Mid-Range Laptop - Good Price

[Alexandra]

Any recommendations for a mid-range laptop that will play WoW pretty smooth, this is for a kid, so no we aren't going Alienware! Unless Alienware is in the 500.00 range.

Any recommendations?

thanks!


I found 3 from a local Microcenter

399.00

Intel Core i3-3227U
• Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
• 6GB DDR3-1600 RAM
• 500GB 5,400RPM Hard Drive
• DVDRW Drive
• 8-in-1 Memory Card Reader
• Intel HD Graphics 4000
• Dell Wireless 1703
• 15.6" Widescreen HD Display


or 229.00 (going cheaper)

• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 1.8GHz
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (32-bit)
• 2GB RAM
• 80GB Hard Drive
• DVD-RW Drive
• 15.4" Widescreen Display

279.00

AMD E2-1800 1.7GHz
• Microsoft Windows 8 (64-bit)
• 2GB DDR3-1333 RAM
• 320GB 5,400RPM Hard Drive
• 8x SuperMulti DVDRW Drive
• Memory Card Reader
• 10/100/1000 Network
• 802.11b/g/n Wireless
• 15.6" LED-backlit TFT Display

 

[hawthorne]

I have heard good things about the Microsoft Surface tablet, but have yet to try one out so it's entirely anecdotal.

How old is the kid? For someone younger than teen I would actually recommend getting something based on the warranty service. You are pretty likely to need it. Panasonic has a good warranty service. Toshiba's is okay. Acer I am not very happy with. Sony is.. meh. They do okay but most things have to go through Japan. Dell is awful unless you are paying for business contracts. Hp is.. meh. Better than Dell but not by much.

I don't recommend an off-brand for a child's laptop. You might as well be throwing your money away at that point. As for actually playing WoW, well, the specs needed for it are low, so all I would look for is, at least a core 2 duo, at least 2, preferably 4 GB of RAM, and at least a 320GB HDD. WLAN and LAN is pretty standard on laptops nowadays. DVD drives are pretty standard. Can go blu-ray if you have them in your collection already but not worth it on it's own. I prefer LED but that's preference more than anything else.

Good Luck!

 

[riot]

Is your heart set on a laptop? Personally, I'd get a desktop for a kid. They aren't mobile so there's a significantly smaller chance of it being broken. They're also far cheaper and way easier to upgrade further down the road as needed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Xparent Skyblue Tapatalk 2

 

[dewey2461]

if you are doing any gaming stay away from intel graphics.

if you are getting it for a kid. expect it to be broken quickly.

I like the suggestion to go desktop instead. Saves $$ and less likely to break.

 

[Alexandra]

Thanks, she'll be 16, we just don't want to spend oodles on it, she's a lazy teen ;p We are just sick of her on our desktops. She asked for laptop as an option, but we thought of setting up an extra desktop we had.

Definitely things to think through. She has a netbook now, I gave her when I stopped using it, she can't game on that though, she uses it to surf, Tumblr and FB. Now that she is back to playing WoW we have to do something. She's aping to a guild and it's running into our raid time....too funny

 

[devestator]

IMO, unfortunately, you aren't going to get a laptop that can play games smoothly without spending a little bit of money.

You are going to want something with a dedicated graphics card at the bare minimum. Not an integrated intel chip or anything liek that. Yes WoW would probably run on the intel chip, but it wont always be smooth, will need the settings lowered, and if she decides to play anything other than WoW it probably is not going to cut it. CPU isn't as important for most games these days but some are still CPU intensive if they are older or not programmed well (like EQ, it's old enough that it relies more on the CPU than the GPU). But you still want a descent CPU in it.

I was actually just looking at gaming laptops last night because mine is getting a little long in the tooth. There are some MSIs on newegg.com that aren't terribly priced. The one I looked at was 1100 dollars but it had a dedicated 7970 in it (which means it could play about any game on the market right now). You could probably going with something a little outdated or lower power like a GTX 650 / 660 (possibly even a 560 but that is pushing it) and be ok for light / moderate gaming. Just anything using to much new tech and really heavy on effects is going to have low framerate without cutting way back on the settings.

This is the one I was looking at for the record:
MSI GX Series GX60 1AC-021US Notebook AMD A-Series A10-4600M(2.30GHz) 15.6" 8GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 7200rpm BD-ROM AMD Radeon HD 7970M - Newegg.com
Although, it's out of stock right now and apparently 1100 was a sale price as it's 1200 now hehe. I probably would not end up getting that one if I do decide to buy another cause the CPU is a little slower than I like for non gaming, but it's just an example of what I'd consider a descent gaming laptop.

 

[JimJohnson]

DELL Inspiron 17 (i17RV-5909BLK) Notebook Intel Core i5 3337U(1.80GHz) 17.3" 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 8730M - Newegg.com

 

[Rooster]

DELL Inspiron 17 (i17RV-5909BLK) Notebook Intel Core i5 3337U(1.80GHz) 17.3" 6GB Memory DDR3 1600 750GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 8730M - Newegg.com

This is very similar to a HP Laptop I got on sale and I can 2 box EQ no worries on it, 3 it slows zones down a lot. The only problem with any of these laptops is screen resolution/screen size.

So another reason to spend the money on a desktop which is something she can upgrade herself down the track for a larger monitor/better graphics etc. Gives a little more responsibility to her, I have worked with a lot of 16-17 year olds and the difference between the ones who want money for something Vs the ones who just work because mum and dad said for them to get a job is a huge difference (rather off topic, sorry!) Also she has a netbook to lug around to use for what ever she needs, if she is really into the portable gaming she can just pack up her desktop to take to a mate place... who remembers doing that every other weekend amiright ?

But desktop you can spend less on a few things to get a better starting point to have a much better system down the track.

My 2 cents

 

[Fry]

My suggestion is get a dedicated video card.

Find a machine for about $600 with I5 to I7 CPU and a dedicated video card.

Laptop JJ linked is ideal, only thing I could fault on it is 17" is pretty big, but if it's just for gaming on a desk, it should be near perfect.

 

[Wolfborn]

Was in a similar situation..
I have an Alienware 18 and really like it.

My solution was to search Ebay... found a used Alienware 17 with i7 and nvidia graphics for $800ish. It looked perfect.. minor (I mean very minor) scratch on the bottom but otherwise perfect.
My nephew loves it and plays all the big games on it. BF3, WoW, Skyrim etc..

Just an option.

-Wolf

 

[hawthorne]

It's obvious a lot of you guys don't have to do warranty work very often. MSI? Really? Good luck with that if she ever accidentally spills a soda on it.

JJ's offer is a great laptop but that's a lot of machine for WoW. And Dell warranty repairs for consumers are not very friendly. Last time I dealt with them, tech support was run from India, and RMA repairs took an average of 6 weeks. But it's a great laptop if you plan on playing the latest games. It's way more than you need for WoW though. If you go that route, please make sure you get the accidental damage coverage for 2+ years.

 

[aspire2008]

Don't get a laptop with intel cpu's marked with a U at the end i.e.

Intel Core i3-3227U

Consider those cpu's only good for tablet's imo.

 

[Mordred]

Dell customer service is not that bad if you know what your issue is and have done part of the troubleshooting in advance. I am on a Dell and have had several issues this year with mine and each call has been easy and hassle free with the exception of one. That one was not a big deal to me at all. It also seems their standard warranty is better then it might have been in the past. When mother board went out, after the calls to them and with the tech who was coming to replace the board it took about a week for it to be back up and running. Yes for some that may be longer then they think but in the end I did not have to send computer in and they came to me. That alone is worth it to me to buy from them. That though is just my opinion.