Gaming Laptop - Specs v Cost - which company to buy from?

Bluerobins · February 14, 2021

Hi all,

I have to stay in work when I'm on call so I'm going to get back into the gaming world. It has to be a laptop, so can any of you gamers give me the heads up on good specs to go for, which lashing out ultimate cash. Also, which companies to look at and more importantly which companies to avoid.

Should I go 15 inch or 17 inch? I will be moving it about?

Cheers
Steve

ste d' indica · February 14, 2021

You're welcome.
Steve.

Zezti · February 14, 2021

Bluerobins said:
Hi all,

I have to stay in work when I'm on call so I'm going to get back into the gaming world. It has to be a laptop, so can any of you gamers give me the heads up on good specs to go for, which lashing out ultimate cash. Also, which companies to look at and more importantly which companies to avoid.

Should I go 15 inch or 17 inch? I will be moving it about?

Cheers
Steve

It really depends what you want from it and what your budget is.

Then you have the choice of branded or customised pre-built.

LostLegend · February 15, 2021

Bluerobins said:
Hi all,

I have to stay in work when I'm on call so I'm going to get back into the gaming world. It has to be a laptop, so can any of you gamers give me the heads up on good specs to go for, which lashing out ultimate cash. Also, which companies to look at and more importantly which companies to avoid.

Should I go 15 inch or 17 inch? I will be moving it about?

Cheers
Steve

If you have the space, it’s more cost efficient to get a custom PC build.

Plus they are easier to upgrade.

PhilM · February 15, 2021

Bluerobins said:
Hi all,

I have to stay in work when I'm on call so I'm going to get back into the gaming world. It has to be a laptop, so can any of you gamers give me the heads up on good specs to go for, which lashing out ultimate cash. Also, which companies to look at and more importantly which companies to avoid.

Should I go 15 inch or 17 inch? I will be moving it about?

Cheers
Steve

It may not be of any use, but I remember watching these videos from all about gaming laptops:

Tommy. · February 15, 2021

PhilM said:
It may not be of any use, but I remember watching these videos from all about gaming laptops:

My favourite tech channel that.

For all fellow nerds who have built their own PC's, may I suggest watching the Verge's PC build video, it tore my soul apart watching that absolute Melvin mistreat some very decent parts so badly but some of the reaction videos that followed it were glorious.

PhilM · February 15, 2021

Tommy. said:
My favourite tech channel that.

For all fellow nerds who have built their own PC's, may I suggest watching the Verge's PC build video, it tore my soul apart watching that absolute Melvin mistreat some very decent parts so badly but some of the reaction videos that followed it were glorious.

Agreed, their wider community is really good. I enjoy a lot of the shorter stuff they put on Short Circuit and Techquickie.

Tommy. · February 15, 2021

PhilM said:
Agreed, their wider community is really good. I enjoy a lot of the shorter stuff they put on Short Circuit and Techquickie.

Yep, same mate. Linus is absolutely living the nerds good life and fair eff's to him, excellent content creator.

PhilM · February 15, 2021

Tommy. said:
Yep, same mate. Linus is absolutely living the nerds good life and fair eff's to him, excellent content creator.

It's commendable how they continue to pump out content on such a regular basis, without losing too much integrity e.g. the stuff is mainly very good.

It's enjoyable to watch too with some charisma rather than the content by other channels that is good but often dry - Lawrence Systems comes to mind.

trueblue84 · February 15, 2021

Tommy. said:
My favourite tech channel that.

For all fellow nerds who have built their own PC's, may I suggest watching the Verge's PC build video, it tore my soul apart watching that absolute Melvin mistreat some very decent parts so badly but some of the reaction videos that followed it were glorious.

Just watched it. My god, that's a paid professional on a tech channel?

I've not built a pc in about 15 years and I could've done a more professional job.

LocalNative · February 15, 2021

I recommend PC Specialists mate. The forum there will let you post your budget, needs, requirements etc and people will help recommend a built. If it's for gaming, a custom rig is generally recommended as they'll be completely kitted out to match what you need from it.

But a note of caution right now, the price of PC parts is at an all time high and stock is limited so if you can hold off a few months til things go back to a little bit of normality it could save you a few hundred bob.

Tommy. · February 15, 2021

trueblue84 said:
Just watched it. My god, that's a paid professional on a tech channel?

I've not built a pc in about 15 years and I could've done a more professional job.

Yeah mate, he was paid for it.

A tech channel with over a million subs ok'd it, just let that sink in.

The reason why I won't go near The Verge (as if that build wasn't enough) is that they issued the worst possible "apology" in the aftermath and accused their own viewers who had criticized the video of being racists.

trueblue84 · February 15, 2021

Tommy. said:
Yeah mate, he was paid for it.

A tech channel with over a million subs ok'd it, just let that sink in.

The reason why I won't go near The Verge (as if that build wasn't enough) is that they issued the worst possible "apology" in the aftermath and accused their own viewers who had criticized the video of being racists.

Yeah, saw that as well. Handled like a typical corporation and another reason why I don't think businesses should be using social media. It doesn't lend itself to professionalism.

trueblue84 · February 15, 2021

Bluerobins said:
Hi all,

I have to stay in work when I'm on call so I'm going to get back into the gaming world. It has to be a laptop, so can any of you gamers give me the heads up on good specs to go for, which lashing out ultimate cash. Also, which companies to look at and more importantly which companies to avoid.

Should I go 15 inch or 17 inch? I will be moving it about?

Cheers
Steve

If you are in work, do you have a monitor that you plug into? if so, go for whatever is not going to be a ball ache to carry around (i.e. Size and weight).

And, I know it sounds like a stupid question, but do you have a power outlet you can plug into? A gaming laptop will eat through its battery in no time at all.

If you are just buying it to play in work and have a monitor, you could also go with a NUC like the Intel ghost canyon.

If you just want a laptop, there's the usual brands like Asus (depending on budget):

ASUS ROG STRIX G15 15.6" Gaming Laptop - Intel® Core™ i7, RTX 2060, 1 TB SSD

Intel® Core™ i7-10750H Processor; RAM: 16 GB / Storage: 1 TB SSD; Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB; 217 FPS when playing Fortnite at 1080p; Full HD screen / 240 Hz; Battery life: Up to 7 hours

www.currys.co.uk

Or

Costco

www.costco.co.uk

I would also recommend someone like novatech. Used them for years and never had problems buying from them. Their pcs and laptops have no bloatware on them and they have good support/returns if you have issues.