ye. MSI laptops are my preference for sure. Decently durable too.
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My pick personally would be something like this. Spend the money left over to swap the 1TB HDD for something like an 860 evo 500GB
You could get a similar deal from ya boi @SoulFallen here for the same money.
Is there any option for some customization?
Its fairly easy to go into laptops and switch out hard drives? I do have a decent selection of small screw bits
Yeah we’ll swap parts if you want and give you a credit towards anything that comes out of the laptop since they come with stuff in them. We charge the same as retail for laptops for the sake of market share we make almost nothing on them lol tbh it’s the way to go cause we’ll test it and if it’s defective you don’t have to deal with it for no extra cost over getting it from newegg for example. only downfall is it might take a week or two longer.
Depends on the model. For the most part yes but there are some that require a full tear down. Almost anything in your budget range is easy to access drives but for MSI laptops the mobo has to be pulled to acess memory/m.2s in the ultra thin models which requires ribbon cables etc to be disconnected.
Definitely sounds like a good way to go. I don’t think I’m going to need it until January, so going to wait a little bit. Hopefully get a refresh or a good deal on an 10 series after the 20 comes out.
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Give our sales team a shout after 20 series laptops launch we may have something laying around in stockroom you could get a good discount. We often offload last gen laptops at cost if it’s a couple months into the new product cycle. Just bear in mind we don’t intentionally keep a stock of laptops.
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are there any laptops with an oled screen with decent gaming capabilities?
so, one thing i’m confused about is sometimes laptops offer specifications, but then when it comes to choosing a configuation, those specifications aren’t available.
so, like the ASUS VivoBook 15 X505ZA lists 4 options for CPUs, 2200U, 2300U, 2500U, and 2700U https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X505ZA/specifications/
but when i go where to buy, there is only 1 configuration available and it has the 2200U https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-VivoBook-15-X505ZA/wheretobuy/
is there a way to buy a different configuration?
Most likely through some other eTailer.
This is a pretty great deal for a laptop with a 15" screen, quadcore CPU, 16GB RAM, SSD, and a GTX1060 for $880 shipped. No 90Hz screen, but you weren’t going to get that anyway.
That 1060 will play pretty much every modern game at native 1080p at 60fps and high settings. Very few compromises, other than size, weight, and battery life of course.
After owning 2 MSI laptops I cannot reccomend em. Overall they are ok, but the build quality isn’t good, both my MSIs GS70 and GS63 broke the screen-chassis hinges.
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I was really impressed with my System76 Oryx Pro. It’s got a 144 Hz screen, but the 4K one looks amazing! It’s got storage for days and Pop_OS! has really gotten the switchable graphics to not suck.
Depends on your budget and requirements. I have ASUS Chromebook HP 15.6″ Laptop that is easy to carry around since I travel a lot as well. Here’s a buyers guide I found on google maybe it’ll help you as well? https://cartvela.com/best-gaming-laptop-under-500/
Careful with these, I have similar one and the hinges broke the screen frame. Seems a common problem. Google common problems with them or any laptop before buying.
@far-bound Did you fix yours or RMA? Mine was out of warranty, and used some metal infused automotive putty to fix it. A bit more careful with it now.
Dare I suggest a Surface book? Amazing keyboard, great screen (60Hz though) ssd as standard.
IMHO travel + gaming laptop don’t mix unless you’re planning to do it via a thunderbolt (or other proprietary external GPU) enclosure. Pack the enclosure in luggage, and the 13" in carry-on.
As someone who has traveled with 12", 13", 14" and 15" machines… 12-13" machines are SO much nicer to travel with; you can use them on aircraft tray tables, they are lighter to carry, power bricks are smaller, etc.
So that would be my pick. Find the one you like with a thunderbolt box in 13" for with a quad core in it.
But you do have an awkward set of requirements and it depends how much emphasis you want to put on the gaming bit and how much you want it to be portable. For the sorts of games you list in the OP i would steer clear of 15" machines every time unless you really want a big screen on the go. 13" for traveling is just so much better in so many ways (weight, size, battery life, heat on your lap, etc.) and will do the job.
But either way, eGPU set ups can be upgraded. Onboard GPU can not.
If you can wait a bit, it may be worth seeing what Ryzen + Vega laptops are available soon. Vega 8 or Vega 11 will be roughly equal to an RX560 which will run non AAA or older games just fine.
Intel iGPU will struggle a bit on anything newer than about 5 years old, but you CAN game on a 13" with iGPU in a pinch. I’ve done it with my 2015 macbook for example.
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Exactly what @thro said. In my house we have a surface book, Alienware 15 R2, Dell 7577, Dell 7567 and a couple of T420/430s.
The Lenovos and Surface Book are the ones to travel with, the foitprint and power bricks for the AAA capable Dells/Alienware make them portable, but not something to take on regular flights etc.
Edit, the Op is quite old now… I wonder if they found what they wanted?