Good+cheap(er) gaming laptop

[cute.]

Hi guys
So my boyfriends PC has been slowly degrading since the middle of last year and looks like it has finally come to its final breaths.

He has been mentioning that he wants to switch to a laptop but a gaming one (idk why since all his games are on PS4 and I've never seen him use his PC to play a single game)
Anyways he doesn't want a full hard out gaming laptop, I heard him mention something about good graphics and lots of memory, and he wants to edit go pro videos on it too.

It's our 2 year anniversary coming up soon and I was thinking of surprising him with something special :)
He's been to dicksmith and said he saw one for $600AUD but I find that hard to believe because I thought they cost like at least 2k Hahahaha

Anyways please recommend me some :)))


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[Mama Bear]

Hi guys
So my boyfriends PC has been slowly degrading since the middle of last year and looks like it has finally come to its final breaths.

He has been mentioning that he wants to switch to a laptop but a gaming one (idk why since all his games are on PS4 and I've never seen him use his PC to play a single game)
Anyways he doesn't want a full hard out gaming laptop, I heard him mention something about good graphics and lots of memory, and he wants to edit go pro videos on it too.

It's our 2 year anniversary coming up soon and I was thinking of surprising him with something special :)
He's been to dicksmith and said he saw one for $600AUD but I find that hard to believe because I thought they cost like at least 2k Hahahaha

Anyways please recommend me some :)))


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That might be because Dick Smith is insolvent, and are having closing down sales in all their stores atm. Could get a good bargain before they're gone.

[cute.]

That might be because Dick Smith is insolvent, and are having closing down sales in all their stores atm. Could get a good bargain before they're gone.

Yeah I know,
But I don't want to just to go to dicksmith and ask for their opinion because all they're gonna do is just try sell me the most expensive one they have, so hoping someone here can give me their unbiased opinion about different laptops


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[cinnamon]

Anyways please recommend me some :)))

I would really recommend doing some research into any brand you look at and read the reviews. If he wants gaming power, he'll need one with a good graphics card, but if he wants video editing/rendering he'll also need more RAM and a better processor than a gaming computer. What program does he currently use to edit his GoPro vids?

The thing to watch out for with laptops that pack a punch is overheating. A lot of great mid-grade laptops get super hot because they're not designed to cool their components well enough. Laptops will never cool themselves as well as a desktop of the same computing grade, but some models are poorly designed...this is where user reviews can help you.

Also, unless his GoPro is the 4k model, STEER CLEAR of a 4k screen. There are a lot of laptops offering that resolution now and they are often not outfitted with enough processing or graphics power to take full advantage of that resolution in every scenario. 1080p is still great for 15" laptops. Anything more than that and he'll have trouble running games at full resolution without a very beefy graphics card anyways.

SSD's are absolutely worth it over HDD's for boot speed, gaming load times, and file transfers of videos.

Let me know if you have any questions! I can't recommend brands/models, but if you give me specs of things you're looking at and more info about what games/programs he's looking to run on it I can recommend one over another. :D

[cute.]

oh wow so much to know
hes not really looking to play any games on it, his reasoning to get a gaming laptop is because they are apparently faster or something anyways i just have no clue whats going on and i cant really ask him what exactly he wants without giving it away that im planning on buying one

i dont even know where to begin with researching them :( ill just google "best gaming laptop", i guess hahahah

[cinnamon]

oh wow so much to know
hes not really looking to play any games on it, his reasoning to get a gaming laptop is because they are apparently faster or something anyways i just have no clue whats going on and i cant really ask him what exactly he wants without giving it away that im planning on buying one

i dont even know where to begin with researching them :( ill just google "best gaming laptop", i guess hahahah

Aws!! You're awesome for wanting to get him one, but it can be hard because some people (like me) are very particular and computers leave a lot of room for differences in preferences.

Here's some guidelines:

Screen Resolution: 1080p screen resolution is perfect for a laptop. 1440p or 4k is overkill. Some lower end laptops save money with subpar screen quality. Colors will be washed out and you may not notice unless it's by a mid to high quality screen. If he does video stuff, see what reviewers say about the screen quality of any machine you look to buy. Any monitor that's IPS is GOOD.
Processor/CPU: I unfortunately don't know as much about laptop processing chips as I do desktop ones, but anything i5 or i7 is going to be good if it's a current laptop model with the latest chipset. i3's can be great, but those do tend to be in lower-end machines and video editing needs good processing power.
RAM: 6GB RAM minimum. 8GB RAM is perfect. Anything more than 8 is typically unnecessary for most users (IMO), and if he's just doing GoPro videos, he probably does not need anything crazy, although it won't hurt to have more.
Graphics Card: Many laptops (even mid-grade ones) come with generic graphics cards. A lot of pre-configured machines cut costs in this area. Some will have "Intel HD" cards, but these are not comparable to what you'll find in gaming machines. Because your boyfriend is probably not doing video editing with 3D modeling or that kind of rendering, he may not need a gaming laptop level of graphics power.
Storage: An SSD will make his computer start up in about a second. Programs will start lightning fast, files will transfer incredibly quickly. His files will be less prone to corruption in the event of a drop or jostle to the laptop. If you get an SSD, some people can do fine with 128GB but 256GB is better if you can afford it. If he stores a lot of GoPro video files on his current PC he may be better off to keep an external hard drive for file storage. If you go with an HDD most laptops come with 500GB to 1TB. An SSD will improve the speed/performance in more aspects than just about any other factor elsewhere so it is a great thing to invest in. What I mean to say is that a good graphics card will improve high intensity aspects of video editing/gaming, but will not improve his day-to-day use. Same with extra RAM or a fancy processor. An SSD will make high and low intensity uses of the laptop improve. :)
Keyboards: Backlit keyboards are the tits. This is a perk if you can get one for him. Some (in fact, many) laptops do not have numerical pads. This may matter to him.




Other things to consider:

RAM & Hard Drives are easy upgrades for most users to make later down the road. Video cards in laptops are frequently soldered to the motherboard and should be considered not upgradeable. Same goes for the processor/CPU. SO, it's better to get the best CPU/Screen/Graphics card you can afford first.
Any laptop you find in store should have a brand and model number you can google. Notebookcheck.com & CNET are great places for in-depth reviews, but Amazon & manufacturer websites are the best places to find user reviews. Users reviews are where you'll find out if there's a design flaw that makes it run too hot, have shitty battery life, crappy quality & so on. XD
You can get good laptops for what he needs for $700 to $1000 normal retail price in USD. If you're lucky you can find one on sale, used or refurbished for a lot less. It's hard for me to relate USD pricing to AUD with a direct monetary conversion because I find that other countries sometimes pay more for their tech. A laptop that costs 700 pounds in England equals 990 American dollars, but that same laptop may sell in America for $750 USD if that makes sense. XD


Just to give you something to reference, this is a laptop I was looking at getting:
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

The screen may be smaller than he wants, but it's a good mid-range machine for a fair price with great reviews from both users and laptop review sites.

[cute.]

Keyboards: Backlit keyboards are the tits. This is a perk if you can get one for him. Some (in fact, many) laptops do not have numerical pads. This may matter to him.
[/LIST]

this made me laugh because it is exactly something he will need!!! his current keyboard lights up all colours of the rainbow xD

and wow that is a lot of description didnt know there are so many things people look for in a laptop! i just own a mac to do my assignments and go on facebook really hahaha

thank you so much for all the information i'll do some research on the weekend and see if i find anything good. do you mind if i contact you later on to see what's a better choice? :3

[cinnamon]

this made me laugh because it is exactly something he will need!!! his current keyboard lights up all colours of the rainbow xD

and wow that is a lot of description didnt know there are so many things people look for in a laptop! i just own a mac to do my assignments and go on facebook really hahaha

thank you so much for all the information i'll do some research on the weekend and see if i find anything good. do you mind if i contact you later on to see what's a better choice? :3

There is a lot. XD It can be complicated because even gamers need slightly different specs than srs video people. I will say I do not do video editing/rendering myself, I only know people personally who do so others on here may chime in with more precise advice for your bf's particular needs. I am a bit of a computer nerd though. You can definitely hit me up with things you're looking at! I may be able to give you a second eye on things that may be good or bad about any of them. :)

[haiqtpi]

Hi guys
So my boyfriends PC has been slowly degrading since the middle of last year and looks like it has finally come to its final breaths.

He has been mentioning that he wants to switch to a laptop but a gaming one (idk why since all his games are on PS4 and I've never seen him use his PC to play a single game)
Anyways he doesn't want a full hard out gaming laptop, I heard him mention something about good graphics and lots of memory, and he wants to edit go pro videos on it too.

It's our 2 year anniversary coming up soon and I was thinking of surprising him with something special :)
He's been to dicksmith and said he saw one for $600AUD but I find that hard to believe because I thought they cost like at least 2k Hahahaha

Anyways please recommend me some :)))


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I bought a used alienware m11x laptop last year for gaming purposes. I connect it to an external monitor and play games to my heart's content. While it was a lower-end/older model, I was able to play games really comfortably, and I would assume this experience only gets better with the more you spend (You can get an m11x for 200-300). I definitely recommend an older alienware laptop - even being a few years old, they tend to blow most current models out of the water (since they tend to be cutting edge when they come out).

[TheNotoriousAustin]

I was actually gonna make a topic asking the same questions you did! Haha so thanks. I also didn't realize how many options there were to take into consideration. I don't do any computer gaming either, but wanted something exceptionally fast. The only computer games I play is Neopets lol, so I was looking for something that would load pages faster and such.

[cute.]

TheNotoriousAustin although getting a faster computer would potentially make your pages load faster, i feel like getting faster internet would be just as important xD cant do much with a fast laptop and shitty connection. and vice versa
haiqtpi alienwear in australia costs $2k+ i doubt one thats a few years old would be any cheaper. plus if i were to buy him one i would want to buy a brand new one :) (if i were buying for myself buying second hand wouldnt be a problem, i just dont see it as polite if you get something second hand as a gift)

i mightve mentioned to him that i want to buy him one and he tells me he would rather me help him buy wheels and coilovers for his sup3r c00l EVO.. he loves the car more than me sometimes :(

[TheNotoriousAustin]

cute. I agree totally, I have pretty fast connection but I'm currently working with a Toshiba laptop that's like.. 6 years old so it's super slow and laggy.

[delli]

Try Dell Optiplex, one with a x64 Operating System. You can get those for like $100 including shipping

[nicolae]

I was actually gonna make a topic asking the same questions you did! Haha so thanks.