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Gamer-approved laptop recommendation thread

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Djin1979 said:
Any help ?
Click to expand...

Here is what I did.

Control Panel > View Devices and Printers > [Whateveryounamedit - HP] > Hardware > Radeon (TM) HD 6770M > Double click that, then click Driver > Update Driver.

It should take awhile for it to auto find and install the driver, but once I did that everything started working. :D
 
so I got the HP yesterday and I must say it is a nice system, but it needs a reformat and sp1 when I get home. I'll write about the positives when I get home and can test games, but here are the negatives:
the fingerprint scanner is stupid as fuck. It doesn't remember my print
the trackpad scroll is moody and I can't double tap it to right click, I have to use the dedicated button. Single click is fine
no bluetooth on the config I bought(not a pro or con, just a heads up if others are considering it)
beats audio allows me to hear windows chimes the way bill gates intended to!(i wonder if the laptop would have been $100 less if they didn't include this worthless 'feature')
 
From what I gather, this HP DV7T QE for $899 is a solid deal? Any reason to consider the DV6T instead? Thanks for any input in advance.


- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
- 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
- 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
- FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
- 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
- FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
- Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
 
It's only coming down to whether you want 16" or 17".
Obsessed said:
Do you mean this?

hyc.png
Click to expand...
Yeah but I need one that shows the 6770M, and not the Intel IGP.
 
Professor Fog said:
From what I gather, this HP DV7T QE for $899 is a solid deal? Any reason to consider the DV6T instead? Thanks for any input in advance.


- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
- 2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
- 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
- FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
- 640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
- 6-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (standard) - Up to 5.25 hours of battery life +++
- 17.3" diagonal HD+ HP BrightView LED Display (1600 x 900)
- FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
- Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Click to expand...
that's a great deal. The dv6t deal I got was the same price. I would never get a 17in screen though
 
Lkr said:
that's a great deal. The dv6t deal I got was the same price. I would never get a 17in screen though
Click to expand...

Any particular reason? Just too monstrous for a laptop? I assume this just comes down to individual preference. I've never owned a laptop before, so this is all new territory for me.
 
I'm going to get one of the DV6T Quad editions, is it worth it to spend $150 to upgrade the screen?

15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)

VS.

15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
 
Can someone recommend a laptop for up to $300 that can do some 3D decently? Not so much for the latest games but something that could do a 3D model with autocad and then render it in less than a week. All I've seen at that price range is stuff like this which seem halfway decent but would likely be slow for such things. If there are no laptops that are any better for that price then are there cheaper ones of similar quality?
 
Alextended said:
Can someone recommend a laptop for up to $300 that can do some 3D decently? Not so much for the latest games but something that could do a 3D model with autocad and then render it in less than a week. All I've seen at that price range is stuff like this which seem halfway decent but would likely be slow for such things. If there are no laptops that are any better for that price then are there cheaper ones of similar quality?
Click to expand...

For $280 that's a solid deal.

There's some good laptops on Slickdeals.net going for $500ish.

If you don't mind used or spending a bit more $, you can pick up an Alienware M11x R1 for $500 which is a really solid gaming laptop with a nice GPU, overclockable CPU and extreme portability with a transferable warranty from whoever you buy it from.
 
Ok well the university suggests at least an i5 and dedicated graphics card (wtf? for autocad?) so what's the cheapest laptop that qualifies?

The cheapest on Best Buy is $680 (and they don't have it available for shipping the first they have is $750) and on Amazon they don't even list the specs right so I can't tell...

It's not for me I'm just supposed to be helping someone pick it out for a gift so it has to be new or at worst refurbished from a decent brand...
 
I went on the HP website and put this thing together. The only gaming I "might" do on this would be Diablo 3. I mainly just want it for regular tasks like web browsing, watching videos, etc. The one thing I would do is add an SSD drive because I would love for it to be really fast with the booting up and loading applications. Since the option is not given I would have to buy it separate and install it myself. Would I have any problems if I decided to do that? Another thing for those that have bought these laptops from HP, how are the temps and battery life? I understand that these have switchable graphics between the Radeon card and the integrated graphics, how is the battery when running on the integrated card?

Anyways this is the laptop I put together, is it good enough? Can I get something similar or better for cheaper? Are there coupons to make the price go a little bit lower? And how would I go about getting a free XBox 360 if I order this online. The price is a little on the high side.

Price: $934.99 before shipping.
Operating system: Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
Processor: 2nd generation Intel(R) Dual Core(TM) i5-2410M (2.3 GHz, 3MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz
Graphics card: 1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
Memory: FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
Hard drive: 640GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Primary battery: 50% OFF!! One 6-Cell and One 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
Display: 15.6" diagonal High Definition HP BrightView LED Display (1366x768)
Primary optical drive: SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support

If only they had this same setup on a 13" :( That's a DV6 btw if I'm not mistaken. I would get a Macbook Pro but it's too much money for what brings. If I were to get a Macbook Pro it would be the 13" and I doubt that will be able to run Diablo 3 decently.
 
King Cobra said:
I have an Asus g73jw-rog, let me say that it is absolutely the best laptop I have ever had. It stays very cool, I think asus did a genius design with the cooling system. And best of all it runs everything so smoothly. I can run games like the witcher 2 or mass effect 2 at the highest settings with no problem.

Specs:
i7
1.5gb 460
Blu-ray burner
1.5tb HDD 7200rpm
16GB DDR3 1333MHz ram
1920x1080 resolution
usb 3.0
Click to expand...
16 gigs of ram? Damn man. How much did this cost?
 
How is this HP config?

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC

dark umber
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
30% OFF! 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.75 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Comes to $1,043.37 total
 
Jarmel said:
Trying to decide between Vaio S and Alienware M14. Which would have the higher performance in general?

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs...&productId=8198552921666342303#specifications

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&model_id=alienware-m14x
Click to expand...
CPU and GPU wise, the Alienware is close to twice the speed of the Vaio S. It's not even close, and the Vaio's price makes me laugh.

Ashhong said:
How is this HP config?

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC

dark umber
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
30% OFF! 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.75 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Comes to $1,043.37 total
Click to expand...
Once you're over $1k, the Asus G53 @ $1,150 is the only machine to buy.

The GTX 460M is 40% faster than the GT 555M.
 
K.Jack said:
CPU and GPU wise, the Alienware is close to twice the speed of the Vaio S. It's not even close, and the Vaio's price makes me laugh.
Click to expand...

Wait the clock speeds are signficantly higher on the VS. Is the 2630 that much better than the 2620?
 
Ashhong said:
How is this HP config?

HP Pavilion dv6t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC

dark umber
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
2nd generation Intel(R) Quad Core(TM) i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz
1GB GDDR5 Radeon(TM) HD 6770M Graphics [HDMI, VGA]
FREE Upgrade to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
640GB 7200RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
No Additional Office Software
No additional security software
30% OFF! 9-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery (over-sized) - Up to 9.75 hours of battery life +++
15.6" diagonal Full HD HP Anti-glare LED Display (1920 x 1080)
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone and HP SimplePass Fingerprint Reader
Intel 802.11b/g/n WLAN with Wireless Display Support
Standard Keyboard with numeric keypad
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

Comes to $1,043.37 total
Click to expand...
is that after the 30% off coupon?
 
BoobPhysics101 said:
The G73SW doesn't have Optimus support, so the battery life should be similarly weaksauce.
Click to expand...

I was told by a Fry's employee that the Asus G73SW can switch to integrated graphics due to the CPU and not GPU, is this incorrect? Or is it because the G73SW doesn't have intel's integrated GPU? The specs list it at 4hr 30min battery life. I'm hoping to get at least 3 hours of normal use(non-gaming) and not the shitty 1-2 hr from my old laptop.

I really like how I felt no heat whatsoever from it. The guy told me it was built that way. Then again, only thing that I ran on it was movie maker and the video demo. Does it get loud or hot when gaming?

I think i'm going to get the G73SW but not totally sure if 15inch or 17inch. I like big screens but just hate using them in public or lugging them around. Any idea if the one at newegg sports the 4GB Hybrid HDD? How hard would it be to upgrade to Blu-Ray?
 
Jarmel said:
Wait the clock speeds are signficantly higher on the VS. Is the 2630 that much better than the 2620?
Click to expand...
The 2630 is a quad-core, while the 2620 is a dual-core.
 
My Lenovo y560 keeps shutting off mid-game, its been getting worse over the past couple of months I guess........when I played Portal 2 I just dialed down the settings and it stayed stable but now I'm playing BLOPS and Assassins Creed and my temperature is rising to 90 degrees C or more........

Its a quad core i7 with a 5730 gpu

Any suggestions? When I bought this thing it ran SC2 at ultra with no shutoff problems.....

Already using a cooling pad, might get thermal paste if it will help


Looks like my cores are 70 degrees right now and I'm only browsing the net and transferring files to an external hard drive
 
Lkr said:
is that after the 30% off coupon?
Click to expand...

Yea its after the 33% coupon. Before its like 1400 or something. Already ordered it...will have to look into this Asus laptop mentioned above

K.Jack said:
Once you're over $1k, the Asus G53 @ $1,150 is the only machine to buy.

The GTX 460M is 40% faster than the GT 555M.
Click to expand...

I dont see it for 1,150$. Link please? And so are you saying the HP is a bad deal? or is it decent and the Asus is just better
 
My friends sister needs a laptop, need some recommendations.

Use: Web-browsing, school, movies, going into 1st Year University
Size: 14 inch preferabbly, but 13-15 is fine.
Price Range: $700-900 CAD
 
I'm not an expert, but I'm concerned about the heating of my HP DV7.

Took today while playing Crysis II :



The CPU and the GPU temperatures seem very high... Well, today it's pretty hot in Montreal, 30°c

Are those temps normal for a laptop ?

edit : I never experienced crashes while playing.
 
Djin1979 said:
I'm not an expert, but I'm concerned about the heating of my HP DV7.

Took today while playing Crysis II :



The CPU and the GPU temperatures seem very high... Well, today it's pretty hot in Montreal, 30°c

Are those temps normal for a laptop ?
Click to expand...

That is pretty high. I think technically you can run at 100C but I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that.

Have you tried blowing/vacuuming the dust from the fan vent? If that doesn't work, you may want to try re-pasting the CPU & GPU. Also get your laptop elevated with a laptop cooler either with or without fans. Also you may try undervolting the laptop. Other than that, there's not a whole lot you can do.
 
Due to some screwups by Dell's customer support I'm getting the below for $850 out the door (that's including shipping and taxes).

i7-2630QM processor 2.00 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
17.3" FHD (1080p) 3D Display with 2.0MP HD Webcam
NVIDIA 3D Vision glasses (1 pair)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory (4 DIMM upgradeable to 16GB)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB (NO Optimus because of Dell's stupid construction)
90 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD)
Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0

I asked this earlier, but didn't really get a response. What settings can I safely run for Witcher 2 with a laptop like this? After seeing the post about the GTX 460M I'm having a little buyer's remorse.

I can still return this. Should I?
 
At $850, it's a no-brainer. Don't return it, unless your budget is actually $1200, and you're willing to go that high.

Ashhong said:
I dont see it for 1,150$. Link please? And so are you saying the HP is a bad deal? or is it decent and the Asus is just better
Click to expand...
Right here.

The HP is good below $1k, but above that the G53 is the best, if you value GPU horsepower.
 
K.Jack said:
At $850, it's a no-brainer. Don't return it, unless your budget is actually $1200, and you're willing to go that high.


Right here.

The HP is good below $1k, but above that the G53 is the best, if you value GPU horsepower.
Click to expand...

Well I only paid 43 over 1k. How much better is that GTX than the 1gb 6770? Plus after tax it goes up even more, and the HP has bluray as well. Doesn't seem too bad
 
since I'm a junior memeber, I can't make new threads. I am here to ask you guys a question about Laptop GPUs

I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad W520, I know it has a Nvidia Quadro 1000M graphic card. but when I check on the Windows Experience Index, Intel HD Graphics is listed as my graphic card instead of Quadro 1000M.

Can someone please explain what is going on here?

alqaab.jpg
 
Does your laptop have switchable GPU's? Make sure to select the high power one when gaming/plugged in.

You can configure all that stuff in the power settings (ie, high power GPU when connected/low power when on batter, etc etc).
 
Currently have an asus G73J but it's just too damn cumbersome for my job and I've dropped it a couple times, tough bastard luckily but afraid next time is going to actually do damage, is the alienware m11x still viable option? Perhaps the 15 is a better choice.
 
gdt5016 said:
Does your laptop have switchable GPU's? Make sure to select the high power one when gaming/plugged in.

You can configure all that stuff in the power settings (ie, high power GPU when connected/low power when on batter, etc etc).
Click to expand...
thanks man, I did a little research, I found out that W520 automatically switch between two GPUs. I was so mad when I saw Intel Graphics on that Windows Experience Index page the first time. I thought I got ripped off by lenovo big time. lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLrdSPADFyc
 
zero margin said:
Currently have an asus G73J but it's just too damn cumbersome for my job and I've dropped it a couple times, tough bastard luckily but afraid next time is going to actually do damage, is the alienware m11x still viable option? Perhaps the 15 is a better choice.
Click to expand...


they are both technically less powerful than the G73jw though. I own a m11x and G73, i'd say the m11x is very decent subnotebook, you just have to get used to the small keyboard.


edit: anyone got any reliable dell sales reps that give generous discounts?
 
hteng said:
they are both technically less powerful than the G73jw though. I own a m11x and G73, i'd say the m11x is very decent subnotebook, you just have to get used to the small keyboard.


edit: anyone got any reliable dell sales reps that give generous discounts?
Click to expand...
Dell misrepresented that the xps17 would have Optimus and gave me back 150 to not send back for a refund.
 
hteng said:
they are both technically less powerful than the G73jw though. I own a m11x and G73, i'd say the m11x is very decent subnotebook, you just have to get used to the small keyboard.


edit: anyone got any reliable dell sales reps that give generous discounts?
Click to expand...

I figured it would be a big drop in performance and I expect as much from dropping that much size. I can deal with the keyboard I think, just want to be as portable as possible so really even the 15 is too big. IF I can play BF3 and other current games on at least medium settings than that will be ok. That's the other thing though is how fun would playing an FPS on an 11" screen be? You got any impressions? Thanks for response btw.

EDIT - going to have to go with the 15 to play BF3 it looks like, that cpu is just not gonna work. 15 might be portable enough but they weigh a ton I heard.
 
K.Jack said:
The 6970M is now being phased out. I'll deliver more info when it's available.
Click to expand...

In your current opinion, is this a "you should grab a laptop with one while you can" situation or a "something interesting is happening" situation?
 
So I bought the HPDV6 Quad with the Radeon HD 6770M. I just want to know how do I check it's "power level" (for lack of a better term) compared to other graphics cards in the Radeon HD series?

I ask because I tried running the Psychonauts demo on Steam, and it ran kind of fine, but I think I had either significant framerate dips, or random little pauses. The systems requirement site said the recommended card is an ATI Radeon 9600 or higher. How do I check if my card is better or worse than the recommended?
 
Obsessed said:
So I bought the HPDV6 Quad with the Radeon HD 6770M. I just want to know how do I check it's "power level" (for lack of a better term) compared to other graphics cards in the Radeon HD series?

I ask because I tried running the Psychonauts demo on Steam, and it ran kind of fine, but I think I had either significant framerate dips, or random little pauses. The systems requirement site said the recommended card is an ATI Radeon 9600 or higher. How do I check if my card is better or worse than the recommended?
Click to expand...
your card is much better. make sure you have set it to high priority in catalyst so the app will use the dedicated card instead of the integrated graphics.

to fix heat issues I'd turn coolsense to coolest mode
 
Lkr said:
your card is much better. make sure you have set it to high priority in catalyst so the app will use the dedicated card instead of the integrated graphics.
Click to expand...

I had a feeling it was much better. Now the thing is, I set Steam to high priority already. Do I need to somehow set all my games as high priority? I'm not exactly sure how to do that.
 
Think I'm gonna sell my Alienware M17x R3. I decided to buy another S2000 so it'd be helpful if I sold the M17x R3 for the $1700~ I can get for it.

If anyone wants it, hit me up. I'll transfer the warranty to you and include an extra 8 GB of RAM free, for 12 GB of RAM total.
 
K.Jack said:
The 6970M is now being phased out. I'll deliver more info when it's available.
Click to expand...
6990M incoming?
 
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