Cheap Gaming Laptops

First, the good news. Yes, you can play games on your laptop! What was almost impossible just a couple of years ago has recently become a reality. Now the bad news. Getting a gaming laptop at a descent price is not that easy. However, cheap gaming laptops do exist.  Read on to find out more!

First a word about the producer’s sale policy for cheap laptops. Dell Inspiron 1100, Gateway 400SP Plus, Toshiba Satellite A15, Sony VAIO GRT CTO, IBM ThinkPad R40e Series, as well as others, represent the most common items available in retail shops or with online dealers. One common feature of the above mentioned cheap laptops is their 10/100 integrated Ethernet. Even the duration of battery power remains similar with values between one and three hours depending on the brand. Therefore it is normal that the products be included in different price categories. While the display is generally around 14-15 XGA TFT, the hard storage capacity does not go beyond thirty GB. One other feature shared by cheap laptops is the small size, as they only weigh eight pounds at the maximum. They all incorporate Intel Celeron processors performing from 1.7GHz to 2.2GHz, but if we were to judge by the slight differences among these cheap laptops, we could say that the price variations should be almost nil.

However, if you are looking for cheap gaming laptops that allow an enjoyable gaming experience, these features will not be enough. What you need is a solid dedicated graphics card capable of handling today’s processing power hungry games, and more RAM than the cheapest laptop models offer. The good news is that it is possible to find relatively cheap gaming laptops.  The two that offer considerable horsepower at a descent price are: iBuy Power Batallion 101 CZ-9 Ultra priced at around $1250, and the more powerful and considerably more expensive Gateway P-7808u FX which costs around $1800. Just in case,  if you are willing to spend a bit more than that, you could go for the Asus W90Vp-X1 which is priced at $2155.

Here are the specifications:

iBuy Power Batallion 101 CZ-9 Ultra: 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400; 4GB RAM; 250GB hard drive; DVD±RW drive; 15.4-inch display; Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT (512MB); 6.5 pounds; This laptop is powerful enough to play the newest games witjout lowering the resolution too much. The only not so cool thing about it is the relatively small display. For this price this is our top pick.

Gateway P-7808u FX: 2GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q9000; 4GB RAM; 500GB hard drive; DVD+/-RW; 17-inch display (1,440×900); Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS (1GB); 9.1 pounds; 1.75×15.5×11.5 inches (HWD); More powerful and more expensive, unfortunately. Still, the price isn’t that high for this kind of specification.

Asus W90Vp-X1: 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T960; 6GB RAM; Dual 320GB hard drives; DVD+/-RW; 18.4-inch display; Dual ATI Radeon HD4870 (Crossfire); 512MB; 11.5 pounds; 2.5×17.4×12.9 inches; Ok, this is one doesn’t really belong to the family of cheap gaming laptops. Thought you should know it exists, just in case…

If you find these prices still too high, there is another option. You don’t really need a brand new laptop, do you?

There are stores and online firms that deal in reconditioned used cheap laptops. For instance, if you perform a search for cheap refurbished laptops you are likely to find a comprehensive list of items in the refurbished category. I recommend you check out  USAnotebooks.com. They have hundreds of offers, and if you take a closer look you are definitely going to find a number of cheap gaming laptops. This is one of those stores that sell brand names collaborating closely with manufacturers, therefore, the  you have a guarantee that the product you buy complies with the technological standards of big names. With a little effort you are likely to find cheap gaming laptops that will be suitable for most of today’s games, and their cost will hopefully not ruin your budget. Have a look around the site to find more info on laptops and their manufacturers.