Looking to buy a laptop

[ChronoSphinx]

1. What is your budget?
Anywhere below $2000.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15-17 inches, though I’d prefer if it was 17 to be on the light side (7-8 lb)

3. What screen resolution do you want?
at least 1600 x 900

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable (preferably < 7 lb)

5. How much battery life do you need?
Don’t care. The more the better, but not important enough to be so concerned about it.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Dota 2. Max settings, including anti-aliasing, and like everything possible. Other random games that may come up later in the future, but I can live with medium settings for those.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Word processing, surfing the web,

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500 GB is fine, more is cool too.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Lenovo Idepad y580( http://www.lenovo.com/products/us/laptop/ideapad/y-series/y580/ )
Asus n56vz
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3+ Years

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
Doesn’t matter. Not like I ever use my optical drive.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
All brands are A-okay, but I’m slightly weary of Lenovo and Toshiba. The latter failed me before, while everyone seems to hate on the former haha.

13. What country do you live in?
USA

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I don’t game much, aside from Dota 2 and LoL. To that extent, I’d like to enjoy these in max settings. I don’t play shooters (exception: Mass Effect) nor many things which one would consider graphics intensive.
I just want a nice portable notebook which I can play Dota 2 on max settings, with a quiet fan and no real chance of overheating. It would also be nice if it looked pretty (e.g. Asus n56vz (aluminum is pretty), or the old Dell XPS 16). I was really enthralled by the y580, but I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about it, and it’s got me scared. Meanwhile, I’ve been told Asus’ build quality is amazing, but the product itself is weaker than the y580. Any thoughts?

Of course, if you have any other laptop suggestions, feel free to list them!

 

[ChronoSphinx]

Thank you for your reply!

1. I see, I just don't want to be constantly replacing models, or have one randomly break on me. If possible, I'd like to be solid on the get go.

2. Haha, I put $2000 as a limit of sorts. The lower the better, of course, but I just don't want to miss out on some great laptop simply because it's like, $100-200 more than what I put on the budget, hence I figured less than $2000 would be all-encompassing (for my purposes). Think of it more as a no limit on the budget (within reason).

With regards to looks, I'm sorta confused myself haha. The more vain part of me definitely would like spend money on looks, but I also realize that it is a waste of money. In that regard, I was thinking maybe I could find something like the y580 that looks like the n56vz, just with a bigger price, but I can live without it.

As for the G55VW, thats' a bit too heavy for my taste. If I'm going to be lugging around 3.8 kg, I rather it'd be a 17'.

Compactly, I want a laptop that is:
1) Less than 7 lb.
2) Able to play Dota 2 on max settings, without hearing a loud fan or fearing it'll overheat
3) Sturdy, or at the very least feels sturdy (in a forum, someone described the y580 as feeling like a 'toy computer'. That does not sound particularly pleasant).

Also note that I'm a college student, and I'm planning on moving this around a lot, in my trusty backpack (hence my desire for sturdiness and < 7 lb.)

Sorry for the long wall of text and once again, thanks for the reply!

 

[ElectronicsFan72]

Take a look at these gaming laptops; some might be appealing based on what you're seeking.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2020688,00.asp

One problem to consider is that the more compact laptops will be prone to heating up quickly/becoming loud due to the positioning of the components. However, there are plenty of lightweight laptops that can be utilized for gaming, so the choice is up to you.

 

[ChronoSphinx]

FullHD screen would be amazing.

My concern with build quality comes from having a real bad Toshiba back in the day which would have a REALLY loud fan. It had a whole slew of problems ranging from the hinges coming loose, the cooling system failing (to the point where the computer itself would send out a message telling me that something was wrong with the cooling system), etc. These are issues I'd like not to have to repeat.

When I saw the specs on the y580, it was love at first sight, but then I saw people criticizing the placement of the hdd, abnormal temperatures, and other slew of problems. However, you say it fares well to competitors? Wht would you consider to be a competitor to the y580?

As for the HP, I will consider it. Thanks!

 

[ChronoSphinx]

Hmm what about the MSI GE60?

 

[ChronoSphinx]

MSI GE60 is that bad?
I've heard the HP has had heating problems before?

1. I'm okay with 17.3. So long as it's not enormous. For example, I'd be okay with the weight of the g55 if it was 17.3, but as a 15.6 it's too big.
2. The Envy 15, albeit pretty, is on the weak side. I heard the Envy 17 also gets ridiculously loud with ts fan when playing DotA 2.

 

[ChronoSphinx]

Yes but I game with friends (namely Dota 2 and League of Legends ) and having a fan "loud enough to disturb other people in a small office or classroom" (http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=6391&review=HP+ENVY+17+multimedia+entertainment+pc&p=4) which isa pity because it looks gorgeous.

Samsung one has DDR3. Anything with DDR5? Hows the sound/heat on it?

 

[ChronoSphinx]

Actually, upon closer inspection, the Samsung seems really interesting. I know the review mentioned specific numbers as far as loudness, but I can't quite gauge just how loud it is during game. Would it be enough to disturb people around me?