Gaming Laptop help

[Dahkness]

I did it! I have saved enough to get a gaming laptop! But I need your help heroes! 

I have been mislead so many times into buy electronics when I do go to Best Buy or places of the sort. I try to better myself as often as I can to learn about what I am buying.
I come here to ask for recommendations for a school/gaming laptop I have a limit of 1500/2000. I am trying to stay away from Apple computers. I am currently running on a 2010 MacBook. And it is not fun ha.

Thank you for taking your time and reading this <3. I LOOK forward to what you have to show me.

[Ura Hero]

I have this one and it works well:

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1561080-REG/asus_tuf506ii_bs74_ryzen_7_4800h_8gb.html?SID=trd-9269095335273486000

 

If this had been available when I purchased, I probably would have went with it due to the better specs for not a lot more money:

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1650-512gb-ssd-eclipse-gray/6403425.p?acampID=633495&cmp=RMX&loc=2Y00-IWnKxyOUEo0MKVSfWfHUkiy7nXpQ33u2Q0&ref=198&refdomain=techradar.com&skuId=6403425

[ShardWarrior]

Whatever you do, steer very, very, very clear of Dell.  I am having nothing but headaches with their customer service.

 

I bought an Alienware M17 back in 2017.  I had purchased the extended Premium Support package with it which expires end of March of next year.

 

Toward the end of April, several of the keys on the keyboard were coming loose and sticking and the machine was running hot.  Dell tech support ran some remote tests and determined the unit was running hot and sent me a box to send it to their repair facility.  They wound up replacing all fans, motherboard and heat sync along with the keyboard.  I get it back a few days later and several keys still sticking and still running very hot.  Dell tech support recommends sending it back again, so I did.  They replaced the motherboard, heat sync and fans again along with a new keyboard.  I get it back and the bezel on the display is warped.  I call them and they ask me to send it back again.  I do and when I get it back, bezel is still warped.  This time, they send a technician to the house to repair.  On site technician could not fix it, so I send it back again to Dell service center.  I get it back and bezel is fine, except now when playing games, the laptop freezes up.  Call Dell Tech Support and they say the CPU is not good. At this point, I told them I want the unit replaced.  They say no problem.

 

Now, let me tell you what they consider "replace".  They are at this moment sourcing old parts they are hoping to find in order to build an exact duplicate of my laptop, which according to them can take several weeks and then additional time for the "factory" to build it.  I told them I do not want a refurbished machine since the refurb parts they used all failed.  They still make the M17 except in a different chassis with a slightly better processor and according to the first support tech I spoke to, if they cannot fix it they will replace the computer with a new one if you have Premium Support.  I asked for my replacement request to get escalated to someone whom I can speak to instead of emailing back and forth.  I have yet to get a response. 

 

Based on this, I strongly encourage you to stay as far away from Dell as humanly possible.  Their support is utterly atrocious and they want to sell you refurbished garbage.  Do not buy from them.

[WanderingAries]

On ‎6‎/‎27‎/‎2020 at 11:56 AM, Hops said:

I did it! I have saved enough to get a gaming laptop! But I need your help heroes! 

I have been mislead so many times into buy electronics when I do go to Best Buy or places of the sort. I try to better myself as often as I can to learn about what I am buying.
I come here to ask for recommendations for a school/gaming laptop I have a limit of 1500/2000. I am trying to stay away from Apple computers. I am currently running on a 2010 MacBook. And it is not fun ha.

Thank you for taking your time and reading this <3. I LOOK forward to what you have to show me.

No link off-hand, but there's a laptop thread like this that went pretty in-depth. Think it was created by a mod.

[Oubliette_Red]

I've blown up 2 HP laptops just from playing CoH. This was during Legacy, so I suppose it's possible HP has changed their layout since then though I wouldn't hold my breath. Back then, the CPU and GPU shared the same fan and cooling channel, with no additional copper or aluminum heatsinks. Very poor design as the CPU/GPU combination (and lack of sufficient cooling) would generate enough heat that it would eventually de-solder the GPU from the MB causing all sorts of failures.

 

I've had 2 Acer Predators since then (first one was stolen) and I've never had an issue with them at all. Both are tanks in weight and size, 17" monitor and 9+ pounds with a brick for a power supply. A suitable bag was a pain to find. 🙂  

 

They have a couple of models that are in or close to your price range, here's the larger of the two:

https://store.acer.com/en-us/predator/laptops/predator-triton-500-gaming-laptop-pt515-52-71k5

[WanderingAries]

On ‎8‎/‎6‎/‎2020 at 2:59 AM, Oubliette_Red said:

I've blown up 2 HP laptops just from playing CoH.

So it wasn't just me? :O :p  They played very well though. Maybe something with more power than what I tried getting away with back then.