Edler Scrolls Online laptop

[Flessan]

Good evening Anand Forumites,

My daughter wants a laptop capable of playing Elder Scrolls Online when it comes out. Honestly, it doesn't seem like it will be a very taxing game.

Assuming she wants a 17 inch screen and I want to stay under 1200 bucks, What are your suggestions?

I'm watching those BF and CM deals!

Flessan

 

[Zodiark1593]

I'm thinking the Lenovo Y series. The exact specs aren't known, but I'd bet that a GT 650M should do fine.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...3#.UKxWTXb7iM8

That Ideopad Y400 looks to fit the bill nicely.

 

[Flessan]

I'm thinking the Lenovo Y series. The exact specs aren't known, but I'd bet that a GT 650M should do fine.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...3#.UKxWTXb7iM8

That Ideopad Y400 looks to fit the bill nicely.

The Y400 is only 14 inch. When I hit her with the 17 inch being heavy and we should go smaller, she responded with "I won't be carrying it much". Think she wants the 17"

 

[Zodiark1593]

The Y400 is only 14 inch. When I hit her with the 17 inch being heavy and we should go smaller, she responded with "I won't be carrying it much". Think she wants the 17"

Well, I thought it was more of a she doesn't care about size so long as it has power.

 

[AlexAL]

MSI GE70?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-pla-_-NA-_-NA

17" and GeForce GTX 660M @ $1200

 

[ther00kie16]

http://www.costco.com/Lenovo-IdeaPa...Hz-Blu-Ray-Combo-Drive.product.100012257.html

Has backlit keyboard, mSATA SSD & blu-ray for $300 less

MSI workmanship & durability on their lighter models (5.95lb for a 17.3" yea...) is questionable.

If only Lenovo made a 17" Y series...

 

[frozentundra123456]

http://www.costco.com/Lenovo-IdeaPa...Hz-Blu-Ray-Combo-Drive.product.100012257.html

Has backlit keyboard, mSATA SSD & blu-ray for $300 less

MSI workmanship & durability on their lighter models (5.95lb for a 17.3" yea...) is questionable.

If only Lenovo made a 17" Y series...

That is a great deal if it is not sold out. Seems to me that I recently checked and it was no longer available.

Edit: 1200 dollars is a pretty generous budget for something to play what probably will not be a very demanding game. Sager has a 6350 model advertised in my latest copy of PC gamer for 1099.00 with a 660M and 1080p screen. That is a 15.6 inch model. Honestly, I dont think I would go for the 17 inch. I have a 15.6 inch 1080p Dell for my work and the screen is quite nice. It is a lot bigger and heavier than the 14 inch that it is replacing, bordering on not really convenient to carry around. Also, if you got a 14 or 15.6 inch model, she could output it to a bigger monitor.

If she does not want to take it around with her, you could save a LOT of money by getting a desktop. For what will be probably a non-demanding game like that, any off the shelf desktop with an i3 or i5 and a drop in HD7750 should more than suffice. It would also be a lot more upgradable down the line if she got into more heavy gaming. Actually even an A10 apu from AMD would probably play the game, but it is not that much cheaper than intel and a discrete 7750, which will perform better.

 

[Spike]

If she is ok with a 15.6" instead of the 17" then the Lenovo Y580 is a great laptop. I have it and can play just about any game on it with the i7 and the 660m. The nice part is it's relatively light for a gaming laptop, gets ~3.5 hours of battery life (non gaming) and supports msata SSD for a super fast boot time. I bought mine for around $1k a few months ago and have never looked back.

If 17" is the sticking point then I would look at the Asus gaming models. They can be had for around $1200 and fit your other requirements.

 

[frozentundra123456]

If she is ok with a 15.6" instead of the 17" then the Lenovo Y580 is a great laptop. I have it and can play just about any game on it with the i7 and the 660m. The nice part is it's relatively light for a gaming laptop, gets ~3.5 hours of battery life (non gaming) and supports msata SSD for a super fast boot time. I bought mine for around $1k a few months ago and have never looked back.

If 17" is the sticking point then I would look at the Asus gaming models. They can be had for around $1200 and fit your other requirements.

I agree on the Asus as well. My grandson has an almost 3 year old asus gaming laptop that is still working well, although getting slow for modern titles. As I mentioned above, I would try to go with 15.6 inch 1080p. The 17 inch models, especially gaming, are really huge and heavy. Asus also makes some nice 15.6 inch models.

 

[frozentundra123456]

If she is ok with a 15.6" instead of the 17" then the Lenovo Y580 is a great laptop. I have it and can play just about any game on it with the i7 and the 660m. The nice part is it's relatively light for a gaming laptop, gets ~3.5 hours of battery life (non gaming) and supports msata SSD for a super fast boot time. I bought mine for around $1k a few months ago and have never looked back.

If 17" is the sticking point then I would look at the Asus gaming models. They can be had for around $1200 and fit your other requirements.

I just looked on the Lenovo website, and the Y580 with a low res display is on sale for 849 and for 999 with blue ray and a 1080p display. If you can live with 1366x768 849.00 is a killer deal for a laptop with a 660m.

 

[Flessan]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm leaning toward the Y580, if I can get her to agree on the smaller screen. I think the 1080 and blu-ray could be important in the college dorm room. I'll check our local Costco and see if there are any left there.

That is a great deal if it is not sold out. Seems to me that I recently checked and it was no longer available.

Edit: 1200 dollars is a pretty generous budget for something to play what probably will not be a very demanding game. Sager has a 6350 model advertised in my latest copy of PC gamer for 1099.00 with a 660M and 1080p screen. That is a 15.6 inch model. Honestly, I dont think I would go for the 17 inch. I have a 15.6 inch 1080p Dell for my work and the screen is quite nice. It is a lot bigger and heavier than the 14 inch that it is replacing, bordering on not really convenient to carry around. Also, if you got a 14 or 15.6 inch model, she could output it to a bigger monitor.

If she does not want to take it around with her, you could save a LOT of money by getting a desktop. For what will be probably a non-demanding game like that, any off the shelf desktop with an i3 or i5 and a drop in HD7750 should more than suffice. It would also be a lot more upgradable down the line if she got into more heavy gaming. Actually even an A10 apu from AMD would probably play the game, but it is not that much cheaper than intel and a discrete 7750, which will perform better.

That's true, and I am big on desktops vs laptops, but she will be bringing this with her to college.

Flessan

 

[ther00kie16]

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I'm leaning toward the Y580, if I can get her to agree on the smaller screen. I think the 1080 and blu-ray could be important in the college dorm room. I'll check our local Costco and see if there are any left there.



That's true, and I am big on desktops vs laptops, but she will be bringing this with her to college.

Flessan

Yea, seems as if you can buy online through the link I posted at $900 price. Even if shipping were a bit extra, it's still a great deal. And it was sold out before only an hour or so after I posted it in another thread here so I would hop on that deal ASAP.

Biggest plus is actually the mSATA SSD used for caching, which should speed things up. You could also wipe the hard drive and re-install the OS on it for super fast boots and seeks and perhaps increase battery life as it's no longer spinning a mechanical hard drive all the time. 32GB should be enough for OS & Web browser but not much else.

With the $300 saved, you could easily get her a 1080p monitor + accessories (keyboard/mouse + speakers). You might even be able to fit in 2 1080p monitors (frequently hit $120 or lower) and the Y580 supposedly supports dual external monitors but it's unclear if that requires a dock.