Recommendation for a small Gaming Laptop

[ijor]

Hi,

 

I am searching for a small size, 13'' screen size, gaming laptop. And I don't seem to find much choices. I know that a bigger one, 15", or even desktop is a much better deal. But I don't have the space. If I could find a 14" one I might get it. But there is such a thing?

 

It is for a teenager. It doesn't have to be strictly a gamer powerhouse. Just a powerful laptop in terms of CPU, RAM and graphics.

 

The only ones I can find, at least at a reasonable price are a couple of Alienware models and the new Asus Zenbook UX303UB. The latter is not specified as a gamer laptop, but the specs for the price are awesome, and it does include a discrete NVIDIA graphic card.

 

So far I like the Asus a lot. Perhaps it offer too much in some aspects (I don't need QHD, neither 12GB RAM). But currently that's the only configuration available with discrete graphics.

 

And thoughts, recommendations?

 

Thanks,

 

[cimerians]

The Dell 13" educational series is pretty good:

 

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/latitude-3340-laptop/pd

 

It has good specs and is built pretty nice for students who travel or tend to bang around laptops. I buy a few of these for the mechanics at my work.

[Reaperman]

The discrete nvidia chipset in the zenbook is a 940m. It's honestly not great performance at that price. I threw away a better desktop card a few months ago.

 

It seems your screen size choice is seriously limiting game performance, and is fully doubling the price--because I'll be darned if I could find anything better.

 

If anybody else goes searching, could you keep an eye out for a decently performing netbook. I run REAL old games, but my current amd c-50 is starting to fall behind in daily browsing as chrome's bloat has been increasing over the years. 1280x720 resolution is preferred, but that doesn't seem to be much of an option any more.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Reaperman

[Flojomojo]

I like this for your kind of question: https://www.reddit.com/r/suggestalaptop

but I think Reaper is right, it's hard to find something small and light that has a discrete GPU.

 

For the price of a "gamer laptop," you could buy a nice desktop PC, hook it up to the family TV, and get a Chromebook for the road. That way, the PC would be upgradeable, and the laptop disposable, which I think would be a nice economical solution.

[leods]

I am totally with Floomojo. And that's from experience. A simple netbook (doesn't need to be a chromebook, for 300 bucks you still get a decent notebook running full windows 10) and for playing an entry level PC is just a better deal. The setup will be cheaper, more portable and more powerful.

[ijor]

Thank you guys. Yes, I as said, I'm well aware that a bigger laptop, or even a desktop is much better for gaming. But unfortunately I can't. I am taking this laptop overseas. The max size I could take is a 14" laptop, and certainly not a desktop. It is not much about weight, but about size.

But seeing that a 13" gaming laptop is really not avail, I "upgraded" my search for a 14" one. Seem that most brands abandoned that size, but I still could find a few:

Lenovo Ideapad Y700 (14") : They have a model with discount at $700. Great value. But the graphic card is a Radeon R9 M375, which again, I understand is not a great perform for gaming.

Msi GS40 phantom: Very powerful laptop with a GTX 970M. But a bit out of my budget. If I could find some good online offer, or a not so expensive configuration ...

GIGABYTE P34: Similar to the above MSI GS40, also with a GTX 970M. But a bit cheaper, and available in more configurations. So the final price is considerable lower.

Btw, NewEgg have some atractive discounts on these two models for "Open Box" units. Anybody buyed Open Box laptops from NewEgg? What exactly means Open Box? It means it was in display, or somebody bought it and returned, or what?

 

Thanks again.

[Punisher5.0]

Get this: http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-13-r2/dkcwe01sddr

 

The 960 sounds like what you are looking for in that kind of price range

[MotoRacer]

I also concur with the desktop and chrome book route. The chrome book has been the first laptop I feel is actually convenient (and produces NO heat and is light. Our Asus one is superb quality), while the desktop can play in the tv and monitor for gaming.