I'm in the market for a new gaming laptop after my dog knocked mine on the floor and it no longer works. I really want a 17" but don't know that my limited budget will allow for it this time around. I spent 5 hours today looking at various sites and couldn't pull the trigger on one so figured I would ask for help. Prior to my laptop breaking I was playing Diablo III constantly so I want something that will play games on a decent setting. I won't be taking it anywhere so portability isn't an issue.
I really need to keep it under $600 as this was an unplanned expense that came up. These are three computers that I was looking at but couldn't decide.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ku=A180-156130

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...6458_17_3.html

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...ku=A180-173101

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance

The graphics card in the first one really impresses me for that dirt cheap of a price. That said, I haven't heard anything good about Acers. Time and again I'm told to go with an Asus or an Alienware (or a Lenovo if I'm really strapped).

It will be interesting to see what the smart people say about this.

I read all the reviews and they seemed positive but have no prior experience with Asus. My most recent laptop was a gateway which got bought by Asus so I guess it was made by them. It worked great for the two years I had it. Anyone else with input? Starting tomorrow I'm on vacation for two weeks so want to order something soon.

Note that Asus and Acer are two different companies (I think). You're looking at Acers.

Definitely go with an intel processor. As for $600 for a gaming laptop, you probably won't be going higher than ultra-low / low setting for most games if that's your budget.

Also something to consider, a 17" laptop really defeats the purpose of a laptop so a smaller screen really isn't a bad thing. Mine is 14" and is super low on weight / size , screen size doesn't bother me at all.

If you aren't taking the laptop anywhere, why get a laptop? Build a PC. Here's a $500 gaming PC that'll run D3 way better than any of those laptops, and it'll run more demanding games too.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...-560,3216.html

$100 20 inch monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16824009256

$10 speakers http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836150054

$10 keyboard http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16823201047

$10 mouse http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16826575001

$650 for a gaming system.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque Note that Asus and Acer are two different companies (I think). You're looking at Acers.

They are indeed two different companies. I have an Acer and I haven't had any problems with mine (though it was an extremely overpriced Ferrari model so maybe it used slightly better parts) but when it comes to laptops, Acer has a pretty shitty reputation for their CS and product quality.

Asus' CS is considered top notch.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque Note that Asus and Acer are two different companies (I think). You're looking at Acers.

Sorry thats what I ment was Acer. Its tough doing this all on my iphone.

As for the laptop vs desktop part I do occasionally take it over to my buddies house if were planning on playing some games and drinking some beers. I also don't have a desk in my house and would have to convert my 2nd bedroom into a den area to set one up. Also then I wouldn't be able to watch tv while playing diablo.

Also why would I want to make sure to get an intel processor? I would think that a 1.5 quad core would be better then a dual core 2.5. Then again I'm just multiplying numbers and thinking the largest is the best which is why I'm asking for the help.

Originally Posted by Hybrid5006 Definitely go with an intel processor. As for $600 for a gaming laptop, you probably won't be going higher than ultra-low / low setting for most games if that's your budget. Also something to consider, a 17" laptop really defeats the purpose of a laptop so a smaller screen really isn't a bad thing. Mine is 14" and is super low on weight / size , screen size doesn't bother me at all.

You won't be able to play demanding games like Skyrim and Battlefield 3 on anything but low, but that's not true that most games will demand you set everything that low; only newer games. You can get a pretty good gaming laptop for casual and slightly outdated gaming (games from the past couple years) for $600. Hell, that Acer you linked for $450 or so can play Skyrim on medium-low from the looks of it; that's impressive for the price.

For reference just check out www.notebookcheck.com to see detailed info and benchmark tests on games to see what each graphic card is capable of handling.

As for screen size, that's the buyer's prerogative. I'm look for a gaming laptop myself, and I'm probably going to bite the bullet and grab a (mostly) top of the line Alienware with a bigass screen and a nice AMD Crossfire setup for $1900. Why? I want a big screen while still having the portability of a laptop.

I found a laptop for u with an i7 processor... and only $8 over budget!

http://www.amazon.com/K53SV-DH71-15-...tag=slickdeals

That's a pretty good deal, but I definitely wouldn't bite on that with the GT 540M. The Radeon HD 7670M is considerably more powerful of a card and the system it's in is $150 cheaper. Basically you'd be paying $150 for the processor (which is NOT going to make near as much a positive impact on gaming as the Radeon HD 7670M is) and a larger hard drive (which could be swapped out if you so desired later on).

I've been using the notebookreview website but when it comes to video cards that are in different classes I didn't understand if that ment the closer to the top is better or if each class is separate. I also didn't know how to compare the processors.

I also have a 500 gb hd to stick in the new laptop if the new hdd is smaller.

I don't think the list on the side is in exact performance order. Just read over the details and look at how one card will play certain games versus what the other will. You'll see that the Radeon HD 7670M plays everything better than the GT 540M.

I'll throw my two cents in and say that I've been using an Acer for over a year now with no problems. It came with a Radeon HD 6650M and an AMD Quad Core (although it's 2.2GHz) and has never had problems playing anything I've thrown at it, although I've never tried to play Skyrim on it. Maybe I'll have to try it later today and see what happens, but it's played less demanding games like Team Fortress 2/Left 4 Dead and Mass Effect 1-3 at their highest settings without a hitch.

My only complaint is that the speaker (yes, speaker) sucks, but I always used headphones anyway - until the headphone jack broke while I was using it, forcing me to use an usb headphone jack. Other than that, it's served me more than well for the 13+ months I've had it. That, and I doubt your listed laptops have the same speaker.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I don't think the list on the side is in exact performance order. Just read over the details and look at how one card will play certain games versus what the other will. You'll see that the Radeon HD 7670M plays everything better than the GT 540M.

I looked over that as well but felt like with the price and what the video card looked capable of doing that I must be missing something.

To compare apples to apples what would be the equivalent in an intel chip of the quad core 1.5?

Originally Posted by Vinny They are indeed two different companies.

They are different, but they do share a common supply chain for a lot of things.

That said, although I've never bought a full ASUS system, I do swear by their motherboards.

tl:dr: Asus is a good choice.

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FWIW, Acer is actually the "name brand". Acer is the parent company that owns Gateway and Emachine, as well as Packard Bell and E-TEN.

I'm also really debating on buying that Acer you linked from Tigerdirect. I've had it on my bookmarks for a while now.

Originally Posted by mrright4you4now I looked over that as well but felt like with the price and what the video card looked capable of doing that I must be missing something. To compare apples to apples what would be the equivalent in an intel chip of the quad core 1.5?

Honestly I'm not the person to ask about processors. I'm learning this stuff myself. I have heard again and again though that the processor won't factor into your gaming near as much as the graphics card will. If it's a gaming laptop, always focus on the graphics card first.

You'll basically have a better time with having more applications running and whatnot (general use) with a better processor than you will have with a better graphics card. If you were just getting the machine for general use you'd put the graphics card on the backburner, but obviously that isn't the case here.

Originally Posted by xilly FWIW, Acer is actually the "name brand". Acer is the parent company that owns Gateway and Emachine, as well as Packard Bell and E-TEN. I'm also really debating on buying that Acer you linked from Tigerdirect. I've had it on my bookmarks for a while now.

The 15 or 17" one?

I really do appreciate everyone's help. I tried asking specification questions to tech support for tigerdirect and their answers are the most expensive is always better.

I've actually been thinking about getting this one, which is in your budget range.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...?EdpNo=1306296

If anyone has any opinions on it, feel free to tell me.