a laptop made for WoW

[Sazdek]

well my HP laptop decided it no longer enjoyed life as it knew it and no longer wishes to turn on (googled a lot about this problem and the most common cause of this in hp laptops were between the AC adapter or up to the motherboard T.T). BUT as luck would have it, it's tax season. With not much else to blow 4 grand on (besides, you know, a car and blah blah blah) i have decided perhaps a chunk of this money would do well to go to getting me a new laptop. However here is my issue and why i am posting on these forums tonight. I don't know much of...anything, when it comes to hardware and what have you. I don't quite know what sort of graphics card or processor i should be looking for in terms of gaming.

so here i come to you guys hoping maybe someone can spare some mercy and give me a bit of a guideline or something as for what i should be running (or hell even a link to a decent laptop) to get the ever elusive 60+ fps on ultra graphics.

WoW is really the only game i play, with the exception of a little LoL on the side. although i may pick up Black Ops once i get my new laptop. So as far as i understand it i don't require the most high-end gaming equipment. my budget is around 500-1000 (depending how much wife ass i kiss). i am preferable to a 17+ inch screen. i dont require full HD video though 1600+ is ideal. through reading lots of feedback and customer reviews ive noticed asus tends to be a winner on most levels (mixed reviews on customer service though).

sidenote:
i am not against buying a pc since i know you can buy about the same power for a lot less in a pc, but i do prefer laptops for their mobility. nor am i against ibuyforpower but im likely to blow something up if im assembling the computer myself. (the nearest person i know who can assemble them blindfolded lives about a state over and i may need to splurge on a steak dinner to get him to come out......albeit las vegas steak dinners are advertised 6.99 it's not ideal unless you already have intestinal worms.)

so please, for any help i would be eternally grateful.

[Hozar]

If gaming is your main priority with a new laptop you could have the possibility of waiting for the Razer switchblade.
Pros:
Mobility!
Made for gaming
Shiny keyboard O_o

Cons:
No set price
tiny screen
Atom processor :/
Might never be released

[Deleted]

the dell xps wow laptop? comes with wow preloaded etc. + CD keys and 4 months game time (last time i looked)

[Bairyhalls]

If gaming is your main priority with a new laptop you could have the possibility of waiting for the Razer switchblade.
Pros:
Mobility!
Made for gaming
Shiny keyboard O_o

Cons:
No set price
tiny screen
Atom processor :/
Might never be released

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lz5v9fh4MI8

it looks good on paper. But really, i wouldnt consider buying it for a second. To small a screen, not enough keys, can almost only be used for gaming, the only cool thing about it is the changing keyboard, but i can live without :-/

[vesseblah]

If gaming is your main priority with a new laptop you could have the possibility of waiting for the Razer switchblade

Atom will not run WoW at any acceptable framerate. Also 7" screen is not quite 17"+ OP wished for. And it's concept device, not in mass manufacturing and possibly never will be.


To OP:

Here are few laptops in/near your price range, in no special order. The $900 Lenovo is otherwise good but it has low resolution, Toshiba might be best pick for generic portable gaming computer. It's too big to be laptop, but big enough to be decent desktop replacement and there are bit more expensive models if you want BluRay drive for watching movies for example.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220702
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214050

On desktop side this would be great computer, but you need to buy monitor also which increases price by few hundred.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-241-_-Product

Good thing about it is that it has hardware which will serve youmany years, it's overclockable and you can easily swap in more powerful graphics card later to upgrade for more gaming power. This one would be my choice #1.

[Sazdek]

for the switchblade, besides the price probably being....retarded (although i could see myself playing things like LoL on it as in the screenshot lol) it's entirely too small. Gaming is my priority but i do suspect i shall enjoy browsing the web from time to time >.>

and the dell xps laptop....from what i saw it was like 4500 for the wow one. the 17'' regular xps didn't look too bad though for just a bit under 1k. youtube vid showing it being played on ultra was pretty nice too...so who knows. maybe ill get a smaller version for cheaper and just get an HDMI cable and hook it up to a 20 somethin inch flat panel tv

---------- Post added 2011-01-15 at 04:14 AM ----------

@vess those are all nice. especially the desktop (may consider that one if i can come across some generic monitor for fairly cheap)

---------- Post added 2011-01-15 at 07:34 AM ----------

im also a bit curious as to what cpu type i should be looking for. i see i5 and i7 floating around here. what do those mean? what is the best cpu type for a gaming rig at the moment? i guess the same should extend to a graphics card as well because all i really see is nvidia being namedropped and a bunch of letters (most of which may as well be heiroglyphics)

[Katsumic]

I'm an Intel fan.. so I would suggest looking for laptop's with i5 or i7. The i3's aren't ideal for gaming I believe. The ASUS G67 is considered one of the better gaming laptop's, but that is $1500 For Video, I would look for ATI 5770 / 5850 / 6850 or higher. I'm not sure if there is a mobile version of the 6800's yet, but that would be pretty expensive anyway. Avoid 5830's. For Nvidia cards, the 460 / 470 are very good cards. Anything higher than those cards would be good, but is overkill on your budget if all you want it for is WOW / League of Legends.

And I'm sure you know this, but $500-1000 for a gaming laptop is a bit tricky $800-1000 on a desktop would get some very good parts, but you lose the mobility as you mentioned.

[nwo]

Atom will not run WoW at any acceptable framerate. Also 7" screen is not quite 17"+ OP wished for. And it's concept device, not in mass manufacturing and possibly never will be.


To OP:

Here are few laptops in/near your price range, in no special order. The $900 Lenovo is otherwise good but it has low resolution, Toshiba might be best pick for generic portable gaming computer. It's too big to be laptop, but big enough to be decent desktop replacement and there are bit more expensive models if you want BluRay drive for watching movies for example.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220702
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834246006
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214050

On desktop side this would be great computer, but you need to buy monitor also which increases price by few hundred.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-241-_-Product

Good thing about it is that it has hardware which will serve youmany years, it's overclockable and you can easily swap in more powerful graphics card later to upgrade for more gaming power. This one would be my choice #1.

I ordered that $900 lenovo, it should arrive on Monday. So I'll try to remember to post some feedback if anyone would like.

As far as the OP goes, I think that the Toshiba laptop you linked would satisfy his needs. Since gaming is his primary concern, a faster dual core is preferable than a lower clocked quad core. Also, that Toshiba laptop has a significantly faster graphics card than the other 2 laptops mentioned. It also has an 18" screen and a 7200 rpm HDD, so what's not to love? Maybe the 4 gigs of RAM but that should satisfy all your gaming needs without too much multitasking.

[vesseblah]

I ordered that $900 lenovo, it should arrive on Monday. So I'll try to remember to post some feedback if anyone would like.

Please do. It looks like great pick in price/performance, only thing wrong with the specs is small resolution. But it should work with external monitor at higher resolutions just fine with those specs.

[Sazdek]

thanks for all the replies. im gonna keep checking back on this one. the 18'' laptop did look quite nice. as mentioned before i dont mind switching to a desktop if it means in the long run im gonna have my kickass graphics. is 4 gigs of ram low these days? i noticed 4 is pretty much stock for most new laptops much like not too long ago 3 was stock and 2 before it.

---------- Post added 2011-01-15 at 10:46 AM ----------

Please do. It looks like great pick in price/performance, only thing wrong with the specs is small resolution. But it should work with external monitor at higher resolutions just fine with those specs.

also something i was thinking of splurging on with this tax return. 20+ inch flat screen lcd or something i can double as a tv when needed.

[Samoria]

I would personally go with one of the gaming laptops from Doghousesystems.com I got my computer from them and haven't looked back since.

[vesseblah]

thanks for all the replies. im gonna keep checking back on this one. the 18'' laptop did look quite nice. as mentioned before i dont mind switching to a desktop if it means in the long run im gonna have my kickass graphics. is 4 gigs of ram low these days? i noticed 4 is pretty much stock for most new laptops much like not too long ago 3 was stock and 2 before it.

4GB is pretty much standard, yes. More is fine, but wont give significant benefit in gaming so it's not worth paying extra either.

[Phocket]

From my own experience, I will never go back to playing WoW on a laptop; or any videogame for that matter. Laptops have a nasty tendency to overheat, and the fan on the heatsink can become bogged down and burn out way too early in the computer's life.

But, back to the OP...I would suggest buying either a Dell XPS, any of the mid-range Alienwares or a custom laptop built by Ibuypower.com. Hope this helps, and good luck!

Edit: Generally, when sticking with higher-end laptops (especially built for gaming) even the cheaper parts that you can get would be sufficient to run WoW on at least high settings with minimal lag. But, i'd suggest 4gb of DDR3 ram, any of the 400 series of Nvidia graphics cards (not personally fond of ATI cards, all the one's i've owned have burned out after about a year of use), Intel processor i'd run either an i5 or i7 (again with heating, the i7 will be running hotter than the i5) and an AMD Phenom II series processor will do you well.

[14fighter]

Check out some MSI laptops. They had some nice prices and specs last time i checked.

[vesseblah]

Ye, gaming on laptop has overheating problem. That's one of the reasons why it's not recommended, in addition to price.

[Badpaladin]

I'd only recommend a gaming laptop if you absolutely need to be mobile. If you're only going to use your computer in your home, you have no good reason to buy a laptop.

[aikouka]

I'd only recommend a gaming laptop if you absolutely need to be mobile. If you're only going to use your computer in your home, you have no good reason to buy a laptop.

Definitely agree with that. The purpose of a laptop is ease of mobility and because of that benefit, you sacrifice quite a bit in every other category. If you aren't going to be using mobility much if at all, you might as well just get a desktop and enjoy WoW with a few decent settings rather than settling for everything on low because you have a budget gaming laptop.

[Sazdek]

alright well then lets talk a bit about desktops. what would i be looking for in terms of that? still same with the 4 gigs of ddr3 ram as well as a 400 series nvidia and the i7 cpu? anything else i should know that's critical?

i wont lie im hoping a lot i can get a rig that A: if need be could be easy for me to learn on and take apart and upgrades parts later on as new ones release and be one of these rig junkies and B: can play wow on ultra with at least 50-60 fps (right now on my current laptop i get like 30...at best. but it's the best i've gamed with so far)

[Sanguinar]

The Asus g73 is pretty nice, ugly as sin though

[Sazdek]

only downside to that asus is it's about 600 more bucks than i can chuck out atm >.>

kinda messing around in ibuypower.com's configurator. using some of the predefined things i should aim for (i7 cpu, nvidia 400 series, bout 6 gigs of ddr3 ram, etc.) im sitting on a rig for $1178. that's JUST the computer though (and windows 7 being loaded into it). does this sound about right? i dont think i have a way to link the Frankenstein ive created.