Ask Engadget: Best gaming laptop for under $1,500?

Believe it, vaquero -- you just happened upon this week's episode of Ask Engadget, the only time of the week where you get the opportunity to bestow your wealth of gadget knowledge onto a fellow reader in need. Given the open-mindedness of Niko here, we couldn't help but pass on his inquiry:

"What's the best gaming laptop for under 1,500 bucks? I had my eye on the P7805u (Gateway), but it seems Best Buy has run out for the time being. Also, as a secondary question, I like the specs on brands such as iBUYPOWER and CyberPower and the like, but are they reliable? I'm a little worried about buying labels that aren't huge like Dell, Gateway, etc. Thanks!"

So, make sure those of you who've avoided the big boys chime in here -- who knows, maybe it's actually better to snag a machine from a lesser-known label. After you've contributed, feel free to send in your own question to ask at engadget dawt com.

[Az1Z @ Jun 26th 2009 1:47AM]

ASUS G50

[samrozzi @ Jun 26th 2009 1:52AM]

i agree, asus g50vt x5

[shahar2k @ Jun 26th 2009 7:31AM]

I'll second this one, I have the older model Asus G50vt x2, the only difference being the processor speed... absolutely fantastic laptop

[loocas @ Jun 26th 2009 12:12PM]

MacBook Pro.





Oh... wait... no.

[hidaviv @ Jun 26th 2009 12:34PM]

Well, yeah, when I got the ASUS G50VT-X6 for $1150, after $100 MIR, it was the absolute greatest deal ever, but its been jacked up to $1450, after $100 MIR, so now it doesn't make the $1500 for like 10 weeks after buying it if you get it this month.

But its a monster! Make sure you use the Dox 185.85 drivers, do the GTS flash on the video card BIOS, and run games in Turbo Extreme mode to see this baby really fly!!!

[cao_boy @ Jun 26th 2009 6:15PM]

ASUS FTW =D g50 is amazing =D

[Matt @ Jun 28th 2009 11:01AM]

Asus G71GX at Best Buy for $1150.

I have the G50VT (same thing with a tad slower processor and DDR-2 and not 3) and have been very happy with it, with my only qualm being how easily Windows Vista is able to cannibalize laptop performance if you aren't careful. Having a 1Ghz or so deficit in CPU speed versus what you would have on a desktop doesn't seem like a *huge* deal until you see Vista just destroy your resources without warning. Windows 7 can't come soon enough.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366615&type=product&id=1218092150740

[An InnO @ Jun 26th 2009 1:48AM]

Anything that has a decent dedicated card. And decent processor. If you are looking for gaming and great battery life good luck. Even ION is horribly underpowered. But I have my eye on a Lenovo S12 with ION this September. :D

[Choco_Taco @ Jun 26th 2009 1:51AM]

Sager np8662

[Seven @ Jun 26th 2009 1:52AM]

+1 for the NP8662, but might just borderline exceed your budget.

[Amrosorma @ Jun 26th 2009 1:54AM]

Although I really find the idea of gaming laptops to be silly, I'd have to second Sager.

I wonder how long it takes before the Apple trolls get in here :'(

[Kamil @ Jun 26th 2009 1:57AM]

1) under 1500
2) GAMEing laptop....

Mac fans feel threatened under these conditions...

[Bill @ Jun 26th 2009 2:05AM]

Mac fan here, but I won't begin to claim they're the way to go for this particular question. We're not all brainwashed, you know (not that windows users aren't, often, also).

[Tsing Tao @ Jun 26th 2009 10:48AM]

I had a sager NP9890 father in law has it now. It got up to and including 20 minutes of battery life, hot enough to cook an egg on and my left hand permanently imprinted on the plastic from it getting so hot all the time it slightly formed to my hand. Also it sounded like a helicopter taking off.

Partly my mistake though for buying one 1 month before the first core 2's came out, so it had a effing 3.8GHZ Pentium D 4gb of ram 7800GTX and 2 250gig HD's. You can imagine why it got so hot.

[ShimmyT @ Jun 26th 2009 11:00AM]

I do love my NP8662. Plays all of the games that I like (SupCom, DemiGod, L4D, etc) at max res.

[CH3BURASHKA @ Jun 27th 2009 1:50AM]

@ All owners of the Sager:

I just checked the site and the lappy looks awesome, but is it true that it doesn't come standard with an operating system? I find that hard to believe.

[oldmankdude @ Jun 26th 2009 1:54AM]

The Sager NP8662 is a solid gaming laptop, and well within your price range (with a few possible upgrades even):

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8662-built-clevo-m860tu-custom-gaming-laptop-p-2564.html

You may not have heard of them before, but they make solid laptops. If you want more opinions, I highly recommend checking out notebookreview.com's forums, they provide excellent advice.

see: http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1017 about Sager machines, for example.

MSI makes some pretty affordable 17" gaming laptops too, if that's you're thing.

[Choco_Taco @ Jun 26th 2009 1:58AM]

Their the same brand Alienware uses as well which is originally Clevo. Both Sager and Alienware slap their name on them.

[David @ Jun 26th 2009 3:49AM]

Wow I'm actually really impressed with their selection of pc's. Thanks for sharing.

[JohnTitor @ Jun 26th 2009 10:44AM]

Alienware stopped using them long ago, since Dell bought them, same with VoodooPC after HP. But yes in the past it was true, and it is still is true for Falcon NorthWest, but I don't think they just slap a label, some of them might be building their own, but basically with the same stuff, Sager I'm pretty sure does.

Anyway my vote goes to http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173262&st=asus&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218044029168

[Chris @ Jun 26th 2009 1:59AM]

anything Sager or Asus.

[raj @ Jun 26th 2009 2:00AM]

dell xps m1530

[Mike @ Jun 26th 2009 2:13AM]

Sure, if you like grainy screens, electric shocks, horrendous battery life, and a skittish keypad.

(Unhappy M1530 owner for almost 2 years.)

[Aaron Brown @ Jun 26th 2009 8:49AM]

I've had no such problems with my m1530. It's a great lappy. Screen is gorgeous. Laptop is light, thin and sexy- something you won't find in most gaming capable laptops.

[AltairAntares @ Jun 26th 2009 11:26AM]

I agree, I've really liked my m1530, I've had it for around a year and found little not to like. Even with the problems that nvidea has had with their cards I haven't had any real issues. It's worked great and even looks decent... ;)

[jeramey @ Jun 26th 2009 12:09PM]

my m1530 has been a decent laptop. it looks nice and performs well. but the screen tends to wash out colors. It also gets hot right underneath the mousepad, making it lose sensitivity. Its not perfect but its decent enough.

[Jeff @ Jun 26th 2009 2:05AM]

I can't speak from experience, but from searching the web and pricing stuff out tonight, you can get an HP HDX16t with most of the hardware maxed out for that price with coupons from around the web. Definitely seems like the best deal and you will still get over 3 hours of gaming on the 12 cell battery.

[Ryan P. @ Jun 26th 2009 2:29AM]

I'm using a HP dv6700t (last year's 15 inch model) that I spec'd up to the max on everything (ok, I didn't get the Blu-Ray drive. It was expensive!) and it ended up being about $1450 after tax. It's great for gaming, and it's done great with everything I've thrown at it. It's an "entertainment" laptop, and that's what it does best.

[Metayoshi @ Jun 26th 2009 3:39AM]

Yea, I have an HP HDX 16t and I'm loving it. I have an Nvidia 9600M GT, and I know it's no GTX 280 or ATI Radeon HD 4870, but it's pretty good since I'm not looking to play games like Crysis Warhead anytime soon (though I can technically play it at low settings).

It was actually around $850 with a coupon and the 2.0 GHz T6400, but if you're looking for something more powerful, you can bump up the processor a bit for a bit heftier price. I have had no problems with it. At first, I didn't like the keyboard or the touchpad (you'd probably want a mouse anyway for gaming), but the keyboard isn't hard to get used to.

This was definitely the best deal a couple months ago for a decent gaming laptop. I was actually looking at an Asus N80VN-B1 since it had the 9650M GT along with the 2.4GHz P8600 CPU for only around $1200. Fortunately, that HP deal let me save about $400 for a basically similar computer. I'm definitely happy with my purchase though, and even though it's not the best laptop out there, it's definitely what I wanted.

[Bananarama @ Jun 26th 2009 8:57AM]

I have the new hp DV6t 16 inch notebook, and it runs games better than my desktop. It's got all the standard specs for a decent laptop, and an ATI hd 4650 mobility, a high end laptop graphics card. but the best part? With online coupons I got it for a little over half the budget, 800 bucks. It was an amazing deal.

[waterproofpaper @ Jun 26th 2009 2:01AM]

Asus G71. A lot of bestbuys down in socal have been selling it for a week or so. P8700/6gb DDR3/500gb 7200RPM/GTX 260.. all for 1149. They have also been selling the new 1005HA with n270/1gb/160/802.11N for $299.

[rob @ Jun 26th 2009 3:58AM]

can you buy me a G71 and send it to me, then I'll paypal you the money? haha

i don't see them for sale anywhere, not sure how your bestbuy has it, and for so cheap...

[SteveJr_Ri @ Jun 26th 2009 2:03AM]

15.4" MacBook Pro Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, NVIDIA Geforce 9600MGT, SuperDrive (MB471LL/A)

http://www.macmall.com:80/ttsvr/p/Apple-MacBook-Pro/product~dpno~7684021~pdp.fbdchaf
its at macmall right now.

It might not be the best rig, but I play a lot of games on high specs with no problems.

I'm only recommending it because its within your price range and is a great computer for the money.

[Jacob @ Jun 26th 2009 2:08AM]

Please tell me you're joking.

[oldmankdude @ Jun 26th 2009 2:11AM]

Mac fanboys joking?
I think you're the one who's messing around!

[MeowR- @ Jun 26th 2009 2:11AM]

Sorriez. I am a Mac user myself. But the phrase "great computer for the money" does not apply in the gaming laptop section.

Please try again.

[Mike @ Jun 26th 2009 2:16AM]

Macs are not for gaming.

Or anything remotely useful.

[SteveJr_Ri @ Jun 26th 2009 2:18AM]

Maybe he wants to do other things with his laptop, I said there were probably better rigs out ther but I was just chiming in with what i know.

benchmarks with the 9600M GT
"
The gaming benchmarks below were conducted with a 9600M GT containing 512 MB GDDR3 graphics memory and a fast Core 2 Duo CPU. Using a slower CPU and / or slower memory, a slower performance has to be expected (e.g., 20% slower with GDDR3).

Crysis: 1024x768, med: 25 fps -> playable (only in low fully playable)
Unreal Tournament 3: 1280x800, Stufe 3/5 -> fully playable
Call of Duty 4: 1024x768, high Details: 50 fps -> fully playable
Supreme Commander (Gameplay, Multiplayer 2vs2): 1024x768, med -> playable
Race Driver Grid: 1024x768, med -> fully playable
Colin Mc Rae Dirt: 1024x768, med Details: 30 fps -> playable
Gothic 3: 1024x768, high Details: 35 fps -> fully playable
Lost Planet: 1024x768, med Details, DX10: 30 fps -> playable

Current games (08-2008) are all fully playable (but not at the hightest settings) with the 9600M GT. Older or less demanding games can be played with full settings enabled. Compared to the old 8600M GT, the 9600M GT shows a clearly better performance (also because of the faster CPUs).
"

and its only 1499. Again if you read my post i only said it because it was within his price range, and a great computer for the money (i didn't say great gaming computer)

[The Walrus @ Jun 26th 2009 2:38AM]

Maybe he wants to play more than ten games

[Eric Wang @ Jun 26th 2009 3:12AM]

seriously man, for a gaming lappy, you could do sooo much more with the money it takes to buy a macbook pro. With 1700 dollars (plus tax!) you could buy a dual card alienware, not that i recomend it of course. For gaming laptops, Gateway holds the best bang for the buck, found my Gateway 17' in. full HD with a 9800 for about 1200 bucks new!

[Patriks7 @ Jun 26th 2009 4:28AM]

So please someone explain this to me
"Macs are not for gaming."
Everyone calls Macs toys, yet it's the Windows PCs that are for gaming? (BTW it might be quite hard to find aluminium toys...)

[Chris @ Jun 26th 2009 5:43AM]

Don't bash this guy for mentioning a Macbook Pro. It is the best laptop there is, hands down, when you consider the life of the laptop and how well it will run. Macs tend to use better components and that is why they do well, plus you can always add Windows to a Mac if that is your thing, I've got the Windows 7 RC running right now from my 15" 2.4 macbook pro and I can play nearly any game that isn't Crysis.

The real problem is the question. Laptops under $1500 are not built for gaming even if they claim they are. So, you might as well get the best laptop available in your budget. That way you will be happy even when you are not playing games. It will perform at least equally well to any PC under his budget whether it costs $900, $1200 or $1500. And he'll still have this laptop long after all you guys throw your HP's, Asus's, Sager's, Gateway's, Dell's, Sony's, Toshiba's and the like in the garbage because frankly they just don't run like they used to... Meanwhile I'll be saving money (not buying another $1000 PC with a 14mo lifespan) playing Starcraft 2 on my old macbook pro for the next 5 yrs :)

[Greg @ Jun 26th 2009 8:18AM]

You're right, it does make a good gaming laptop, and it's great of other things too. The much larger trackpad also means that gaming is possible, even when you don't have a mouse.

Don't let these fanboys bring you down.

[Chris Gardner @ Jun 26th 2009 9:22AM]

Bashing Macs is kind of the gadget blog du jour right now. ;) It's not the cheapest machine out there, but the MacBook Pros (the ones with the dedicated cards, not the POS ones with only the 9400) are actually suprisingly good at gaming. As I mentioned in another reply, I'm getting about 6000 in 3DMark06, Windows 7 RC, which is respectable for a 5.5 lb machine that gets about 6 hours of battery life when I flip it to integrated. It wasn't cheap (about $1750 with employee purchase program discounts) but it's a nice machine. I like it.

[Kamokazi @ Jun 26th 2009 9:26AM]

As much as I want to flame you for being a cluless fanboy, I'm just going to point out simple logic:

-He wants a gaming laptop under $1500
-95%+ of all games are GPU-Dependent
-Find the best GPU on a laptop for under $1500

You can find 9800's in that price range. A 9600 won't cut it.

My vote is either for the Gateway or an Asus G-series. I have a slightly older Asus model (F3Sv), and my boss has a G50 series, and they have dramatically improved the build quality and overall feel of the laptop. And I'm still quite happy with mine as it is.

[Christopher G. @ Jun 26th 2009 10:18AM]

Honestly, I am pretty surprised with what my aluminum 13-inch MacBook can do on Boot Camp in regards to gaming. One of the main reasons I bought it because of the decent graphics card in it. The trackpad is wonky in Windows so I plug in a USB mouse whenever I switch and it really sucks that I have to restart every time I want to play something. But I've managed to play some pretty new games, like Fallout 3 and The Last Remnant, on the default graphic settings with rarely any problems (though occasionally some slowdown in LR).

[Quikboy @ Jun 26th 2009 12:00PM]

Mac might be fine enough for gaming, but the fact that there are more games for Windows and that Macs don't run Windows by default, means this guy is going to have to shell extra cash to run Windows to play more games. That takes time, and money, and that's not be way to be gaming.

[Ken @ Jun 26th 2009 4:04PM]

Seriously? Mac + gaming? Sorry NO!

I'm not bashing Apple, but they never offer the latest graphics accelerators in any of their products (yes even workstations). Gaming is 70% graphics IMHO and Macs suffer in that category.

Clevo dominates gaming notebooks. There is no argument. They make the most powerful notebooks in the world and their mid-range products are very competitively priced.

[tonilo @ Jun 26th 2009 2:28AM]

if you dont mind the volume of the laptop ,you can try with xps m1330 with a vidock2 plugged ;) just a rocket

[Sandeep @ Jun 26th 2009 6:45AM]

actually dont buy the XPS 1330 - the nvidia graphics chip suffers the heating problem. Note that this is not the fault of Dell - but the graphics card's.