Gaming laptop help

[JK Ferret]

Ok, so first off, if this is in the wrong area apologies, but it seemed like the most apt place to put it

So, my gf and I are looking at upgrading one of our laptops. We use them instead of desktops because of mobility, we move around a lot (between countries). I would like some people to look through the components/specs I'll list and tell me if it's a good idea or if there is a better one/better value.

First off, the most common games we play:

-Rift (MMO)
-BioShock Infinite and other games using similar or less amounts of resources

Now, what we (or rather my gf, she is slightly more tech than I am) are looking at is Alienware. However, we're concerned that we might be paying more just because of the name.

This is what we're currently looking at, left column.

So, the main question/s is/are:
-This is basically all our saved money just to buy one (even a little over), could we get the same or better or similar somewhere else at a lower price?
-Will this be overkill? I know my gf wants the best, this spec beats her current desktop at home, but I am willing to settle for less so long as I can play my games well (as listed above)

Any advice is welcome

[jim]

Moved over to the laptop section, will leave the advice to those more knowledgeable

[AETAaAS]

Are you set on 17 inches? I use a 15 inch P150EM and it's been very solid for me so far. Hundreds of hours gaming clocked, a fair bit of encoding and even more total uptime seeding uh... Linux torrents. Thus far it hasn't missed a beat. I went for a i7 3630QM with a 7970M and it suits me well for Battlefield 4 at 1920 with Medium (you can go High but I like staying above 50FPS).

There are new models with Haswell and also a 17 inch, all built on a Clevo barebone.
http://3xs.scan.co.uk/configurator/3xs-graphite-lg1710
http://www.pwnpcs.co.uk/laptops/clevo-p170sm

I bought mine of Pwnpcs because they were the ones who had the 7970M in stock at the time. But you can configure yours and see which comes out cheaper. I don't know if you have a particular loyalty to either the green or red team but the AMDs tend to get the edge on value even here. Comparison of cards; (http://www.notebookcheck.net/Compari...rds.130.0.html)

[plorhue]

I currently use a Asus G51, and it has lasted me for about 4 years now (still can play GRID2 apparently lol)

A few things about these kinda laptops:
- They are heavy and bulky, travelling with them is quite annoying, so its more like a portable desktop. I find 15.6" big enough already, 17" is just massive.
- They may run hot (at least hotter than desktops and normal laptops) , you may need to get a cooler to keep temps down

Alienware is a good option with the warranty and stuff but there's other options you can consider.. the clevo barebones like AETAaAS mentioned, or the asus gaming laptops:

like the ASUS G750JW ROG (check amazon) for about 1.5k pounds.

[aph3x]

I currently use a Asus G51, and it has lasted me for about 4 years now (still can play GRID2 apparently lol)

A few things about these kinda laptops:
- They are heavy and bulky, travelling with them is quite annoying, so its more like a portable desktop. I find 15.6" big enough already, 17" is just massive.
- They may run hot (at least hotter than desktops and normal laptops) , you may need to get a cooler to keep temps down

Alienware is a good option with the warranty and stuff but there's other options you can consider.. the clevo barebones like AETAaAS mentioned, or the asus gaming laptops:

like the ASUS G750JW ROG (check amazon) for about 1.5k pounds.

Long time lurker here so go easy

I was at a LAN the other week and I seen this guy who had a gaming laptop. It looked very similar to a Razerblade. It's the MSI GS70 Stealth edition. I was quite surprised by the build quality. Really sleek in a brushed metallic chassis and 17.3" screen. Having seen the Asus one's they are just a bit on the bulky and noisy side for my liking.

Scan are listing the MSI GS70 Stealth Edition for £1099.00 Inc. And it comes with a two year warranty as well.

Spec's Are

17.3" Screen (1920 x 1080)
Windows 8
i7 4700HQ
1TB HDD and 128Gb SSD
8Gb DDR3
Nvidia GTX 765M

I really like the look of it, has anyone had any experience with MSI Gaming Notebooks ?

[krakajack]

I've just purchased a laptop. My first actually as I normally use a desktop, but am now going to be out and about. Purchased it from Novatech, it is the nSpire N1580 system, 15.6", 8GB memory, but I have upgraded it to an i7-4702MQ and a Seagate 1TB Momentus XT hybrid hard drive. It comes with an Nvidia GT745M graphics card so should be alright for most games. Cost me all told £670 inc free delivery. Will let you know what it's like once I've had it delivered and played around with it a bit.

UPDATE...

Okay, have done a first use test. Laptop comes without an OS installed which is nice as you can tailor it to what ever you prefer, I went for windows 7 64bit as it's a non touch screen so felt for now windows 8 wasn't worth it. (Might install it later to compare speeds etc). Build quality is excellent in my opinion and it is much lighter and thinner than I was expecting, almost Ultrabook levels. Battery life is a bit light, think I managed about 3-4 hours on it, only comes with a 3000mA battery. (Not sure if they do a bigger capacity battery but will check). Not installed any games as yet, but will get round to that this weekend and see how the graphics hold up and do a 3D mark run too. Oh, and picture quality is very good.

All in all I am happy with the purchase so far, and with the options that they do on the range I am sure people will be able to find a spec to suit them.