I'm considering buying a laptop at Bestbuy, but I want to pick one that is good for me. I want a laptop that can play computer games smoothly, and can run programs the I can do my schoolwork on (no I'm not planing on playing games at school). So what modle laptop can do these things?

your going to have to be a tinsy bit more specific..

it depends entirely on how much your willing to spend and what games you intend to play. if you don't mind playing games that were released 2-3 years ago pretty much any laptop with one gig of ram and about 1.8ghz will be able to service you fine. if you wanna play crysis, bioshock and gears at the recommended system requirements you'll have to pay into the thousands really.

if you also want to be regarded as cool get a Mac, Apple are more evil than Microsoft but their incredible advertising and product placement has made them extremely in vogue.

If you want a gaming laptop you are going to pay, and pay a lot... I have a gaming laptop, a Toshiba X200 (X205 in the US). Toshiba makes some very good ones comparable to Alienware but with out the inflated price tag. My Toshiba X200 plays Crysis at high (some very high now that the patch was released) but at 1280 by 800 resolution and 2x AA. It has an 8700m at 512 dedicated VRAM boosted to a gig with ready boost. Other than Crysis I play all games at max settings and max resolution (1400 x 900). So if you have the cash to spend and really need to be mobile, Toshiba and Dell make really nice ones (Dell has one with dual 8700s in sli very nice). Toshiba also has the X305 which will be out September, not much is known about it, but here is a link: http://explore.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio/X305

Well, since we are on the subject, and I'm looking at picking up a new laptop at cost on the employee purchase plan at my work. These are business laptops, though, they are meant for CAD, 3D modeling, and video editing, not games, so the video cards are different. Can anyone tell me how an Nvidia Quadro FX1600m would compare with a GeForce? The laptop I'm looking at also has 512 dedicated video memory on the board, so the card won't reach into the system RAM when it goes into overdrive. I've checked out the Nvidia site (I'm pretty familiar with their workstation cards) but I can't find a good comparison between the GeForce and the Quadro FX.

Do not get a macbook. I am not anti-mac and i love garage band but the problem with my macbook is when it did stop working properly (music doesn't play smoothly, lockups for no reason) there was nothing i could do. Also they are to expensive if you do not plan to use them for video editing or sound recording/ music making.

jezz8me:
Do not get a macbook. I am not anti-mac and i love garage band but the problem with my macbook is when it did stop working properly (music doesn't play smoothly, lockups for no reason) there was nothing i could do. Also they are to expensive if you do not plan to use them for video editing or sound recording/ music making.

Granted you stated you aren't anti-mac, there's still plenty one can do...Well, that's if you bought an extended warranty just incase...I have a Macbook Pro, and aside from the case around it being a bit cheap with pseudo metal and the latch breaking mysteriously, the thing works fine, I just gotta take it to a store to fix it.

But he wants a gaming laptop right? I think Toshiba has a nice one, but I could be wrong...Just stay away from Dell at all costs...

Isaac Dodgson:

But he wants a gaming laptop right? I think Toshiba has a nice one, but I could be wrong...Just stay away from Dell at all costs...

I find Dell is good why did you have problems?

shatnershaman:
I find Dell is good why did you have problems?

It's because Dell find the cheapest parts and put them together. Granted, most big computer brands do this (I'm never buying a big brand desktop again), but Dell seems to be notorious for it. Of course, I've stayed away from Dell, so I wouldn't have any of these problems. Perhaps someone would like to expand (or prove me wrong)?

stompy:

shatnershaman:
I find Dell is good why did you have problems?

It's because Dell find the cheapest parts and put them together. Granted, most big computer brands do this (I'm never buying a big brand desktop again), but Dell seems to be notorious for it. Of course, I've stayed away from Dell, so I wouldn't have any of these problems. Perhaps someone would like to expand (or prove me wrong)?

I don't think you would trust my opinion (I have a 1525 and an older gaming one and think they are both good systems).

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-vostro-1310-laptop/4505-3121_7-32934612.html

Yes bad keyboard but they did not cheap out in the features/specs

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-m1730/4505-3121_7-32687269.html

Bad lid good system.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-m1530/4505-3121_7-32778979.html

Can't really configure. Very slim n sexy laptop.

Dell's just not known for good gaming computer's, aside from the general hate for them. Other than that they're good for a cheap PC that works (most of the time...)

stompy:

shatnershaman:
I find Dell is good why did you have problems?

It's because Dell find the cheapest parts and put them together. Granted, most big computer brands do this (I'm never buying a big brand desktop again), but Dell seems to be notorious for it. Of course, I've stayed away from Dell, so I wouldn't have any of these problems. Perhaps someone would like to expand (or prove me wrong)?

Actually this is partly incorrect. With Dell, the more you pay the better the system and parts, but you need to shell out the cash. The low end systems get their components for the cheapest possible, that usually means poor quality. The high end systems are expensive for a reason, and in fact it was very rare for any sort of tech call involving a Dell high end system. This is probably true for most large computer companies (except Gateway which you should avoid like their systems carry the plague). I don't personally own a Dell, and never have, but I did work for them (actually that sounds pretty bad doesn't it?)I do have preference for Toshiba which started before working for Dell. I am on my third Toshiba laptop now (only problem with the first one is the hard drive failed after 6 years and I bought it used) I also traveled a lot with it. My wife still uses the second Toshiba (an A100), so I trust Toshiba through personal experience, and Dell through professional experience.

I'd suggest finding out the minimum requirements for the games you want to play and then base your decision around them. Make sure you buy a good brand laptop such as Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, Sony etc. stay away from lower end budget ones like E-System or any of those other brands that you've really never heard of and make sure whatever you do you do not buy an Acer!

If you're wanting to play games you really should get a laptop with a dedicated video card. Look around at the better ones and then just try find the best price/performance compromise. Make sure you get one with a dual core processor and at least 2gb of RAM, that will make your system more future proof. I reckon you could probably get a laptop that would run most of the latest games to at least medium settings for £600-£700 (about $1200-$1400) with higher end ones going past £800 ($1600).