Looking for a laptop

[Nickless]

Hey guys, I'm looking to buy a laptop for gaming. I really know very little about computer capabilities, but I want one that can at least run demanding games for the next two years. My budget is around $900-$1400 US. I welcome any advice from anyone who knows anything about anything.

Thanks!

[Relinquish]

I got mine from Dell. Was ~$1300. Made it on their website with the tell us what you want it for. No complaints really.

[Snoteye]

Stay away from brands. There are lots of online dealers that let you select a base model and customize it, this is usually what you want. I don't know any, of course, because strangely enough I don't buy my toys in USA. Other than that, about the only concrete thing I can help with is that, if you want powerful wireless, Centrino 2.0 is highly recommendable.

[Semli]

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME MAKING FUCK BERSERKER

[Box]

I have already bestowed my nerd wisdom upon him.

[Nickless]

Snoteye's suggestion sounds intriguing. Does anyone know of any USA sites that meet his specifications?

[ExileStrife]

Man, what are you smoking Snoteye?  Unbranded laptops are terrible, because (and among many other reasons) laptops are just about the only thing you want a good manufacturer's warranty for as they have a higher failure rate across the board.  Non-brand laptops are hacked together with excessive corner cutting and shoddy testing  because there is very little profit margin to be gained in the first place -- you can get lucky and get a unit that lasts you awhile, but it isn't a bet I'd take again (I knowingly bet against the odds awhile ago and regretted it tremendously).  Getting laptops off of the Dell Refurbished site and Dell Auction site is by far the best thing a common person with no industry connections can do.  The better thing is talking to someone who can get an employee discount at Lenovo or Dell *cough* like me *cough* and reap in the savings.

[Snoteye]

Unbranded laptops are terrible, because (and among many other reasons) laptops are just about the only thing you want a good manufacturer's warranty for as they have a higher failure rate across the board.

You can get just as good, separate warranties elsewhere (at least, I can). But by that, I didn't really mean go with unbranded as much as stay away from manufacturers like Alienware. Lenovos are fairly good for what they do, but do they do gaming at all? When I replaced my laptop a little over a year ago they definitely didn't (not at my budget, anyway).

[Paha]

If you want gaming laptop and good brand, I suggest Dells alienware laptops. Lots of room to customize it to your liking, and on the lowest ones (which are still kickass for laptops), you should be able to just barely fit in to your price range.

On other hand , like Snot said, you may be able to get just as good customer support and warranties anyway. Also, if you are able to avoid purchasing a brand you avoid paying from the name. Trust me as experienced PC meddler and buyer, if you buy are able to get them build rather than buy ready packages from a brand, you save a lot of money. That money you can on other hand use to get even more powerful machine.

[UnholyWon]

The HP model: dv6 2190us seems like a pretty good model for low end gaming, Sony puts out a laptop with about the same specs. The brand Asus is putting out decent gaming laptop for bottom of the barrel prices.

After doing some major laptop research over the weekend, I got the a friend of mine a dv6 2155 model. If you really want to shell out the cash, try Alienware through Dell. Alienware has been top notch for gaming machines.

Good luck!

[derfo]

uh people still pay like $1000~ + for laptops?

[IxTheSpeedy]

For laptops I would go name brand.  Especially if you aren't all that savvy with hardware.  Just get a Dell or an HP, make sure it's got a good mobile vid card.  You'll be fine.  Feel free to post or PM a link to ones you are looking at if you want, i'm happy to take a look.

[Junketeer]

There have been issues with HP wireless cards, so I would be wary of those.  We had an HP laptop whose internal wireless died, and after reading into it, many people have complained about the support service and trouble getting it repaired.  HP desktops fair much better than their laptops.  My 2001 HP desktop is doing quite fine and can handle many things I throw at it.
The IT staff at my company recommend Toshiba or Asus as quality laptops with few issues.  Dell has the company laptop market and they bought the Alienware to get a stronger position in the gaming market.  You might want to check out the Alienware specs, as they are focused on gaming, and use that as a base for other builds you look at.

[derfo]

please don't buy alienware or spend over like a thousand dollars on a laptop

[Dagam]

lol that's an oxymoron