Best spec for budget?

Studentguyct · May 6, 2011

Im looking for the best gaming laptop at the budget of 1500 (also requires 1 1TB external hard drive+ mouse+ stand). im looknig for a laptop rather than a pc because i have an hour and a half ride to school.

Greenman · May 6, 2011

Do you want a specific screen size? Here's a quick spec which seems suitable.

Code:

Chassis & Display
Vortex II-17: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS 802.11N - IDEAL FOR ONLINE GAMING
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Stands & Port Replicators
Logitech® Alto Notebook Stand (£44)
Notebook Mouse
LOGITECH ANYWHERE WIRELESS MOUSE MX™ (£59)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
External Hard Drive
WD 1TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0010HBK - Black (£68)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,416.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/vortexII-17/

Another note, what sorta games are you looking to play?

Studentguyct · May 6, 2011

World of warcraft, some shooter such as homefront, portal 2 etc

Greenman · May 6, 2011

That should be more than enough then, You might even get away with something cheaper like the Optimus with the 555m. (Get a second opinion, just in case. Guys?)

Code:

Chassis & Display
Optimus II: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache
Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS 802.11N - IDEAL FOR ONLINE GAMING
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Optimus Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery - 48.85WH
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 90W Adaptor (GT 540M) / 120W Adaptor (GT 555M)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Stands & Port Replicators
Logitech® Alto Notebook Stand (£44)
Notebook Mouse
LOGITECH ANYWHERE WIRELESS MOUSE MX™ (£59)
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
External Hard Drive
WD 1TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0010HBK - Black (£68)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,109.00 including VAT and delivery.

Configure Here: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/optimusII/

Studentguyct · May 6, 2011

Hm, dunno. I'd like to get as strong of a gpu/cpu as i can cos i want the laptop to last.

Flucky · May 7, 2011

Hi mate welcome to the forum, the following spec would play the games your after beautifully-

Vortex II-17: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2630QM (2.00GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB)

Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 470M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL® CENTRINO® ADVANCED-N 6230 inc BLUETOOTH

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Stands & Port Replicators
Logitech® Alto Notebook Stand (£44)

Notebook Mouse
LOGITECH WIRELESS MOUSE M305 (£27)

External Hard Drive
WD 1TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0010HBK - Black (£68)

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Price: £1,492.00 including VAT and delivery.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-470M.35971.0.html

Look here for the GPU, scroll down to the bottom for some FPS figures

Studentguyct · May 7, 2011

Decided to up my budget a bit. Going to steel; myself not to raise it any further. This laptop will probably do me well.

Chassis & Display
Vortex II-17: 17.3" Full HD LED Backlit 16:9 Widescreen (1920x1080) Super Clear Glossy

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2720QM (2.20GHz) 6MB Cache

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
2.0GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 485M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS 802.11N - IDEAL FOR ONLINE GAMING

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Stands & Port Replicators
Logitech® Notebook Kit MK605, inc Wireless Mouse, Keyboard & Stand (£69)

Carry Case
TARGUS XL CITY GEAR 16" - 17.3" LAPTOP CASE TCG417 (£44)

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

External Hard Drive
WD 1TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 External HDD WDBACW0010HBK - Black (£68)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working day

£1881

Greenman · May 7, 2011

It's a good spec, personally I think you'll be fine with the 470m.

Studentguyct · May 7, 2011

Btw, does the TARGUS XL CITY GEAR 16" - 17.3" LAPTOP CASE TCG417 (long names ftw!) have suitable enough space for files and stuff?

Flucky · May 7, 2011

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Targus-TCG4...7SME/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304784438&sr=8-1

There's a picture of all the compartments opened, 5 reviews and a price tag nearly double that of PCS

Studentguyct · May 7, 2011

Thanks

Studentguyct · May 7, 2011

and btw, does it come with a kensington cable or do i have to get my own? and what other measures can i take to protect it from theft?

JonnyPx · May 7, 2011

Studentguyct said:
and btw, does it come with a kensington cable or do i have to get my own? and what other measures can i take to protect it from theft?

I don't know if you meant just physical, but I would definitely insure a £1500+ piece of kit

Studentguyct · May 7, 2011

what kind of monthly payment would that involve? and would they actually replace the laptop?

Jimbhoy · May 8, 2011

Studentguyct said:
and btw, does it come with a kensington cable or do i have to get my own? and what other measures can i take to protect it from theft?

Hire a ninja...

Studentguyct · May 8, 2011

Jimbhoy said:
Hire a ninja...

Note a bad idea...

Jimbhoy · May 8, 2011

Sorry about bad joke.

On a more serious note, most household insurance will not cover laptop Damage / theft if it's used outside of the household.

I think PSC do quite decent insurance but just give them a quick call and ask them.

Otherwise check your houshold insurance policy and read the fine print.

Studentguyct · May 8, 2011

Will do, at a later date.

Anyway, thanks for the help guys. I'll get this thing round mid june/ early july and then ill put up an unboxing video + a video to show you how well it performs

Best spec for budget?

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