Hi Everyone
Our companies GM wants to get a gaming laptop for his son (mainly for Minecraft…)
Can anyone provide a recommendation please?
I've been out of the gaming world for way too long and have no clue where to start (apart from Alienware)
Gaming Laptop - Mainly for Minecraft
sharka on 28/11/2019 - 12:26
Comments
They probably would venture in to those games at some stage as well…
First of all, why not get a used one which is less efficient than current ones? It may be sufficient for kids.
But if it has to be new and current, then they should get any laptop with an Intel Core i5-U (4core/8 thread) and an Nvidia GPU (GTX 1650). That combination will use the least battery life and offer the most performance (overall efficiency). At least until 1.5 years for the next-architecture 14nm Intel processor and Nvidia 7nm dGPU. Or you know, if they wait for 0.5 years for AMD's APU laptops with 7nm Zen2 and Navi iGPU. And he should just forget about eGPU solutions…
…But none of these means the laptop will have a good screen, keyboard, trackpad, camera, ports, size, or build. For that, he's going to have to inspect the laptops in-person before purchase.
Definitely don't get Alienware while it still has premium build and service, you're mostly paying for the brand.
How much are you looking to spend? You can get budget gaming laptops for as low as $800 which will run minecraft with ease and a few other more graphically demanding games. I would recommend putting in another $200 to get something a bit more future-proof.
Budget $800 laptop
My recommended $960 laptopThanks for those. I think they were wanting something from a physical store but well float the idea with them
Whilst I have previously advocated Alienware and honestly the build quality historically has been excellent and I feel better than my current 2019 Razer Blade, for your purposes of playing Minecraft, pretty much any laptop or computer will do since it really doesn't require much specification. How old is the son though? Because I suspect Minecraft may just be one of many games he may be interested in (or maybe that's all his current PC can play) and hence giving a bit more headroom might be a better option.
Are there any other attributes which they care about? Performance? Screen size/quality? Portability? Battery life? etc.
I think the son is 10…
Performance would be the main thing. It’s mainly to be used at homeThe one recommended above for under $1200 seems decent enough then.
Otherwise if it were me I’d probably get one of the dell G5’s you see on sale here.Or even check this one > https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/500545
It's $1500 but it's actually quite decently specified with a RTX 2060.
Well… he didn’t mention anything about budget ;)
I think any Laptop can play Minecraft using the iGPU (Intel Iris or AMD Vega).
However, if they're thinking about Minecraft they might be interested in other eSports games (LoL/Dota2/TF2, CS Go, Dirt, Rocket League, Fortnite, Overwatch). Maybe even some AAA-titles.