Question Looking for the perfect gaming laptop (not most powerful, but checks 'all the boxes')

[Glendor]

I'm looking for a new laptop, but I'm a little particular about the features and form factor. I keep laptops for years, so I want to get something I'm going to be happy with long term.

Must have:
Rear cable management - I don't mind a couple of ports like USB or headphones on the side, but I want as many ports on the back edge, away from my mouse possible.
Quality keyboard, with a row of macro keys on the left side, similar to my Logitech G Series keyboards, for when I game. I don't want to have to have an external keyboard to be effective when gaming
Thunderbolt 3
GTX 1060/1070 or RX580 6-8gb of GDDR
i5-8300h or i7-8750h or faster

Nice to have:
>60hz IPS
QHD (but not 4k)
RGB keyboard
GSYNC / FreeSync

As best I can tell, only HP Omen-X has the rear cables and mechanical keyboard I prefer, but only comes with i7-7700hq for about $2200 and Alienware 17 R5 checks all the boxes including CPU at about $1800. RAM & Storage will be upgraded later. Omen has other laptops with the keyboard OR the cable management, but only the Omen X has both.

Has anyone seen other laptops with the cable management and keyboard I'm looking for?

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/alienware-17/spd/alienware-17-laptop/DKCWCFLG011

https://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/omen...t-tile_laptops_3_2lv61ua_omen-x-by-hp---17-ap

Glendor

 

[blankslate]

I don't know of other laptops with the port arrangement you are looking for but I can tell you from experience that the Alienware 17r4 chassis is very well built if a bit too large for most 17 inch laptop bags.
The keyboard has almost no flex but if you use the function keys on any level for games you might have to remap them or you might be using an external keyboard. Aside from not being mechanical it is a nice keyboard however, but even the best laptop keyboards fall short of even decent mechanical keyboards in my opinion.

The Alienware is also fairly easy to get into for most upgrades that you would do such as memory and switching out the storage or adding more. There are two m.2 slots but I'm not sure if both are specced for the NVMe protocol for data transfer. I can tell you that is was very easy to add in a second m.2 drive that was only SATA speeds but I don't edit videos on any regular basis so it was fast enough for gaming even with MMOs which are one type of game that is constantly loading in objects on the fly if you are moving from zone to zone without "teleporting" whereas most games load the entire map into memory assuming you have a regular amount these days and are not keeping other programs in the background that like to use memory

 

[Glendor]

This decision would be easier if I could find a brick & mortar that has both laptops so I could test the keyboard. I found the Omen-X online with a i7-7820hk so it may be the one. It may come down to which one I can catch the best deal on now...

 

[blankslate]

The Lenovo LeGion 740 is a new 2019 refresh that has most of the ports on the back and can be configured with up to a Max-Q 2070 Nvidiia GPU

It was reviewed by the Dave 2D YouTube channel.
Pretty sure that a 17 inch version is available.

 

[RickeyLA]

I've had MSI GV62 8RD-200 for 6 months and this laptop is a beast. Great performance for a reasonable price. It's a bit on the heavier side tho. Amazon sells it, and this is a great review if you want more info.

Good luck!
Rickey