Sending the boy off to college...

[Riffers70]

*CRINGE*

So, my oldest is off to Norwich University this fall. ROTC, mechanical engineering, corp of cadets, the works.

He's asked for a gaming laptop for a high school graduation present. One that he can take and use at school. Now, I'm not a big fan of gaming on laptops, that's what desktops are for in my opinion. But, I'm the old man, and in my stupid phase of life, where the young buck knows much more than I. But I digress...

The quarters do not allow for much room whatsoever, and a desktop is pretty much out of the question. The "better" gaming laptops seem to be in the 17-18" range, which is very questionably "portable". The smaller ones seem to be lacking in the video department, and find some reviewers wanting more.

He seems to be convinced that Alienware is the be-all, end-all based on "everyone he's talked to". My opinion, he's fed into the 'coolness" factor more than punch and functionality. Again, I digress...

I'm a Toshiba fan myself, but I'm certainly no gamer, and get turned into spontaneous clouds of pink mist whenever I try playing one of either of my sons' (also have 14 yr old) games. My wife and I have had VERY good luck with Toshibas for her (special ed teacher) and my youngest son (picture Schleprock from The Flintstones).

So, I come to you guys/gals on bended knee for your insight and guidance in this, my daunting task. I'm not afraid to spend $1500 or so, but if the same thing can be had smartly for less, I'm up for suggestions. Try me.

Thanks for reading, and helping.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

You may want to look at the HP Envy 14, it's a pretty powerful gaming system but still relatively portable.

 

[TheStu]

If you can still get the 1600*900 display on the Envy, then yea, definitely go for that one.

A SFF desktop that you or he can build could be reasonably affordable and still small enough to fit in that space, and then just get a smaller (not a netbook) laptop for class that he can still hook up to the monitor if he likes.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Here's a Toshiba Qosmio that seems right up your alley. 1680 x 945 GeForce GTX 460M for $1300

 

[Bateluer]

There's plenty of 14-15in laptops with decent gaming capabilities. No need to go 17-18in, or for Alienware, for that matter. They honestly aren't worth the price.

 

[slatr]

For the money, I like the specs on that Toshiba.

Consider a cooling pad for it. Those gaming rigs can run a bit warm.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834997935

 

[AznAnarchy99]

You can get an Asus G53 which is the 15in exact replica of their 17in version. I have an Envy 14 myself and I use it to game while Im at work. CoD, WoW, SC2, etc.

 

[Eug]

Just make sure you get one with a decent screen, since it is his main school computer after all.

A lot of the cheaper machines have el crappo screens.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Just make sure you get one with a decent screen, since it is his main school computer after all.

A lot of the cheaper machines have el crappo screens.

Another thought is that he can get a 22in or 24in to keep in his dorm so when he comes back he can connect the laptop and play from there. The Asus can drive 1080 no problem.

 

[fire400]

toshiba in my opinion.. they're manufacturing lines are plagued, and every line of their mainstream consumer/business laptops have been heavily plagued with defects that it has driven me so nuts that I can't even stand to even walk by them at the store without wondering which part of their laptops are going to flake on the buyers, just my two cents.

clevo, sagernotebooks, asus - are the top contenders on my list.

I don't like alienware, 'cuz their laptop chassis' are kiddish looking.

 

[IlllI]

alienware mx11 ?

or i like the envy 14 too. just personal opinion but anything larger than 15in. is too large to carry around

 

[frumply]

Depends on how much gaming prowess he needs, but I think Stu's suggestion is the way to go. It's feasible but certainly not comfortable carrying a 17-inch laptop around to class, and you get the added burden of carrying around a huge power supply since they are typically lacking in the battery life dept.

If he absolutely must have a gaming laptop, probably something like an envy14, or a Vaio Z (pricey for its parts and almost over your budget, but well built and compact). A desktop replacement is great when you first get it, but IMHO its useful life is much shorter than a good compact lappy, as the latter can still be a viable 'take anywhere' device after it becomes outdated. My 2005 Dell 700M (12in laptop) got a whole lot more use over the years compared to my 17in laptop for precisely this reason.

 

[Riffers70]

Thanks for all the replies and ideas, I'm going to be referring to this thread when pouring through all contenders.

What would be a suitable SFF?

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

Does he actually plan on taking his laptop to most of his classes? When I graduated ME a few years back, I found that I could only use it to take notes in most of my electives and not in my core engineering classes.

It might not be a problem to get him a huge 17" laptop if he only plans on dragging it to one class/day.

 

[corkyg]

Get him an iPad to carry to class and consider a desktop in his room. Check with Norwich - many colleges and universities have very good deals on machines and software all set up to operate in the university environment. Our service academies issue laptops to each student.

 

[slatr]

toshiba in my opinion.. they're manufacturing lines are plagued, and every line of their mainstream consumer/business laptops have been heavily plagued with defects that it has driven me so nuts that I can't even stand to even walk by them at the store without wondering which part of their laptops are going to flake on the buyers, just my two cents.

clevo, sagernotebooks, asus - are the top contenders on my list.

I don't like alienware, 'cuz their laptop chassis' are kiddish looking.

It is interesting to read your thoughts on Toshiba. I have a buddy that swears by Toshiba and another that hates them. Having never owned a Toshiba, I thought that maybe the lowend mass retail ones were rebadged machines, thus leading to some of the issues my friend noted. The guy that has had a good experience owned a higher end model.

I just got a fujitsu T5010 tablet that I really like. However, it has Intel integrated video which isn't worth anything for games.

Someone suggests you get him a SFF gaming machine for his dorm and some sort of other machine for class. If you did that you might be able to get him a closeout tablet pc. I have seen some decent prices on closeout machnes such as a lenovo x200s, hp 2730s and Fujitsu 5010s

Here are some Outlet sites to take a look at in case you might go that route.

http://www.cdw.com/content/products/outlet/default.aspx
http://outlet.lenovo.com/

Also, keep in mind the used motion computing devices on ebay. I got an LS800 tablet as a Christmas gift for less than 250. Something small, inexpensive and portable like that would leave you a large portion of your budget for a game machine.

 

[Eug]

It might not be a problem to get him a huge 17" laptop if he only plans on dragging it to one class/day.

For a 17" laptop, even one class a day is one class too many IMO. However, I'm not a 300 lb weight lifter. In fact, I found a 15" too big to lug around to work. I'm using an 11.6" for my portable machine, but then again I do have desktops at home.

If it were me I'd get an 11.6" machine with an external 20" monitor for the dorm. However, I don't think any 11.6" gaming machines even exist. A nice compromise would be something in the 13.3" to 14" range, with an external monitor.

 

[Emulex]

get him a macbook - he can get tremendous discounts on software and hardware from his college and of course windows 7 runs fine on bootcamp, which most colleges sell you for $10 if you are in the engineering/scientific group.


go look at pics of modern universities - or visit a big class - you'll notice 90% of the kids have macbooks. there is a reason.

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

For a 17" laptop, even one class a day is one class too many IMO. However, I'm not a 300 lb weight lifter. In fact, I found a 15" too big to lug around to work. I'm using an 11.6" for my portable machine, but then again I do have desktops at home.

I figure a 17" laptop probably weighs less than a Thermodynamics textbook so it shouldn't be that hard to lug around.

 

[Riffers70]

LOL! Nicely played.

Thanks for all the input!! I'm keeping an open mind, and apparently and open wallet.

 

[Chapbass]

Trust me, no one takes a 15" or larger laptop to class. I recently graduated from college, and of all my friends who originally bought a 15, 15.6, or 17" laptop to take to class, every one of them says screw that at the end of the first week. Its just too bulky to move quickly.

I honestly feel my Sony 13.3" laptop is the perfect size for a portable laptop, I had a 12" gateway that was also great. 14" would be my absolute max. I had a gaming desktop that I used for all my heavy duty stuff at home, and could remote desktop into it if I needed. When I had my gateway (which was an old pentium 3 750mhz with 320mb ram) I did everything via remote desktop...web browsing, taking notes, anything at all. That laptop had a pretty kickin battery which lasted ~6-7 hrs no sweat, so I just used the horsepower from the machine back home.


Might not be a bad option for you. With the power of mini-itx desktops nowadays, you could get a SFF desktop and a small laptop, and have the best of both worlds.

 

[The Green Bean]

I bought a 13.3" Vaio CW a few months ago for ~$1000. It's quite decent gaming wise and quite light as well. It has a core i5 coupled with a 330M. It's not the fastest but plays most games at low/medium. However, it's size and weight make in portable. It also has a great screen 1600x900.

 

[thescreensavers]

Get him an iPad to carry to class and consider a desktop in his room. Check with Norwich - many colleges and universities have very good deals on machines and software all set up to operate in the university environment. Our service academies issue laptops to each student.

iPads are useless in class, Too slow to type on at the pace classes go at. So you cant take notes on it. Its only useful for displaying pdfs or such that some teachers post.

A Laptop with a 15inch screen is big enough for movies,games and yet small enough to haul to class to type notes on. If you have a 17 incher they are 8lbs+ it gets annoying after a bit.

My previous laptop was a 17incher, now I am at a 15incher for that exact reason.

Also it would help to ask him what games he plays, this can be the difference from a really expensive to a mid range laptop.

 

[Emulex]

if he plays games build him a pc. they get o/s for near zero. seriously - the ladies dig the macbook

 

[IGemini]

Norwich Corp of Cadets? So he's gonna be a rook? He'll just miss my bro who's finishing his last semester there through the spring.

Once he's there I seriously doubt he'll be using a computer in class, especially not with a large display. As much exercise he'll be getting with PT in that hilly area I doubt he'll want to lug it around. Just wanted to chime in noticing these, I'll give more advice on a specific computer (and other Norwich specifics) later.