Hi guys. I'm planning on buying new laptop. I looking for a good gaming laptop and I don't have enough knowledge about it. I saw the alien ware mx11 on dell and it is the best of CES for 2010. What do you think guys? do you prefer other laptops than that one? which one is good for gaming? All i wanted is the speed and enough storage. Also, the price range is no more than a $1k. Thanks.

If you really mean a "gaming" laptop then you should look for notebooks with a ATI mobility 5870 graphic card + DDR5 memory, they start at the beginning of April for 1000$ (MSI / Medion...) already.

Companies like Deviltech, Mysn and Asus sell already notebooks with such a high end graphic card's for around 1500$~


It is important that it got DDR5 memory for the GPU, a decent processor like a Core i5/i7, a good cooling system else you can use such notebooks as heater in a cold winter or they are loud as hell and the display should have at least a 1680x1050 resolution, Full-HD (1920x1080) would be even better but that's optional for gaming. Notebooks like the M11X are small and cute, but they aren't future safe at all and only semi-usable as gaming notebook (Its ok for playing a round with friends somewhere).

So expect to pay 1000-1500$ if you want to get a decent gaming notebook with a desktop pc like speed.

Acceptable mobile gaming GPUs are: ATI Radeon 5870 (Fastest if you got DDR5), Nvidia GTX285/280M (No DX11 but fast), ATI Radeon 4870 / 4860 (No DX11) and GTX260M (A lot slower then the chips above, like a 9800GTX).

Don't get GPUs like: Nvidia GT 130M, 150M, 230M, 240M, 250M, 325M, 330M, 335M, 350M, 8600M, 8800M, 9600M, 9800M / ATI 43XX, 45XX, 46XX, 54XX, 56XX...

So what would you recommend? I don't know where to find those laptops with that specs. Can you please give me a list to choose from. Thanks.

I updated my post with acceptable mobile GPUs, as long as you take care that your new Notebook has such a GPU you will have a lot of fun in games.

Well the Asus G73JH is for example a payable notebook with a ATI 5870 (DDR5), the Deviltech Fragbook DTX is cheaper and got the same GPU (Mysn ones are pretty the same).

My suggestion is to wait for April, as I said MSI and other companies will release way cheaper notebooks then with GPUs like the 5870 (DDR5) (But I guess also with a lower quality and no Full-HD). Still if you want a high quality notebook with warranty and a nice design now, then go for the Asus G73JH.

The best gaming notebooks are made by Alienware, but there you pay 2000$+ and they got no 5870 GPUs yet!

I checked those laptops and the asus is pretty awsome. I guess that is enough for me. Do you know any physical store that sells that laptop? or it's only available online?

My "Top Of The Line" Dell XPS M15 with BLAZING fast DDR3, 4GB Ram and Blu-ray.......wait...it's 2010......meh...what a difference a year or so makes.........

I run the 9600m GT 512mb, definitely not for the hardcore gamer. But does alright for current gen games.

How about this one, price 1050, has usb 3.0, core i7, Ati 5730 hd

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220696

i am using the m11x and i love it great for school and gaming i get 7hrs using word/some web and 2hrs gaming on battery!

I got a good method for you:

Don't shop on eBay/the internet; I've been scammed over $1,300 the police have caught the guy but all he got was a criminal record etc and I still lost my money ... yes I h8 the cops now bloody hypocritz!!

And don't shop around just at $1K. Actually see all the available laptops yourself (specs) in store and compile a list (on paper or in your head).

Start the list with those that have a minimum of 2GB and a modern CPU: 2GHz Core2Duo (P-series), 2GHz Core i3/i5/i7 series or an ATi that is on par. Anymore GHz is just bonus, it won't make certain games that didn't work suddenly work, it would just make them run smoother. Don't go for anything above 2-cores especially quadcores, you will just be losing money and wasting battery life. Tricore may* be worth it, if its slower than a 2GHz P-series but cheaper.

Do you have a REQUIRED battery life rating? (eg must have 5hrs min on power save). Now weed out the laptops that can't provide the mobility. Rule of thumb, if it says 8hours you will score 6hrs, so use that 80% rule to determine the real battery life (not according to manufacture's flawed benchmark). Also note, its unlikely, but some laptops will have upgradable battery with more (mAh) electric capacity. If you will be replacing home desktop/always at power source/dont have a batterylife requirement, don't acknowledge what I've just said.

Next weed out the laptops that have no GPU's or slow GPU's.

Just use THIS website to see the performance of the GPU on the laptops. The list is on the right in a heirachy order and clicking will show you their properties/TDP/benchmarks. Or simply use THIS list to find the game that is most GPU-heavy that you NEED to play and then weed out the laptops (from your list) which have GPU's below that line.
Note Perfect is >50fps on high settings.
Decent is usually >30fps on high/>50fps on high settings.
Playable is usually >40fps on medium settings (anything less and you will notice the pc's strain).


Now you should have a smaller list (call it list B) of laptops that can play the game you want to play. Now go back and start bargaining!!! Try getting more DDR3 RAM (if it was 2GB) to at least 4GB (anymore it wont be necessary) to remove performance bottleneck. And try getting a lower price. LIE, say you saw a competitor with a better laptop at better price etc.

Now you have just a few options (depending on your budget), choose the one that is better functions/build quality/warranty/price/OS, you set the balance!

Using that method, I got my laptop (which was powerful but not a gaming laptop) roughly AU$1300 from AU$1999 price-point. How? I hustled and bought 2 with free backpack, printer, hardrive, cash rebate from Harvey Norman for $3000 and sold the other one for $1,600. And it plays decently Crysis, from ~2yrs ago. It was HP Pavillion dv6, had everything (stylish,720screen,TV tuner) except Bluetooth and build quality was poor-ish. But I got the warranty and it was a smart move. Now my lil bro uses (no, demolishes) it and I've gone light&skinny with ACER 4810TG (prezzie).

@chase15, good luck, I hope you make the right decision and are happy with your purchase!

edit: now that you have the really small list (list B), go ahead and check the internet for sales from genuine sellers (not eBay) ... unlikely but you may find a special!!