Gaming laptop that's portable?

[Jenkhis Khan]

With Diablo III out and the imminent release of the Elder Scrolls MMO, I want a laptop that will run them on high settings, if not ultra. I'm also going back to school this fall after a 7 year break, so portability and battery life (when I'm not gaming) are also important. Most of the computers that have caught my eye are in the 17" screen range and weigh upwards of 10 pounds. Weight isn't a big deal as I'm a big guy, but the smaller the case, the better, seeing as how I have to fit this thing in a backpack and use it on tiny surfaces.

Here is my wishlist in order of importance:
1920x1080 resolution minimum (I play League of Legends, and the better the resolution, the more battlefield I can see)
Screen size between 13" and 16"
Must have an optical drive
Reasonable heat venting, preferably out the back
Decent speaker set (I'm a music freak)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Budget ?

All the best Brett

 

[JackNaylorPE]

High performance and long battery life are generally mutually exclusive..... Optimus Technology does a lot to change that....you can read about it here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html

I'd recommend the Clevo P170EM

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, etc. They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.

If ya thinking ya never heard of them, well I bet you would say the same about the brands ya do kno (HP, Lenovo, Sony, Dell, etc) cause none of them actually makes a laptop....they are all made by ODM's. The vast majority of laptops on the market are manufactured by a small handful of Original Design Manufacturers. Major relationships include:

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP


The 170EM equipped as below (you can have them custom build it with numerous options) will cost Y $1820....base price is $1369. The 15" model (150EM) is $50 cheaper

17.3" 1920 x 1080 Full HD (16:9) LED Backlit Glare Type Display, Super-Wide Viewing Angles
Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor, 2.6 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.6GHz), 6MB Smart Cache
16GB, PC3-1333Mhz DDR3 - 4 x 4GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M w/1.5GB GDDR5 with Optimus Technology
750GB/7200rpm Seagate Momentus XT Hybrid Drive w/8GB SSD Memory SATA-600 (SATA III 6GB/s)
6x Max. Blu-Ray Reader / 8x Max. DVD±R/2.4X Max. +DL Super-Multi Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
8 Cells Lithium-Ion Battery Pack 76.96WH
Integrated 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth Combo
Full Color Programmable Backlight Keyboard
Built-In 2.0M Pixels Digital Video Camera
Built-In Fingerprint Reader
Built-In Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Built-In 9-IN-1 Flash Memory Reader(MMC/RSMMC/MS/MS Pro/MS DUO/SD/Mini-SD/SDHC/SDXC)
1 IEEE-1394a Fire Wire
1 USB 2.0 Ports
3 USB 3.0 Ports
1 eSATA Port (USB 3.0 Combo)
1 HDMI 1.4a Output (with HDCP)
1 DVI-I Port
1 Display Port 1.1
1 Kensington Lock Port
Built-in Microphone, 2 Speakers and 1 Sub-Woofer
4 Audio Jacks for Headphone, Microphone-In, S/PDIF-Out, and Line-In
1 100/240V Autoswitch AC Power Adapter
Standard Carrying Case with Strap

 

[edit1754]

Sager NP9130 / Lotus P150EM (same Clevo chassis, different branding)

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9130-clevo-p151em1-p-4340.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=524

Make sure that you select "Windows 7" under "Operating System"
The XoticPC version allows you to save $50 by downgrading the memory from 1600MHz to 1333Mhz.

There is an off chance you might be disappointed by the audio quality however.

 

[Jenkhis Khan]

Hi

Budget ?

All the best Brett

I forgot the most important feature, didn't I? I would like to keep the price as close to $1000 as possible, but I'm prepared to spend up to $1500.

 

[Jenkhis Khan]

High performance and long battery life are generally mutually exclusive..... Optimus Technology does a lot to change that....you can read about it here:

http://www.nvidia.com/object/optimus_technology.html

I'd recommend the Clevo P170EM

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/91510-clevo-guide-v2-0-faq-reseller-info.html

CLEVO is a large Taiwanese computer company specializing in laptops. While the Clevo brand name is perhaps not widely known, their products are re-branded and sold by known boutique brand OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers)… notably Sager, VoodooPC, Falcon Northwest, Eurocom, etc. They are also considered (by whoever knows about notebooks) to design and manufacturer the best of the best notebooks in terms of superior build quality and innovative designs.

If ya thinking ya never heard of them, well I bet you would say the same about the brands ya do kno (HP, Lenovo, Sony, Dell, etc) cause none of them actually makes a laptop....they are all made by ODM's. The vast majority of laptops on the market are manufactured by a small handful of Original Design Manufacturers. Major relationships include:

Quanta sells to (among others) HP, Lenovo, Apple, Acer, Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Fujitsu and NEC
Compal sells to (among others) Acer, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo and HP/Compaq
Wistron (former manufacturing & design division of Acer) sells to Dell, Acer, Lenovo and HP
Inventec sells to Toshiba, HP and Lenovo
Pegatron sells to Asus, Toshiba, Apple, Dell and Acer
Foxconn sells to Asus, Dell, HP and Apple
Flextronics (former Arima Computer Corporation notebook division) sells to HP


The 170EM equipped as below (you can have them custom build it with numerous options) will cost Y $1820....base price is $1369. The 15" model (150EM) is $50 cheaper]


That sounds close to what I'm looking for, and if I must spend $1800, I will (tax deductible). The only piece of information I would require is where the heat is vented. My current laptop vents out the side at the perfect position to heat any beverage I try and drink. That's great for coffee, but I hate coffee.

 

[Jenkhis Khan]

Sager NP9130 / Lotus P150EM (same Clevo chassis, different branding)

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9130-clevo-p151em1-p-4340.html?wconfigure=yes

http://www.malibal.com/boutique/pc/configurePrd.asp?idProduct=524

Make sure that you select "Windows 7" under "Operating System"
The XoticPC version allows you to save $50 by downgrading the memory from 1600MHz to 1333Mhz.

There is an off chance you might be disappointed by the audio quality however.

Sound quality is a soft issue. If everything else falls in line with my expectations, ordinary, crappy speakers won't break the deal. What I do require is plenty of volume.

 

[Jenkhis Khan]

I think the Clevo P150EM/Sager NP9150 is the answer. I wish I could find something in the 14" range, but I've all but given up on that dream.

A few last questions: Is there a noticeable difference between the standard display and one with "95% NTSC color gamut"? If so, should I really care?

Also, I know the difference between a matte and glossy screen, but, having never owned a matte type display, does it provide any benefit when computing outdoors? I love being outside, but my love of being able to see when I game puts the brakes on that.