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minim

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I'm looking to upgrade my travel laptop but what to get? I'm traveling a lot and I use my 2015 MacBook Pro 15" atm and it just fit my work laptop bag so I can carry two laptops in one bag. The pro can run the game quite good but it doesn't scale very well so it really sucks to play on this high res on a small 15" screen.

In short I want
-small and light for travel
-not to high res screen
-good build quality
-not noisy when playing

I did look at the new 12" MacBook and it does look tempting since its light, small and fanless but I suspect that it doesn't run the game very good..

What to get?
 
I have an old 2012 macbook pro, games runs smoothly on that, high res 2880x1800 is the biggest advantage imo, you can adjust everything in game including floating dmg and chat text size.
Only downside that i found is that my gpu is under "rsdf" keys and it can get a bit hot.
Everything else is perfect even if just loggig in for a moment and on battery.
New macsbooks are different though and i refrain to upgrade just yet. Maybe when next comes out :)

Cheers
Soko
 
Surface Pro 4
 
Am considering buying a new laptop next month for gaming as well.

Not yet decided on brand / model yet, but I will be getting something based on the Intel Skylake I7, probably one of those with the HQ suffix, 45 watts TDP, with VT-x / VT-d / EPT / TSX-NI instructions support and probably an SSD. DDR4 ram to future proof will be good as well.

I tend to look abit deeper into the technical stuff before I get any PC / Laptop stuff ;)

My requirements don't exactly match yours I guess, especially since I don't mind something abit heavier in exchange for a full size keyboard / 15 - 17 inch full hd or quad hd screen. This will be for gaming as well as work.

Anyway waiting for the Singapore IT Show during early March when there are alot of discounts and freebies available.


Good luck on finding your gaming laptop :)
 
golddude said:
Surface Pro 4
Click to expand...
Dude, did you try play anything on the Surface Pro 4? I have one at work, most games don't even start on it because you get an error saying either "Not enough VRAM" or "No DX3D compatible Video Card detected". Suggesting a Surface Pro 4 to the OP as a gaming laptop might be an expensive mistake.
 
minim said:
I'm looking to upgrade my travel laptop but what to get? I'm traveling a lot and I use my 2015 MacBook Pro 15" atm and it just fit my work laptop bag so I can carry two laptops in one bag. The pro can run the game quite good but it doesn't scale very well so it really sucks to play on this high res on a small 15" screen.

In short I want
-small and light for travel
-not to high res screen
-good build quality
-not noisy when playing

I did look at the new 12" MacBook and it does look tempting since its light, small and fanless but I suspect that it doesn't run the game very good..

What to get?
Click to expand...

Asus G752 and GL752 series is currently the best value and performing gaming laptops on the market. Have a look at the entry model one, it's very small and very light, yet a very potent gaming laptop

http://www.asus.com/us/site/g-series/

An alternative is the Alienware series gaming laptops. But they are a bit more expensive than the Asus alternative

http://www.alienware.com/landings/laptops.aspx
 
I moved abroad early last year and had the same problem. After discussions with soc mates I bought a Asus Republic of Gamers Laptop.

Good Bits

Very Good Value for Money
Keyboard Layout is like a full size desktop keyboard (only reprogrammed 1 Key)
Runs the game fine on HiGH settings

Bad Bits

Battery Life is less than 2 hours playing EU
Graphics Fan blows out a lot of heat
Laptop is quite heavy / bulky

In the end I purchased an external monitor and keyboard and mouse which is great in case you spill a drink, also and not put any stress on the laptop keyboard itself.

I know there are other smaller lighter options available, but the price is higher and I cant comment on performance. Just remember the game is very graphics heavy so you need a good dedicated GFX card in it no matter what.
 
fred5283 said:
Wrong - best value is cyber power
Click to expand...

Cyber Power may be the absolute worst value for money you can get. Cyber Power PC company doesn't actually manufacture any of their PC's them self. They place out "Bidding orders" where other manufacturers can bid on the job to build the computer they ask for. The manufacturer that bids the lowest gets the job. And these "manufacturers" are often Chinese sweat shops that use cheap off-the-shelf generic OEM parts.

I have had customers and clients with Cyber Power computers that has been broken in 2-3 months of operation. Also it is very often that the parts is very low end and cheap. Low quality 2nd sorting LCD panels with bleeding, generic non-brand power supplies and so on.

A quick google on Cyber Power consumer feedback gives you this:

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/cyberpower_pc.html

132 customer feedback reviews, ALL but one gave the lowest score possible...

Do NOT waste your money on a Cyber Power computer unless you need a very expensive door stopper.
 
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I have few year's old Alienware m11x r3 for traveling.
It's a great small machine, although probably not for you due to small (11'') screen size.

I had few Dell and Alienware machines before and I never had any problem with them, so I can recommend that company. Have a look at their current line.
 
Alienware.
 
Teiwaz Storm said:
I have few year's old Alienware m11x r3 for traveling.
It's a great small machine, although probably not for you due to small (11'') screen size.

I had few Dell and Alienware machines before and I never had any problem with them, so I can recommend that company. Have a look at their current line.
Click to expand...

no 11" isn't to small really. Even the 15" I have today is a bit big on airplanes.

I have been looking at the 13" alienware but I guess the tradeoff for the size is some performance? I can't see that its possible to get it with any bigger card than the 960.. Is it enough for playing entropia and not getting overheated? Is the cpu that's gonna get it worst I guess anyways ^^
 
minim said:
no 11" isn't to small really. Even the 15" I have today is a bit big on airplanes.

I have been looking at the 13" alienware but I guess the tradeoff for the size is some performance? I can't see that its possible to get it with any bigger card than the 960.. Is it enough for playing entropia and not getting overheated? Is the cpu that's gonna get it worst I guess anyways ^^
Click to expand...

My old A m11x r3 is probably inferior to many modern non-gaming laptops due to few generations old technology, but at the time it was released it was top of the pack.
It have i7 Sandy Bridge CPU and Nvidia GT 540M GPU and its good to run game on mix of medium-high settings with playable framerate, however I often opt to play on custom mediumi-sh settings to avoid hairdryer sound of fans ;)

I'm not sure about new line of Alienware but I guess they will be using Intel Skylake (6th generation of CPUs) and Maxwell GPUs. Both of those technologies improved dramatically performance and decreased power use (therefore heat generation) so I think it will be greatly superior to my machine and you will be able to play on very high settings probably without so much cooling needed as my machine.

I would think 960m will be enough and will be good, but I have no experience with that card in laptop.

Investigate and read what people say, but Alienware was always a great choice (although I'm not up to date since few years as I don't need upgrade for occasional travel time).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/alienware.1018/ this is place I usually went to for some research in past. They have loads of subforums for other manufacturers as well...


Edit:
Oh, if you decide to go with AW, they have outlets in EU and NA and you can often buy laptop for few hundred less than from shop. Often those are machines that were returns, some might have been refurbished or some have minor cosmetic imperfections like scratch. It is usually in description.
I had my 2 AW and couple os Dells from their outlets and they were always in perfect condition and saved me a lot of money...
 
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e-lite said:
Dude, did you try play anything on the Surface Pro 4? I have one at work, most games don't even start on it because you get an error saying either "Not enough VRAM" or "No DX3D compatible Video Card detected". Suggesting a Surface Pro 4 to the OP as a gaming laptop might be an expensive mistake.
Click to expand...

Yes actually I do run the game on it. Med settings also. Before going off maybe you should try this game here ^^^^ before saying anything. You said "other games". It actually runs it better then the computer I typically use.

Must I re-mind you, there is two version of this. The 4gb and 8 gb ram versions. Windows 10 requires 2 gbs to run and this game also requires that also if im not mistaken. The surface pros you have tested are the low-end versions of it.

The point of the thread is something small. The surface pro for with I5 processor and 8gbs of ram is fine. Its literally a computer in a tablet.
 
I would never buy another alienware in my life. 90% of the life of the warranty it was not even with me. They constantly kept trying to fix it but never could. Its 5000$ worth of laptop that I used as a paper weight in the spare bedroom.

Alienware has the worst customer service I have ever delt with.
 
golddude said:
Yes actually I do run the game on it. Med settings also. Before going off maybe you should try this game here ^^^^ before saying anything. You said "other games". It actually runs it better then the computer I typically use.

Must I re-mind you, there is two version of this. The 4gb and 8 gb ram versions. Windows 10 requires 2 gbs to run and this game also requires that also if im not mistaken. The surface pros you have tested are the low-end versions of it.

The point of the thread is something small. The surface pro for with I5 processor and 8gbs of ram is fine. Its literally a computer in a tablet.
Click to expand...

It doesn't even have a dedicated graphics card, it just runs the normal CPU-integrated graphics. I have tried at least 10-12 different games on Surface Pro 4. Only like 2-3 games actually started. It's not a gaming laptop, it's a tablet which if you are lucky SOME games might just barley run on.
 
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e-lite said:
It doesn't even have a dedicated graphics card, it just runs the normal CPU-integrated graphics. I have tried at least 10-12 different games on Surface Pro 4. Only like 2-3 games actually started. It's not a gaming laptop, it's a tablet which if you are lucky SOME games might just barley run on.
Click to expand...

I'd happily play with you on it ;)
 
i'm playing on a ASUS ROG G751 laptop and it's awesome, i can play also at every games with geforce GTX970M + core I7 and 16gb of RAM.
 
How is the noice level on all these suggested gaming laptops? My 2015 Macbook Pro 15" runs the game pretty good but the fan noise is really annoying if I don't limit the CPU/GPU some to get more "passive cooling".
 
minim said:
How is the noice level on all these suggested gaming laptops? My 2015 Macbook Pro 15" runs the game pretty good but the fan noise is really annoying if I don't limit the CPU/GPU some to get more "passive cooling".
Click to expand...

The one I suggested is very silent, and you can also spend hours with it on your lap without risking getting burn damages :)
 
Did they fix their power plug problem? I had a Asus ROG G75(??) once and after a month first power connector broke. Tried to get it replaced on warranty since it was a common problem with these computers but they just claimed that it was abuse. Then after the fifth (!!) connector broke in under a year I threw that computer away as I didn't want to bother using hours fixing it and risk having a computer that didn't work when I traveled..

If the customer support is this crappy still it's not tempting to try them again to be honest...

there's even a youtube video of the fix :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVO5uAVK450

Edit: I had a G53 but I can see that there are issues after that model as well... I guess the reason is that these machines have to be used while connected and that makes the powerplug vulnerable. However I have not yet ruined a MacBook plug or a Dell plug so might be a weak spot on Asus..
 
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I've known some Dell models to have the power connector on a separate floating pcb which helps a little but I've not found a permanent solution to damage by a plug being wrenched out at an angle other than replacing the connector.

At work I usually try to get models with a docking stations to avoid the problem but they're getting rare.
 
SpikeBlack said:
I've known some Dell models to have the power connector on a separate floating pcb which helps a little but I've not found a permanent solution to damage by a plug being wrenched out at an angle other than replacing the connector.

At work I usually try to get models with a docking stations to avoid the problem but they're getting rare.
Click to expand...

My work-dell must have that connector then :D I use mine in the field all the time and since I run cpu heavy software I can't the i7 for a long time before the extended battery runs out so cable it is ^^ The magsafe connector on mac's is really brilliant but I guess it's a patent or some stupid reason for others to not use this..

Is this a big problem for regular computers? If so I'd rather get a new macbook again tbh as I'm done with replacing 4-5 power plugs a year. Since I'm gonna play with it I pretty much need the power plug connected at all times and I will be playing from my couch at home, bed on hotels, chairs and such so it will be wrenched in/out at angles and need to survive this. I got a desktop for playing so this will be only for "laptop" use.
 
I have a Lenovo X250 provided by work and it really converted me over to Ultrabooks/13.3" laptops.

I don't want a "gaming" laptop as they look a bit... shit... so I was looking at ultrabooks and came up with the Asus Zenbook UX303LB - i7 & 940M Gfx chip seem to be fine to me.

I used to run Entropia on an Acer i3 with just Intel HD 4000 on low and it was useable; don't use laptops for anything other than PE for graphics so the ultrabook suits me fine.

Plus, cheap here.
 
Aio said:
I have a Lenovo X250 provided by work and it really converted me over to Ultrabooks/13.3" laptops.

I don't want a "gaming" laptop as they look a bit... shit... so I was looking at ultrabooks and came up with the Asus Zenbook UX303LB - i7 & 940M Gfx chip seem to be fine to me.

I used to run Entropia on an Acer i3 with just Intel HD 4000 on low and it was useable; don't use laptops for anything other than PE for graphics so the ultrabook suits me fine.

Plus, cheap here.
Click to expand...

But what about the heat? It's usable for sure with the macbook with i7 and intel iris pro graphics also. But after 30min of playing the bottom is 40degrees C, top keyboard is 40degrees C and palm rest is 32-33 degrees C measured with IR thermometer. Fans is also running so loud that it's not comfortable to watch TV in the same room ^^ I suspect that playing with this thing on the lap will be just as effective as a vasectomy :D
 
minim said:
But what about the heat? It's usable for sure with the macbook with i7 and intel iris pro graphics also. But after 30min of playing the bottom is 40degrees C, top keyboard is 40degrees C and palm rest is 32-33 degrees C measured with IR thermometer. Fans is also running so loud that it's not comfortable to watch TV in the same room ^^ I suspect that playing with this thing on the lap will be just as effective as a vasectomy :D
Click to expand...

Review

Seems OK - 38dB and 32C full load.

I'm similar I think to yourself; spend a lot of time in hotels for work so I want something light and portable. The "gaming" laptops are too chunky and have stupid logos all over them. If it gets too hot I'll just put it on the coffee table; using a mouse 90% of the time on a table anyway.

I think I'll buy this one in the next few days cos I have a busy month away from home and it's fuckin boring in hotel rooms/bars on your own. I'll let you know how it performs!
 
Aio said:
Review

Seems OK - 38dB and 32C full load.

I'm similar I think to yourself; spend a lot of time in hotels for work so I want something light and portable. The "gaming" laptops are too chunky and have stupid logos all over them. If it gets too hot I'll just put it on the coffee table; using a mouse 90% of the time on a table anyway.

I think I'll buy this one in the next few days cos I have a busy month away from home and it's fuckin boring in hotel rooms/bars on your own. I'll let you know how it performs!
Click to expand...

But look closely in that review. It's actually 46 degrees on the keyboard.. That sounds like really high temperatures on the outside.

Edit; and when I checked a gaming laptop like MSI GS70 it's actually 65 degrees on the bottom lol. Is this really what we get these days?
 
minim said:
But look closely in that review. It's actually 46 degrees on the keyboard.. That sounds like really high temperatures on the outside.

Edit; and when I checked a gaming laptop like MSI GS70 it's actually 65 degrees on the bottom lol. Is this really what we get these days?
Click to expand...

65C is crazy...

Think you have to accept some heat though with a laptop on full load. My phone gets uncomfortable to touch after I use it for things like satnav etc too.

I haven't found a better 13" laptop with dedicated gfx than the zenbook for that price too; I'll just risk it. Even my work laptop gets hot with outlook hahaha.
 
Aio said:
65C is crazy...

Think you have to accept some heat though with a laptop on full load. My phone gets uncomfortable to touch after I use it for things like satnav etc too.

I haven't found a better 13" laptop with dedicated gfx than the zenbook for that price too; I'll just risk it. Even my work laptop gets hot with outlook hahaha.
Click to expand...

I actually think I have to go for a big and bulky one to avoid heat. Seems like Asus ROG is the way to go even if it won't fit in my backpack :X
 
Did you go for the ux303 aio? I can't decide if I should go all in for Asus ROG G752VY or go for a portable in the ux303 class...
 
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