Laptop Recommendations

[Maple Man]

So I decided to get a laptop that is worth around the $500 range. (I'm cheap) Any suggestions of the type of laptop?

[Gizanked]

what are you getting it for?
will it be your main computer?
for type are you asking for a brand recommendation?

[Maple Man]

what are you getting it for?
will it be your main computer?
for type are you asking for a brand recommendation?

Basically my school/main cpu. Some gameplaying in it.

Something that won't have me play in 5 fps

I might cough up a bit more money

[Will T.]

ASUS has a decent machine that I was briefly eyeing for ~$800, although I don't remember the name of it now of course. It was a 15-incher with an NVidia GeForce GTX660M GPU, which was an impressive card around a year ago but is just slightly above average now. The processor was either an Intel Core i5 or i7, I can't remember which. I almost picked it up, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the sacrifices in performance compared to the more expensive machine I was already intending to buy at that point.

ASUS is a good brand to look at in general if you're willing to spend a little more than your stated $500. They're massively cheaper than Alienware and other "high end" gaming-oriented brands, but will give you similar gaming performance and hardware specs, including some nice perks like a backlit keyboard and matte screen. I've been quite happy with my G750JW that I got a couple months ago ($1250, 17-inch screen, NVidia GeForce GTX765M, Intel Core i7 processor). Just be aware that ASUS machines in general tend to have a few small quirks - the company has a history of their touchpad firmware conflicting with their keyboard firmware on their "Republic of Gamers" laptop series (of which my machine and the aforementioned $800 unit are both a part), which leads to noticeably more missed keystrokes when typing rapidly. It seems to get better with use, oddly enough. Their ROG machines also tend to be a little bulky due to the irregular placement of the CPU and GPU at the rear corners right next to the fans (the vents stick out ~2 inches behind the screen), but the upside is that this provides far more efficient cooling; I've never had my machine feel even slightly warm. The fans are nearly silent as well - I can't even tell when they're running!

When looking at laptops in general, ASUS or otherwise, I would advise the following:

- Avoid NVidia graphics cards that are a part of the GT series. The GTX series is the line you want to look for. (Confusing, no?)
- ATI cards are okay, but the company offers very poor support for driver upgrades and the like - I was stuck on a set of drivers made in 2010 for the 2 1/2 years I had my last machine, all because their update utility "doesn't support" my particular card, despite it allegedly supporting every other card in the same series. Of course.
- Intel integrated GPUs are getting stronger, but are still far from providing the best experence. A current integrated Intel card is probably on par with a budget-level gaming card from 2010 or so. They still don't support any sort of anti-aliasing as far as I know.
- If you can go for a better processor for minimal cost, do it. It will also help with all-around performance.
- Don't bother paying a bunch of extra money for a machine that comes with lots of RAM if there's something with higher specs in most or all other areas for a similar price. It's often cheaper to buy with less RAM and upgrade than to get the machine with maxed out RAM from the start. Just make sure you know the machine's maximum RAM capacity so you know how far you can upgrade.

[Maple Man]

ASUS has a decent machine that I was briefly eyeing for ~$800, although I don't remember the name of it now of course. It was a 15-incher with an NVidia GeForce GTX660M GPU, which was an impressive card around a year ago but is just slightly above average now. The processor was either an Intel Core i5 or i7, I can't remember which. I almost picked it up, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the sacrifices in performance compared to the more expensive machine I was already intending to buy at that point.

ASUS is a good brand to look at in general if you're willing to spend a little more than your stated $500. They're massively cheaper than Alienware and other "high end" gaming-oriented brands, but will give you similar gaming performance and hardware specs, including some nice perks like a backlit keyboard and matte screen. I've been quite happy with my G750JW that I got a couple months ago ($1250, 17-inch screen, NVidia GeForce GTX765M, Intel Core i7 processor). Just be aware that ASUS machines in general tend to have a few small quirks - the company has a history of their touchpad firmware conflicting with their keyboard firmware on their "Republic of Gamers" laptop series (of which my machine and the aforementioned $800 unit are both a part), which leads to noticeably more missed keystrokes when typing rapidly. It seems to get better with use, oddly enough. Their ROG machines also tend to be a little bulky due to the irregular placement of the CPU and GPU at the rear corners right next to the fans (the vents stick out ~2 inches behind the screen), but the upside is that this provides far more efficient cooling; I've never had my machine feel even slightly warm. The fans are nearly silent as well - I can't even tell when they're running!

When looking at laptops in general, ASUS or otherwise, I would advise the following:

- Avoid NVidia graphics cards that are a part of the GT series. The GTX series is the line you want to look for. (Confusing, no?)
- ATI cards are okay, but the company offers very poor support for driver upgrades and the like - I was stuck on a set of drivers made in 2010 for the 2 1/2 years I had my last machine, all because their update utility "doesn't support" my particular card, despite it allegedly supporting every other card in the same series. Of course.
- Intel integrated GPUs are getting stronger, but are still far from providing the best experence. A current integrated Intel card is probably on par with a budget-level gaming card from 2010 or so. They still don't support any sort of anti-aliasing as far as I know.
- If you can go for a better processor for minimal cost, do it. It will also help with all-around performance.
- Don't bother paying a bunch of extra money for a machine that comes with lots of RAM if there's something with higher specs in most or all other areas for a similar price. It's often cheaper to buy with less RAM and upgrade than to get the machine with maxed out RAM from the start. Just make sure you know the machine's maximum RAM capacity so you know how far you can upgrade.

Really appreciate this information. Thanks Will T!