| Rank | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 |
| Battalion 101 X7200 | Asus G74SX | Alienware M18x | MSI GT683 | Toshiba Qosmio X500 | Asus | Alienware M17x | Alienware M14x | Origin Eon17 | Falcon Northwest TLX | |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Reviewer Comments |  | | | | | | | | | |
| Ratings | 9.33 | 9.10 | 8.78 | 8.63 | 8.53 | 8.15 | 8.10 | 7.98 | 7.93 | 7.63 |
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
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| Video/Audio | ||||||||||
| Video Card | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M | ATI Radeon 5870 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M | NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M |
| Video Memory | 3.0GB | 3.0GB | 1.5GB | 3.0GB | 1.5GB | 1.0GB | 1.5GB | 3.0GB | 1.5GB | 3.0GB |
| Audio | 3D Premium Surround Sound | High-Definition 5.1 surround sound sound | High-Definition 5.1 surround sound | THX TruStudio PRO | Harman/Kardon Stereo Speakers | EAX 4.0 sound | High-Defenition 5.1 Surround Sound | High-Definition 5.1 surround sound | High-Definition 7.1 surround sound | Realtek Hi-Definition Stereo |
| Processor | ||||||||||
| Type | Intel Core i7 960 | Intel Core i7 2630QM | Intel Core i7 2630QM | Intel Core i7 2630QM | Intel Core i7 2630QM | Intel Core i7 720QM | Intel Core i7 2630QM | Intel Core i7 2720QM | Intel Core i7 950 | Intel Core i7 2630QM |
| CPU(GHz) | 3.20GHz | 2.0GHz | 2.0GHz | 2.0GHz | 2.0GHz | 1.6GHz | 2.0GHz | 2.2GHz | 3.06GHz | 2.0GHz |
| Memory/Storage | ||||||||||
| RAM | 6GB DDR3 | 12GB DDR3 | 6GB DDR3 | 16GB DDR3 | 8GB DDR3 | 8GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 | 8GB DDR3 | 6GB DDR3 | 4GB DDR3 |
| Hard Drive | 500GB HDD | 1.5TB HDD | 750GB HDD | 1TB HDD | 1TB HDD | 1TB HDD | 320GB HDD | 750GB HDD | 250GB HDD | 320GB HDD |
| Hard Drive Speed | 5400 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM | 7200 RPM |
| Additional Features | ||||||||||
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Professional | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium | Windows 7 Home Premium |
| Optical Drive | DVD +/-RW | Blu-Ray | DVD+/-RW | Blu-Ray | Blu-Ray | Blu-Ray | DVD+/-RW | DVD +/-R/RW | DVD +/-R/RW | DVD+/-RW |
| USB Port(s) | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Battery Life | 3.5 hrs | 3 hrs | 3.5 hrs | 3 hrs | 3 hrs | 2 hrs | 2 hrs | 3.5 hrs | 1 hr | 1.5 hrs |
| Screen Size | 17.3 in. | 17.3 in. | 18.4 in. | 15.6 in. | 18.4 in. | 17.3 in. | 17.3 in. | 14.0 in. | 17.3 in. | 15.6 in. |
| Screen Resolution | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 |
| Width | 16.5 in. | 19.7 in. | 17.2 in. | 15 in. | 17.4 in. | 16.6 in. | 16 in. | 13.2 in. | 16.5 in. | 14.7 in. |
| Depth | 11.3 | 16.5 in. | 12.7 in. | 10.2 in. | 11.6 in. | 12.8 in. | 12.7 in. | 10 in. | 11.3 in. | 9.8 in. |
| Height | 2.4 in. | 2.4 in. | 2.1 in. | 1.8 in. | 1.8 in. | 2.3 in. | 2.1 in. | 1.5 in. | 2.4 in. | 1.5 in. |
| Weight | 12.10 lbs | 9.4 lbs | 25.2 lbs | 7.7 lbs | 10.1 lbs | 8.0 lbs | 11.7 lbs | 6.5 lbs | 12.1 lbs | 7.5 lbs |
| Support/Warranty | ||||||||||
| Community | ||||||||||
| Driver Downloads | ||||||||||
| FAQs | ||||||||||
| Email Support | ||||||||||
| Live Chat | ||||||||||
| Phone Support | ||||||||||
| Warranty | 1 Year | 2 Years | 1 Year | 2 Years | 1 Year | 2 Years | 1 Year | 1 Year | 1 Year | 1 Year |
Why Buy a Gaming Laptop?
Gamers expect hyper-realistic renderings of both familiar and fantastical landscapes. Mind-blowing graphics, atmosphere-enhancing audio, deliberate game design and high interactivity combine to make modern gaming a fully immersive, sensory experience. Hardware that doesn’t meet or exceed recommended system requirements will result in a frustratingly choppy, flipbook-like game session.
Current laptops such as the Battalion 101 X7200, Asus G74SX and the Alienware M18x are designed for high-impact gaming are powered by quad-core processors and blindingly fast video cards. Like their bulkier, immobile desktop progenitors, laptops are capable of packing incredible processing power, large reserves of RAM and giant, high resolution displays to make your gaming experience as realistic and immersive as possible.
With the rise of MMORPGs, a stable, high-speed internet connection became an absolute necessity for serious gamers. Gaming laptops are equipped with all the hardware you need to stay in touch with your guildmates, upload funky creations or download new mods. The omnipresence of wireless internet means that you can make time for a quick round of ganking noobs at school, the coffee shop, in the airport, or at work after hours. With a power-packing laptop, an impromptu LAN party is always a likely possibility.
Buying a gaming laptop doesn’t mean sacrificing the computer power, function, or the accessories of your desktop at home. Gaming laptops are standard with all the peripherals you’re used to at home. You’ll find a webcam, microphone, multi-card reader, USB ports and a decent pair of speakers on just about all gaming laptops available. Blu-ray disc drives, eSATA and HDMI ports are par for the course on mid to high-end gaming and multimedia laptops.
The power gap between desktops and laptops is rapidly closing. The portability, connectivity and versatility of a laptop combined with the power of a desktop allow for a mobile gaming experience every bit as satisfying as what you can expect from a full size, desktop tower at home.
Current laptops such as the Battalion 101 X7200, Asus G74SX and the Alienware M18x are designed for high-impact gaming are powered by quad-core processors and blindingly fast video cards. Like their bulkier, immobile desktop progenitors, laptops are capable of packing incredible processing power, large reserves of RAM and giant, high resolution displays to make your gaming experience as realistic and immersive as possible.
With the rise of MMORPGs, a stable, high-speed internet connection became an absolute necessity for serious gamers. Gaming laptops are equipped with all the hardware you need to stay in touch with your guildmates, upload funky creations or download new mods. The omnipresence of wireless internet means that you can make time for a quick round of ganking noobs at school, the coffee shop, in the airport, or at work after hours. With a power-packing laptop, an impromptu LAN party is always a likely possibility.
Buying a gaming laptop doesn’t mean sacrificing the computer power, function, or the accessories of your desktop at home. Gaming laptops are standard with all the peripherals you’re used to at home. You’ll find a webcam, microphone, multi-card reader, USB ports and a decent pair of speakers on just about all gaming laptops available. Blu-ray disc drives, eSATA and HDMI ports are par for the course on mid to high-end gaming and multimedia laptops.
The power gap between desktops and laptops is rapidly closing. The portability, connectivity and versatility of a laptop combined with the power of a desktop allow for a mobile gaming experience every bit as satisfying as what you can expect from a full size, desktop tower at home.
Gaming Laptops: What to Look For
Video/Audio
Your video controller provides the muscle for the dynamic lighting, explosions, landscapes and action sequences that make modern games so fun. If you’ve seen a standard desktop’s video card, you’ll know that they are about as large as a paperback book. Even given size constraints, 1GB video cards are common in gaming laptops. Recently, it has even become practical and even affordable to outfit laptops with dual video cards. NVIDIA’s SLI technology harnesses the power of two video cards at the same time. When considering a gaming laptop, be sure to keep next year’s games in mind. Only a handful of games available now fully utilize the power of dual video cards, but up-and-coming games are being designed with SLI technology in mind.
Your video controller provides the muscle for the dynamic lighting, explosions, landscapes and action sequences that make modern games so fun. If you’ve seen a standard desktop’s video card, you’ll know that they are about as large as a paperback book. Even given size constraints, 1GB video cards are common in gaming laptops. Recently, it has even become practical and even affordable to outfit laptops with dual video cards. NVIDIA’s SLI technology harnesses the power of two video cards at the same time. When considering a gaming laptop, be sure to keep next year’s games in mind. Only a handful of games available now fully utilize the power of dual video cards, but up-and-coming games are being designed with SLI technology in mind.
Processor
quad-core processors are standard in current gaming laptops. High performance gaming laptops have quad-core processors with right around 2.0GHz processing speed. You may wonder why the speed of video cards has dropped and the reason is because the amount of information that can be transfused has increased. With 4 cores and 8 threads a lot more information can be moving at the same time. The Intel Core i7 and i5 series are what most systems are using now days.
quad-core processors are standard in current gaming laptops. High performance gaming laptops have quad-core processors with right around 2.0GHz processing speed. You may wonder why the speed of video cards has dropped and the reason is because the amount of information that can be transfused has increased. With 4 cores and 8 threads a lot more information can be moving at the same time. The Intel Core i7 and i5 series are what most systems are using now days.
Memory/Storage
Photos, files, music and video take up massive quantities of space on your computer’s hard drive. If you plan on storing media in large quantities, the higher the gigabyte count, the better off you’ll be. Current games can occupy as much as 30+GB of hard drive space and in general, having plenty of free space on your hard drive improves performance and load times. Less than 320GB is just too small.
Photos, files, music and video take up massive quantities of space on your computer’s hard drive. If you plan on storing media in large quantities, the higher the gigabyte count, the better off you’ll be. Current games can occupy as much as 30+GB of hard drive space and in general, having plenty of free space on your hard drive improves performance and load times. Less than 320GB is just too small.
Be sure to keep an eye on hard drive speed, 7,200 RPMs is a fast and responsive drive speed in a laptop. Extreme performance minded users are going to want to consider solid-state drives—they forgo spinning drives for flash-based technology similar to that found in a USB memory stick. Solid-state drives are gaining in popularity but still cost substantially more than traditional drives. Budget-conscious buyers can be comfortable with the old-fashioned, rotating drive.
Additional Features
The size, dimensions and resolution capabilities of a laptop display are important factors to consider when buying a laptop. Like in so many other areas, size does matter! 15, 17, 18 and even 20+ inch displays are available on gaming laptops. Now days HD is in and 1080p quality is seen on the majority of high-end gaming laptops. Another thing to look for is a decent optical drive, Blu-ray is by far the best option but a high-speed read/write DVD optical drive will work just fine. You will want to make sure there are plenty of USB connections since they are used for pretty much any input or output device on gaming laptops.
The size, dimensions and resolution capabilities of a laptop display are important factors to consider when buying a laptop. Like in so many other areas, size does matter! 15, 17, 18 and even 20+ inch displays are available on gaming laptops. Now days HD is in and 1080p quality is seen on the majority of high-end gaming laptops. Another thing to look for is a decent optical drive, Blu-ray is by far the best option but a high-speed read/write DVD optical drive will work just fine. You will want to make sure there are plenty of USB connections since they are used for pretty much any input or output device on gaming laptops.
Support/Warranty
The breathtaking power of a high-end gaming laptop doesn’t come cheap. Manufacturers generally offer a one-year warranty that covers any hardware defects. It’s always prudent to take a look at the option of an extended warranty. You will also want to make sure the site you choose to buy your gaming laptop from has all the basic support options. Some of the standard support features are a live chat, a community section, phone number, email and driver downloads.
The breathtaking power of a high-end gaming laptop doesn’t come cheap. Manufacturers generally offer a one-year warranty that covers any hardware defects. It’s always prudent to take a look at the option of an extended warranty. You will also want to make sure the site you choose to buy your gaming laptop from has all the basic support options. Some of the standard support features are a live chat, a community section, phone number, email and driver downloads.
sources : http://computers.toptenreviews.com
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Thanks for the FANTASTIC post! This information is really good and thanks a ton for sharing it :)
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