Samsung is getting into the gaming laptop ring with their newly revealed Gamer Notebook Series 7 and Ihad a chance to get my hands on them at CES 2012 this week. Judging from what I saw it seems like Samsung has done their homework.

This new line has a nifty rolling switch on the upper right hand side of the system that lets you dial in your use. Roll it to library mode and everything will keep quiet, including the speakers. There's also balanced and eco modes for normal computing.Of course, the main draw is the optimized gaming mode, which sets the laptop up for gaming in several different ways. When switched on, the CPU is optimized for gaming, and fan speeds are also increased for beter cooling. The WASD keys turn red with their backlight, and all other keys turn blue. Also, the trackpad and button are deactivated automatically.

I was able to try out the system with Battlefield 3, and I came away impressed with its desktop-like performance. Its 2nd generation Core i7 processor and 2GB Radeon graphics handled the game nicely, and the gorgeous 400 nit LED screen didn't hurt either. Another nice touch: I could feel explosion rumbles in my fingertips through the system's powered subwoofer.

A Samsung rep told us that while pricing isn't quite set yet, they're looking at launching their first gaming notebooks starting at about $1,800 later this year. These are handsomely appointed, sleek notebooks with every bell and whistle you could ask for, including Blu-ray drives and 3D screens. I'd gladly use one.

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

Drakengard

I think everyone would gladly use one. The problem is that most people don't have $1800 sitting around to drop on one.

RJDog

Oh cool, I've been loking for something to run games on in college without having to lug my tower with me. I'll totes be picking one of these up.

Chris Carter

"starting at about $1,800 later this year. I'd gladly use one."

Dale, can I come over to your house and chill for a bit - preferably near the money trees in your 100 square mile acre lot?

On your planet where $800 VR glasses and $130 32GB SD cards are "cheap"?

<3

I love you Dale.

killias2

1800 is a lot. However, I really don't know how you can pay -a lot- less for a high quality gaming laptop. My laptop has some -okay- gaming potential, and it was like 800 just for that. Also, it's massive, heavy, and it runs down its charge in like an hour.

Personally, I think PC gamers should just get a decent desktop. You can get a gaming desktop together for 600-700 bucks that would be able to play pretty much anything with at least decent graphics settings for around 3-4 years. Push it up to 800-850, and you can probably get a great gaming PC for at least 4 years.

The main issue is the video card. Video cards take a lot of space and power and make a lot of heat. As a result, having a good video card in a laptop (especially a laptop that doesn't weigh as much as a desktop and which can be played without being plugged in for more than 10 minutes) is incredibly expensive. On the PC, however, you can get a good one (assuming you have an okay power supply) for 200.

Add a 200 dollar video card to almost any -okay- desktop, and you have a gaming PC. Congrats.

Steven Hansen

I feel cramped when not using a floating keyboard, thanks to the last 2+ years with my Vaio.

(Not that I have any money to buy this thing)

123ericn

looks cool but to much for me to afford

kirobz

I thought that they would play competitively with asus. >.<

madmatt213

Some wannabe PC gamers don't have the space for a tower, and also have jerk pets like rabbits that will chew through cords, so that limits where a tower can be placed in a cramped apartment.

I speak from experience. :(

Arttemis

So many intel chips; I'm more excited for AMD's Trinity APU.

Ultimately, this is still too much for me to consider, despite being cheaper than Razor's comps.

Syn

Damn. You can get something on par or perhaps better from Alienware for $1500-$1800

Granted they work with Dell now, so no quality guarantees.

oxfordsquare

Samsung has clearly thought their price point through, as it matches the cost of entry to the cheapest macbook pro featuring a discreet GPU (Radeon 6750M, 512mb), so $1800 really does seem to be the equilibrium point for a gaming notebook from a name brand in general.