Looking for opinions on a laptop for PS2

Shake · 2012-06-07, 02:57 PM

Hey guys. I'm not very tech savy, so I thought I would come here to hopefully get some advice before purchasing a new laptop. Before i get started... I'm fully aware that I could buy a desktop with comprable specs for $400 less if not even more... And yes, I'm aware that desktops are better than laptops for gaming. I am a college student, however, and have been gaming on laptops for about 5 years now. It's a personal preference and it makes my life easier so please don't suggest that I buy a desktop.

With that out of the way. My budget is $1500. My goal is to play planetside 2 completely lag free, also plan on playing guild wars 2 but I imagine that is less demanding. I honestly don't care that much about being able to play on ultra... I want a lagless experience, if I can get that on medium great, if not, that's fine, im used to playing on low.

I don't intend to make a purchase probably until August, so my first question is:

Is it even worth looking at PCs right now? I know that hardware changes rather quickly, will there be new options in a month or two that will make it pointless for me to even look right now, or is nothing big scheduled for the next few months?

Secondly, what are your suggestions? If you're bored and feel like looking some stuff up for me, go for it, if not here are a couple options I've found thus far, what are your thoughts?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834152337

NOTE: someone left this in the feedback: This is an Nvidia Optimus laptop. Despite neither Newegg nor MSI mentioning it, it has a permanently connected Intel GPU that you cannot disable. The listed Nvidia GPU is only there to accelerate certain graphics operations (OpenGL, d3d, etc) and you cannot disable the Intel card and fully use the Nvidia card. There is no BIOS option to disable the Intel, it's probably hardwired to the display ports without some kind of switch.

Is that something I should be concerned with?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834214490

Goku · 2012-06-07, 03:22 PM

Can you at least say why you need a laptop?

Fable · 2012-06-07, 03:25 PM

Try ASUS G74. I have it and I'm very satisfied. I play most of the games on higher graphics setings at ~50 FPS. It's quiet and doesn't get warm on the WASD side (it gets a bit hot on the numpad side). Everything is perfect, I haven't found anything I'm not satisfied about, except keyboard could be a bit better. Still, it's a 9/10 notebook for gaming.

I think even TotalBiscuit has it, I saw it in the last GameStation Podcast

But there may the some other gaming notebooks that are better now, I bought it in September last year.

EDIT: Missed the 'I am a college student' part. I bought it to use at college too, but I had problems with bying bag for it and I had to order bag for 19" notebook. You ARE going to get a lot attention like that.

Shake · 2012-06-07, 03:39 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Can you at least say why you need a laptop?

I prefer laptops for a few reasons. As I said I'm a college student. I generally live in 3-4 different places throughout the year, and come home ocassionally on weekends. Being able to slip my laptop into a backpack with my mouse, headset, and charger and be good to go makes my life easier. I also don't have that much space in my room (no singles on my campus) so needing room for a tower would mean less room for other things and for my roommates stuff. Lastly, I like being able to move around, watch tv shows on my bed or bring it into my common room and watch tv while browsing the web, stuff like that.

Also @Fable thanks for the suggestion. I will probably look for something a bit more recent than that just because I figure I can get more bang for my buck with a newer machine. I also prefer smaller screens, not small, but I used to have a big laptop like yours and it was a big pain to pack up and move around, thing was a brick.

I play on an ASUS right now, i think its about a 16 inch screen, I like this size and its quite light. Bought it on sale for around $750 a year ago. It's a decent machine, but I regret buying something this cheap. It struggles with tera on low and obviously won't be able to play PS2 too well, runs GW2 fine on low though so I guess thats good.

Rbstr · 2012-06-07, 04:28 PM

As far as Optimus...that's a good feature. Basically it makes the transition between the SB/IB graphics and the discrete graphics seamless. Means you get better battery life because it turns the discrete card off if you don't need it. It's a far better solution than my new Sony which requires you to close most programs and flip a switch.

Personally, the lesson I learned in school was to have a smaller lighter laptop that might not be spectacular and a tower you keep at your desk. I just dealt with it at home but I also wasn't there much...and why would I want to be? Being at school was way more fun.

Goku · 2012-06-07, 04:55 PM

I'm still in school at the moment. What I do is having a shitty computer at home for games/homework if needed and have my gaming desktop at school. I have a netbook that I use around if needed as well. If you are really moving around that much I guess I can understand the need.

As far as any recommendations I would wait to see what else comes by August. AMD and Nvidia will probably still have a few higher end laptop graphics coming out by then.

That MSI one looks good though.

Ailos · 2012-06-07, 06:28 PM

I recommend you look through This thread.

Basically, even getting a high-end gaming laptop is a major ripoff because the hardware that goes in them is at least a generation older than in the desktops, even if the naming scheme would have you believe otherwise.

Also, no matter what you do, you cannot get around the physics of the situation - the fact that a powerful CPU and GPU will simply generate too much heat for your table to be able to dissipate, so anything mobile will ALWAYS be gimped in some way.

You have a very powerful budget. If you set aside $1000, you can build an extremely capable desktop with very high quality components, and you still get $500 left over for a high-end netbook, or a mid-grade laptop. Hell - you already have a laptop, so buy a Windows 8 tablet when those come out.

Also, a gaming desktop doesn't have to occupy a lot of space. termhn showed us a while ago that we can put quite a bit of powerful hardware in a relatively small space without much problems. The biggest thing on your desk would actually be the monitor - and even that doesn't take up too much horizontal real estate.

If you want to enjoy the full PS2 experience without having to ragequit at some point, I strongly urge you to reconsider.

Rbstr · 2012-06-07, 07:28 PM

The only problem is that it sounds like he'd have to squeeze a monitor into the budget and if he wants to get a new portable he's starting to dig into both budgets pretty big.

I'd think about it pretty carefully.

Goku · 2012-06-07, 08:10 PM

Yeah thats the issue. Once you get into needing a monitor, new OS, plus all the PC accessories a $1000 build isn't that good anymore.

Ailos · 2012-06-07, 08:34 PM

Originally Posted by Goku

Yeah thats the issue. Once you get into needing a monitor, new OS, plus all the PC accessories a $1000 build isn't that good anymore.

Even ASUS 1080p display setting him back to $850 still bodes for a relatively well-equipped gaming PC, me thinks. The OS shouldn't be a problem, since as a college student, he should be able to buy a copy either through the MS student offer, or else through the school's bookstore for $50 or less.

EDIT: I'm not saying that he CANNOT buy any gaming laptops. It's just my opinion that buying a laptop with the expectation of a good gaming experience is like buying any Toyota/Lexus to race with - they'll get you across the finish line, but there's a lot more compromise involved than you initially think of. Plus, there's the fact that he bought a laptop last year, does he really need a new one for productivity this soon? (In which case the budget for a gaming PC becomes more open, too).

Shake · 2012-06-07, 08:35 PM

Ugh... This is what tends to happen whenever I've asked for laptop advice in the past... No matter how many disclaimers I throw in, and no matter how much I say "I'm not going to buy a desktop so don't suggest it." People still insist that I do it.

I don't want to come off like an ungrateful douchebag here... I appreciate that you guys are trying to help, but I'm going to buy a laptop. I understand that from your perspective it might not be rational, might not even make sense, but its what I'm going to do. I'm comfortable with the fact that it will cost me significantly more. I've been playing on laptops for 5 years, I like playing on laptops, its become comfortable for me, and I'm just used to it + enjoy the convenience. I even have a school laptop and an Ipad so really I don't even need the mobility its more just something I'm accustomed to and comfortable with. Rational? nope... But hey, people do completely irrational things all the time it's just something you have to learn to deal with.

With all of that said, I appreciate that you guys are triyng to save me money, but I'm pretty set in my ways here so please keep the rest of the suggestions focused on the topic of laptops. Thanks for all of the comments so far though. I will most likely be waiting at least a few weeks to see if anything newer comes out. Does anyone know of any big hardware releases for laptops that are coming up soon that I should really wait for?

Ailos · 2012-06-07, 08:42 PM

Sorry to divert your thread.

As far as laptops recommendations go: I cannot (obviously) recommend much in the graphics department, but I recommend sticking to the 3rd gen Core i5s - their improved efficiency translates into much more favorable thermal performance that should give whatever graphics card your laptop does come with more room to play. They started appearing in laptops only a few weeks ago, but expect to seem them pretty much everywhere in a month or so.

Rbstr · 2012-06-07, 08:54 PM

About the only advice I have is get an i7 so you get the quad core.
Graphics power, for nVidia you'll see 6xy 5xy and 4xy. You'll want something that's got x > 6 at the very least.
I dono ATI's numbering scheme...I'd go nVidia for the Optimus tech.
Here's a ranking http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-...ist.844.0.html

I've had good experiences with ASUS business oriented laptops.
These folks seem to be popular. http://www.sagernotebook.com/

If you have customization options: Buy the least amount of ram that gets you the CPU/graphics you want. same with the hard disk. It's nearly always cheaper to add afterward, just make sure to check. For instance Sager seems to be very reasonable with that pricing compared to others.