Buying a new laptop

[celedhring]

I'm looking to buy a new laptop later this year. Mine is not up to snuff to play stuff like Witcher 3, the new Batman game and all these next gen games. What kind of specs should I be looking at? I'd really rather not buy a gaming laptop, they look way too juvenile and I'm going to use this PC for work too. I don't care about running games at top specs, just being able to play them at an acceptable level.

For reference, my current system (about 30 months old):

i7-4700
8 Gb
Nvidia Geforce 740M
Windows 8.1

[katmai]

What kind of weirdo in our business doesn't have a macbook

[celedhring]

I know, I'm usually the only PC guy in any team I join 

In our industry, the hipster thing is using a PC.

[Grey Fox]

The hold up of your current laptop is the video card. Find a laptop with a 970m in an acceptale case.

[viper37]

External graphic card is the way to go, if you want to really be some kind of weirdo among your peers
http://hackaday.com/2015/03/26/a-laptop-with-an-external-graphics-card/

[celedhring]

Mmm... after a search I think I will postpone the purchase, there's nothing that's particularly impressed me during my search. Seems that if I want to play current-gen games on a laptop I have to put up with bulky "gaming laptops" with juvenile designs and noisy cooling systems.

If I were to purchase a rough equivalent of what I have now (a midrange graphics card of current technology) I would run current games at medium settings at 30 fps-ish (according to benchmark sites I've consulted). Which is acceptable, but it seems to me it would get outdated really quick.

I've read that nVidia are releasing a new GPU generation next year, but that's probably going to be a long wait.

[Berkut]

I am looking at getting a gaming laptop, since I am away from home a lot.

The HP Omen 15 seems pretty decent, but fucking HP.

[DontSayBanana]

Mmm... after a search I think I will postpone the purchase, there's nothing that's particularly impressed me during my search. Seems that if I want to play current-gen games on a laptop I have to put up with bulky "gaming laptops" with juvenile designs and noisy cooling systems.

If I were to purchase a rough equivalent of what I have now (a midrange graphics card of current technology) I would run current games at medium settings at 30 fps-ish (according to benchmark sites I've consulted). Which is acceptable, but it seems to me it would get outdated really quick.

I've read that nVidia are releasing a new GPU generation next year, but that's probably going to be a long wait.

New GPU family, and both AMD and nVidia are starting to take a serious look at the ability to hook a laptop to an external GPU to keep them competitive with desktop systems.

[viper37]

I am looking at getting a gaming laptop, since I am away from home a lot.

The HP Omen 15 seems pretty decent, but fucking HP.

Avoid HP at all costs.

I've had good luck with Acer in the past.
Look for a decent GPU and 8gb ram at least.  Intel is still the better CPU for gaming, and Nvidia vs AMD for GPU, it's up to you.

17" screen is nice to play, but it's also heavier to carry and unpractical if you want it on your knees, so it's a personal choice.  I've bought a 17" for my use and mostly for my step mother's use, but I kinda regret it.

There are these two here that don't seem so bad:
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=120441&vpn=NX.Q05AA.002&manufacture=Acer&promoid=1516
http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=120443&vpn=NX.Q03AA.001&manufacture=Acer&promoid=1516

[Berkut]

Not willing to spend that much, looking for something more in the $1200 or so range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152944

[Berkut]

Lenovo laptops? Anyone know anything about them?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8S13V68806

[Liep]

Lenovo laptops? Anyone know anything about them?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8S13V68806

My mom got a Lenovo laptop 2-3 years ago, it hasn't been particularly error prone and a right masterpiece compared to her last, a HP.

[Berkut]

I can get a work discount on Lenovo laptops, so I can get this:


Ideapad Y700 15" Laptop - Black

Part number: 80NV005FUS
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Quantity: 
  Item Price$1,008.06   

• 5.72 lbs( 2.6 kgs)

• Windows 10 Home 64

• No Optical Disk Drive

• ClickPad

• 1.72in( 43.66 mm)

• 4 Cell 60 Watt Hour Li-Polymer

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB

• Depot or Carry-in

• 6th Generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ Processor (2.60GHz 1600MHz 6MB)

• SODIMM

• 18.99in( 482.4 mm)

• 28.37in( 720.6 mm)

• 16.0GB PC4-17000 DDR4 2133 MHz

• HDMI2 USB 3.0,1 Always On USB 2.0,Audio jack(2 in 1),RJ-45,DC in,4-in-1 Media Card Reader (SD, MMC, SDHC, SDXC)

• Bluetooth Version 4.0

• Intel Wireless-AC 8260

• One year

• EN:English

• 1TB 5400 RPM+128GB SSD

for right at $1000 US, with free shipping to boot. That is with a 15.6" 1080 display. For another $150 I could get the 15.6" 4k display, but that seems unnecessary.

[viper37]

the video card is a little weak for gaming and you have no SSD.
Of course, the price is good for what you have, but it might be slow for some games.

[Berkut]

It does have an SSD, just not a very large one.

1TB HD + 128GB SSD

The GPU is decent, but not great. The 970M would certainly be better.