth it in most people's eyes.

This thread is getting pretty scary, mostly because people seem unclear on what the OP's budget and expectations are, if you don't have a clear recommendation within the guy's budget, what are you doing arguing about completely irrelevant points in here, you just make us all look like a bunch of psychos.

Quality gaming laptop brands are user upgradeable. I plan to upgrade my GPU, which is plug and play with compatible MXM slot cards, when my current GPU isn't enough. I've already got options, and next generation cards will offer even more. If being able to upgrade your GPU isn't what matters most to gamers, I don't know what does. CPU (compatible sockets), RAM, and two HDD slots are also plug and play, very user upgradeable.

This thread is scary because people like to provide their opinionated input as fact, when it isn't even touching on the reality of things. People engaged with this thread are doing their best to dispel the misinformation being spread to people who are interested and have a use for a gaming laptop.

There have been multiple suggestions to the OP in the range he is looking for, in the form of specific configurations, as well as advice itself. It is hard to get specifics for a European customer, as costs over there are rediculous and lose their value quick.

Here is another machine for 788 Euros including VAT that is even better than the one I listed above. I'm not sure where in Europe you are, but shipping looks to be pretty good as well. The above configured price includes a 15.6" screen at 1080p, Core i7-3610QM, 8GB RAM, 750GB 7,200RPM HDD, and a 650M GPU (the GDDR5 version, which is capable of gaming at 1080p, whereas the GDDR3 version is aimed at 720p). This build includes an OS as well, and is better than the one I mentioned above (11" @ 720p vs 15" @1080p) for the same price.

This one looks to be perfect for what you said you were looking for, I thought the 11" I suggested earlier may be a bit small, and the resolution too low for anything outside of gaming.

First off thanks to all the people who gave serious suggestions. I already spend some time looking at some of these laptops and spec's and will also check the new ones made since then. I tried to reply in my own topic yesterday, but either GiantBomb or my tablet didn't really want to work along (guess the later...). I've not had time to reply to everything in great detail due to a busy combination of work and being a parent.

I'm sorry the topic seemed to be a bit of flame-bait for some. I did not realize this was such a hot and debated topic. My idea was just to ask about a Laptop mainly for my wife that I could 'abuse' to play some games on I simply can not play on the console. So nothing like the latest version of Battefield. Mainly because I'm super excited about the new Xcom reboot (the strategy one) and my desktop PC is so underpowered these days it's sad, my work laptop is a powerhouse but... not for gaming, it's great for developing and coding but not actually running games. And my personal laptop is a MacBook Pro. I tried experimenting with games running in Paralells or Bootcamp, but I could not get something like Dawn of War II to even run normally on that.

Oh and yeah, Europian.. Dutch to be exact. Not sure if we have the same issues in pricing as the people in the UK. I think it's less bad here as some of the spec's I've seen here are within budget. Then again my MacBook Pro was 3.000 dollars (2.400 euros) a few years back. So yeah... US people somethings are nicer over on your side of the ocean :D