Hey guys, so my father and I have been talking about getting myself a new computer either for my birthday or Christmas time. It is sort of a present for me before I leave for the military after highschool. The one I have right now is horrible and can't even run a simple game like Minecraft without maxing out at 10fps. Anyway my dad said I should just get a gaming laptop since it's more portable and I could bring it with me when I we go out of town or something. I said that we should just get a custom gaming PC since it's a bigger "bang for your buck". What should we buy? Specs for each are below.

Custom Gaming PC:
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk
with Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card
Tower: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit)
Monitor: Asus VS248H-P 24.0" Monitor
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder Wired Laser Mouse
TOTAL COST: $1,673.37

Alienware 17" Laptop:
CPU: 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz)
Memory: 8GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Hard Drive: 750GB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200 RPM) + 64GB mSATA SSD Caching
Video Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 765M with 2GB GDDR5
Optical Drive: Slot-Loading 8x SuperMulti Drive (DVDR/RW) (Standard)
Operating System: Windows 8, 64-bit, English
Monitor: 17.3" WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display
Mouse: Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse (Wired)
TOTAL COST: $1,808.99

Considering that you'll be signing up for the navy, I'd say get the laptop.

Although the laptop costs about 130$ more, think about how much easier it will be to move around. Heck, you could even bring that thing on-board when deployed. Also, 130$ isn't that much when compared to the total cost. I believe the pros outweigh the cons there.

I agree with klobbson. That's a very small price difference between the two.

Klobbson wrote:

Considering that you'll be signing up for the navy, I'd say get the laptop.

Although the laptop costs about 130$ more, think about how much easier it will be to move around. Heck, you could even bring that thing on-board when deployed. Also, 130$ isn't that much when compared to the total cost. I believe the pros outweigh the cons there.

thebronxbomber wrote:

I agree with klobbson. That's a very small price difference between the two.

Yeah, I know it would be best as far as portability but for what I'd be getting with the laptop at it's price, it just doesn't seem right. With the PC I'm getting far more power--even though the laptop has great power--for $130 less. To me that's a good deal.

That is the dilemma there is with laptop v desktop. But in your case, I think you want the portability, at least with that much money being spent on the computer. Being in the Navy isn't too far away for you I don't think. If you were going to spend less, like around my amount ($700), I'd say go with the desktop, even with the portability issues.

thebronxbomber wrote:

That is the dilemma there is with laptop v desktop.  But in your case, I think you want the portability, at least with that much money being spent on the computer.  Being in the Navy isn't too far away for you I don't think.  If you were going to spend less, like around my amount ($700), I'd say go with the desktop, even with the portability issues.

Yeah, portability is something I'm going to have to think about. We'll see, I still have 5-6 months left until my birthday/Christmas lol.

Oh I thought this was something you were getting right away. The closer you get this to when you ship off to the Navy, the more appealing it is to get the more-portable computer (laptop). When are you going/signing up into/for the Navy?

Get both and send me the one you don't want! lol

thebronxbomber wrote:

Oh I thought this was something you were getting right away.  The closer you get this to when you ship off to the Navy, the more appealing it is to get the more-portable computer (laptop).  When are you going/signing up into/for the Navy?  

I'm going to be taking the ASVAB this school year. I have to drive up to Milwaukee, WI to take it. I want to leave during the summer after highschool but I don't know if that'll happen, they might make me wait until fall/winter.

WillDill wrote:

Get both and send me the one you don't want! lol

Lol I don't have that much money to spend, and if I did I wouldn't give it out to anyone!

USN_Zach wrote:

thebronxbomber wrote:

Oh I thought this was something you were getting right away.  The closer you get this to when you ship off to the Navy, the more appealing it is to get the more-portable computer (laptop).  When are you going/signing up into/for the Navy?  

I'm going to be taking the ASVAB this school year. I have to drive up to Milwaukee, WI to take it. I want to leave during the summer after highschool but I don't know if that'll happen, they might make me wait until fall/winter.

lol why do you have to go all the way out of state for that; surprised you can't do it in Chicago

If you want to leave during the summer, you should signup as early as possible--beginning of the school year I'd say. Basically, the later you sign, the later you ship--it all depends on the training slots available for the A schools.

thebronxbomber wrote:

USN_Zach wrote:

thebronxbomber wrote:

Oh I thought this was something you were getting right away.  The closer you get this to when you ship off to the Navy, the more appealing it is to get the more-portable computer (laptop).  When are you going/signing up into/for the Navy?  

I'm going to be taking the ASVAB this school year. I have to drive up to Milwaukee, WI to take it. I want to leave during the summer after highschool but I don't know if that'll happen, they might make me wait until fall/winter.

lol why do you have to go all the way out of state for that; surprised you can't do it in Chicago

If you want to leave during the summer, you should signup as early as possible--beginning of the school year I'd say.  Basically, the later you sign, the later you ship--it all depends on the training slots available for the A schools.

Yeah I planned on taking it early in the school year to get it done and over with.

Well good luck