A bit of background:
I'm a postdoc researcher working on OCT biomedical imaging in the UK and my primary hobby is gaming. I've got a decent PC, but these days I don't like shutting myself away in the spare room so I'm looking for a good laptop for gaming on the couch with my girlfriend in the living room. I've owned an Alienware in the past (m15X pre-Dell) and it was a disaster - the construction quality was so poor that after a month I bought a Macbook Pro and loved it.
My late 2008 MBP isn't really cutting it for work (and certainly not gaming) anymore so I'm looking to upgrade. After weeks of research it seems I keep arriving back at Alienware as we seem to get a slim range of brand choices in the UK. I'd like a little advice on the models though, as I keep going around in circles. Here are some of my main priorities:
1) Solid construction, excellent body quality - no creaking, squeaking, flexing
2) Great cooling - the laptop may often be used actually on my lap, I don't want my manly bits cooked!
2b) Also I don't like when heat bleeds through the keyboard
3) Good sound quality - the speakers on the m15x where hysterically bad, my 2007 Blackberry had better quality audio at louder volumes
4) Must be at least capable of playing most currently available games at max settings with a solid FPS (over 40) - not concerned about maxing shooters, as I have a PS4 for that kind of thing
4b) I plan to play some intensive games like WoW, DayZ and Star Citizen
Anything on top of these would be perks, e.g. upgradeability, portability, high-end performance. I didn't really want to spend a huge amount, so I was looking at around £1500 - this price is flexible if a good enough argument could be made.
I'm pretty sure I at least want:
> Intel i7
> 8 GB RAM (perhaps 16 for work)
> 1 TB HDD + (80+ GB) SSD - Can be a hybrid
> 1080p screen
> Video card with at least 2GB RAM
Any help you guys can offer would be much appreciated! I keep starting off with the Alienware 14 base model and slowly adding bits on till I get to 18, then looping back round!
I'm a postdoc researcher working on OCT biomedical imaging in the UK and my primary hobby is gaming. I've got a decent PC, but these days I don't like shutting myself away in the spare room so I'm looking for a good laptop for gaming on the couch with my girlfriend in the living room. I've owned an Alienware in the past (m15X pre-Dell) and it was a disaster - the construction quality was so poor that after a month I bought a Macbook Pro and loved it.
My late 2008 MBP isn't really cutting it for work (and certainly not gaming) anymore so I'm looking to upgrade. After weeks of research it seems I keep arriving back at Alienware as we seem to get a slim range of brand choices in the UK. I'd like a little advice on the models though, as I keep going around in circles. Here are some of my main priorities:
1) Solid construction, excellent body quality - no creaking, squeaking, flexing
2) Great cooling - the laptop may often be used actually on my lap, I don't want my manly bits cooked!
2b) Also I don't like when heat bleeds through the keyboard
3) Good sound quality - the speakers on the m15x where hysterically bad, my 2007 Blackberry had better quality audio at louder volumes
4) Must be at least capable of playing most currently available games at max settings with a solid FPS (over 40) - not concerned about maxing shooters, as I have a PS4 for that kind of thing
4b) I plan to play some intensive games like WoW, DayZ and Star Citizen
Anything on top of these would be perks, e.g. upgradeability, portability, high-end performance. I didn't really want to spend a huge amount, so I was looking at around £1500 - this price is flexible if a good enough argument could be made.
I'm pretty sure I at least want:
> Intel i7
> 8 GB RAM (perhaps 16 for work)
> 1 TB HDD + (80+ GB) SSD - Can be a hybrid
> 1080p screen
> Video card with at least 2GB RAM
Any help you guys can offer would be much appreciated! I keep starting off with the Alienware 14 base model and slowly adding bits on till I get to 18, then looping back round!