Cheap gaming laptop

[CU]

I found the Aspire E E5-573G-52G3 Intel Core i5 5200U, 8gig, 940M for around $500. Are there any better gaming laptops at this price? What about something with similar specs with a touch screen, or would that push it far north of $500? Games played: Minecraft with lots of mods, Lego games, Supreme Commander, and Planetary Annihilation. PA should be the most demanding game, but with lower settings it should run fine on a 940M. The purchase wouldn't be made for a few more months as it will be a Christmas gift.

One last question what kind of battery life should I expect while playing a game, 2 hours?

 

[Commodus]

I found the Aspire E E5-573G-52G3 Intel Core i5 5200U, 8gig, 940M for around $500. Are there any better gaming laptops at this price? What about something with similar specs with a touch screen, or would that push it far north of $500? Games played: Minecraft with lots of mods, Lego games, Supreme Commander, and Planetary Annihilation. PA should be the most demanding game, but with lower settings it should run fine on a 940M. The purchase wouldn't be made for a few more months as it will be a Christmas gift.

One last question what kind of battery life should I expect while playing a game, 2 hours?

There may be a model with a newer Core i5 processor by the time you're ready to buy (a 6000-series chip), but that's not bad value for money even if there are no updates. And yeah, you're typically looking at 1.5 to 2 hours of play time on battery. Gaming kills just about any laptop's running time, but that might be enough if a young one just wants to play Minecraft for an hour.

 

[DigDog]

a desktop would be better.

 

[CU]

a desktop would be better.

Except my son wants a portable gaming computer. I have informed him this will also be his desktop. I am not buying a gaming laptop and building a gaming computer.

 

[ultimatebob]

I couldn't imagine playing something like Planetary Annihilation on a laptop's touchpad. Man... that would suck.

 

[JeffMD]

You can use mice on a laptop. Just because he wants something portable does not mean he wont be playing at a desk.

 

[ultimatebob]

You can use mice on a laptop. Just because he wants something portable does not mean he wont be playing at a desk.

Sure, but if you're sitting at a desk with an AC adapter and a separate mouse plugged in, you have to start wondering when it just makes sense to give up and use a desktop PC instead.

Trust me, I've been there. I have a Dell XPS 15 with discrete NVidia graphics, which was considered to be a decent mid-range gaming laptop in it's day. Getting games to work on it was such a pain that I ended up getting a separate desktop for that a year later.

 

[CU]

I agree a desktop is better for gaming. And, I am trying to convince him of it. But, he really wants a laptop for for long car rides and overnight visits with grandparents.