14' or 13' gaming laptop at 950$

[pctweaks]

Hi, i'm looking for a sublaptop with reasonable gaming performance,
my budget is of 750 euro's (yes, i live in europe (netherlands to be exact))
wich amounts to about 950 dollars, so, any suggestions?


ps. it's a sublaptop for a reason, i want the best possible battery life.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Alienware M11x comes to mind. It isn't perfect, but it's not bad for what you get.

If you bump your price up by $100-150 or so, the Envy 14 is a very solid choice.

 

[pctweaks]

yeah, i checked both of these off, as i tell in my post i have 750euro's, while both of these laptops are 1100 euro's in the netherlands (the equivalent of 1.432 dollars) prices are probably a lot lower comparatively in the U.S.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Ouch.

What kind of games are you looking to play? If it's stuff that you can get away with on a low-end graphics card, something like an ASUS UL30Vt or one of the newer U30 series will probably work. If you're looking to play Crysis or something similar, I don't think you're going to find anything in that size / graphics capability / price range, unfortunately. For very demanding games, I recommend a GT 335m or HD 5650 at a minimum.

 

[pctweaks]

nothing very demanding, just MMO's like WoW, AOC, LoTRO, and later GW2, so a 325 should do, i hope.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Look into the ASUS K42 series (K42JV-X1) or the Toshiba Satellite M645-S4055. I have no idea what the price will be or how good the machines are, but it's worth a look.

 

[pctweaks]

okay, thanks.

 

[ed21x]

Hi, i'm looking for a sublaptop with reasonable gaming performance,
my budget is of 750 euro's (yes, i live in europe (netherlands to be exact))
wich amounts to about 950 dollars, so, any suggestions?


ps. it's a sublaptop for a reason, i want the best possible battery life.

wait a minute... you live in europe?? you have access to the best 13" gaming laptop in the world! get the acer 3820tg, it's 13 inch thin and light with a i5 and radeon 5650 graphics. We don't even get these in the united states, so i had to import one from taiwan

 

[RavenSEAL]

wait a minute... you live in europe?? you have access to the best 13" gaming laptop in the world! get the acer 3820tg, it's 13 inch thin and light with a i5 and radeon 5650 graphics. We don't even get these in the united states, so i had to import one from taiwan

I'm not sold on the processor...2.13ghz dual core?

 

[bunnyfubbles]

Considering 13 feet is probably no more portable than 14 feet, I'd go for the 14 footer.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Considering 13 feet is probably no more portable than 14 feet, I'd go for the 14 footer.

you mean inches? I don't know how i would carry a laptop the size of 2 and half Micheal Jordans

 

[ed21x]

I'm not sold on the processor...2.13ghz dual core?

you're looking at the US version with the i3's and radeon 5470's. The european/asian versions are alot better.

mine's 2.93 ghz dual core (i5-460m). they have them available up to the 520m's, which can do around 3 ghz.

 

[RobsTV]

you're looking at the US version with the i3's and radeon 5470's. The european/asian versions are alot better.

mine's 2.93 ghz dual core (i5-460m). they have them available up to the 520m's, which can do around 3 ghz.

I'll second the 3820TG.

Even the i3-350m version I just bought ($950 US$ shipped w/fees, 4gig, 500gig, imported to the US from PCHome in Taiwan and took less than a week from order to opening box) pumps out more than 9200 in 3dm2k6 (7400 at stock clocks).

All the i3/i5 CPU's in the 3820TG's overclock nicely (setfsb), as does the HD5650 (a dx11 dedicated card, plus on the fly switchable to Intel HD graphics for battery conservation).

Note that you can even easily upgrade the CPU to the i7 or similar later on if desired (when they are cheaper and if you find the need for more power).

Another nice improvement is two separate cooling fans for CPU and Video.

Battery life rated at 8 hours, but all I get is around 6 hours here.

Added a backlit keyboard for $25 from ebay. Sweet.

I needed a gaming laptop that would fit in my ST1100's saddlebag for long cross country trips, and the 3820TG was the perfect match.

 

[Throckmorton]

Sony CW has an optional Geforce 330M and is 14"

 

[ElFenix]

I'll second the 3820TG.

Even the i3-350m version I just bought ($950 US$ shipped w/fees, 4gig, 500gig, imported to the US from PCHome in Taiwan and took less than a week from order to opening box) pumps out more than 9200 in 3dm2k6 (7400 at stock clocks).

All the i3/i5 CPU's in the 3820TG's overclock nicely (setfsb), as does the HD5650 (a dx11 dedicated card, plus on the fly switchable to Intel HD graphics for battery conservation).

Note that you can even easily upgrade the CPU to the i7 or similar later on if desired (when they are cheaper and if you find the need for more power).

Another nice improvement is two separate cooling fans for CPU and Video.

Battery life rated at 8 hours, but all I get is around 6 hours here.

Added a backlit keyboard for $25 from ebay. Sweet.

I needed a gaming laptop that would fit in my ST1100's saddlebag for long cross country trips, and the 3820TG was the perfect match.

if they make a 14" version of that with slightly more res it'd be perfect. as it stands i may import one (the 13" MBP was my prior frontrunner, unfortunately its processor is getting a bit old)

 

[jgigz]

Have you considered the new Asus N82JV?

Product Features:
Intel Core i5-450M processor 2.4GHz with turbo boost up to 2.66GHz

4GB of DDR3 1066MHz SDRAM, 2 slots, 8GB Max; Nvidia G335M graphics with 1GB DDR3 VRAM

500GB Hard Drive (7200 RPM); Super Multi Optical Disk Drive; Wi-Fi 802.11 bgn

HDMI Port; USB 3.0 port; 8-in-1 card reader; 2.0MP Webcam8 cell battery (4400mAh)

14-Inch HD (1366x768) LED Display; Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit) Operating System

Price: $999 (Dollars). Slightly over your budget but a good all-around laptop.

 

[Incatius]

There is a 14" acer with same specs but not higher display resolution, the only laptops i know that have higher then 1366 by 768 are the Envy 14 and the sony Z line of laptops, the acer 3820TG is really good for what you get for it, also since you are in Europe you dont need to import it, i imported mine from Taiwan and I love, can get 8 hours battery with clean install and using battery care to turn off some service when running on battery

 

[ed21x]

if they make a 14" version of that with slightly more res it'd be perfect. as it stands i may import one (the 13" MBP was my prior frontrunner, unfortunately its processor is getting a bit old)

the main appeal of the 3820tg is the fact that you can get those specs in a 13 inch form factor. if you're looking for a 14" with i5/radeon 5650, you can get the HP Envy 14 or the Acer 4830tg, both of which you can pick up here in the states

 

[vincedea]

where can i find the acer 3820TG, the one in where i would have to import it? I also havent been able to find the 14in one for a good price either. do they still make those models?

 

[Zap]

I'll second the 3820TG.
...
Added a backlit keyboard for $25 from ebay. Sweet.

So, was the keyboard just a straight swap for the built-in one?

 

[ed21x]

where can i find the acer 3820TG, the one in where i would have to import it? I also havent been able to find the 14in one for a good price either. do they still make those models?

it's a pretty easy process:

Originally Posted by Karma_Police (www.notebookreview.com)
1. Download Google Chrome (it allows you to translate sites that you are browsing, on-the-fly)

2. Go to http://world.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item&func=exhibit&IT_NO=DHAA4O-149864081&SR_NO=DHAE23&ROWNO=2&tm=u (comes with extra 2gb ram upgrade, case, universal adapter, and mouse)

3. Click the orange button (I think it means "add to cart")

4. Click the checkout link on the shopping cart that pops up on the bottom right

5. You'll be taken to the order screen. Select your country at the bottom and click on the yellowish button.

6. Type in your email and click on the "No password, please click here first to set a password>> GO" and type in a password and enter the numbers and click determine

7. Type in your address and pay using Paypal (needs to be a verified account). Paypal can be linked to a credit card... not sure if this gives you extra warranty or not. Be sure to check with your credit card company.

Potential issues:
-Warranty
-Keyboard will have some Chinese characters, it's going to look like this: http://ec1img.pchome.com.tw/pic/v1/d..._4bc6e6e33dd5f
-Comes with Chinese Windows 7. You will probably want to reinstall windows. You can, however, use the OEM key at the bottom of your laptop... no extra costs there. More info can be found on Bronsky's guide... especially step 7 & 10.

 

[RobsTV]

So, was the keyboard just a straight swap for the built-in one?

I wish....

Backlit version is thicker, so it requires filing the new keyboards mounting tabs thinner to make it fit properly. Once that is done, it will fit and work as though it was done from the factory.

But, while it will then work, no backlit lighting yet. The backlit version has an additional flex cable for power. Just Positive and Negative. Many solder this to internal USB or speaker source. I used the MIC connector. That could be used with no soldering involved.

 

[pctweaks]

i was away for a while (my grandda's died yesterday :'( ) i checked up the price for the 3820 tg, it's the equivalent of 1.331.00$ in the netherlands, wich is about 500$ above what i can spend =(, as for the jt, same story, but even worse, i only found the old version of the alienware m11x , so with an su7300 cpu instead of 4300 or (instead of the better processor) 2 gigs of ram extra, what's better, do you think?

 

[Emulex]

so how much is a gram of pure bud white widow these days in the netherlands - not that i know about that stuff - good shopping thursdays?

 

[pctweaks]

LOL @Emulex

Actually, Dutch people are amongst the most un-drugged people in the world, whereas americans take most coke per head at work in the world...
stay on-topic please.