My laptop is 7 years old starting to show it's age. I'm worried it will die soon so I've been looking for a replacement, but DAMN are decent laptops expensive these days.
I would like something powerful enough to play stuff like Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3 and FF:7 Rebirth (And most importantly, Monster Hunter Wilds when it comes out) at a decent framerate. It also has to be a university laptop, so nothing covered in RGB lights that looks like an Alienware fucked a Cybertruck, please.
I don't want to spend a ton of money, but am I being unrealistic? I don't want to spend 5000 on a computer, that's ridiculous, my car cost less than that.
Yes it's a shitty car, that's not the point. Stop judging my poor ass.
gotta say, your commitment to the “living in australia” bit is legendary. why the fuck would you do that to yourself?
IKR everyone knows Australia doesn't exist, but it's great opsec
Does the laptop need to be what’s playing the games?
If you got a Chromebook for uni and an Xbox/PlayStation for gaming you’d be able to play all those games, have a shiny laptop for uni, and only be $1000 out of pocket.
Edit: I had a bit of a look around, JbHifi’s having a sale at the moment, you can get a new Chromebook for $250 and a new PlayStation for $570, or Big W sells a new XBox for $450.
It also helps to look at refurbished/used for Chromebooks. JB had the Mediatek Lenovo Ideapad Flex 3 I have listed for $550, I found one in practically new condition for $120 on eBay (these were about a year ago when I was shopping for a laptop, prices have probably changed now).
Have you considered a Steam Deck? Cheaper than a laptop and can play a good amount of modern games. You can get a dock for it to connect to a larger screen.
I was playing Miles Morales on it and it looked sounded and played great. Also did you know the processors are code named Arieth and Sephiroth?
I can play BG3 on it. It's functional. Looks....ok, but the fun with it is in the dialog. On PC you can mod the shit out of it too which you can then make everyone naked and big boned. 😉
But it you are looking to play on a laptop with all the bells ans whistles expect to be spending over $2,000 at least..and at that point you might as well get a full blown desktop.
worth noting that steam decks are still not 'officially' available in australia
Uncommon GabeN L
My Aussie comrades deserve a cool portable too!
Will a Steam Decks play my GoG games and emulators though? I dunno, they're still pretty expensive in Australia and I'll be needing a laptop for work/uni anyway.
I hear good things about them though... Hard choice for sure
Yes and emudeck will set all your emulators up for you and you only have to drop the roms and bioses in their respective folders
/SNES /GBA /PSP etc.
It handles all the controller bindings and adds all your roms directly to your steam library complete with cover art and organized by console into folders.
It's a pretty capable PC for the price too.
You are tempting me for sure. I hope they become more available in Aus in the future
I hope so too! Hey do you get chinese computers for cheap over there? Here in the states we can't buy xaiomi or Huawei products anymore and there are a few nice looking ones.
Emulators yes. They have a Linux desktop underneath it. I'm sure you can play the GOG games but it might take a bit of playing with. Steam runs the games through a compatability layer called Proton.
Those games are gonna be pretty demanding for the 500 price range I can't think of a device that will play them reliably that doesn't have a decent discrete gpu that will almost always be over 1000.
You'd actually have a better chance buying a second hand ps5/xbox or series s and used ThinkPad.
Infact a series s and second hand thinkpad combo might honestly be the best bang for buck you can get. The thinkpad can easily do emu for most games up to gamecube at least and the console for high end stuff. Well other than final fantasy cos thats ps exclusive atm.
There are second hand ryzen thinkpads you can get with somewhat decent GPUs but i wouldn't recommend it for recent high end titles. Also thinkpad screens look like poo you wanna go for the ones with at least a fhd IPS display.
Also engaging with the second hand market has inherent risks associated with it.
If you want a more detailed recommendation list let me know
You will get a lot more for your money if you buy refurbished. Get a device that's like 2 years old and is used or refurbished. There are websites for buying and selling refurbished electronics.
Buy a framework laptop. The earlier gen models are <1000 and you can always upgrade in the future. Their intel core ultra laptops can solidly play baldurs gate III and their AMD models as well.
I'm looking at getting a refurbished laptop (basically show models/re-issued corporate laptops). My colleague recommended reboot-it dot com dot au. I think they're nation wide?
Edit: hm seems they're out of gaming laptops, but a couple other refurb sites do (pretty pricey) even if they're not 'new'
do not get one from grays.com.au under any circumstances. Ive made that mistake twice now.
Keep an eye on Ozbargain because refurbished laptops come up pretty frequently.
Desktops are always going to be better bang for buck.
They are far easier to repair or replace parts with if something craps out, and you'll get more value for money and future-proofing with a PC. If you have the desk space, I'd recommend opting for a desktop gaming PC hands down.
With that and a stable network connection you'll be able to stream to a laptop that is lower specced. Or you can stream high-end games to a handheld unit like a Steam Deck.
Unless you're moving house a lot or you don't have permanent desk space, imo the best option is to invest in a desktop PC and then get a lightweight laptop, maybe a Chromebook or similar that offers you basic functionality with good battery life (maybe running Linux if you are so inclined) either one that has specs to handle Steam Link, if you want the flexibility that gaming using a laptop offers, or whatever covers your basic portable computing needs. Then get a Steam Deck or ROG Ally or similar if you really want go all-in on portable gaming (especially if you wait a while for the Steam Deck 2 release which should cause the price of the original to drop.)
Overall that would be a lot of money to drop on IT gear but you don't have to do it all at once and for the price of a good gaming laptop you could get a decent gaming PC and a cheaper laptop that will be better all-round.
looks like an Alienware fucked a Cybertruck
😑 my computer is in this picture and I don't like it
Wow I'm excited dirtowl is getting a new gaming system
I'm in the same boat. This beast is now 10 years old and despite getting a 64gb ram upgrade it seems I have to get a whole new motherboard and everything now to keep up.
Still runs RDR2 on pretty damn good settings but intensively modded multiplayer servers are just a no go. Also can't play the new Armored Core which is my main motivation.
Have a look at Infinity branded laptops. They're an Aussie rebrand of a Chinese OEM. Decent spec gaming laptops in the 1-3k range, subtle (IMO) design with the only RGB being in the keyboard. Intel or AMD, shipping with 40xx GPUs now. I got one from mwave about four years back and don't regret it.
I would suggest going to a store and trying out the demo model laptops IRL before buying. You can physically see things like weight, build quality, whether the screen is too reflective, whether the whole thing flexes, and get hands on experience of how fast it can run a web browser.
