I figure if there is any hope of getting solid answer to this question, its the gaming guys
Give me a shortlist of laptops over, say, the last 4 or 5 years, that had "good" sound - good enough that you were pleasantly surprised. I have external speakers, etc - that's not the question. The question is what laptop has pretty good sound, all things considered? I know the big three all make/compete with "Multimedia Laptops" and full-on Gamers, and some actually do try to get audio to work well.
I only have one older machine on the list so far based on some articles - the old Dell XPS L502X [and 17" sibling].
What else? Any current/recent ones to add to list?
thx
Honestly, I would only ever seriously consider buying either a Sager or MSi laptop for gaming. I have an Alienware now, but it was a Christmas gift from a few years back. Can't complain when it's free. It's been mostly reliable but I seriously doubt I would ever buy an AW. It's been on its' last legs in the past few months (slight crack in the casing near the corner, battery dieing very quickly, few keys not working, power supply has a small tear in the cord, more and more BSODs). My friend has a crappy Toshiba and wants something more for lightweight gaming and school/work, and considering the amount of favors he's done for me, he'll get it. I'll replace the faulty parts, restore from the OEM recovery discs, and donate it.
Asus is also good, I've owned several of their laptops since 2001. They're good if you need something in the mid to low-high range and dont want to burn alot of money. My last was stolen a few years ago and I haven't owned one since then. They're not so great in the way of customizability, you can upgrade the RAM, but the CPU and GPU are generally as-is, so get one with decent specs.
are there a couple of models, recent or older, that you would suggest that in particular did a good job with audio, that is through the laptops own speakers?
in the past, IIRC, there were quite a few big 15 or 17 models from various makers that touted their sound, and we didn't give it much thought. One could play a game or just do videos/movies/music, and it was a pretty good sound. No drama.
These days the reverse prevails. Virtually inaudible, useless audio, while the humble iPAD or Galaxy Tab S make an incredible lot of sound that would seem impossible in the envelope - Lean it against a corner of a room and the real effect leaps forth. We're not talking audiophile stuff here, but just hearable, clear audio that carries more than 3 inches... Seriously, I Have an old generation 1 galaxy note handset that when positioned right will fill up a small room with very decent audio. but the pc guys don't really do engineering, or even thinking, it seemsHonestly, I would only ever seriously consider buying either a Sager or MSi laptop for gaming. I have an Alienware now, but it was a Christmas gift from a few years back. Can't complain when it's free. It's been mostly reliable but I seriously doubt I would ever buy an AW. It's been on its' last legs in the past few months (slight crack in the casing near the corner, battery dieing very quickly, few keys not working, power supply has a small tear in the cord, more and more BSODs). My friend has a crappy Toshiba and wants something more for lightweight gaming and school/work, and considering the amount of favors he's done for me, he'll get it. I'll replace the faulty parts, restore from the OEM recovery discs, and donate it.
Asus is also good, I've owned several of their laptops since 2001. They're good if you need something in the mid to low-high range and dont want to burn alot of money. My last was stolen a few years ago and I haven't owned one since then. They're not so great in the way of customizability, you can upgrade the RAM, but the CPU and GPU are generally as-is, so get one with decent specs.
