{"id":49024,"date":"2013-01-08T13:39:37","date_gmt":"2013-01-08T11:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/?p=49024"},"modified":"2013-01-09T10:48:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-09T08:48:44","slug":"top-5-gaming-laptops-in-sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/pc\/49024-top-5-gaming-laptops-in-sa","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 gaming laptops in SA"},"content":{"rendered":"

If money was no object, a gaming laptop would likely be in the arsenal of all gamers. Below is a selection of the best gaming laptops currently available in South Africa, along with pricing info to make your bank account cringe. These are the MSI GT70, Samsung Series 7 Gamer, Alienware M17x R4, ASUS G75, and Toshiba Qosmio X870 gaming laptops.<\/p>\n

PC gamers will look for a number of core features in a gaming laptop, but essentially, it needs to go toe-to-toe with a good modern desktop gaming rig, or it may not be worth the extra money you’ll be spending.<\/p>\n

GPU, CPU, RAM, disk space, audio capability, screen dimensions, screen resolution, 3D display capability, portability, durability, cooling, input\/output ports, battery life, and general usage purposes aside from gaming – all these are considerations to juggle when deciding on a gaming laptop. There are some certainties – it’s going to be heavy and the battery isn’t going to last very long.<\/p>\n

Having consulted a number of specialist websites to gauge the best gaming laptops currently available, I’ve drawn up a list of the top 5 gaming laptops available in South Africa along with pricing indications. Sources included: PCWorld<\/a>, TechRadar<\/a>, and PCMag<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To gauge and compare prices, local website Laptop Direct<\/a> was used as it offers a broad range of laptops under different brands. As always, be sure to shop around before making any purchase decision.<\/p>\n

To provide a uniform rating benchmark for the laptops discussed, I used one of my favourite reference sites, Notebookcheck.net<\/a>. All the laptops mentioned feature the latest I\/O options as one would expect, including HDMI and USB 3.0.<\/p>\n

MSI GT70<\/h3>\n
\"MSI<\/a>

MSI GT70<\/p><\/div>\n

The GT70 comes in various hardware configurations which will alter the price. The model commonly available in SA (MS-GT70ND-208ZA) boasts an Intel Core i7-3610QM (Ivy Bridge quad-core) at 2.3Ghz, Geforce GT 675M 2GB GPU, 12GB DDR3 RAM, a 750GB HDD, a Blu-ray ROM, and a non-gloss, LED back-lit 17-inch Full HD resolution screen, among its bells and whistles.<\/p>\n

Other notable features include a back-lit keyboard developed in collaboration with SteelSeries, and a decent built-in audio processor powered by Dynaudio and THX. There are also plenty of I\/O ports, including four audio jacks for a surround sound system.<\/p>\n

Price – R24,252<\/a>; Rating – 85%<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Samsung Series 7 Gamer<\/h3>\n
\"Samsung<\/a>

Samsung Series 7 Gamer NP700G7A<\/p><\/div>\n

Although an older model of Samsung’s Series 7 Gamer range, the NP700G7A still packs a punch. The retiring Sandy Bridge architecture in the 2.2Ghz Core i7-2670QM (quad-core) might put some gamers off, but that’s not to say the CPU is a slouch.<\/p>\n

Bolstering the CPU is 8GB DDR3 RAM and an AMD Radeon HD 6970M 2GB. 2x500GB HDD’s provide plenty of storage for the gamer on the move.<\/p>\n

A stand-out feature is the display – a 17.3-inch Full HD resolution LED back-lit 3D capable panel.<\/p>\n

Price – R17,248<\/a>; Rating – 85%<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Alienware M17x R4<\/h3>\n
\"Alienware<\/a>

Alienware M17x R4<\/p><\/div>\n

There are two configurations of this Alienware model available through Laptop Direct, both suitably expensive. The main differences between the two make for an overall more powerful system, along with a 3D capable display (bundled with a 3D vision kit), a Blu-ray ROM – and about R9,000.<\/p>\n

At R23,653, the lower-end model boasts a powerful setup nonetheless – Core i7-3630QM 2.4Ghz (quad-core) CPU, Nvidia Geforce GTX 660M GPU (2GB), 8GB DDR3 RAM, 1TB HDD, and an LED back-lit Full HD resolution display.<\/p>\n

Alienware is certainly a recognisable brand among gamers, and the M17x laptops boast the typical love-it-or-hate-it Alienware design touch.<\/p>\n

Price – R23,653<\/a>, R32,111<\/a>; Rating – 88%<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

ASUS G75<\/h3>\n
\"ASUS<\/a>

ASUS G75<\/p><\/div>\n

The Asus G75 comes in various configurations of its core system. There are two gaming variants, with the main differences being a choice of an SSD and HDD combo or HDD-only, 8GB or 16GB DDR3 RAM, and a 3D capable screen.<\/p>\n

Other uniform features include an Intel Core i7-3630QM (Ivy Bridge quad-core) at 2.4Ghz, Nvidia Gefore GTX 670M GPU (3GB), 17.3-inch Full HD resolution LED back-lit display, and a Blu-ray writer.<\/p>\n

The Asus G75 is noted for its good build quality, low noise levels, relatively cool running temperatures, plethora of input options, and a high-quality matte display panel.<\/p>\n

Price – R26,681<\/a>, R20,668<\/a>; Rating – 88%<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Toshiba Qosmio X870<\/h3>\n
\"Toshiba<\/a>

Toshiba Qosmio X870<\/p><\/div>\n

Toshiba’s top-tier Qosmio range has been updated with Intel Ivy Bridge processors and a 3D capable display, making it a strong contender in the gaming laptop space.<\/p>\n

Intel Core i7-3630QM (Ivy Bridge quad-core) at 2.4Ghz, Nvidia Geforce GTX 670M GPU (3GB), 16GB DDR3 RAM, 2X750GB HDD, 17.3-inch Full HD resolution LED back-lit 3D capable display, a Blu-ray writer, and Harmon Kardon stereo speakers makes for a tantalising spec sheet.<\/p>\n

At a relatively reasonable price considering what’s under the hood, the Qosmio is a multimedia and gaming laptop option worth considering.<\/p>\n

Price – R20,269<\/a>; Rating – 82%<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/h3>\n

Gaming laptops: is now the time to buy one?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gaming laptop performance considerations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Why you should (almost) never buy top-end components<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

5 cool PC gaming features we take for granted<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We run through some of the best gaming laptops your money can buy in South Africa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"featured_media":49065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,7,3],"tags":[1677,8352,1517,8351,1702,21,8349,5203,8354,1435,8353,8350],"class_list":["post-49024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-hardware","category-pc","tag-alienware","tag-alienware-m17x-r4","tag-asus","tag-asus-g75","tag-gaming-laptop","tag-headline","tag-laptop-direct","tag-msi","tag-msi-gt70","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-series-7-gamer","tag-toshiba-qosmio-x870"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49024"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49066,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49024\/revisions\/49066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mygaming.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}