DS wants gaming laptop at uni - affordable? sensible?

[Bronwen11]

DS wants a gaming laptop to take to uni. When he realised how much they cost, he wondered about taking his desktop computer - no, not a good idea, we said and, in any case, the last thing we want is for him to be glued to it for hours in his halls when other people are out, studying, asleep.

He's keen on joining the uni League of Legends society and I'm pretty certain that they'd use a computer room as how many students have powerful gaming laptops with them at uni?

Need to get him a laptop for his studies etc but I'm not at all sure we can run to a gaming laptop (or, it has to be said, would want to without a contribution from him and this isn't going to happen as he's had so little work this Summer). However, is it necessary to spend £1,000 on a gaming laptop? Can I compromise with him somewhere along the line? Reburbished? Cheaper laptops - he says he's searched but drawn a blank and I don't know quite where to start. Thanks for any advice!

Ds says if he just wants to play LoL he doesn't need an expensive gaming any laptop with decent graphics would do. If it's for Triple A titles he would need a gaming one and he says £800 plus but a PC is better. Ds has a gaming one which he also uses for Uni work too, he did spend a considerable amount on it but justifies that because he worked all Summer and doesn't drink/go clubbing and spend money there. At Ds' Uni he says about 25% of the members of the Video Games Society have one the rest have gaming PCs and/or consoles.

At uni I saved a fortune by playing LoL and not going out. Additionally, I had good friends in the society and as a group committed to ensuring each other studied. Good time sink, but easy to break from.
absolutely doesn't need a super expensive gaming laptop to play, it is designed to be accessible. His major issue will be internet connection stability, not marginally better looking graphics. Send him on his way with an average laptop around the £350 Mark with at least 4Gb of RAM, an Intel i5 processor and at least 500Gb of disk space.
That will suit him for more than just League, some good modern games. Anything over that is unnecessary for what he's stating he'll use it for, or he's aiming for a status association with having an expensive laptop in the gaming society? Which nobody will care about anyway as it's a game of skill not computer power :)

And have it insured!!!

From my experience, most students do seem to have desktop computers at university. Certainly my two did/do as do their flatmates. I'd rather they had a more expensive desktop than a easily portable laptop to carry around and lose or have stolen.

Having said that, DS2 in particular, does spend an awful lot of time in his room gaming. LoL is also his main game of choice and he too joined the uni gaming club