# (Gaming) Laptop Recommendations Please



## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Having sorted out one of my boys for Christmas with a bass guitar, I now need to sort the other.

He wants a new laptop and will be giving his old laptop to his brother.

It's been years since I've looked at computers and apparently he tells me that the Voodoo 2 8mb isn't the coolest GPU on the street anymore.

So I thought I'd ask the experts on DW!

He currently has a HP G62-107sa (win 7, Intel i3 2.13ghz, Intel HD graphics) and this is what he will be giving to his brother.

We have a budget of £400/450 for a new laptop. It will be used for homework, surfing and so on, but ultimately he will be playing games on it. He doesn't want a desktop (I appreciate he will get a better gaming pc for the money) as he does use it around the house and his mates sometimes all get together on their lappys.

Gaming wise, he wants it to be able to cope with Minecraft (with fraps recording and shaders, what ever that all means!) and games like Skyrim.

He has seen this http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...r-aspire-e1-571-15-6-laptop-21286170-pdt.html which is an i5 2.6ghz (with a built in overclocker to 3.2), 4GB ram (we will upgrade to 8GB) and an intel HD4000 GPU (integrated).

I have spoken to him about whether an integrated GPU will be any good for a predominantly gaming laptop and he has told me that models with a dedicated GPU are £800. Apparently the Intel HD4000 is powerful and about as good as you can get when it comes to laptops at this price range.

Would appreciate any feedback from those who know about these things and/or any alternative suggestions that will fit his requirements.

Cheers


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...furbished-15-6-laptop-black-19572011-pdt.html

Problem solved! :thumb:


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

You'll ideally need a dedicated graphics card.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Sony_Ci5-15.5-4-750-NFC-WIN8PRO_Black_SVF1521F4EB/version.asp


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Cheers chaps! Of those two above, i take it the HP refurb is the better of the two due to the faster i5 etc?


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## deano93tid (May 8, 2013)

The HP is a very good buy for the price and has 2GB dedicated graphics; it will play pretty much all the games out there and even the more intense games but at lower settings. If you want a laptop aimed at running all games at max settings then look at alienware - http://www.alienware.co.uk/

I am a Sony whore but I would take the HP in this case unless I had an extra £500 to add to the budget to get the same spec in a Sony.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Yeah, the Alienware look great, but way over budget.

I'll show him the Sony & HP when i get home. I know he likes his current HP and having a look at a benchmark site, the Radeon HD7670M is twice the benchmark of the integrated HD4000 he was looking at on the Acer.

What are people's opinions on refurbed laptops?


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

On modern games the graphics card has more of an affect than processor.

A lad at work is going to try these for his, been around quite a while and have a good online rep. Www.pcspecialist.co.uk


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

Shiny said:


> What are people's opinions on refurbed laptops?


The one I linked is a phenomenal laptop for the money, looks and feels lovely. As for being a refurb, you're unlikely to be able to tell the difference, they're just returns that have been repaired and cosmetically fixed if necessary.

You won't be sorry with that one! :thumb:


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Mike, i asked on another forum i am on and was told to avoid the HPs like the plague due to the mainboard needing reflowing or reballing due to dry joints between the GPU and board as it soldered on an not cabled?

I'm thinking 12 month warranty and may even consider extending this (if i can on a refurb) but on the same hand wouldn't want a laptop that was failing (i won't go into explaining things, but my lad gets a bit uptight when the smallest of things don't work).

What are your thoughts on this?


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## bmwman (Jun 11, 2008)

Shiny, call overclockers. I used them to purchase all parts for a custom built desktop many years ago. www.overclockers.co.uk. I use them for any computer related purchases.

Games like Skyrim really need a lot of power, and will cause the laptop to run quite hot. Think about the graphics card if your son plays skyrim.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

I've looked at the overclockers website and laptops all seem to start from £800 which is way over budget unfortunately.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Found this is on the pcworld website - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/lapto...urbished-15-5-laptop-silver-21302172-pdt.html

Any thoughts? I think the HP is much better spec, but the potential quality issues with the HP is putting me off a bit.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

There were a few models that did that, HP620 for one, but recent ones seem much more solid. However most we've sold (several hundred a month) are office spec with integrated graphics.

One thing worth noting is the problem HP laptops were all AMD processors/graphics, at least in our experience.

A 'gaming laptop' isn't really within your budget.

This is close http://www.simplyasus.com/ASUS_X550CC-XO281H_1401101.html Again not gaming but should suffice.

I always go for Asus as a personal choice.


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/ASUS-N56-N56VM-S4089V_1352938.html

This will do the trick and comes with 2 year warranty as standard. The website is wrong (as it was when I bought mine). All Asus N series laptops come with 2 years Asus warranty. Worth the extra £100 IMO.

http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mobile...aptop/Performance-Synthetic-3D-Game-Benchmark

Scroll down and this backs me up.

EDIT: As do Asus themselves: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/N56VM/#specifications


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Cheers Ardandy.

Yeah i appreciate he's not going to get a gaming laptop as such, more of a laptop that can play games. He's not a hardcore gamer, spends most of his time playing around designing things, physics type games and a lot of time making some quite intricate stuff on Roblox and Minecraft. Also plays a lot of driving games but they work fine on his current laptop so won't be a problem. He has Skyrim and would like to play that as well.

Budget has to be £450 really, maximum £500 at a push.

Do you know of any problems with the HP ENVY m6-1178sa posted on the 1st page?


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## ardandy (Aug 18, 2006)

Not heard anything specific but everything we sell goes with a 3 year warranty.

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/HP-Compaq_Warranty_Packs/prod.asp

Make sure its the one for your model but even if you stretch the budget a little, £50 to extend the HP warranty (not a joke 3rd party) is well worth it IMO. Cost you that for a minor repair.

Contact them and ask for the right pack if you're unsure. Bought off them plenty of times too but a lot of places sell HP Care Packs.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Ah cool, so i can buy the HP laptop form pc world and then get a 3 year warranty from this laptop direct place for another £50 or so notes?

Sounds like a plan.


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## Slabs (Sep 28, 2013)

Have you looked at a used alienware m11x? can pick one up for around £500. Brilliant little machines and come with 1gb dedicated graphics.


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

Shiny said:


> Cheers Ardandy.
> 
> Yeah i appreciate he's not going to get a gaming laptop as such, more of a laptop that can play games. He's not a hardcore gamer, spends most of his time playing around designing things, physics type games and a lot of time making some quite intricate stuff on Roblox and Minecraft. Also plays a lot of driving games but they work fine on his current laptop so won't be a problem. He has Skyrim and would like to play that as well.
> 
> ...


We've got an Envy m6, it's pretty much perfect - easily worth twice what it's up for. Stick an SSD in for a couple of hundred (for a decent sized one) and it'll boot in 6-7 seconds. As mentioned, the 620 sort of era had issues but that's a long time back. Warranty you can actually get accidental damage cover from HP themselves for £150 (list price) if you want to be sure of getting the same laptop back, or other places may be able to provide similar/identical service for cheaper (we do a shed load of HP stuff so I get it cheap for myself).

I really wouldn't listen to a lot of folks who see someone ask for a £450 laptop and suggest that you look at Overclockers at gaming laptops with lots of graphics power. It's like your old man asking for advice for a £6k runaround and sending him packing down to Merc or Audi - there's only so much you can get for what you're asking, and the Envy m6 is one of the prettiest, well specced laptops I've seen in a long time at this sort of price point. My only gripe would be the screen resolution, but most of them at this size are that resolution and it helps it to play games at much higher settings than it would do if it were to pick up the dv6's 1080p screen. I certainly feel I've had to go looking to find anything to gripe about!

Do it, is my advice. :thumb:


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

Reference warranties, the Laptops Direct ones listed don't cover that model. Looking at 3yr cover you want either:

UM963E - HP 3 year pickup and return
UM949E - HP 3 year pickup and return including accidental damage cover


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## benji1205 (Jun 15, 2009)

The HP Envy looks like good value for money. Cannot comment on the reliability of it though. Not sure when your lads birthday is, but if he is after something more expensive (and you can afford it) could you take some money from what you would spend on his birthday to make sure he gets what he really wants? When you are spending £500 on a laptop (as long as you have the funds) spending the extra bob to make sure its perfect would be ideal. Alienware machines arent all that either, use to adore them but know a couple of people who have had serious reliability issues with them - but as with anything, you get lucky and unlucky with things just as you would a car / tv etc.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Swaying back to the HP now.....:lol:

I'll speak to the lad tonight, i think i know what he'll say!


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

benji1205 said:


> The HP Envy looks like good value for money. Cannot comment on the reliability of it though. Not sure when your lads birthday is, but if he is after something more expensive (and you can afford it) could you take some money from what you would spend on his birthday to make sure he gets what he really wants? When you are spending £500 on a laptop (as long as you have the funds) spending the extra bob to make sure its perfect would be ideal. Alienware machines arent all that either, use to adore them but know a couple of people who have had serious reliability issues with them - but as with anything, you get lucky and unlucky with things just as you would a car / tv etc.


January 

£100 from us for Christmas
£100 from us for his birthday
£50 from my parents for Christmas
£50 from parents for his birthday
£50 from his brother (buying his old laptop off him)
£100 he'll contribute himself
--------------------------
£450 :thumb:

It's relative too, I don't really think at 13/14 he should have a really expensive laptop, £450 is still a fair old whack of money.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

OvlovMike said:


> Reference warranties, the Laptops Direct ones listed don't cover that model. Looking at 3yr cover you want either:
> 
> UM963E - HP 3 year pickup and return
> UM949E - HP 3 year pickup and return including accidental damage cover


Could i buy that from PC world of would they want to sell me their own that comes with a free pot of vaseline?

£120 for the UM963E i take it? http://hp-care-pack-services.co.uk/pick-up-return-3-year-consumer-5.html


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## benji1205 (Jun 15, 2009)

Shiny said:


> January
> 
> £100 from us for Christmas
> £100 from us for his birthday
> ...


Fair enough, looks like thats that sorted . I cannot see that from the spec of the refurbed HP, that it would not run the games that he wants to play. Just make sure that when using alot of power, to ensure that it is allowed ventilation as alot of these problems are from people sitting with the laptops down on their laps etc and overheating occuring.



Shiny said:


> Could i buy that from PC world of would they want to sell me their own that comes with a free pot of vaseline?


PC World have their own, which from past experiences, I wouldnt pay a penny for.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

Cheers Benji.

Yeah it usually sits on his desk and he has one of these USB powered stand things that has a fan. His current lappy was getting a bit hot and this solved the problem.

I'll just need to order another one as his brother will be getting his old lappy.


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## Shiny (Apr 23, 2007)

One last question (possibly....), will i still be able to purchase the HP 3 year warranty on a refurbished laptop?


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## gibee (Jul 5, 2013)

PM sent


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

Shiny said:


> One last question (possibly....), will i still be able to purchase the HP 3 year warranty on a refurbished laptop?


Yes, as long as it's HP refurbished. If it isn't HP refurbished, then most likely because HP won't have any record of it having been refurbished! :thumb:


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