A lasting gaming laptop rig?

It seems the 11" Acer I have (in front of me) is falling apart and I sort of wanted a new one anyway (for gaming and probably taking class notes @ school)

• Budget: ~1000 American Dollars
• Resolution: Up to HD (if it doesn't make the system get very hot)
• Games / Settings Desired: DOS era on - probably high enough settings (may connect to HDTV) - though not enough to make it get extremely hot (~70 C?)
• When I will buy?: Hopefully by start of college again

- Hardware

• USB 2/3 ports (though what laptop doesn't come with USB ports now?)
• HDD: Half a terabyte (I'd think)
• Has a HDMI port
• Card reader (convenience)
• Dual or quad core
• VERY STURDY
• As long a battery life as possible
• Support for wireless N

- Software

• Windows 7 Home Premium (I doubt I need professional or ultimate)
• Microsoft Office

- Game software

• Elder Scrolls (Morrowind -> Skyrim)
• Portal 1 & 2
• Batman: Arkham series
• Quake, DOOM & Wolfenstein (all)
• Commander Keen (all)
• Bioshock 1 & 2
• L.A Noire (if possible)
• Bejeweled & Peggle (all)
• anything else that interests me off steam

- Other thoughts

• Don't care weather AMD or Intel (CPU) or AMD or Nvidia (GPU)
• - If Intel don't care if Sandy or Ivy bridge,
• - Don't really care weather i3 or i5
• Unlikely but if possible UEFI (can laptops even show BIOS?)
• Screen size: 15+ (though probably not more than 20 inches)
• Decent sized keyboard (lest keyboard key feel)

You can go for i5, Gigabit mobo, 8GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, ATI 6770HD, coolermaster elite430 cabinet, coolermaster 550W PSU. Monitor atleast 22 inch and microsoft KB and mouse.

Are you sure you want a laptop for gaming. With a desktop you have a lot more options.

In any case - I would go fo an i7, a decent graphics card and a HD screen. An eSata port is also convenient. Sony has some laptops like that in 16".

I already have a thread here (and dozens of other sites as well, google a good long lasting gaming and multipurpose rig?) about a desktop. Laptop would more be for when I am someplace away from the desktop (or for example the rare power outage) and may need to or want to pass time.

Check my specs and then look at other Asus laptops. I have been very happy with mine. plays GTA4, Crisis, etc. Doesn't get hot if not pressed. blows out hot air and stays at around 75-80C when gaming intensive.

It has a smaller HDD, but has an extra internal bay for 2nd HDD. (putting an SSD in mine tonight (If I get time))

Only thing is has a very short battery life and is heavy. not really good for toting all over campus, but excellent for gaming.

More info:

has HDMI out. Can do HD on external monitor, 1386X720? something on regular monitor.

Easy to clean out dust. has a soft-overclock to take 2.13Ghz to 2.3Ghz (has only coreDuo CPU though)

Processor and GPU can be swapped out if needed, heatsink is removable for easy cleaning.

Has fast-boot options, Backlit keyboard, has webcam and mic built in, also Has Mic-in and headphone jack, has numberpad



I bought mine 1.5 years ago and its still great. I dont know if you can find new, but I know they are around refurbished

"Lasting" on a laptop will be far less than what a desktop can offer, in terms of gaming. If it was me, I'd price them out, but I'd be willing to bet for the cost of a good gaming laptop, you could get a gaming desktop and a small, portable laptop for when you are on the go. Given your low budget (low in the gaming laptop world), you'll be able to get a quick laptop, but probably not one that will last for gaming. Plan on $1500 to $2000 for a real "gaming" laptop.

Actually this looks pretty nice:

Newegg.com - SONY VAIO F Series VPCF232FX/B Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 16.4" 4GB Memory DDR3 1333 500GB HDD 7200rpm BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M

With most gaming laptops though this will probably have short battery life too.

The video board in that Sony isn't that great, and I usually try to talk people out of Sony Vaios anytime I can.

lol. understood Deacon. I have not used a vaio, so I can't comment.

I am just trying to help

For the price, everything else in the laptop is perfect for a gaming system. That processor would scream. I've just had some bad experiences with Sony and their support, not to mention very high failure rates.

Also, any computer that you buy will have Microsoft Office pre-installed, but will be a trial version.

There are some free alternatives like open office and libreoffice:
Apache OpenOffice - The Free and Open Productivity Suite

Home » LibreOffice

Here is the link as well to the Microsoft Office in case you need it:

Microsoft Office