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Buying a laptop - recommendations?

ValyrianBlade··1 votes·375 views

So i just found out that the laptop I've had in repairs (under warranty) for 7 weeks (no league for nearly 2 months, gah) isn't going to be fixed and is being bought out.

My last unit was an i5 core for around $800 CDN before taxes and warranty (was also a touchscreen, which i don't need). I started playing league AFTER buying the laptop, and noticed it wasn't quite good enough - i played on the lowest graphics settings to avoid issues, medium seemed to cause lag. The issue may also have been Internet, I've moved so that should be rectified.

Anyways, to the point, I'm looking to buy a laptop. League is the only game i play, so i don't need it to be able to run other games. I DO need a laptop that can also be used for general purposes (studying, work, etc...).

What I'm looking for: Runs league without any problems! Probably an i7 core Decent battery life - longer is better, but minimum 4 hours moderate screen size: ideally 13.5'' to 15.8''. Good brightness / viewing angles so i can see everything nice keyboard - i type a lot outside of league at least 2 usb ports Centered fan or other good cooling process - i hate when the fan runs hard while the computer is really cool near it and really hot on the far side.

Extra bonuses : A number pad would be great HDMI port other relevant ports? note anything else you like about the laptop

Budget: I can be flexible, but I'd definitely like to look for something under $1500 CDN ($1350 CDN before tax). If i can get away with under $1000 ($850 before tax) that'd be amazing.

Please let me know if what you're using seems to fit what I'm looking for. I'm particularly interested in hearing about units that you've played league on without problems like lag at at least medium graphic settings (or just not minimum). Please include a price or guess at the price if you can!

Cheers!

14 Comments

ItsGflow1 votes

Are you set on a laptop? You may just prefer building your own desktop, that way you can just buy what you want.

ValyrianBlade1 votes

Unfortunately, i think so.

I've been considering the "build a desktop" option, but I spend a lot of long weekends visiting family and play with my brother those times, with a desktop I'd almost never get to play on long weekends. I also don't have a work laptop, while my job doesn't require i have one yet, i fully expect it to within 2-3 years and am not sure if the company will replace my desktop with a laptop when that happens (they probably will, but better safe than sorry).

ItsGflow1 votes

I don't really do a whole lot with laptops or any pre-built PCs for that matter so I don't know how I could help you. If you wanna consider the desktop option a bit more you could consider using a Bitfenix Prodigy. It's rather small so transportation isn't a huge deal. I would go the desktop route but that's just me.

http://images.anandtech.com/doci/7219/prodigy_m_black_inside_1.jpg

ValyrianBlade1 votes

I actually never even considered transporting a desktop... it's reasonable to move a tower+monitor and quick to set up?

What price range would i be looking at?

ItsGflow1 votes

It kinda depends on what you consider reasonable. I go to a friend's house quite often and bring my PC every time. Since I know I'll be there for a few days I think it's worth it.

Price range is going to depend on what parts you want. League doesn't really need a powerful PC. You could easily get an Intel i3-3220 with an AMD Radeon HD 7750. Those together depending on where you buy them may only cost about $250. Then buy yourself a cheap mobo. I'd probably get about 8GBs of RAM. That's about $80. so let's say you're at $330. You'll need a power supply. The GPU I listed draws power from the motherboard itself so you don't need a really nice PSU. Maybe about 450W. Somewhere around there. The price will depend on the brand and the like. The rest of the price is gonna depend on what kind of monitor/case you want.

ValyrianBlade1 votes

Thanks for the advice.

Are i3 cores for a desktop comparable to the performance from i7's or i5's in a laptop?

I couldn't imagine playing league on an i3 laptop after seeing how it ran on my i5 sometimes (unless it was my Internet connection at the time, which should have been good with Rogers but just seemed to get slow at times)

ItsGflow1 votes

Well you can't really compare a CPU from a series to every other CPU in that series. You gotta look at clock speed, hyperthreading and the like. I have an i3-3220, it's dual core but hyperthreads to create 4 (see screenshot). It runs at 3.3GHz which is fairly quick for an i3. Honestly it's probably one of- if not the best i3 CPU.

http://i.imgur.com/Iz4uIC5.png

ValyrianBlade1 votes

Okay - i really would be an amateur in this space; thanks for the tips!

Reaper Soraka1 votes

I would shop around newegg. It would be up to you on whether you want to put the laptop together yourself or buy one pre-made.

Taking a 30-second look, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152739 is $1000 before tax (where applicable.) has a dedicated graphics card (I think you want to avoid ones like Intel HD Graphics xxxx) Has a number pad 17.3" screen (too big?) Has 2 USB ports Has HDMI port Has VGA port (I think it's better for connecting to a monitor for graphics.)

I'm not sure on the battery life or the centered cooling fans. Perhaps another, more seasoned computer checker person could look into this one for you as well. :P

ValyrianBlade1 votes

That's American I'd assume, so at current exchange rates it's around $1300 Canadian. Worth considering.

17'' laptop beats a desktop. The reviews seem to indicate it gets warm pretty easily and suggest buying a cooling pad, and the battery life may be a little low (i would guess smaller screens are better on batteries...).

Overall it's a good find. I'll browse the site a bit to see if i can find something closer to what I'm looking for (smaller screen, cheaper, sacrifice some specs for better battery & cooling).

Btw, it also has 4 usb's (2 each of 2.0 and 3.0).

LaceUp231 votes

I have an MSI. I would highly recommend them. I've had no problems.

ValyrianBlade1 votes

Any specific model? Or just look through their options to find the right size and cost?

LaceUp231 votes

It really depends on what you want. I paid around $800 US for a 17" one. I can run League on the highest settings and still get my 60fps (you won't get higher than this on most laptops). I have the GP70 Leopard-10, but if you have more money to spend, you can get an even better gaming one from them. But, if League is the only game you play, then I'm not sure you would need to.

I went to find mine on Amazon, but it is out of stock. They said this is the newer model of the one I have. But you can go on their site and just browse around for something you like if you need a higher performance machine.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Series-GP70-Leopard-490-17-3-Inch/dp/B00TI6TAHQ/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

ValyrianBlade1 votes

Okay, thanks!

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