Gaming laptops are a serious investment compared to a console or even a decent desktop computer, although there are advantages to a gaming rig you can pick up and take on the move.
While many purists will attest to the power and adaptability of a gaming desktop PC, if you need a piece of kit that you can take to a friend’s house or university then you may want to look for a laptop instead.
Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop
Lots of laptop companies claim that their systems are great deals, but Acer is actually putting its money where its mouth is — and with a gaming laptop, no less. The Acer Predator Helios 300 ($1,099.99 to start) offers a powerful, VR-ready Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU for a lower price than competitors and runs circles around the GTX 1050 Ti cards that competing laptops use at that price. It’s upgradable, should you want to spend more to improve it later, but the display is dimmer than I’d like. But if you don’t mind that, you’ll get a powerful gaming notebook for a steal.
[table id=2 /]Asus ROG GL553VE-FY168T Gaming Laptop
It’s not easy buying a gaming laptop. While specifications are important, thermal management is far more important and it’s almost impossible to measure that without thorough testing. It’s also difficult to draw the line when it comes to horsepower.
So how does one balance the aspects of price, performance and portability?
Asus appears to have the perfect answer to such questions, and it’s called the ROG Strix GL553VE FY127T.
[table id=4 /]Lenovo Legion Y520 Gaming Laptop
The Legion Y520 isn’t Lenovo’s first gaming laptop, but it marks a fresh start for the company in that market. The Y520 is the inaugural member of the new Legion series, and it makes a strong first impression. The laptop’s sleek, tapered look and the strong performance of its Intel Core i7 CPU and Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti GPU make it easy to recommend this machine to gamers on a budget. However, users will have to overcome some annoyances, including a dull screen and a poorly designed touchpad.
HP OMEN 15-ax252TX Gaming Laptop
With budget gaming laptops, you get what you pay for. The HP Omen 15t ($849 as tested) is a capable machine that can play the latest games at 1080p, and you get this solid performance in a sleek and portable design. But you know HP had to make some sacrifices to reach this price, and those include a dim display and shallow keyboard. The Omen 15t is a solid choice for entry-level gamers.
[table id=5 /]Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-51) Gaming Laptop
The Nitro 5 is Acer’s new multimedia/budget gaming notebook in the sub $1000 category. It’s a pretty good laptop with few flaws. The exterior design is what mostly sets these apart though: the VX15 gets aggressive gaming inspired lines, the Aspire 7 is simple and sober, while the Nitro 5 fits somewhere in between, with mostly black lines, but also a dark-red strip and red backlit keys to suggest the powerful hardware inside. There are however a few other minor differences between the three, as they get different keyboards and panels, among others.
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