I'm thinking of getting a gaming-quality laptop

[hisak]

...but I have no idea what to look for. So this is me asking all you PC gamers on The Hylia (all three of you) what I need to know when I buy one.

(Laptops...can be good for playing games, right? I really am completely clueless.)

So yeah, thanks for your help.

Also recommendations for games would be nice. I'm thinking of getting the Half-Life games and maybe Mass Effect and Deus Ex, but I don't really know what the must-play PC games are.

[Beh]

tbh, you're better off getting a regular PC. you get more out of them for the same price and they're generally more reliable.

[darkscar888]

Brother in law got a gaming laptop and its working fine for him. Runs well. Its a gateway believe it or not.

[hisak]

A regular PC won't work for me at college. That's the whole reason I'm getting a laptop. I know it would probably be better, but it's not an option for me at the time. If it's really that impractical, I'll get a normal laptop instead. But there are some games I'd like to play that I've never had the chance to, not ever having had the budget for more than one console.

[Beh]

alright then. i know a friend that has a good HP. and another one has an acer that he likes, although it's had some graphic card issues.

acer is the best price wise, but sometimes customer service is slow.

oh and don't go with alienware because you're paying extra money for a case.

[Be_yourself]

I don't know what you can get in the US, but i have a laptop here (aus) for $1566 aust (random estimate, 1200-300 US?), it has:

 1.6 ghz i7 processor(i7 being the top of the processor range,  its faster then the i5 and i3 and all other pentiums, it has a quad core which is four seperate processors, so a 2.4 ghz i5 is not as fast as a 1.6 i7),

 4 GB of RAM(which is a decent amount, most games i think need 1-2 GB, not too sure)

 a 1GB radeon 5000 series graphics card(1GB is a good amount of graphics card memory and 5000 series is a recent series)

640GB of memory, a very large game i.e Empire total war will take up 10GB of space,

This has very high specs for gaming but i havn't got it yet or used it, i was more or less in the same boat as you and don't really know all that much about computers at all.

if you get a gaming computer get starcraft 2, it wasn't in your list so i don't know if you know much about starcraft, but from what i have read of your opinions i think you would marvel at SC2(providing it continues in SC's tradition of quality)

[Scott Shelby]

What's your budget hisak? 

when I was hunting for a gaming laptop (didn't end up getting one) I hit up"

http://forum.notebookreview.com/what-notebook-should-i-buy/

Fill out the 18 question questionnaire and you'll get some good advice. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that top end laptops are not as powerful as top end PCs. As long as you're not against running some games (Crysis for example) on medium-ish settings/ lower resolution, it shouldn't be a problem.

[hisak]

Awesome, thanks.

As long as you're not against running some games (Crysis for example) on medium-ish settings/ lower resolution, it shouldn't be a problem.

I've been a (mostly) DS- and Wii-exclusive gamer for the last four years. I don't think I'll mind.

[hisak]

So, notebooks with i7 processors seem to have lower battery life than I'd like. Would I still be able to run the games I'm looking at (which now includes StarCraft II) with an i5?

[Bidet to you sir]

Well check the specs they say online for the game and check yourself, an i5 is very good, I can still run a fair few games with my old pentium 4 (not well mind you).

EDIT: about i5 and starcraft II, it seems like you can as long as you get one over 2.4 Ghz, not sure about other games just check, if it says dual core (all i5's are at least dual core) then just check the frequency and see if you match up.
Simple.

[darkscar888]

My best advice would be search Newegg.

Also make sure video card in laptop has at least 1GB of VRAM. Go for a dual core or better processor. And other than that get what you can afford.

[Bidet to you sir]

Yeah, you really are going to need a really quite good laptop to play the games you're after so really make sure to check over every detail with a fine tooth comb.
I mean it's fine to have a shitty pc like mine if you're playing a game like total war or something.

[Be_yourself]

 then just check the frequency and see if you match up.
Simple.

how does one do this?

[alexkenny]

  I would reccomend getting a desktop one, unless your moving around a lot. The issue with gaming PCs is battery life though, so if you needed a laptop just keep it in a designated area where it can always be plugged in. And last time i checked, those things weren't very shock resistant... so watch out.