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If you hadn't already guessed, I want a laptop, and laptops are pretty much alien to me. Desktops I can deal with, but not laptops. With the UK's annual attempt at Summer on the go, and the opportunity to sit outside without being cold and wet now occasionally presenting itself, I feel I should get out of my room to do stuff a little more, and also get the ability to just shuffle around the house whilst getting work done.

What I really want is something that I can use for writing on the go, playing films during long train journeys, and playing a few games if I feel the need. Gaming isn't the focus here, and I've certainly not looking for something able to play The Witcher 3, or Skyrim with every mod in existence on Ultra High, but something able to handle SoaSE, or AoE2, maybe SupCom, or perhaps Cities: Skylines at a push. Definitely nothing fancy, but also nothing that'll throw a fit if I try and play anything made post-2010. So long as I can use MS Word alright, can watch movies in a decent quality, play the occasional--usually older--game, and be a decent size, I'll be fine.

I have absolutely 0 knowledge about laptops, so I can't even begin to say what sort of one I've been thinking of getting; I can only describe what it is I'm more or less looking for.

Cheers in advance for any help, feth you all in advance if you decide not to.

I'm a big fan of the Sager / Clevo boutique lineups.

http://www.xoticpc.com/custom-gaming-laptops-notebooks-clevo-sager-notebooks-ct-95_51_162.html

I've had mine for over 3 years and it's still rocking...

So I've used laptops for over 12 years, there's a lot that's changed but a lot that stays the same.

First things first, get a mouse for it, don't use that blasted touch pad. Might wanna use wireless, might now, you're preference.

It seems you want something with good battery life, there's some batteries out there and/or setups that enhance battery life, might wanna look into them.

Laptops generally can't be upgraded, aside from the memory and completely switching the hard drives. Ensure your laptop has an i7 or comparable since you want it to last and they are cheap nowadays. Also look at graphics card options, might wanna get the best available for your choice of machine. From there you can handle memory easy, 8 gigs is fine, more if you can do it helps.

I have a decent laptop that is over two years old, cost me around $1600 USD and the bastard is still going strong. Can basically do everything. Don't be fooled into spending much more than that, you're only playing for the new hotness that will get cheaper/phased out for new-er hotness soon.

I can't vogue for any company, so do your own research into that.

Weight might be an issue for you, but heavy does normally mean sturdy, take the cheaper heavy option over a super light one.

Look into screen options. My laptop came normally with a really bad screen and had glare issues, other stuff wrong. Upgraded to a better option available for the machine, 100% never regretted. Make sure to read up on your choice.

I would ignore SSD hard drives (solid state) and stick to the old standard ATA ones and MAKE SURE it has 7,200 rpm or better, otherwise you're getting shafted.

Finally make sure it has enough USB ports and other plugins you need. Many manufactures cut these down to cut costs.

Hope it helps. Oh avoid the laptop bags unless they are free, they are always overpriced and small, look into getting one made by a 3rd party. I'm still using my bag from the laptop I had back in 2003.

I have a MacBook Pro and I love it. Will run you at least a grand brand new though...

$1600/£1000 Is almost double the maximum I'd expect to pay for what I want. For that price, I can get something that can handle top-end games, but I have my desktop for that. I'd also prefer something I can get hold of in the UK without having to pay absurd customs and shipping charges, so that xotic site isn't much use I'm afraid.

Gaming isn't the focus, but if I need something over £500 or so just to run something like SupCom or AoE2, I might just abandon the idea altogether. I'm out of the loop on laptop technologies, but I got the idea that current lower-mid/mid-range laptop would easily have enough base capability for games that old.

The difficulty comes in trying to make sure I don't overspec. Is an i7, for example, really necessary? It bumps the price up by at least £100 compared to an i5 in the same machine, and £130-£150 against an i3, but I'm not convinced I'll be getting full use out of it if all I'm doing is writing and playing a few older games. Laptop graphics cards I'm also not clued up on, unlike the desktop varieties.

Looking around, this appeals to me, but I have no idea if it'll fit the bill, if it's overpowered for what i need, or what. The price is pretty much what I had planned for the maximum cost of what i need it to do.

Whatever PC stuff I buy, I go to Toms Hardware beforehand.
Try there.

One thing to consider is if you use them a fair amount even good laptop batteries don't actually last that well,

within a year or 2 you'll find it's not holding enough charge to do anything useful and will either have to live with the charging cable or buy a new (and expensive) battery

so look not only for how long the battery lasts, but how many charges it's expected to give before starting to fade away

 Avatar 720 wrote:
$1600/£1000 Is almost double the maximum I'd expect to pay for what I want.

Gaming isn't the focus, but if I need something over £500 or so just to run something like SupCom or AoE2

this appeals to me, but I have no idea if it'll fit the bill, if it's overpowered for what i need, or what. The price is pretty much what I had planned for the maximum cost of what i need it to do.

So all you really need is a laptop with a good processor (the one you listed has an i5, look for one with an i7)
The graphics card is fine, you won't be able to max new stuff out, but it will work well enough. Might want to seek one slightly better just in case. Note: Avoid integrated graphics like the plague.
I looked into it, that computer you listed has a 5200 rpm drive, you really want 7200 rpm. Don't settle for less.

What I mentioned as the cost I spent was for a mobile gaming machine that was powerful, just not stupid powerful, and would last an easy 5 years +

Since upgrading anything in a laptop outside of the RAM is normally impossible, don't skimp on the necessary components.

Please note that age of empires 2 and supcom are two completely different games when it comes to required hardware. My phone can play age of empires 2.

I'd go for a Dell Inspirion 1500. Had one for about 4 years and worked great.

I have a Lenovo Ideapad G505s. It is a decent laptop, runs most light or older games (I got a whole list of GOG games I play on it) and even some more demanding ones (if you are okay with low graphics and 20fps averages at least). Most importantly, it is cheap (I got mine for about €400 iirc) and whatever I, it doesn't seem to break (surprisingly for Chinese stuff), which is exactly what I need from a laptop because I travel a lot and it bounces around.

You may consider the Surface Pro 3. You can get the middle model for about 1k USD.