Suggest a gaming laptop

[ToastedCorpser4Lunch]

Of course, I don't play that many games, I mostly watch videos, but I want a laptop with a decent gaming capacity that isn't crap and isn't HP (freaking overheating piece of crap)

Also in the $1000-1500(AUD) price range

Oh and a decent sized screen wouldn't hurt(Current screen resolution is 1366x768,)

 

[Elfgore]

If you are interested in a decent gaming laptop head to (if this is advertising, then sorry just edit it out) Ibuypower. I bought a really good gaming laptop for about $1300. It can play Shogun 2 on ultra, the Witcher 2 on ultra with a small amount of lag, and Metro 2033 on ultra. The screen is pretty large too, not sure of the exact size but it's pretty big.

 

[Strelok]

Alienware can get financing, not sure about where you are though, having worked for Dell I know that you get what you pay for, better parts cost more. You will get a flood of "over priced", "Pay for the name!" nonsense, usually from people that never owned one, Hell I never owned one, just supported hundreds of them. Toshiba makes great budget notebooks in the Qosmio line, they also have great support (I have owned three toshibas, they all still work), MSi and Asus make great ones, avoid Sager/Clevo, they are ok, just very bad build quality and low end parts (I own one of these). I believe Dell still has the XPS line as well, not bad on a budget.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Alienware can get financing, not sure about where you are though, having worked for Dell I know that you get what you pay for, better parts cost more. You will get a flood of "over priced", "Pay for the name!" nonsense, usually from people that never owned one, Hell I never owned one, just supported hundreds of them. Toshiba makes great budget notebooks in the Qosmio line, they also have great support (I have owned three toshibas, they all still work), MSi and Asus make great ones, avoid Sager/Clevo, they are ok, just very bad build quality and low end parts (I own one of these).

Wait wait... Sager/Clevo bad, Alienware good? GO BACK TO BIZARRO EARTH.

I've found Clevo builds (Clevo badged and boutique models, never worked on a Sager) to be decently built (around the same standard as MSI) and the parts to be about the same quality as Toshiba and Samsung use. The real thing you have to watch for is customised ones with GPU upgrades... some tech shops drop really dodgy brands in. The real downside to Clevo is that the support for them ranges from bad (such as Clevo itself) to non-existant.

As for Alienware... I've worked on a total of one Alienware laptop, back in the days when they were earning their terrible reputation. Fact is, since the Dell buyout their laptops don't deserve the contempt they receive... their desktops still do but their laptops are pretty good. However, the OP is in Australia and Alienware laptops here are STUPIDLY expensive (more stupidly expensive than all tech is). You could pick up a top end Asus G series for the same price. Yep, just checked, base model MX-17 runs the same price in dollarydoos as base model Asus G-75VX... in fact, to get the extra hardware the G-75VX has as standard you'd have to spend a few hundred on customising the MX-17. Of course, this is all tangential as both models are about AU$900 over the OPs budget.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Of course, I don't play that many games, I mostly watch videos, but I want a laptop with a decent gaming capacity that isn't crap and isn't HP (freaking overheating piece of crap)

Also in the $1000-1500(AUD) price range

Oh and a decent sized screen wouldn't hurt(Current screen resolution is 1366x768,)

You might want to check what MSY have on offer... they got a couple of mid-range MSI and ASUS gaming laptops on sale at the moment at the high end of your budget.

 

[Soopy]

I have a laptop capable of playing games. If you intend to actually have the thing on your lap, invest in thermal clothing as it will scorch your thighs. Also be prepared for the battery to die in the arse every hour.

 

[Brewtus]

I've been really pleased with my Lenovo Y580, but I think they've recently updated/discontinued the model I bought. Still, it was an i7 with a GeForce GTX 660m (2GB) and 8 GB of RAM. It's got a SSD boot drive as well, but I that won't help you much with gaming since it's so small. It's got a beautiful 1080p screen as well. The only real problem with it is I got stuck getting Windows 8 on it. Some people might not like that it's mostly constructed out of plastic, but that's what helps keep the cost down. In the end, the bang you're getting for your buck is great and I love my laptop. I came from a MacBook Pro that cost over twice as much and hated it.

The Y500 looks pretty similar, as does the Y510 except that's rocking the new Haswell chips. I'd definitely take a look at them, and Lenovo is having a sale right now on them.

 

[Serinanth]

While my ASUS G74s is a tad dated it can still handle the most current titles, the thing is a monster though, more like a portable desktop and you're gona need a bigger bag. Its thermal characteristics are excellent it does not overheat and does not cook my nads. And as others said you cant really throw in a AAA title and expect the battery to last over an hour.

I would recommend an ASUS ROG build hands down, and they look pretty sweet too.