Laptop for SC2 LAN?

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PsichoDM

Limp Gawd
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Feb 24, 2006
Messages
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I've been out of the gaming laptop purchasing business for a long time and don't really have a good understanding of what models are out there these days, but I've been looking for a laptop that could be used to play at SC2 LAN parties.

It should have strong performance of course, as low FPS are just not fun to deal with, so I was probably thinking of 15" as the increase in resolution tends to be handled very poorly speed-wise by laptops.

Budget wise, something under 1500 would be ideal, but I don't know how many options that leaves.

Thanks!
 
Many laptops should be able to run SC2 at very good settings with that price ceiling. You might be better off first going to where you might purchase it to see if they have any deals or specials first.

Look for something with at least an i5, mobility 5750, and 4gb of ram though (or equivalents). Though a bare minimum could be even lower then those if you really wanted to cut spending.
 
Under 1500? Asus G73 1299.99 + tax

i7-720q
5870m
6gigs DDR3
17in

It will handle SC2 without any problems. My friend has the slightly more upgraded version and it works better than his rig (e8400 and 8800GT SLI).
 
My Acer 5740g runs everything on High at the 15" monitor's native rez 1366x768.

I5 @ 2.4
4gigs ram
ATI5650 mobility

I paid 750 on newegg.

If all you want to do is play SC2, I'd say anything higher than that is a waste unless you really want a higher resolution (which doesn't mean anything in SC2 since you're FOV limited anyway )
 
Have you considered building an ITX rig? That with a 19" monitor wouldn't be too hard to haul around and a much better price/performance ratio. Unless of course you don't have a laptop now, want one, and don't mind hauling around a 15"+ monster when using it for non LAN stuff.

Riddleofsteel said:
Pretty sure there's no LAN mode for SC2.
Click to expand...

You can still play the game online at a LAN party...
 
[L]imey;1036096186 said:
My Acer 5740g runs everything on High at the 15" monitor's native rez 1366x768.

I5 @ 2.4
4gigs ram
ATI5650 mobility

I paid 750 on newegg.

If all you want to do is play SC2, I'd say anything higher than that is a waste unless you really want a higher resolution (which doesn't mean anything in SC2 since you're FOV limited anyway )
Click to expand...

second to this, I have the same laptop and it runs perfectly smooth :D

heck even OC is a best...
 
If you don't care at all about aesthetics or "fancy" features and just want raw power, I suggest a Sager or other Clevo rebrands. XoticPC is a good place to find them. They're big, heavy, plastic etc... but damn are they powerful. One of their 15" models with a Core i5, i7 dual, or i7 Quad and an ATI 5000 series or Nvidia GTX 300 or 400 would probably be just fine.

If you want a little more finesse and portability but still a ton of power, I suggest the Asus G73 as listed above OR if you can wait a little while, the G53. The G53 is a total redesign of the G51 (I suggest not buying any G51s/52s at current.) with a "stealth bomber" design like the G73, but in 15". I HIGHLY suggest buying the G53 or G73 from XoticPC, GenTechPC or other specialty seller, NOT BestBuy or Newegg. The bestbuy and newegg versions are typically gimped with less features, sometimes in important but subtle ways like crappier screens, no bluetooth. As a rule for Asus laptops the "Good versions" have a suffix like "-A1, -A2", where crappier versions have something else -also be aware of small differences between A1s and A2s, which can be something like BluRay drives or not. For instance, the G73jh-RX05 from BestBuy linked above has a 1600x900 17" screen where the A1 has 1920x1080 (and some other changes) - http://www.xoticpc.com/asus-g73jha1-stock-p-2731.html

If you are interested in something stylish and thin in addition to having enough power, I suggest the HP Envy. I have a HP Envy14, which is THE smallest Core i7 Quad Core laptop in existence to date. Its a full metal chassis, backlit keyboard, and has a multi-touch Synaptics touchpad. It also have one of the greatest displays in the industry (Only matched in color and brightness by Sony Z and F, and a tiny selection of other laptops) and its 14", at 1600x900 (HP calls it - Radiance Infinity. There is also a cheaper more standard brightness and color gamut screen at 1366x768 offered). Audio is great, and the graphics card is a 5650 1gb, which overclocks very well and plays SC2 on ultra. Starting price is around $1000 and you can build a nice little machine for $1500, however it may be hard to get a Quad Core for that price along with a Radiance Infinity screen. The default is a dual Core i3, but for not much more you can get a Core i5 dual core as well - the i7s are Quads and go all the way up to the Core i7 840QM, which is what is in mine. To save cash, get the 4gb 1 DIMM option for about $25 more than the default 2 DIMM option - that way when you have the money you can install your own 4gb stick for MUCH cheaper - that's what I did. Dual Core i3s/5s/7s all run on DDR3 1066, but Quads run 1333 so if you plan to buy your own stick, buy accordingly

The HP Envy15 is a little "older" in design than the 17 and 14 - has no optical drive, no backlit keys etc... but it does come with a 5830 and an option for a 1920x1080 display - though its not nearly as quality as the Radiance Infinity, its still better than most laptop displays. I'd pass this one over, really., especially as only dual core options are available for the CPU.

If you'll take something a little larger, the HP Envy17 is great. It comes with a Core i7 Quad by default and an ATI 5850 1gb and the 1920x1080 display is "BrightView Infinity" which is not quite as good as the Radiance Infinity that the 14" uses, but is still a cut above most notebooks. You can build a pretty good one for 1500.

If you decide on an Envy14 or 17 and can afford it, I suggest buying the "extended battery". Its unlike any other offering at all, and if you google "HP Envy Slice Battery" you'll see what I mean - it doesn't require taking your old battery out and its basically a wide, flat battery that is hte same size as your laptop that basically connects through the bottom of it. The 15's design was a bit crappy, but the problems of it sitting nicely and securely are fixed on the 14 I can confirm, and the 17 from what I hear.


So really, it up to you and what you find important. I should say however, that SC2 thanks to Activision has no "true" LAN feature - you still need an internet connection for it, unless you're using a crack.
 
I did in fact really like the looks of the G73, the various models out there were quite confusing though, so thanks for shedding some light on that matter.

I'm goign to look into the G53, I usually favor smaller resolutions simply because they are a lot faster than the huge widescreen ones that take quite a toll on mobile cards.
 
While SC2 does require an internet connection the traffic between players still flows through the shortest path. This means that while each system must be logged into Blizzards network the game traffic is kept within the LAN.

I have played several games with other players here in Iraq and our laggy satellite connection works fine for maintaining our connection to Blizzard while our fast LAN supports the game play.

My old Dell laptop in my signature plays SC2, although at a medium setting. I hope to upgrade by the end of the year.
 
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