SRL Archive - Technology

I need a laptop and I'm tired of buying these crappy laptops from Best Buy and Office Depot that cost $400 dollars and suck after the first day.

I know that PC's are better than laptops, but I already have a gaming PC. I need a laptop that will be good for gaming, CPU intensive tasks, and school work.

NO MACS please.

1.5k-1.7k is what I can currently do.

From: kingarabian
I need a laptop and I'm tired of buying these crappy laptops from Best Buy and Office Depot that cost $400 dollars and suck after the first day.

I know that PC's are better than laptops, but I already have a gaming PC. I need a laptop that will be good for gaming, CPU intensive tasks, and school work.

NO MACS please.

1.5k-1.7k is what I can currently do.

I've not had time to search extensively so I'll only recommend a couple I had a good experience with.

I used to have a Toshiba Qosmio about 4 years back. It still plays most games on Mid settings. I see they have a deal (until today) of 1000 off their top end laptop here: http://www.toshiba.com/us/computers/laptops/qosmio/X70/X70-AST3G26

I really liked that computer and it packed quite a punch for the $900 model that I had, specs look pretty sexy on the expensive one too but I'm not super informed either.

What I've currently got is a Lenovo and I love it. I think their Y-series is the gaming model by the looks of it. They have lower specs than the Toshiba, but I'll link their most expensive one and see what you think. http://shop.lenovo.com/ca/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y70-touch/

Someone is bound to say alienware, so I'll add my 0.02 there. I've got a friend who bought one and it fell apart after a year of use. It's not a big sample size, but my personal experience with them leads me to think they're overpriced and unreliable for what you get.

Edit:

The lenovo I have is the W530. It's the "professional" model (Thinkpad type), so it doesn't have a stupendous graphics card. Still handles games on low-mid settings though, and has an i7 for processing power. I can't remember how much it cost but it was probably close to $1000 CAD a couple years ago. Was a perfectly good student machine but not great in terms of gaming.

you need it now or can wait?
skylake get

Personally I love the asus ROG laptops. They are sturdy, reasonably priced, and have good cooling.

Thanks for the informative replies (Yes the sooner I get a laptop the better)!

I'm looking for something with decent aesthetics as well for the price I'm paying. I'll look into that Toshiba for sure.

From: kingarabian
Thanks for the informative replies (Yes the sooner I get a laptop the better)!

I'm looking for something with decent aesthetics as well for the price I'm paying. I'll look into that Toshiba for sure.

Processor wise that's what you definitely want for computing a lot.

Not nearly the best in "graphics performance" though, and I assume you don't really need it to be with a gaming PC?

It'll handle cpu intensive tasks (like encoding high bitrate video, etc) without problem, and quickly

You can compare it to the i5 4690K in most tasks, it's a bit slower.. though it has double the threads.
for a mobile cpu it's very good

Linus from Linus media group enjoys the Dell XPS 12. I'm not exactly sure if it's something you would want but the concept is pretty cool.

E: Just read you wanted to do some gaming which this device pretty much wouldn't do.

I happened to be looking for a laptop yesterday as well. Ended up buying the Dell Inspiron 14 5000 Series (Intel(R))
Specs:
5th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (4GBx2)
1TB 5400 rpm Hybrid Hard Drive + 8GB Embedded Flash Cache
AMD Radeon™ R7 M270 4GB DDR3

Costs only ~US$800+
I compared all the major brands (HP, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, Fujitsu), Dell's laptops seem to have the best price for equivalent specs (~$100 cheaper than other brands)

I have a Lenovo Y50-70 which I bought for around 1150 bucks. My specs are:

Intel Core i7-4700HQ (4 cores, 8 threads, 2.40GHz, Turbo boost up to 3.40GHz)
16GB DDR3 RAM
1TB Solid-State Hybrid Drive (1TB 5400RPM + 8GB SSD Cache)
nVidia GTX-860M 4GB GDDR5

It's a really slim laptop, doesn't have a CDROM but mine came with an external one in the box. Works quietly, also can run the latest games on really high settings.

You can get the one for 999$ and buy the external CDROM somewhere else or look at the other options they have (mine isn't there anymore, they switched 4700HQ to 4710HQ now)
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y50/#tab-customize

BTW Currently running 5 Simbas (RS3) and CPU usage is around 60%.

E: This laptop - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NVV2B98/ref=psdc_565108_t1_B00NWE9RPA - is better than mine by a bit, look at the graphics card! Personally I dislike the design but if you prefer performance, this is a better option and probably the best for the price range of 1500$.

If you aren't replacing your gaming desktop, stay away from 17 inch laptops. You don't need the screen. 15.6 - 14 will be much better on battery life and you can get decent specs for that price. I personally would say smaller == better.
With your money I would buy this: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40-80/?sb=:000001C9:00013D93:#tab-features

From: Tristana
Personally I love the asus ROG laptops. They are sturdy, reasonably priced, and have good cooling.

My brother has this and it works very well for him (You can also slot in 32GB of RAM if you need it for any intensive school tasks). Unless you're trying to run some crazy games on maximum graphics, I'd definitely recommend it.

I've never had an issue with ACER or ASUS laptops.

From: tls
If you aren't replacing your gaming desktop, stay away from 17 inch laptops. You don't need the screen. 15.6 - 14 will be much better on battery life and you can get decent specs for that price. I personally would say smaller == better.
With your money I would buy this: http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40-80/?sb=:000001C9:00013D93:#tab-features

Yea screens are have and are still majority of power usage =/ especially since we're so concerned on chip usage they're well below LCD/LED these days

(for mobile devices that is)

From: Kyle Undefined
I've never had an issue with ACER or ASUS laptops.

Then you haven't owned an Acer or just got ridiculously lucky.

From: tls
Then you haven't owned an Acer or just got ridiculously lucky.

I must be lucky then :D All of mine worked even after replacing them several years later.

*** Straight of the Bat, needs to be Solid State Hard-drive***

I have a Toshiba Portege; I have taken this around the world.. Dropped it from head height countless times.. the thing is a few years old now..
the battery has packed up.. but still my pride and joy.

Mine is I5.. but i would opt for I3 on SSD. do the research


I have generally always had a lenovo..my favorite - Lenovo "W500". if these are in your price range.. they are a great machine. Mine was stolen.