Advice for a new gaming Laptop

[RandBlade]

My Laptop has continued to deteriorate physically and is now literally falling apart, with the screen quite unusable. Oops. So looking to get a new one.

I haven't actually used by PC at all this year, just my Laptop, idevices and consoles. So looking for a Laptop that is quite decent at running PC games, either on its own monitor or via HDMI onto the TV. Originally was looking at another 17", but think I'll drop down to a 15.6" as it makes it really difficult to get accessories for a 17" as well as being more expensive and fewer models available.

As much as I'm skeptical about some of the "improvements" of Windows 8 I see no point whatsoever in getting anything other than that. Want it to last a few years, not be too expensive (about 6-700 pounds), good for games but not say Gaming etc in its title.

Having said all that, I've looked around for last week or so and found this, what do you think? Any problems I should be wary of:
http://www.johnlewis.com/231740103/Product.aspx

Key things:
Core i7 2.4GHz (3.4 Turbo Boost)
6 GB RAM (I have 8GB I bought earlier this year for old machine I can replace this with, should be compatible I think).
Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7670M with 2GB Dedicated Memory
750GB HD, 15.6" monitor max display 1366x768

Is 1366x768 going to be a problem for any games? I normally play higher.

[agamemnus]

I don't know about Toshiba. It's a bit overpriced. 1366x768 might be a bit low. Mine has 1920x1080.

If you are going to relax while gaming, I'd suggest using a separate monitor and keyboard, though. The reason for that to give a height separation between your hands and where your eyes are looking so that you can sit back and not strain your eyes or your back. If you are using the laptop's screen you have to sit forward, and gaming causes you to naturally strain closer to the screen. If you are using a monitor which is positioned at a good height above your keyboard, you will see the screen better and won't need to strain.

You can also rest your hands more comfortably on the desk as a separate keyboard's edges are normally right next to the first buttons. On a laptop keyboard there is more empty space, and your hands will be unable to naturally lie prone, but will have to sit evenly dispersed, or (even worse) the laptop keyboard will cut off at an awkward portion of your wrist, causing your wrists and hands to slouch, but awkwardly.. erm..



I like Asus. I have the 17-inch G74S, last year's summer's gaming model. There have been some quality problems in relation to various things breaking or not quite working right, though.
* Speakers not very high-powered & eventually sliding against other components because of insufficient padding/bolting-down (can be physically patched).
* Blu-Ray player does not work and possibly never worked. Not 100% sure there... could just be the disks or a bad driver... I don't use this often.
* Laptop mouse pad is too sensitive -- extends well beyond the visible pad area.
* Keyboard drivers not the best (fixed)
* It's also quite heavy and big so don't buy it if you plan to move around a lot with your laptop.
* Graphics card is welded onto the motherboard. Can't replace it.

The benefits are immense, though, at least for me:
* 8GB of fast-ish RAM.
* Very powerful graphics card, for summer of last year -- close to cutting edge.
* Backlighted and large keyboard (for big fingers).
* Excellent heat dissipation.
* VERY quiet laptop. Big plus for me.
* 2 HD spots (one of which I use for a standard spinning hard disk for storage, one for my SSD for operating system speed)
* Fairly easy to partially disassemble for maintenance/swapping out parts/dust cleaning.

The price was between $1600 and $1400 over a period of a few months, so the value is good, for a gaming laptop.


The new one is the G75VW. It's like... twice as powerful and with 4 USB 3.0 slots instead of 2x2.0s and 1x3.0 that mine has. About $1550ish now. It seems to be even heavier than mine though, 8.7 pounds? I think mine is 8. Looks like it is slightly thinner, though. I will probably buy next generation after this one.

http://usa.asus.com/Notebooks/Gaming...specifications

[Kazuha Vinland]

I'll take a look later today.

[RandBlade]

I have a monitor/keyboard etc but don't use them ... Reason being is I sit on the couch playing with the laptop on my lap, chatting to my fiancée while she watches crap like X-Factor. Rather than going into the study and not seeing her.