Trying to Pick a Laptop

[German6th]

Hello Everyone, This is my first here. I am trying to buy a new laptop and have narrowed the search to three possible choices. I am having trouble picking between the three and I hope that I can gain some perspective here and make a more informed choice.

First Laptop:
Razer Blade 14 Inch
Intel Core i7-4702MQ 2.2 GHz
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
256 GB Solid-State Drive (SATA III SSD)
14-Inch Screen, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M

Second:
MSI GE60 Apache Pro-003 15.6-Inch
Intel Core i7-4700HQ 3.2 GHz
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM
1024 GB 7200 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen; NVIDIA Geforce GTX860M with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
Windows 8.1

Third:
ASUS N550JK-DS71T 15.6-Inch Touchscreen
Intel Core i7-4700HQ 2.4Ghz (Turbo 3.4 GHz)
8 GB DDR3, 1024 5400 rpm Hard Drive
15.6-Inch Screen, 2 GB NVIDIA GTX850M DDR3 VRAM
Windows 8.1, 5-hour battery life
Includes external plug-in Sonic Master mini-Subwoofer

Perspective: I am a student and I am planning on using this laptop for school work as well as gaming. I am looking for durability and portability in addition to a great gaming laptop. Thanks for the help!

 

[Yami]

Could you edit in the price of each one?

 

[Oreo]

If you are going to lugging this around Uni you are not going to want a 2inch thick beast like some gaming laptops.

The Razer is best in regards of portability, but the GPU is a bit weak.

edit:

Actually that MSI isn't too bad either. Seems reasonably portable.

 

[PP Mguire]

Voted for MSI.

 

[steve10765]

I would check out this Gigabyte one it has an IPS panel which will make picture quality really good, and the GPU has 4GB Vram compared to 3gb, and the regular hard drive runs at 7200rpm instead of 5400 like most, so you hard drive will be faster(yes I know you have an ssd) Also the CPU has turbo boost on the CPU and can go to 3.4GHZ rather than staying at 2.4ghz

 

[carnageX]

If you are going to lugging this around Uni you are not going to want a 2inch thick beast like some gaming laptops.

The Razer is best in regards of portability, but the GPU is a bit weak.

edit:

Actually that MSI isn't too bad either. Seems reasonably portable.

I did it for 3 years of college; it wasn't really that bad. Just need a decent backpack is all. My fiance did it as well when I gave her my other gaming laptop. I think she would have liked something a little smaller, but she got by. That's why I don't recommend Alienwares though (besides being overpriced). They weigh a ton for what they are.

 

[PP Mguire]

Am I the only one who doesn't ***** about a powerful laptop being "heavy". My current 18.4" Toshiba is 7.5lbs and the MSI linked above is showing 5 pounds. A single book in my high school bag weighed more than that. That kind of horsepower in something that weighs 1/4 of my child's weight is as Linus says "ballin'"

Also the Razer due to its full aluminum design actually weighs MORE than my Toshiba which is a thick beast with a larger screen meaning it weighs more than the MSI too.

 

[carnageX]

Am I the only one who doesn't ***** about a powerful laptop being "heavy". My current 18.4" Toshiba is 7.5lbs and the MSI linked above is showing 5 pounds. A single book in my high school bag weighed more than that. That kind of horsepower in something that weighs 1/4 of my child's weight is as Linus says "ballin'"

Also the Razer due to its full aluminum design actually weighs MORE than my Toshiba which is a thick beast with a larger screen meaning it weighs more than the MSI too.

No you're not the only one because I just said it wasn't that bad with a nice backpack .

Though my buddy's Alienware was ~11lbs for just the laptop itself...that was a cinderblock.

 

[PP Mguire]

11lbs still is nothing. Most PCs weigh in at 35 to 50 and a laptop can harness that kind of power in like a 1/5th of that weigh WITH the screen and periphs. Seriously. I can never understand *****ing about these light pieces of tech. I actually just did a completely scientific test comparing my old Dell Inspiron 6000 and my Toshiba. They are almost the same with my Toshiba being about literally 10x more powerful with 3 inches more of screen.

Edit: To be on topic for the OP since they are watching the thread. My opinion is the MSI simply due to 1 fact. Fan control.

 

[carnageX]

Because carrying 11lbs + charger all day across campus is a PITA lol. My MSI weighs about the same as your Toshiba and it was fine with the backpack I had, though.