Best laptop for under a grand?

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Kiwiphrenia

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Topic # 160535 10-Jan-2015 16:34

Want something reliable and able to play Fallout New Vegas and Skyrim any ideas?

Thanks

Kiwiphrenia

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Reply # 1211612 10-Jan-2015 16:38

Don't mind if the laptop is second hand as long as its in decent condition

sdavisnz

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Reply # 1211625 10-Jan-2015 17:36

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?p=2851970

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timmmay

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Reply # 1211715 10-Jan-2015 19:52

Asus and Lenovo are good brands. That HP looks decent but no idea about quality.

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necrofeltch

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Reply # 1211764 10-Jan-2015 21:14

I got a Dell 7447 for 1200, down from nearly 1800 on Dells website before Xmas, runs games pretty well. If you want to game, make sure you get something with a capable GPU, theres plenty of reading out there for how different ones perform. As an alternative, if you have a capable desktop around, you can use Steams streaming service to get desktop quality gaming on any laptop over your home network.

timmmay

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Reply # 1211783 10-Jan-2015 21:29

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A desktop would obviously be faster and cheaper.

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heavenlywild

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Reply # 1211785 10-Jan-2015 21:34

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timmmay: A desktop would obviously be faster and cheaper.

Agreed. You will get more for your buck than a laptop.

Batman

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Reply # 1211790 10-Jan-2015 21:44

are those games graphics intensive? nonetheless get something with a dedicated GPU ideally with GDDR5 VRAM and ideally 2GB.

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Batman

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Reply # 1211793 10-Jan-2015 21:47

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but know this: every time i use a cheap laptop to play games the motherboard literally gets roasted - and after a few months it's never the same. some kind of permanent limp mode. so expect a life of 1 yr, extended to 3 yrs at a limp. but under 1k is not a waste, it's pretty good.

i've never tried dedicated gaming laptops but desktops are cheaper than those.

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Kiwiphrenia

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Reply # 1211958 11-Jan-2015 16:25

Thanks for the replies.

The laptop will be mainly for school work I dont expect to be playing the latest games at ultra settings I just want to be able to play New Vegas and Skyrim (my 2 favourite games) at a respectable level.

Stan

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Reply # 1217241 19-Jan-2015 00:34

You won't get GDDR5 in that price range but DDR3 is fine with lower end maxwell based cards like the gt840m because it has a larger L2 cache to help compensate for the lack of bandwidth for eg the HP above with the Nvidia gt840 will play those games without too much difficulty and even games like battlefield 4 at mid to lower detailed setting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agD7rtUkoD8

If you don't want to spend as close to that budget this would be okay for light gaming (skyrim etc):

http://www.dicksmith.co.nz/laptops-notebooks/hp-15-6-pavilion-15-p001ax-nb-slv-dsnz-xc9321?utm_source=pricespy.co.nz&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=pricespy

Personally I would spend the extra and get that hp with the gt840m, it has it shortfalls (screen resolution, average build quality) but its the best performance you can get without spending another $500 or so.