Gaming Laptop

[Wild Card]

Looking to get a gaming laptop for around $400 price range. This isn't for like super AA titles like Call of Duty, more like Guild Wars 2 type games.

[IRemember]

Do you want a laptop because you want to be able to play games in various locations, move around and not be stuck to playing in one area, or do you want a laptop because you think it will be cheaper?

A $400 laptop is not going to run Guild Wars 2.  It may not be the most demanding game in the world, but it does need a fair bit of ram and a decent graphics card.  If you want a laptop capable of running Guild Wars 2, expect to spend at least $800 or so.  Gaming laptops are not cheap.

A $400 desk top is not going to run Guild Wars 2 either.  If you expand your budget a bit though, $600 to $700 can build you a gaming PC that will do that.  Do you want to buy a pre-built one, or are you open to building it yourself?

[Wild Card]

Do you want a laptop because you want to be able to play games in various locations, move around and not be stuck to playing in one area, or do you want a laptop because you think it will be cheaper?

Both in this case.

A $400 desk top is not going to run Guild Wars 2 either.  If you expand your budget a bit though, $600 to $700 can build you a gaming PC that will do that.  Do you want to buy a pre-built one, or are you open to building it yourself?

Now that does surprise me since I have been doing research on building gaming rigs and a lot of the stuff I have been reading says you can put together a decent machine for the price of essentially a next generation console. I wouldn't build a laptop but I would be open to prebuilding a desktop

[IRemember]

$400 can get you a PC that can play many games, but not one that is going to run Guild Wars 2 well.  The $400 you saw also may not have included the motherboard, tower and power supply.

I suggest trying Reddit.  This subreddit can give you good tips and help you work on something in your budget:  http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc

Their IRC channel is very helpful as well.

[IRemember]

Also, buying a pre-built will always be more expensive.  Buying a gaming PC from any of the "big" names is pretty much a bad idea if you don't have a good understanding of what the components inside of them are and what their specifications mean.  The "big" name companies often put sub-standard parts in their machines and an actually good gaming machine is going to cost too much.

There are companies which will assemble the PC from scratch for you, good machines, without giving you shitty parts or a ridiculous mark up.  But they are outside of your budget.  I would suggest https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ , pretty much any of their machines are a good value.

[Wild Card]

alright I didn't know Guild Wars 2 was a graphically demanding game compared to what's out there these days. Let me set the bar lower than for a laptop; NWN2

[Mass Transit]

Gaming laptops are almost an oxymoron. They also have notoriously short life-spans. Do yourself a favor and build your own tower, newegg often has deals for PC builders and you can get anything you want for it. Additionally you can upgrade it as you wish, unlike a laptop.

[Pandip]

I would ask yourself if you genuinely need a laptop. Generally, gaming laptops are heavy, have a miserable battery life, run very hot, and cost more for less in terms of gaming performance. Unless you're planning to use this for college or work and it's absolutely key that you get mobility, I suggest you reconsider getting a gaming laptop. Your price point is very low for gaming purposes, particularly for a laptop. You're mostly looking at a capable  home desktop rather than a competent gaming computer at $400. You also won't be able to upgrade a laptop half as easily as a desktop, if at all.