Great laptop builds?

[boyben]

Well, I guess I have the chance to get a laptop from my dad and I was wondering if anyone could make me a great gaming laptop build or link me some already built.

 

 

His budget is: 600 - 800 USD.

[Fozzy Fozborne]

A gaming laptop on $800 is not going to happen. That is unless you consider the Alienware M11X which is more of a netbook. Add the 250GB (7200RPM) hard drive and 4 gigs of RAM.

 

Most other options in this price range include a low-end dedicated graphics card or an integrated one. If by "gaming" you mean casual gaming (GTA San Andreas and older games at decent resolutions) then these will be suitable. If you mean Crysis 2 at medium-high settings you will be disappointed.

[The Killa]

It's $39 over the budget but you can try this.

[boyben]

It's $39 over the budget but you can try this.

That's sick but is it better than the Aleinware M11x? Also the opitional blu-ray disc reader seem's epic. So which one is more epic?

[Fozzy Fozborne]

Well I'll be damned... they must have literally just added that option. My apologies as I usually more thoroughly research before opening my mouth and looking like an idiot.

 

Of the two, the Sager is definitely the better option. Why?

Better graphics card (540GT M vs 335GT M)

This is also part of the graphics card: the Sager has Optimus which auto-switches between integrated and the 540. I believe the base (core 2 powered) M11x still requires you exit a game and flip a switch.

WAY faster processor (Second-gen i5 vs very old-school Core 2 Duo)

DVD drive as you mentioned, the M11 doesn't have room for one.

More ports including more USB ports, HDMI, eSATA, USB 3.0

Bluetooth standard if that matters to you

4 vs 2GB RAM (if you wind up with the M11X, be sure to upgrade to 4 gigs. 2 gigs is really showing its age now)

Standard 7200 RPM hard drive vs 5400 RPM (if you're a power user, go for 7200RPM)

 

So what does the M11X bring to the table?

MUCH smaller form factor

Lower Price ($608 vs $870 shipped for base versions at cheapest shipping)

BUT if you equip the M11 to the same level as the Sager (4 GB RAM, bluetooth, 320gb hard drive you're looking at $770 shipped)

 

Backlit keyboard (might seem insignificant, but once you have one you will wonder how you lived without it).

 

Now if you want my 2 cents on the Blu-Ray drive, I would say skip and pocket the extra $80. My old laptop had a BR and I hardly ever used it. On a 15.6" screen you will see a major improvement over DVD but watching BR movies burns through your battery incredibly quickly and there aren't many places I found myself A) near an outlet B) not near my HDTV, and C) having and wanting to watch a BR.

Edited May 6, 2011 by Fozzy Fozborne

[boyben]

Well I'll be damned... they must have literally just added that option. My apologies as I usually more thoroughly research before opening my mouth and looking like an idiot.

 

Of the two, the Sager is definitely the better option. Why?

Better graphics card (540GT M vs 335GT M)

This is also part of the graphics card: the Sager has Optimus which auto-switches between integrated and the 540. I believe the base (core 2 powered) M11x still requires you exit a game and flip a switch.

WAY faster processor (Second-gen i5 vs very old-school Core 2 Duo)

DVD drive as you mentioned, the M11 doesn't have room for one.

More ports including more USB ports, HDMI, eSATA, USB 3.0

Bluetooth standard if that matters to you

4 vs 2GB RAM (if you wind up with the M11X, be sure to upgrade to 4 gigs. 2 gigs is really showing its age now)

Standard 7200 RPM hard drive vs 5400 RPM (if you're a power user, go for 7200RPM)

 

So what does the M11X bring to the table?

MUCH smaller form factor

Lower Price ($608 vs $870 shipped for base versions at cheapest shipping)

BUT if you equip the M11 to the same level as the Sager (4 GB RAM, bluetooth, 320gb hard drive you're looking at $770 shipped)

 

Backlit keyboard (might seem insignificant, but once you have one you will wonder how you lived without it).

 

Now if you want my 2 cents on the Blu-Ray drive, I would say skip and pocket the extra $80. My old laptop had a BR and I hardly ever used it. On a 15.6" screen you will see a major improvement over DVD but watching BR movies burns through your battery incredibly quickly and there aren't many places I found myself A) near an outlet B) not near my HDTV, and C) having and wanting to watch a BR.

Wow, Thank you for actually taking the time to type all of that, and I will be going with the Sager

[Suction Testicle Man]

I believe Sager notebooks are branded Clevos - and I own one currently. I plan on never going near them again. For such a steep price they're unreliable, badly cooled, uncomfortable and shoddily built. After 2 years of using mine, I loathe it. And should it not be obvious; if you're hoping for any kind of portability, forget it - the high-end Clevos are around 5kg. The battery is useful in case you accidentally knock out the power cable - not much else.

 

My biggest gripe has to be the build quality though (at least since I've learnt to put up with the hard drive under the palm rest steadily melting my skin after an hour of uptime). After plugging in headphones for the 4th or 5th time (ever) the soldering inside came loose from the circuit board - they now don't work at all. The LCD screen has a big white smudge in the middle when you look at it from the side (it was like that out of the box). The PCI ExpressCard slot doesn't seem to have ever been connected to a power source - it's never worked. The CPU idles at around 60 degrees, despite having a cooling system that sounds like a passing train. The only reason I still have the damn thing is I'm waiting as long as possible before sending it back on warranty, so the bastards have to fork out on an entirely new replacement model. This particular model was the top of the range available from Clevo in 2008/2009, and cost me around £1500.

 

The kind of technology they're packing into these things doesn't belong in a case this size - I know that now. Cutting edge hardware by no means guarantees decent build quality - if anything it works against it. An expensive graphics card and CPU combined with superior case design (cooling) and implementation makes for a machine that is too expensive to meet the market bracket. Therefore the job of the consumer isn't as simple as demanding the highest grade hardware, because compromises will be made that aren't in your favour - and you won't necessarily know about them. If a spec sounds too good to be true; it is.

 

My main machine is now a mini-ITX case, which is currently as small as gaming-performance hardware can go without unacceptable sacrifices on the necessities that I now realise I took for granted. I would also add that mini-ITX is as small as you can go without an overly steep price; but I'm yet to find a high-spec laptop that warrants its high price due to build quality, instead of two inappropriate graphics cards in SLI (which will ultimately damage the usability of the machine for reasons mentioned previously). So to round that up, I honestly can't begin to describe how much more important a functional machine is to being able to play the latest games. That may sound unlikely to some, but this is a very expensive way to learn a lesson.

 

Oh and bare in mind resell value. Even a decent machine rapidly decreases in value - so don't expect anything more than 10% of what you paid when you sell it (assuming a sale after 2/3 years of ownership), if you're lucky enough for it to still be working. There's probably more reasons why I hate this laptop, but I can't think of them right now. I think you get the point though.