Good Laptops for the Casual Gamer?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hey guys, I am going to be going to UVA for college in the fall, and I am looking for a laptop that isn't completely designed for gaming, but one that I can play Starcraft 2 on occasionally, without lagging. </p>

<p>I was looking at these models:</p>

<p>Asus: K43SV i5/i7 processor, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive (SATA)
ASUSTeK</a> Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS K43SV</p>

<p>This one is the typical laptop for college students I think. Pretty average in terms of everything, with above average gaming accessories</p>

<p>Asus: U43Jc i5 540M/i7 processor, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive (SATA)
ASUSTeK</a> Computer Inc. - Notebooks- ASUS U43Jc</p>

<p>This one is much more portable, lots more battery power. Not as powerful, but suits the college lifestyle a little more</p>

<p>Toshiba: Satellite M640 i5 processor, 500GB 7200rpm hard drive (SATA)
Satellite</a> M640-BT3N25X Laptop</p>

<p>Another typical laptop, but customized so that it has the NVIDIA optimus graphics card, and the hard drive and memory upgrades as well.</p>

<p>As for as graphics card, hard drive, and memory, all of them are the same I believe. They are all also 14 inch displays. What it really comes down to is weight, battery, and company. I'm not an avid computer lover, so I don't really know what all of the specs mean, but I looked up a lot of things about gaming laptops, and they recommended I get those upgrades to make the laptops good for gaming.</p>

<p>Any experiences/advice/thoughts? Anything is appreciated, thanks!</p>

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<p>Look at the minimum system requirements for the game…and go above it. Really thats all you can do, I use to have an ACER Aspire 5810TZ…and it would run up to Half Life 2 DeathMatch lag free…but newer games like Fallout 3 lagged like no other. I fixed the issue though it was pricey lol, but I’m not a casual gamer so yeah…</p>

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<p>Any of those should be fine for playing starcraft II. If you want the best graphics I would go with the gt 540m. I’ve read that you can get away with medium-high settings at that resolution on the 310m and the 525m is somewhere in between. </p>

<p>I would assume that by summer asus and most other manufacturers will have updated some their models with better components.</p>

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<p>What is your budget?</p>

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<p>Anything less than $1500 is preferred. And for that kind of price, I really want it to last me a long time.</p>

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<p>$1500 should be more than enough. Memory can also be upgraded down the road. The cpu and gpu can’t be changed in most laptops. If graphics aren’t that big of a deal I wouldn’t put too much focus on the gpu. I think the most important thing in a laptop is the processor since it can’t be changed and will be one the biggest factor in how fast the computer runs. I would definitely recommend the 2nd generation intel core i processors over the first. If you do want the graphics you might be to find a laptop that fits your needs with a gt 555m gpu with optimus. </p>

<p>I would highly suggest checking out the notebookreview forums. There are plenty of users on there that will gladly help you find the type of laptop you are looking for.</p>

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<p>wofbharatj, where did you find the asus k43sv models on sale? I can’t find them anywhere.</p>

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<p>[ASUS</a> K42JC-C1](<a href=“http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-k42jcc1-p-2752.html]ASUS”>http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-k42jcc1-p-2752.html)</p>

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<p>Lenovo Y470 and depending on options even W520 should play games pretty well (:-))</p>

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<p>W520 with the Quadro 2000 should handle most games on max. Oh and wahoowa!</p>

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<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Acer Aspire TimelineX AS3830TG-6431 13.3-Inch Laptop (Cobalt Blue Aluminum): Computer & Accessories](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TimelineX-AS3830TG-6431-13-3-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B0051OL8R4]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TimelineX-AS3830TG-6431-13-3-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B0051OL8R4)</p>

<p>with only starcraft 2, it shouldn’t have serious overheating problems like it would with other games</p>

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<p>Maybe take this advice instead: Buy or build a $1000 desktop and buy a $500 laptop. This way you have the higher performance of a desktop and the portability of a laptop at the same time. And you’ll be able to max out every game with that desktop no problem.</p>