Despite their reputation in certain circles, gaming laptops can be just as powerful as a decent gaming PC if you choose the right model and brand. You don’t get as many customizable parts, but they’re still often easy to configure and adjust to your own personal needs. But which brands are the best, and which features do they each focus on?
Alienware often appears on a lot of “top gaming laptops under 1500 dollars” lists, and have quite a long-standing reputation for being on the cutting edge with every new release. A lot of their products have been some of the strongest on the market at the time of release, meaning that a brand new Alienware gaming laptop is usually one of the most powerful you can get in one piece.
They’re not as effective as a self-built computer, but very few brands are, so they can be a good choice for people who don’t want to spend time putting together a PC of their own. Some people consider the price to be a result of the fancy designs, but it varies from laptop to laptop.
MSI has a line of specially-design gaming laptops that are meant to mix a sleek design with great performance. There are multiple different lines to choose from, each with their own particular pros and cons, so it’s not as simple as choosing their most recent product – some are built around maximum power while others focus on being compact gaming machines, and the GP series is billed as an entry-level laptop for casual, infrequent gaming. However, this also makes them one of the brands most likely to cater to your particular preferences.
Acer laptops are widespread and budget-conscious, with many of their gaming laptops being relatively powerful for their size and price. They’re easy to get hold of and come in multiple different varieties, with some (such as the Nitro 5 series) offering things like dual-fan cooling and extra storage options. While some of their features can be seen as “average”, like battery life, they make up for it due to their lower prices and simple, easy-to-use designs that don’t rely on over-the-top features or awkward aesthetics.
Razer’s laptops generally all reach above $1000 in price, but they make up for it by generally being worth the money. Every gaming laptop they create has been strong and well-designed, and they often come with some of Razer’s other tech (such as keyboards, which they’re famous for) built right into the body. Their higher-than-normal price is indicative of their great performance, and they often boast a better battery life or display quality than most other models with similar designs.
As long as you don’t mind paying slightly more than a generic brand, Razer can be an excellent source of gaming laptops, and their distinctive visual style is a nice bonus. However, not everybody likes the way they look, since they’re very “gamer-focused” and don’t mesh well with regular office-style equipment.
While Asus laptops are generally seen as a mid-tier option, that’s by no means a bad thing. They usually avoid going to any extremes, giving you a great balance between overall graphical power, battery life, and display reliability.
They’re a perfect choice for people who don’t care about playing the latest games on the highest graphical settings, and they don’t fall into the trap of becoming too gaming-focused to double as a regular laptop. In addition, many Asus laptop models are fairly quiet and don’t run loud fans constantly, mainly due to the fact that they don’t need as much cooling power to work properly.
