Gaming Laptops (Your Experience & Recommendations)

[lfc7]

Hi lads i have had to rearrange my budget as something has came up and ive had to spend some of my money, anyway i would just likeyour opinions on these specs as a friend has a laptop which isn't that old that he can sell me cheap

All i want to be able to do is play in 3d running 1 or 2 leagues on a large databse

Product Description - Samsung Series 3 300E - 15.6" - Core i3 2350M - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - 6 GB RAM - 750 GB HDD
Dimensions (WxDxH) - 36.8 cm x 24.3 cm x 3.5 cm
Weight - 2.3 kg
Processor - Intel® Core i3- 2350m processor (2.40Ghz, 3Mb L3 cache)
Networking - 802.11n, Bluetooth 3.0
Localisation - United Kingdom
Display - 15.6" LED backlight 1366 x 768 / HD
Battery - 6-cell - up to 6 hours
Operating System - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Memory - 6 GB DDR3
System Type - Notebook
Optical Drive - DVD SuperMulti DL
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 3000
Storage - 750 GB HDD / 5400 rpm

Thanks lads really appreciate anyone that can help

[lfc7]

Anyone help please ?

[Wakers]

It'll be pretty poor in the 3D engine.

[lfc7]

It'll be pretty poor in the 3D engine.

Will it still run it or just have to have it on low settings ?

[lfc7]

Anyone else help please ? Sorry for the urgency it's just I haven't played fm for months due to my desktop breaking so had to save some money for a laptop and I can get the above one cheap, as I said all I want to do is run a large database with maybe just 1 or 2 leagues and watch in 3D thanks

[Wakers]

It'll run on low settings but even then it might be a bit jerky.

[lfc7]

Gutted don't know what to do now ? what is it that needs changing ? Is it the intel HD graphics 3000 that's the problem ?

[PGB_SPURS_FM09]

There must be somebody that plays on a Intel HD 3000. I reckon they'd be fine. But can't guarantee it. Or just play in 2D , I play on 2D and so do many others!

[lfc7]

There must be somebody that plays on a Intel HD 3000. I reckon they'd be fine. But can't guarantee it. Or just play in 2D , I play on 2D and so do many others!

Thanks, I've sort of got use to playing it in 3D, will just see what the likes of welshace has to say about the graphics card, once again thanks

[ongy2k3]

Gutted don't know what to do now ? what is it that needs changing ? Is it the intel HD graphics 3000 that's the problem ?

A HD3000 is absolutely fine for 3D FM. Don't know what the other guy's on about.

[lfc7]

A HD3000 is absolutely fine for 3D FM. Don't know what the other guy's on about.

Ok thanks mate shall get the laptop off my friend, hope your right though

[Wakers]

Fine for 3D? Not if you want it to be smooth. Still, that's down to opinion I guess. It won't look good and it won't be consistent.

[lfc7]

Anyone else chip in with an opinion here please ?

[AlexLightsaber]

I think it will be fine, The Intel graphics aren't that bad anymore.

[lfc7]

Thanks

[welshace]

that chip should run the 3d perfectly fine ... suggest you run the demo on it before buying?

everything else is decent

depends how cheap he's flogging it to you though.. if its more than £300 tell him to shove off though.. you can probably buy a brand new one with same specs for that


infact... heres how it runs on an inferior spec lappy with the same hd chip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCqzd9s4o78

[lfc7]

Cheers welshace, he only wants £200 for it, not that old aswell thanks again

[welshace]

200 is a decent price for sure

[markyosullivan]

Can anyone recommend me a laptop for around £700-£900? Ideally I'm looking for this laptop to be used to during lectures at uni but also for playing Football Manager for the next few years. I will be studying Computing Science, so I'm guessing it'd be handy being able to run a number of programs. Would really love to get a SSD in the laptop as well. Thanks for any recommendations!

[markyosullivan]

Been looking at a few laptops, is this a good deal? http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-...35930000&src=3

[welshace]

for that budget you can really just pick and choose what you want...

be sure you need to spend all that though.. as you can easily get a laptop for a good £300 cheaper that can run fm and be perfect for your comp sci needs (im a comp sci graduate )

[welshace]

as always.. suggest looking at :

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk

[poola21]

I don't recomment laptops but don't go for Alienware (they are overpriced, and I don't like the design, bulky size)
Go for a good hardware configuration and also check the quality of the plastic and the overheating status
I went to the shop and looked at a Toshiba Quad Core i7 with a decent AMD video card HD 68xx and the keyboard was steaming hot just by staying in standby mode for a couple of hours

[thomit]

For gaming laptops (the word gaming here is important, as you don't need a gaming laptop to play FM only - but if you want to play a wide selection of fairly modern games, with decent details, resolution and framerate, you do)
I recommend Alienware, assorted Clevo-based builds (The P150/170, W150/170, and the new W370), and the Asus G-series (G55/G75) These are all good quality, don't overheat, do what they are supposed to do.
I'm more sceptical about machines coming from Toshiba or MSI, which are the only (as far as I can see) other alternatives that has graphics cards good enough to deal with modern graphics-intensive games and still give you a decent experience. If you want to play for example BF3 multiplayer and still have nice details, good resolution and decent framerates, you really need the very best you can get in mobile graphic cards today. That means either the Nvidia GTX 680M or the AMD HD 7970M. Only Alienware and Clevo deliver these at the moment. But beware that the AMD card has severe problems related to AMD's Enduro system (for battery saving). Might get a fix with future driver updates, might not. The Alienware M17x R4 gives you an option to disable the whole Enduro shambles. Away with problems, away with battery saving.
As for desktop computers, you can get the same performance as these laptops deliver, but at half the price. Or a third of the price, even. For the same price as these laptops, you can also get double the performance of the above mentioned laptops if you choose a good setup in a desktop computer. Mobility costs. But if a desktop is not an alternative ... there you go.

[welshace]

just to expand my own opinions on gaming laptops....

there is still no viable top end to gaming laptops....

sure if you can afford to spend £1000+ .. you can get a rocking asus G, which are my personal favourite ... but I will never and would never recommend these types of machine for anyone..

If you are a gamer... get a desktop, that's the bottom line. If you are a gamer who needs top spec gaming in a portable form, get a smallform cube type system, not a lappy. They are certainly getting better but they still aren't a viable option.

Im a high end gamer and Ive got a slightly old modded dell N5010 (gulp... dell are a dirty word in my business) which a 2nd gen i5, 6 gb ram and a low to mid end graphics card in it ..

never failed to run any game in decent detail, from Shogun 2 to Skyrim to the ever intensive BF3.

TL;DR:

dedicated gaming laptops are for millionaires and playboys... don't pay for a name and go for something more sensible... or go wild with a desktop

[markyosullivan]

Been looking at a few laptops, is this a good deal? http://www.dabs.com/products/lenovo-...35930000&src=3

Really considering going for this laptop. 8GB RAM, i7-3612QM processor, 1 TB HDD, nVidia GT630M 2GB and then the display is 15.6". Though it's a lot of money and that's why I'd rather other peoples opinions on it.

I can't spend £1000+

[welshace]

its a brilliant spec mark...

[markyosullivan]

its a brilliant spec mark...

Could I get much better for that price? Or is that the best I'd be able to get for around about that price?

[welshace]

Could I get much better for that price? Or is that the best I'd be able to get for around about that price?

sure you can... you can almost always find better as time goes by...

for instance...

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Lenov...UK/version.asp

which is exactly the same laptop as yours above..


or :

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_...75/version.asp

just look around... can save plenty of cash

[markyosullivan]

Glad I didn't buy it this morning. Thanks for finding it more than £100 cheaper!

One of the things I don't like about the 2nd laptop is that it's battery life is only 3 hours while the 1st one is 5 hours iirc. The first one also has blu-ray optical storage while the 2nd one has DVD SM. Not too sure if the 2nd one has better graphics card and/or processor though would have to go look them both up and then try (some how) to compare them to the 1st laptop.

[RorysRocketThrow]

just to expand my own opinions on gaming laptops....

there is still no viable top end to gaming laptops....

sure if you can afford to spend £1000+ .. you can get a rocking asus G, which are my personal favourite ... but I will never and would never recommend these types of machine for anyone..

If you are a gamer... get a desktop, that's the bottom line. If you are a gamer who needs top spec gaming in a portable form, get a smallform cube type system, not a lappy. They are certainly getting better but they still aren't a viable option.

Im a high end gamer and Ive got a slightly old modded dell N5010 (gulp... dell are a dirty word in my business) which a 2nd gen i5, 6 gb ram and a low to mid end graphics card in it ..

never failed to run any game in decent detail, from Shogun 2 to Skyrim to the ever intensive BF3.

TL;DR:

dedicated gaming laptops are for millionaires and playboys... don't pay for a name and go for something more sensible... or go wild with a desktop

How did you mod your laptop?

I have a Dell Studio 1558 and wondered if/what I could do with that to give it a kick up the jacksie...

[markyosullivan]

Just bought the laptop. Hopefully it'll be great. Thanks for all the help!

[thomit]

My take on gaming laptops is: If you want one, need one, got the money, want to be able to play graphically demanding games away from your home - by all means, buy one

[Lambo95]

Can someone recommend me a laptop that runs the minimum spec please? Preferably better than the minimum spec but that's not essential.

[fcunitedfan]

PC Specialist is the way to go. My current laptop is from that site. I've had it about a month, and it's a beast! Cost me around £1k, and it plays Crysis 2 on high detail settings with no drop in frame rate.

[welshace]

Can someone recommend me a laptop that runs the minimum spec please? Preferably better than the minimum spec but that's not essential.

people really must learn to add their budgets and other requirements to these requests.... can't really help unless we know what you need and for how much

[wanderer89]

My mate's after a laptop for FM, his is terrible lol, wants it to run well, but also be able to use internet, mail, the usual, whilst FM still runs normally (try and do anything else on his current laptop, and it dies), he's got a budget of max £400, we usually do leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and a medium database with players loaded from South America, if that's any help.

Thanks.

[ramie]

My mate's after a laptop for FM, his is terrible lol, wants it to run well, but also be able to use internet, mail, the usual, whilst FM still runs normally (try and do anything else on his current laptop, and it dies), he's got a budget of max £400, we usually do leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and a medium database with players loaded from South America, if that's any help.

Thanks.

Yh I'm after same thing, I'd like to be able to load fm with about 75000 players but also be able to use internet etc. So any help would be great.

[fcunitedfan]

Yh I'm after same thing, I'd like to be able to load fm with about 75000 players but also be able to use internet etc. So any help would be great.

To do that, you won't need a great spec laptop. My 3 year old Acer 6920G could run FM12 with around 75000-80000 players, whilst also running the net.

[TioPatinhax]

Also, can you folks tell me if i´ll be able to run FM with alot of leagues on with this specs:

- i5-3210M
- 8GB DDR3 1600
- 320GB 5400rpm
- GT630 2Gb
- 15.6Pol HD LED
- W7 HP 64Bits

[welshace]

yes tio... you can run 10 leagues+ and 100,000 easily

[welshace]

My mate's after a laptop for FM, his is terrible lol, wants it to run well, but also be able to use internet, mail, the usual, whilst FM still runs normally (try and do anything else on his current laptop, and it dies), he's got a budget of max £400, we usually do leagues of England, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, and a medium database with players loaded from South America, if that's any help.

Thanks.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Acer_...66/version.asp

id suggest i5 as minimum for everyone