Casual Gaming/ School Work

General Questions

1) What is your budget?
1500

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Netbook; 10" screen or less
b. Ultraportable; 11" - 12" screen
c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
A,B and C

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
a. Like:
b. Dislike:
5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed?
NO

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
School work, casual gaming and video chat

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
Only when deployed will it leave home but even then it will remain in my barracks room

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? If so, please state which games or types of games?
Just got into gaming so only Fallout 4 at the moment

9) How many hours of battery life do you need?
3-4 hrs ( not to important since it will remain mainly at home)

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
Either
11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (Windows 7 / 8), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
More comfortable with windows but I'm not to familiar with this sort of stuff

Screen Specifics


13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? (Scroll down to see explanations.)
Matte
Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Yes

15) When are you buying this laptop?
Before I leave the country so sometime before the 26 or 28 at the latest

16) How long do you want this laptop to last?
3 or more years
Notebook Components

17) How much hard drive space do you need? Do you want a SSD drive?

18) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD Burner, Blu-ray Reader or Blu-Ray Burner?
Blue Ray reader (not necessary but a plus)

Portability is a must so no desktop. I but I won't be carrying it around all day so it doesn't have to be ultra thin and sleek

 

I highly suggest a CF31

They are heavy duty, but it will last 10 times longer than any other laptop out there.
Style is relative. I like the style of fully rugged. I have a shoulder strap for my CF31.

I know a guy that has several. They are not "new in the box" He does have one with zero hours. I guess a company bought it and never used it.
He does quality work and NEVER sells junk. It will be ready to go out of the box. You will not be disappointed.
I know that you stated no to refurbished etc, but please consider that a CF31 new is a $4000 laptop. Buying one with a few hours on it for less than half the price is not the same as a refurbished plastic Dell or Ipad.
I will notify him. Board member sadlmkr.

 

That might be a problem for the CF-31 . You are looking for a Panasonic Toughbook ??

 

I noticed that Blair. I also read the somewhat conflicting last sentence. I took all the information and felt a CF31 would probably be the best choice, although the original poster may not realize that yet.
I am thinking deployed, barracks...thin, sleek, or netbook => BREAKABLE

 

I was just checking the system requirements for Fallout 4 and not really sure if a Toughbook is for you. The big thing is the video card.
www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/requirements/fallout-4/12905/?p=r

Intel Core i5-2300 2.8 GHz/AMD Phenom II X4 945 3.0 GHz or equivalent
NVIDIA GTX 550 Ti 2GB/AMD Radeon HD 7870 2GB or equivalent
8GB memory

 

I know in the buy forum they want they list you posted above but we are more casual here in the toughbook section. How much are looking to spend?

Only three of the newer toughbooks have real dedicated graphics cards. CF-31, CF-52 and CF-54 ( on the 52 and 31 they make versions that don't have a dedicated graphics card, integrated only). If you are not looking for a toughbook let us know and we can direct you to more what you are looking for. I am one of the few here that try to squeeze more gaming performance from these machines.

I am still looking over some specs of the high end toughbook card that is the 7750M and cross referencing it with the game you want to play. If you can play it on that card it will be on low settings.

 

Just tested my 52MK4 and it didn't meet the system requirements.

 

I am surprised to see the 31 and 52 haven't gotten a newer card than the 7750 yet.

 

Tough book isn't necessary. But I was looking at the Acer aspire v15 nitro black edition I really liked it for gaminig but I dont how is it as far as school. Nothing to crazy just Microsoft Word and power point and things of that nature

 

I have a 0 hour CF-31 MK2 and a 0 hour CF-31 MK3. If your interest is gaming only look elsewhere.

For fully rugged, multi-use with longevity either of these would work.

 

The way I see it is you need 2 laptops. One for gaming and one for school. The gaming laptops are very thin and light. Not something you would want to get banged around a lot or its not going to last. Get a used Toughbook for school. It can take the abuse.

Your budget of $1500 is on the low end for a new gaming laptop.

 

This forum has different areas. The area you are in is suppose to be toughbook only related so we won't get into too much detail about about other pc's too much but we will still point you in the right direction. For school stuff just about any modern pc will work for that unless you are doing 3d cad design classes or something else that takes a laptop with more punch in the graphics department. Most newer laptops have dual graphics now. They have built in intergrated graphics for work and school stuff. And then it has a dedicated graphics card for gaming and really graphicaly inclined stuff.

This is the main page for forums, you can go to each makers section and ask questions.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/#notebook-manufacturers.1002

If you have 1500 in your budget you can get a gaming laptop, it won't be top top end but it won't be at the verybottom either. When I finally order me a new one it will be around that price range. http://www.xoticpc.com/ is a good place to check out to see what they have. They carry laptops from just about every maker and even have there own house brand. Newegg.com is also a place to check out. I have seen some of the ones I have wanted that were 2 grand or more on sale there for 1300 or so.

I looked up that one laptop you referenced. It has a a good processer, 16gb of ram so there will be no need to upgrade for the life of the machine and it has dual drives. It has a hard drive of 1tb for storage and a 256gb SSD for the main operating system. That pc is "last years model" as it has the 860M card. It's not a bad card. It's a mid range card. Hard ware wise it will do what you want, but I can't say how long lasting it will be. Always remember to keep it cool (off the bed, etc) so air can properly circulate with it's onboard fan. It's not a toughbook so it can't be ran over with a car and still work fine. ( I now see some newer models that have the newer 960 card in it)

When you look at a Nividia video card they break down like this 860m The 8 stands for series as 800 series. The 900 series are out now by the way. Then you have your last two digits. They start at 10 and work there way up. The higher the number the better the card. I wouldn't get a machine right now unless it has at least a 60 in it. If you want better frame rates you want the 70 or 80 series. A lot of the regular laptops I see at bestbuy and places like that have a nividia sticker but only have 930 or 940 in them. These cards are fine for older games but new games will need the more powerful cards.



Currently some of the models I have considered for myself gaming wise are.
Alienware13,15 or 17
HP OMEN
MSI GS60 / GS70

each has there pros and cons.

Price wise the cheapest ones that will get the job done is going to be a Lenovo Y series.

That should get you started in the right direction. If you need more gaming info check out the rest of the site. You can send me a private message as well.

 

Thank you that was very helpful the HP omen was theotherone I was debating on getting. Thank you again

 

On vacation I finally got to handle a Omen at best buy. It was a open box return and It wasn't powered on so I could look at it. It didn't seem bad. The generation one has 860, the Gen 2 960.
Here is a long thread to check out and decide for yourself.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/hp-omen-15-5xxx-series-gaming-notebook.762889/

One more tip. You don't need a "4K" screen to game on.