Any advice on best gaming laptop for Xmas, please?

[SchroSawMummyRidingSantaClaus]

I have been asked by a family member to do their Xmas shopping, one thing on that list is a good gaming laptop for his Son.

I have been looking at 2nd hand Alienware laptops (can't afford new) but I think the one I found didn't have the best graphics card.

Any advice would be really helpful.

Thanks. :)

Okay, I have found this one, does anyone know if the graphics card is very good?

Bump. :(

I got one from pcspecialist.com. its been good so far. You can customize them so I said no office or av trial and I got a ssd for the Windows drive . Cheaper than alienware but not as pretty

It has to be already made as I have no idea what any of the specs mean! Feeling a bit daunted at trying to find the right one tbh.

Have seen one on Alienware that is £949 just now and the MSI laptop specs look similar to AW but I have found one of them at £900.

Really confused.

German company. Just started selling in the UK. Price these ones against your msi and Aw as well. mysn.co.uk/xmg-a502

Not loads of help, but my ds has an Alienware computer and is very pleased with it so you probably won't go far wrong with one.
All I know about it is that it plays all the current games, is very heavy and you can make the lights on the keyboard change colour rather impressively.

Thanks Nerf. :)

Hulla Do you know what model it is? I'm looking at the M14x, I would be really grateful if you could find out what model his is, please? :)

Ds has the M17x Schro. He has just had a look at the specs of the M14x and thinks it would be a good bet ( disclaimer - he is no expert other than being a very keen gamer ). Apparently the graphics card is ok and should cope with the games that are currently out there.

From my completely non technical perspective they seem very sturdily built and look good with the alien logo and colour changing abilities.
Ds got his for his 18th birthday last May and it has been used a lot and I don't think he has had a jot of trouble with it. He also has a Dell desktop computer ( XPS something ) that he's had about 4 years that has also been very reliable so we have been happy with Dell stuff.

Thank you so much for that. :o The graphics card will be upgraded to the 2gb one instead of the 1gb so if the basic specs seem fair then hopefully it will be fine. :)

Glad it is sorted Schro - hope they have lots of fun wih it. It is lovely that you took the time to help sort it for them :)

Dh has just reminded me that if you are ordering from Dell online then if you do it via Quidco there is a 6% discount on Alienware.

Hulla Ahk, he works a lot so I tend to end up doing his Xmas shopping for him. :) I don't mind, it's just this time I had no idea.

Good advice about quidco too, thanks for that!

If you're looking secondhand then look out for a Toshiba Satellite one. I have one which is 6yo now and still good for playing World of Warcraft, etc.

Viva Since we found the AW one for less than £1000 , we're looking at buying new.

I can't believe people spend so much on laptops!

WAIT!!!!! phew, just joined to help you put here. The most important thing here is what games will be played. The high end laptops you're looking at are aimed at very serious gamers. If the games are gonna be low end then you're wasting a bunch of money.
If you can let me know a couple of the games that will be played I might be able to recommend something which will save you a whole ton of cash