Buying Gaming Laptop

[Harvest Goddess]

Sup guys, so I just got approved for a Best Buy Credit Card.

I'm buying a laptop for my significant other, (I have the means to pay for it in full now, but I want the credit boost. However insignificant it maybe)

I was gonna get him this: (it's under 1k, so it's my budget price, but I also heard him talking about Acers as well)

Can I ask ya advice on if it's worth it?

This is the laptop

Acer Nitro 5 156 Laptop Intel Core i5 8GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 1TB Hard Drive Shale Black
Model: AN515-53-52FA


He plays games like smite and the like, so I just want to make sure I'm buying something on par with what might be decent. :$

[j03]

I highly recommend searching up the exact name + model to see reviews from reputable tech sites.

I want to say yes to this, but does it not have a solid state drive? You could definitely get a solid gaming laptop for under $1k online somewhere, especially if you're in Canada/USA. With that said, I will say it will be hard to find one that runs the newest games at the highest graphic settings with that price. But you should still get something quite solid for what he does.

Best of luck!

[Byte]

Smite should be fine. $699.99 is an okay price. I think you'll be hard-pressed to find an SSD+HDD combo laptop for less. I'm not sure what your max budget is, but going through Best Buy is going to raise costs anyway due to their markup on simple things. Their $899.99 version of about the same (Upgrade to 16GB Ram and 256 SSD only) still lacks the secondary hard drive. 7200rpm HDD on the $699.99 version should be alright.

Best Buy specifically doesn't really have that many options for less than 1k. Though I entirely agree with Joe that if you were going outside of Best Buy, you could find a better deal. If going through alternative financing is an option, I'd check out Amazon or Newegg.

[Synth Salazzle]

Personally, I recommend this. It's what I have.
[Only registered and activated users can see links]

There's really nothing it won't play, and upgrading from a 1050 to a 1050Ti really does have a major difference. There's nothing I haven't been able to play on high/ultra.

[jackavaler]

Oh wow Ahsoka, that looks really good! I'm gonna have to check that out!
Also, OP, I highly reccomend you stay away from Lenovo or Acer. I have a Lenovo Y70 and I do NOT reccomend it whatsoever- the screen never stops flickering, and my friend had an Acer that overheated all the time. But that was a few years ago, so maybe they've improved now? The specs you provided look pretty good.

[Synth Salazzle]

Oh wow Ahsoka, that looks really good! I'm gonna have to check that out!
Also, OP, I highly reccomend you stay away from Lenovo or Acer. I have a Lenovo Y70 and I do NOT reccomend it whatsoever- the screen never stops flickering, and my friend had an Acer that overheated all the time. But that was a few years ago, so maybe they've improved now? The specs you provided look pretty good.

I also don't recommend acer, the processor in mine was utter dog shit.

[Baelia]

I also don't recommend acer, the processor in mine was utter dog shit.

i'm on an acer "gaming" laptop right now and it's complete garbage, never buy anything acer lmAO

[Synth Salazzle]

i'm on an acer "gaming" laptop right now and it's complete garbage, never buy anything acer lmAO

I've got one too, it didn't even run GTA5 like it promised.

[fallacy]

I would look for reviews if I were you, though the specs are nice but it depends on what type of games will you play in it.
I personally prefer a desktop PC which you can upgrade constantly over the years due to the graphics demand of new and upcoming games.

[lagrima]

i'm on an acer "gaming" laptop right now and it's complete garbage, never buy anything acer lmAO

This. I got recommended an acer laptop on reddit and it's the worst laptop I've ever had. Hell, it can barely handle having a bunch of tabs open, let alone overwatch which is what I initially wanted to play. So. Much. Lag.

[Swedish Fish]

Alienware m15 seems like a good deal to me.

[Synth Salazzle]

Alienware m15 seems like a good deal to me.

Alienware is very overpriced for what you get. You're paying for brand more than power.

[Mardan]

^ Agree, Alienware simply isn't worth it for the price.

The "new" (last year, but still) Inspiron series from Dell is really good compared to its price. They're currently the go-to "gaming" laptop while still having a sane price.
Just make sure it's not one of the 2-in-1 models or you'll be paying out the ass for a largely useless "turn your screen 180 degrees" function.