The Best Five Back to School Gaming Laptops of 2014

Staff Avatar

Written by:

Updated 11:34 pm

Here are the best back to school laptops for gaming. Did Acer make the list? Dell? Find out. It’s that dreaded time of year again for every student gaming addict out there – Back To School. While Joe Blow might be in the market for a new budget/basic machine, every PC gamer wants a new gaming laptop to fulfill a dual purpose: 1) it’s capable of running Dark Souls 2 on Ultra settings, and 2) something that won’t draw attention to the powerful NERD PC brought to class. Oh yeah there’s a third thing: We’re poor students, and can’t afford anything so make it cheap. That kind of takes the best Apple laptops out of the running, but there’s still plenty to choose from, and that makes it challenging for a novice beginner to select the right choice from the best gaming laptops list.

Now we gaming students are in a pickle, because there’s a trade off somewhere between price, performance, and looks. Truth is, everyone has to bend a little, but we can break this down as best we can. Below we’re going to list the best 2014 released laptops for certain gamer types. Not only that, we’ll show you where you’ll find their best prices online.

1. The Budget Gamer

Lenovo Y40 14-inch Gaming Laptop
Lenovo Y40 14-inch Gaming Laptop

Lenovo Y40 14-inch Gaming Laptop for $749 with free shipping at Lenovo (normally $1,099).

If you need to keep this purchase well under the $1,000 price point, you may feel your options are limited. Some might even think one the coolest gaming laptops isn’t possible under $1,000 without building from the ground up. No, there is a cheap gaming laptop out there. Possibly the best kept secret in the gaming laptop world is the Lenovo Y40. In June 2014 Lenovo essentially revamped their older Y410p models with a sleeker design with a 1080p standard display, gaming graphics, and at least 8GB RAM. There are higher end configurations available for sale, but below is the perfectly gaming capable base model. Create some time to also look at the best gaming laptop under 1500.

Specs:

  • Core i7-4510U 2.5GHz
  • Radeon R9 M275 Graphics
  • Full HD 1080p display
  • 500GB HDD + 8GB SSHD
  • 2 USB 3.0 ports
  • Up to 5 hour Battery Life

2. The “I Want It All, But Still Affordable Please” Gamer

MSI GE70 Apache Pro 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop
MSI GE70 Apache Pro 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop

MSI GE70 Apache Pro 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop for $1,200 with free shipping at the Microsoft Store (Normally $1,300).

In March of 2014 MSI released the new Apache Pro 17.3-inch beast. It features a full color Backlit keyboard by SteelSeries, Full 1080p anti-glare display, and of course the new GeForce 800M series graphics. Buying the base model listed below will not leave you in the dust by any means. Discounts are extremely rare for this machine, but this week the Microsoft Store is running a $100 off discount – the lowest seen by $60. You may also want to explore our guide on a thin light gaming laptop.

Specs:

  • Core i7-4510U
  • Full 1080p anti-glare display
  • GeForce GTX 860M Graphics
  • 12GB RAM
  • 1TB Hard Drive
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • ~4 Hour Battery Life
  • 5.95 lbs

Read: Best Laptop For College Students

3. That’s No Moon, That’s My Laptop

Alienware 17 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop
Alienware 17 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop

Alienware 17 17.3-Inch Gaming Laptop for $1,449 with free shipping at Dell (normally $1,499 – use coupon code 0GJHSKM3CG$C1H).

The Alienware 17 is a powerful creature with some solid brand name recognition. The 2014 design weighs in at a whopping 9.1494 lbs! That’s a brick, but that’s partly because Alienware doesn’t skimp on things like cooling unit, a 1080p webcam, or the slick back-lit keyboard. The base model starts out at $1499 (or $1,449 after coupon) and GTX 860M graphics, but you should know that if you really want a Gaming Laptop powerhouse you can upgrade to a GeForce GTX 880M video card – which is basically the top GPU available for laptops.

Specs:

  • Core i7-4510U 2.5GHz
  • GeForce GTX 860M graphics
  • 500GB HDD + 8GB SSHD
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • ~4 Hour Battery Life
  • 9.15 lbs

Read: Best Laptops Under $500

4. The MacBook Pro Gaming Look-alike

Razer Blade 14-inch Gaming Laptop
Razer Blade 14-inch Gaming Laptop

Razer Blade 14-inch Gaming Laptop for $2,299 with free shipping at the Microsoft Store (normally $2,399).

Slim gaming comes with a hefty price tag, but if you were thinking of buying two laptops – one for business and one for pleasure – this might equal out and let you keep everything on one machine. The 14-inch Razer Blade 2014 has been upgraded with the latest processor, GeForce 800M series graphics, and most importantly a QHD+ Touch Display. Just glancing at the laptop, it’s appearance is similar to a MacBook Pro, and one might not realize this thing was built for gaming. Razer’s gaming laptops don’t see much in the way of discounts until the holiday season. At least the Microsoft Store has a $100 discount – probably the best we’ll see until Black Friday.

Specs:

  • Core i7-4702HQ 2.20 GHz
  • 1800p QHD+ Touch Display
  • GeForce GTX 870M Graphics
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB SSD
  • 3 USB 3.0 Ports
  • Backlit Keyboard
  • 5 Hour Battery Life
  • 4.50 lbs

5. 4K All The Way (But Cheap Please)

Lenovo Y50 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop
Lenovo Y50 15.6-inch Gaming Laptop

Lenovo Y50 15.6-inch Laptop with Ultra HD 4K 2160p Display for $1,549 with free shipping at Lenovo (normally $1,799 – use coupon code USPY5063717).

It wouldn’t be 2014 if we weren’t listing gaming laptops pushing towards the latest 4K technology. Just this week Lenovo slapped the largest discount yet on the June 2014 released Lenovo Y50 15.6-inch laptop with an upgraded 4K display. Unlike the laptops above, this is not the cheapest base model offered by Lenovo, but it’s specs are screaming what people are going to expect in a 2014 gaming laptop – like a large 512GB SSD, crazy high end 2160p QHD+ 4K display, 16GB RAM, and a GeForce GTX 800M series GPU.

Specs:

  • Core i7-4710HQ 2.5 GHz
  • Ultra HD 4K 2160p QHD+ Display
  • GeForce GTX 860M 4GB Graphics
  • 16GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD
  • Backlit Keyboard

Related Articles:

Learn More About Gaming Laptops