Picking a Laptop, what should I choose?

So tomorrow I have to go to Micro Center and pick out a laptop at the $1200-$1600 mark. I am torn between these two.

Dell Xps 15 (9560)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/474706/XPS_15_156_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Silver
Alienware 15 R3
http://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntt=Alienware+15

Although I can build a more powerful desktop for the money, I need a laptop for the activities that I do. I play older first person shooters like Half Life 1 and 2, Postal 2, and obviously BeamNG. (I plan on playing games at 1920x1080)

 

I've owned a couple of mid spec Dell laptops in the past 4 years, the build quality has been abysmal on all of them. Alienware's stuff are just expensive Dells, so...

Asus build quality from my experience is superb. For your price range you can get a good Asus or MSI

If you're only interested in performance for older games, you might try looking into an older refurbished laptop instead. Could save a LOT of money that way.

 

I don't know much about Microcenter, I would usually tell people to stay away from physical stores and do your own research. However, I can tell you about mine that I bought online a few years ago. It's been a great laptop so far.
Mine is a few years old now, but so far it has been able to play BeamNG, Mad Max, and other demanding games astoundingly well. I get a solid 50-60 on most maps with 1 car and 45-55 with two.
My laptop is an ASUS RoG G751jl-ds71. The only major issue I have with it is its heft. It is not a lightweight laptop, but it is a powerful one. I've had it since it was first released, and its certainly been used hard and put away wet. Adobe and dropbox have kinda choked its start up time and the battery doesn't hold much charge anymore, but other than that it is a very good laptop. When I bought it, I had spent many hours looking into the best one for the price. Granted, this was 2 years ago but so far it has aged gracefully... not to mention you can probably also get it cheaper than I got it for (I paid roughly 1300 back in late 2014 for mine)
+It never gets hot, the cooling system is really well designed and efficient.
+The display is crisp, although mine is always so dirty it doesn't really make a difference
+Plenty of RAM to play with, especially when running programs like PhotoShop and Premiere.
+Keyboard is well designed with a few assignable keys
+Barring the battery, it is also fairly easy to work on for being such a powerhouse.
+Nvidia 965M isn't the best, but isn't the worst graphics card, it is a solid card. It hasn't yet run into a game that chokes it out.
+Processor is great. No complaints here, although mine has been around the block and isn't as fast as it once was.
+Good amount of storage space, enough to work with and still have a fair bit left over.

-It is heavy
-The battery stopped holding a charge 3 months ago and it is not easy to replace.
-If you're really pushing it, the exhaust fans can get a tad noisy.
-Depending on how you hold it, sometimes you'll graze against the CD ejector and the CD tray pops out. Granted, I hold it cockeyed in my lap so that is probably why. lol

However, I will say that Dell has been having cooling issues and build quality problems for a while. Asus, MSI, and kinda Lenovo are the big powerful brands worthwhile now.

 

Not buy a laptop, and save it on an actual computer. That's what you should do.



Even if you pick parts for a decent laptops, you will run into these universal issues:

Complexity of build and low space will make cooling of parts harder, which will reduce lifespan and performance with videogames

You would have only 3/4 USB ports MAX.

Any part broken would require a full dissasemble no matter how small it is. Broken keyboard on a desktop? buy a new one for under 10 bucks. Broken keyboard on a laptop? Well better get to take the whole thing apart that is all compressed in a small space and make sure to know how to fix it. Same goes with the monitor.

Even famous IT YT channels have PROVEN that its similarly economical but much more efficient to carry a small lowly laptop for sidework and have a gaming rig for gaming.

 

I think there's still a place for laptops, if it's what you think is best then go for it. For 4 of the 6 years I have owned my Asus laptop I used it for everything. It's great to have a portable main computer and the newer ones are light and thin enough to make it a lot easier than it was for me. Buy something with good build quality and take care of it and you won't have issues with having to replace parts or issues playing games due to overheating etc... My laptop wasn't designed to be a gaming computer but it'll run stuff like Mad Max and JC2 withough even thinking about thermal issues, and the new laptops generally have much better cooling systems.

I am planning on building a gaming desktop only because I want something that can player newer games but don't want to replace my Asus, which still runs like new and doesn't have as much as a single scratch on it. The desktop would just be a toy, the Asus probably would still get a lot of use for other stuff. I take my computer from room to room for various reasons a lot, can't do that with a desktop. If my Asus was to die then I would go for a $1500 range Asus or MSI instead of build a desktop.

 

I already have a desktop, Its just not working out .

 

But lets say you commute alot, for long distances, or just don't spend alot of time at home (work away or something). Sure, a cheap slower laptop is good for work, but it won't do much past ebooks, videos and music to keep you entertained during that time. For some people that's fine, but others want a gaming experience instead.

You could say that they could just get a portable games console, which is great for playing some games port-ably, but they lack the benefits of PC gaming as well as the ability to just do normal work on them. A higher spec laptop is able to do such things as MS Word and all that, then when you want to, play games aswell. Sure, they're incredibly overpriced for what some of them are, but if people are willing to spend that amount, then they've not really got any other negatives.

Just make sure you get one that can run from the power lead alone, because I've killed the battery in every laptop I own. Ofcourse, you can still keep them portable this way with either spare batteries or some sort of power bank thing

 

Compromise then. Get a handheld console or something. GOOD gaming laptops that last are VERY expensive.
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Get marriage counselling then.

 

They've already stated that they're only really gonna be playing old FPS', so getting something top of the line isn't even necessary. And the portable market has honestly been kinda dead recently (especially if you play FPS') anyway. I don't think the Switch will have that many games that they're interested in atall, and that's probably the best thing in 'portable gaming' that they can get. Unless you're suggesting that you can get good FPS experiences on the 3DS or Vita. The only thing those 2 have going for them is they're gonna be cheap, considering they're both 6 years old now.

Besides, apart from me being terrible with batteries, laptops are normally built and last fine. Unless you're literally throwing it across the room all the time. And the parts which are most common to break are all normally replaceable too. Having to take it apart to replace said parts is hardly a disadvantage.

Also, out of your 3 disadvantages, one of them is 'only 3/4 USB slots'. Considering laptops are meant to by portable, and have everything you need to control the computer built into them, on what planet will you constantly be using them all up? Even my desktop only uses 3, or 4 if I have a USB stick in. You're not gonna be carrying 7 USB accessories with you everywhere you go, are you? Even if the laptop only had 3, you'd still have room for a mouse, gamepad and storage device or whatever. And none of those are even required to stay connected full time.

I'm interested in where your hate for higher end laptops comes from...

 

Already went today and went with the Xps, I have wait till christmas to use it.