Help on new purchase laptop

[kipliq]

Hi, I have a desktop but would like to a laptop. It has been so long since I upgraded my computer and I'm about 7 years since an upgrade. I'm looking for a laptop which I can play games like Star Wars the old republic or skyrim. Don't new to be ultra resolution. I need something that will help with games and photoshop,lightroom, primer and after affects. What processor and gpu would I need minimum and how many gb of ram? Hybrid drive? So many things to think about just no sure. Thanks for the help!

 

[sm625]

Something to think about: For $89.99 you can go on ebay and buy an E8400 desktop. For not much more than that you can buy a low profile radeon 7700 series video card. This is under $250 combined. It would cost 3 times that much to get a notebook that could consistently outperform it in games.

 

[crashtestdummy]

The real question you have to ask yourself: are you content with a machine that will run just those older games, or do you want to play newer games of a similar ilk when they come out. If it's truly the former, then any laptop with dedicated graphics will be at least passable on low res and medium settings.

If it's the former, get a desktop. For the price of a borderline gaming laptop, you could get a basic laptop to use as a work/portable device plus a better gaming desktop.

 

[kipliq]

I know I'm gonna get yelled at but I play more game on the PS3. My current desktop is working for me with games on all low settings. I have a amd phenom x4 3.6ghs 8 gb of memory. My brother gave me a ati 4870. It is working for all my needs and I figure a $100 gpu will give it a boost later on but I'm looking to go more mobile for when I do my photography stuff but would like to game. I like to play mmo's mostly on my computer and PS3 for the other games because I play with friends. the new elder scrolls mmo will be my next game.

 

[stateofmind]

budget?

 

[RossMAN]

What's your budget? How much can you actually afford, not a "range" but a firm budget.

Do you have a Fry's Electronics or Micro Center near you?

 

[kipliq]

No to both the places. $1100 is my budget. I appreciate all the help!

 

[stateofmind]

Well, you have several options actually. It depends on the combination of performance/features you prefer. For example, you can get the Lenovo Y510p with I5/I7 and GT 750M SLI for around $950-$1050 which is the most powerful in this price range. But you can also get the Acer V7-482PG which has only a GT 750M DDR3 but comes with an excellent IPS screen and has 6-7 hours of use under light load. The Clevo 13.3" W230ST is an option too.

All will run Skyrim, for example, on 1080p resolution quite well.

You can check this very good list of gaming laptops under $1000 to see more options