First time notebook buyer, any recommendations?

[Eeezee]

I'm a gamer. I know nothing about laptops. I'd like something that is at least capable of playing games, but I won't be primarily using it as a gaming machine. What I'm saying is that I don't need to be able to crank the graphics all the way up or anything like that.

I'm looking for something cheap but strong. Does anyone have some tips? I've tried customizing on Dell and Gateway, but their customization options are pretty weak (one Dell laptop actually wouldn't allow any of the hardware to be changed, only the Operating System!)

Got tips?

 

[Brainonska511]

Asus A8Js - 14.1" WXGA, 7700Go, Core 2 Duo, 1GB of RAM ~$1550: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220137

How big is your budget? We could recommend something else if that first one is priced too high.

 

[Eeezee]

I was looking to spend maybe under a grand. I don't need a super 1337 video card and can do with just about any size hard drive. I have a few externals that I can use for file storage, so 20-40GB in the laptop should be just fine.

I've been looking at laptops all day and can't really decide on anything

 

[Brainonska511]

I would say then to look at the E1505 laptops available in the Dell Outlet. You'll be able to get the most for your money that way.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Eeezee
I was looking to spend maybe under a grand. I don't need a super 1337 video card and can do with just about any size hard drive. I have a few externals that I can use for file storage, so 20-40GB in the laptop should be just fine.

I've been looking at laptops all day and can't really decide on anything

what you're looking for isn't made. any laptop with a half-decent graphics card usually comes with 80GB+ and rarely, if ever, under 60. for $1250 (iirc), you can get an Asus off of newegg. if i'm wrong, it's $1300. it comes with a T7200, MR X1700 gpu, 1gb ram, 120GB hdd, etc.

otherwise, go with brainonska's recommendation on the outlet. the strongest gpu the e1505 comes with is the X1400, which is by no means gamers' choice. it should be able to at least run your games though

 

[dahunan]

buy used with a complete care warranty

 

[f4phantom2500]

IMO you should just forego playing games at all on it; you can pretty easily get a laptop that will do daily tasks very very well for $500. But, as has been stated, most laptops with decent graphics cards not only cost a lot more because of the graphics card, they also come with a lot of other stuff with the graphics card, like a higher end (usually dual core) processor and a big a$$ hard drive. Plus you'll get way better battery life with simple integrated graphics than with any dedicated graphics card.