Gaming laptop

[esc_in_ks]

I'm looking for a laptop which can do some reasonable gaming (Star Craft 2 and Civ V are what I'm currently playing). I do quite a bit of travel and find myself wishing my current thin-and-light could play something enjoyable. I love the 10 hour battery life on my thin-and-light, but it's woefully underpowered.

For screen size, 14" - 15" size. No 1366x768 for me, I'd like something higher than that. Battery life is somewhat important, I'd like at least 3 hours. I generally prefer NVidia because I've historically had better luck using it on a 2nd partition with Linux. At least 500G of storage, perhaps even 750G. For RAM, 4G would be sufficient. I'm willing to pay extra for some decent build quality. $1,400 is my upper limit on what I'd like to spend. I'd like a decent keyboard; my previous laptop was a Lenovo T60p w/dedicated graphics which was great until my 3 year old decided to destroy it.

The Alienware m14x looks nice, but I figured there were deals to be had on other brands.

Ideas?

[xtalentx]

I think you can get most of what you are looking for in an HP envy. I think the 14" model only comes in 1366x768 though. Other than that though for just under 1400 you get a great machine.

[esc_in_ks]

Yeah, the HP Envy machines do look nice, but at only 1366x768 and with ATI graphics, I think I should look elsewhere. (I'm willing to try ATI again if I hear some strong evidence that the current X.Org works well with it on Linux.)

[xtalentx]

You could get a Sager NP5165 then. I have a 8170 and love the quality of it. I cannot imagine the other Sagers are not as well built.

[esc_in_ks]

The NP5165 looks like an excellent value. It appears that Sager only sells direct, is that right? It would be nice to get a hands on feel for it prior to an order, but the last three laptops I've bought I bought them sight unseen, so I've demonstrated the ability to take a plunge.

[ludi]

I cannot imagine the other Sagers are not as well built.

That would not be a good assumption. Last time I had close familiarity with Sager products -- admittedly, this was a few years ago -- they did not create original designs. Instead, they purchased reference designs from ODMs like Compal and Quanta, customized the peripheral hardware, and branded them. Nothing wrong with that, it's pretty much the only way a low-volume boutique vendor can operate. But every once in a while the reference design can be a stinker. A friend had one for about four years that ran too hot, and as a result it chewed through two or three optical drives and was about to kill the next one (out of warranty) when he finally upgraded. Sager authorized the warranty repairs with no further issues, but it was a bit of a hassle for him, since he was working through his Master's Degree studies at the time.

Or, shorter: check the reviews before purchasing, one model may be better than another.

[Synchromesh]

I cannot imagine the other Sagers are not as well built.

That would not be a good assumption. Last time I had close familiarity with Sager products -- admittedly, this was a few years ago -- they did not create original designs. Instead, they purchased reference designs from ODMs like Compal and Quanta, customized the peripheral hardware, and branded them. Nothing wrong with that, it's pretty much the only way a low-volume boutique vendor can operate.

I'm pretty sure all brands do this sort of thing. From what I recall there are 4-5 laptop manufacturers that basically build laptops for everybody. Rest is just customization and marketing.

[xtalentx]

The NP5165 looks like an excellent value. It appears that Sager only sells direct, is that right? It would be nice to get a hands on feel for it prior to an order, but the last three laptops I've bought I bought them sight unseen, so I've demonstrated the ability to take a plunge.

I bought my computer from xoticpc. They treated me well and sometimes have better warranties and freebies that others do not.

and yes do read the reviews on the specific model. I did a quick search and they seem to be favorable though.

[ludi]

I'm pretty sure all brands do this sort of thing. From what I recall there are 4-5 laptop manufacturers that basically build laptops for everybody. Rest is just customization and marketing.

Correct, and to name five of the major ODMs: Compal, Quanta, Clevo, Wistron (Acer spinoff), and Pegatron (Asus spinoff).

However, if you're Dell or HP, you're going to order enough volume that you can customize the entire design.

If you're Sager or OCZ or some other boutique vendor, you're reliant on the ODM's in-house designers for all of the critical design features including ones that may come back to bite you later (inadequate cooling, poorly designed hinges or display connector, that sort of thing).

[DeadOfKnight]

If you're thinking about the Sager NP5165 take a look at these reviews of AVADirect's Clevo P170HM, Eurocom Racer, and CyberPower X6-9300:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4197/avad ... force-485m
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4223/euro ... 970m-rocks
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4339/cybe ... ile-gaming

They are all manufactured by Clevo and they are very similar in design but have beefier internals and the pricetags to match.