Laptops Arena

Choosing a laptop can be quite a difficult task since most people have no clue what their laptops should have inside (in terms of components). Choosing a laptop actually depends on what you are going to sue it for because if you plan on powering a notebook just to check your e-mail, listen to music and surf the internet, then a cheap budget laptop with basic components should about do the trick.
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When it comes to gaming passionate, choosing the right laptop is even a more difficult task because if you want your notebook to run top of the line games at good frame rates and excellent graphics, you are going to need a unit with as much RAM as you can possibly get, preferably one of the newest processors on the market and a very good graphics card that provides you with dedicated video memory. Choosing a laptop which is cheap is simple and fast. Choosing a gaming laptop can be quite tricky when you remember all the factors that you must take into consideration.

We are used to seeing most gaming laptop manufactured by well known brands like Dell, Toshiba and even Asus. This is why today we are going to make an exception and we are not going to talk about any of these products. We are going to present a gaming laptop called MALIBAL VEDA or the Clevo X8100, to be more precise. This laptop is powered by a 2.0 GHz Intel Core i7-920XM Extreme Edition processor and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM. The combination between these 2 is going to provide excellent gaming speed, not to mention the ability of performing different computer tasks at an excellent speed. The total amount of storage space of this hard drive is 80 GB and it is composed of 2 x Intel X25-M G2 SSDs in RAID 0. As for the video performance, you will be happy to hear that this laptop comes with 2 x nVidia GeForce GTX 285M card with 1 GB of DDR3 video memory.



The Clevo X8100 comes with a superb 18.4 inch display, the size of the display, combined with the 17.28 x 11.77 x 1.73 inches in dimension and the 12.34 lbs in weight indicate that this laptop is definitely a desktop replacement as no one would ever want to carry around all the weight. The beautiful display comes at a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. We have always been happy upon discovering units that come one Blu-ray drive. But what do you do when your laptop has… 2 Blu-ray drives?! Well, things must have their purpose. The operating system that comes with this unit is the 64 bit version of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system. The starting price of this laptop is $2379 but the actual price of the configuration in the review was $4069. All that plus a 3 year labor and 1 year parts warranty periods should about cover the money that you pay for this gaming laptop which is bound to provide you with great game play experience.

Opinions as to which is the top gaming laptop are divided as the number of gaming dedicated units is in constant expansion. If you asked us a couple of months ago which we thought the top gaming laptop was, we would answer without thinking it over: the Alienware m17x. However, we have recently come across the Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh which is one unit with quite an impressive collection of components hidden inside the chassis. Let us see if the Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh can win the top gaming laptop title from the Alienware m17x.<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->
The Asus G73Jh is a 17.3 inches laptop that comes in a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Quite impressive, if only the Alienware didn’t come with a screen similar in size but with a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. And we all know how important the display is on a gaming laptop! How else are you going to spot and enjoy all the spicy and bloody details of a shooter? The processor that comes with the Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh (I love this name; it sounds so fancy, doesn’t it?) is a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i7 720 QM while the Alienware comes with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300. The Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh comes with the 64 bit version of the Windows 7 Home Premium while the Alienware uses the 64 bit version of the Windows Vista Home Premium operating system which means that running Windows 7 is going to require an extra purchase for the operating system license.

Both of these units come with 8 GB of RAM and considering each of the 2 processors, I doubt that multitasking is ever going to be a problem on these laptops. When it comes to the optical drive included Alienware wins because it comes with a Blu-ray optical drive while the Asus uses a simple DVD burner which is common and we have grown bored of it. Blu-ray players are much more fun, especially when you have a 17 inch laptop to enjoy HD movies on. Both of these laptops have a total storage capacity of 1 TB which is the best that a gaming laptop can do at this time. And now it is time to see just what kind of graphics card you should expect to find on the top gaming laptop. The Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh comes with the ATI Mobility Radon HD 5870 graphics card which uses 1 GB of video memory while the Alienware uses 2 nVidia GeForce  GTX 280M graphic card that also have 1 GB of video memory.



Back in 2009, the price for the Alienware m17x $4650 for a unit just like the one configured here, even if the starting price is $1800. In March of this year, the Asus with the same configuration as the one above cost $1600. By a simple process of eliminations considering that out of 2 similarly configured laptops, one is triple the price of the other, I am proud to announce that the top gaming laptop is the Asus Republic of Gamers G73Jh.

I remember there were times when buying a gaming laptop meant you had to save and spend a lot of money. Fortunately, this has changed and gaming laptops, even if they still are the most expensive kind of notebook have dropped considerably as far as price goes.<-300x250 Medium Rectangle - center->The Toshiba Qosmio X505 is a good example of a gaming laptop which has become more affordable. The unit reviewed here came at a price of $1900 which is not that bad considering that you can buy gaming laptops for even $4000. The unit reviewed here came with a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i7 720QM processor and 6 GB of DDR3 RAM. Along with the 500 GB Hitachi hard drive you also get a 64 GB solid state drive by Toshiba.

The graphics card is the nVidia GTS 360M with 1 GB of video memory. The unit comes with the 64 bit version of the Windows 7 Home Premium preinstalled and a Blu-ray optical drive integrated as well. The dimensions of this laptop are 17.4 x 11.6 x 1.63 inches and the total weight of the unit including the power adapter is 12.5 pounds. As you can see, this laptop also makes a great desktop replacement.



One of the most important aspect and key points of the Toshiba Qosmio X505 has to be the 18.4 inch display. It offers some on the most beautiful images ever seen on a desktop replacement since colors are extremely sharp and vivid; you think the image is simply going to pop up out of the screen. The display comes with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It may not face the challenge of being used outdoors, but inside this screen is simply amazing. The horizontal viewing angles are great and the level of brightness and contrast are perfect.  The Harman/Kardon speakers of this gaming laptop are simply some of the best and unless you want the whole family to hear the gun shots from the next room, you will not need any external speakers. The backlit keyboard offers just the right amount of feedback and they are simply a pleasure to use even if they are covered in a glossy surface.



The touchpad deserved its own round of applause. The touchpad surface felt very pleasant to the fingertips but the left and right mouse buttons require quite a lot of pressure so you can actually press them. On a gaming laptop, nothing will ever beat an external mouse. I doubt it you will have anything to complain about as far as the selection of ports and connections goes. The unit is host to 4 USB ports, one HDMI out, a FireWire port, an Express Card slot, the Ethernet port, a VGA out, an SD card slot, a security lock slot and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. If battery life is something you find important (even if I doubt that it is important on a 12.5 pound unit), know that the laptop will not manage to say on for more than 1 hour and 35 minutes on a full charge.

I’m sure that most of you have gotten used to the idea that if you want to buy a gaming laptop, you have to spend a small fortune on one. Well, that is mostly the case with the super expensive units like Alienware or Toshiba Qosmio models. But if you are looking for a gaming laptop which is a bit cheaper and a bit more modest, we have got one example of what could be a great deal for you.

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We are here to present the AVADirect Clevo M770CUH which is a gaming laptop that can be purchased for the price of $1260 if you choose the same configuration as the one we are about to present. The starting price of the unit however, is $1090. The unit reviewed was powered by a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5-540m processor and 4 GB of DDR3 – quite a powerful combination that will allow not only gaming, but also multitasking at an excellent speed and without slowing down the total performance of your system.

The graphics card is the ATI Mobility Radeon 4570 with 512 MB of video memory. The total storage capacity of the hard drive is 500 GB which should be more than enough for all kinds of files storage. The unit comes with the 64 bit version of the Windows 7 Home Premium operating system preinstalled.



When you first open the lid, a beautiful 17 inch display will be revealed. The screen comes in a native resolution of 1440 x 900 pixels and it is simply amazing. Even if it is not the best display you have seen on a 17 inch gaming laptop, is it still one of high quality considering the low price of this gaming laptop. The viewing angles great so even if you plan on using this unit for movie watching with a couple of friends, you will have full support as far as the display is concerned. The speakers are located on the front side of the laptop which actually means they are on the bottom of the unit. This means that the sound will not projected up and towards the user and this leads to muffled sound. A pair of external speakers is the best solution to the problem.



The keyboard is really good looking since it is entirely white and very pleasant to the touch. Too bad that if you have dirty fingers, you will get a dirty keyboard. The keys are very responsive so typing will prove to be an excellent experience. The touchpad works great but you can’t actually use a touchpad on a gaming laptop as an external mouse will always offer better accuracy. The selection of ports and connections is very important on a gaming laptop, so let us see what the AVADirect Clevo M770CUH can offer. The unit is host to 3 USB ports, one VGA out, a HDMI port, an express card slot, an SDHC card reader, the Ethernet port, a Kensington lock slot and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. Battery life is generally not important on a 17 inch unit which was never meant to leave you desk. With the display brightness set to 70%, the wireless card activated and the Windows 7 power management profile

It is difficult to say which the best laptops are as it really depends on what every person is looking to use a unit for. I like to divide laptops into 3 main categories: the gaming laptop, the multimedia laptops and the average laptops, the one for regular use.

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When you are looking for a gaming unit, it is without a doubt that the most respectable gaming laptop brand is Alienware. Alienware laptops are not only great and powerful, but they are also quite expensive, as some of the models can reach prices of $4000 depending on how you configure them. The most popular laptop models made by Alienware are the 11x, the 15x, the 17x and the M9750. These unit comes with top of the line processor, sometimes even with 2 graphics cards that can support even 1 GB of video memory. In general, Alienware laptops can provide even 500 GB of free storage space which should be more than enough to store all your favorite games. These gaming laptops have excellent speed and multitasking possibilities so they can handle pretty much any application at incredible time performance. Too bad that gaming units generally come at expensive prices but you could also find gaming laptops which are pretty affordable.

The second category is represented by a saturated market because it is very difficult to say who makes the best laptops when it comes to the multimedia segment. One of the popular series of multimedia laptops is the HP Pavilion. Pavilion laptops are very famous because they come in a wide range of products, from 12 inch models and even up to 17 inch desktop replacements, Pavilion laptops have models that have been sold all over the world. Another very famous multimedia notebook series is the Sony VAIO. The Sony VAIO laptops are very popular amongst different users. They come with the chiclet style keyboard which everyone believes it is an Apple invention for the Mac but it was actually invented by Sony. Sony VAIO laptops were also the first ones that came with the Blu-ray optical drive. In case you are wondering what is so special about this drive, you should know that it allows you to watch full HD movies on your laptop. In combination with a HDMI port, you could attach an external HD TV and really benefit from an excellent movie watching experience.



If you are looking for a laptop from the regular category, we could recommend some regular laptops which offered nothing spectacular in terms of design or performance, but they were best selling models because people all around the world appreciated other aspect like the built in quality of the unit. Some very famous laptop models that were best sellers are the Dell Inspiron 15 or the Acer Machines laptops. They may not come with the most spectacular components and specs but they are laptops that come with decent battery life and they have proven themselves trustworthy. Another series worth taking into consideration from this category could be the Toshiba Satellite.