Budget is roughly $1800-$2000 max.

Screw Alienware, my R4 17" just fried the mother board and hard drive. The motherboard is $650 used on eBay. It's a common problem with them and I don't want to shell out that much money for it just to happen again. A $3K laptop should last more than 3 years. It also weighed almost as much as my truck.

I have a Sager from xoticpc.com

It's had a few small issues and their tech support was always helpful.

Its still running strong, 4 years I think old.

I don't have a ton of suggestions in that price range; it's a solid price range but I'm only familiar with budget gaming LTs or super high end ones. You should check out the YouTuber Dave2D. He has done several videos on gaming laptops. Might be something useful there for you.

Clevo usually supplies the Sager and other boutique dealers. If something breaks it might be worth trying to search the model up here: https://clevo-computer.com/en/laptops-configurator/ to find spare parts.

Will you be actually traveling with it?

If not, it doesn't make any sense to get one. Go desktop.

I owned an Alienware. I hated gaming on a laptop but at the time I didn't have a dedicated space for a desktop. In hindsight, I would rather have fixed the space issue and then just bought a tower.

Sager I owned was a tank.

My newer MSI is the cheapest piece of s*** I have ever seen. Nothing but problems and just a sack of crap.

I have a Lenovo Y540 which has worked out decent when I have to travel. I got it because it was very understated on the aesthetic side of things and didn't scream "gaming laptop".

Had the small 128GB M.2 SSD go out about a year in, but replaced with a larger one on my own and was easy to do after watching some YouTube videos on how to get inside the laptop. Other than that one issue been happy. Not a powerhouse but works for what I need it to.

YouBet said:

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Will you be actually traveling with it?

If not, it doesn't make any sense to get one. Go desktop.

I owned an Alienware. I hated gaming on a laptop but at the time I didn't have a dedicated space for a desktop. In hindsight, I would rather have fixed the space issue and then just bought a tower.

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I have a roughly 6 year old desktop that I built myself, which was very good back then and still adequate for my gaming needs now.

This is mainly going to be my wife's primary machine, as her current one is so slow that she mostly just yells at it. She may not actually need a gaming machine, but she does use it for gaming (her current laptop was described for me as "I don't know, it was the cheapest one that would actually play Dragon Age:Inquisition when that came out" when I asked her what the specs even were on that thing and how old it was). I plan to buy a matching one for myself, because I don't currently have any mobile option at all since a few months ago my Mac Book Pro purchased in January 2012 finally succumbed to the GPU failure that plague that generation of machines.

I am in love with my ROG laptop. I bought it for a mixture of normal laptop work, playing Everquest 1 while watching TV, and VR through virtual desktop to my Oculus Quest. The only downside would be the small screen if I didn't mostly use it for VR or older games. I plan to get Cyberpunk on PC and mostly play with the VR headset on Virtual Desktop.

Here is the link from best buy, it was $200 off when I bought it about 6 weeks ago.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-max-q-1tb-ssd-moonlight-white/6403816.p?skuId=6403816831268

edit: it also has no numpad if that matters to you

I think I've pretty much decided to go with Alienware M15 R3s

I know you already made your decision, but I second ROG. I have one and it is great.

With that being said, my friend has an Alienware and he absolutely love it as well.

KidDoc said:

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I am in love with my ROG laptop. I bought it for a mixture of normal laptop work, playing Everquest 1 while watching TV, and VR through virtual desktop to my Oculus Quest. The only downside would be the small screen if I didn't mostly use it for VR or older games. I plan to get Cyberpunk on PC and mostly play with the VR headset on Virtual Desktop.

Here is the link from best buy, it was $200 off when I bought it about 6 weeks ago.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-max-q-1tb-ssd-moonlight-white/6403816.p?skuId=6403816831268

edit: it also has no numpad if that matters to you

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Bought this one in July. I don't game, but this is the best computer I've ever owned, including 5 PCs that I've built.

KidDoc said:

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I am in love with my ROG laptop. I bought it for a mixture of normal laptop work, playing Everquest 1 while watching TV, and VR through virtual desktop to my Oculus Quest. The only downside would be the small screen if I didn't mostly use it for VR or older games. I plan to get Cyberpunk on PC and mostly play with the VR headset on Virtual Desktop.

Here is the link from best buy, it was $200 off when I bought it about 6 weeks ago.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-14-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-9-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-max-q-1tb-ssd-moonlight-white/6403816.p?skuId=6403816831268

edit: it also has no numpad if that matters to you

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As someone who spent way too much on a Razer Blade laptop, the Asus ROG G14 is exactly what I would buy at this moment and have recommended to several friends. The reviews are fantastic and anyone I know who has one loves it.

Does it HAVE to be a laptop? You could build a VERY nice desktop for that budget. My main gripe with them is they usually have to be plugged in to work properly otherwise you're going to see frame rates dip on battery. Also, they get VERY hot and cooling them can be tricky

I'd second the Clevo/Sanger models. I build desktops and wanted something fully customizable. I also use my laptop for travel and a removable battery was a must. Also, if something breaks they are completely modular. It's the next best thing to a DIY laptop

aggieforester05 said:

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Screw Alienware, my R4 17" just fried the mother board and hard drive. The motherboard is $650 used on eBay. It's a common problem with them and I don't want to shell out that much money for it just to happen again. A $3K laptop should last more than 3 years. It also weighed almost as much as my truck.

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Dang that sucks...I love my Alienware M15. It does run hot on a game like CoD but if you undervolt it right out of the gate it really does stay cool enough. My only complaint is the fan noise. But that's it.

ramblin_ag02 said:

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I'd second the Clevo/Sanger models. I build desktops and wanted something fully customizable. I also use my laptop for travel and a removable battery was a must. Also, if something breaks they are completely modular. It's the next best thing to a DIY laptop

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My understanding is aside from unicorns like the blade or gigabyte AROUS, the other laptops are just rebranded clevos since they are the OEM.

I would never choose a laptop based on this, but for some reason I dislike the keyboard typeface used on the ROG laptops.

JJxvi said:

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I would never choose a laptop based on this, but for some reason I dislike the keyboard typeface used on the ROG laptops.

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My M15 has a surprisingly well built keyboard. It's not super squishy like most laptop keyboards.