Gaming Laptops Under Php30,000

Checking out the tons of gaming laptops in the market and not sure what to look for? Currently residing in the Philippines? …and let me guess, you have a Php30,000 budget for a gaming laptop but… you have no idea what to look for… or you don’t even have a slight idea to know what’s the right laptop for your money. Well, we wrote this guide in hopes of aiding you in such circumstances.

Update May 2016 – We have a new updated list of Gaming Laptops for Php30,000

UPDATE: 5 Gaming Laptops for Under Php30,000 – December 2015

[signoff icon=”info-circled”]I know you PC master racers are going to go off from the whole “gaming laptops” term here so please feel free to provide suggestions (message us in our Facebook page) and let’s just avoid being pedantic.[/signoff]

First things first, we wrote this article to the best of our knowledge, experience and expertise in the computer industry. We did not write this article to force you to buy certain products from a specific brand and this article is NO WAY endorsing any brand. Our selected models are based on the brands’ credibility, specs offered, value for money and availability in the Philippines.

So when looking for a gaming laptop that’s under Php30,000, these are 5 things to look for and they are:

1. Hardware Specifications.
2. Feature Offered.
3. Wise for the Price.
4. Warranty and Customer Support.
5. Long term hardware support.

Hardware Specifications

• Of course, this is self explanatory. You surely want to have the best and the latest technology that manufacturers has to offer for your money. Who wants to buy a brand new laptop that offers the latest hardware of 1999? I mean WTF?

Feature Offered

• This are feature add-on that you should not overlook. For example, some laptop comes with 3 months of licensed anti-virus, Microsoft office and utility software but once you bought the laptop, checked it out at home, you’ll found out sooner that the bundled free software included are actually offered free over the internet. This is a common marketing strategy to make sales. One should never fall for sales talk. That’s why it is so important that you know your thing or you’ll be fooled.

Wise for the Price

• Computers are an investment and not just a tool for cool. Gaming laptops are toys for the big boys thus we should know what to look for and how to find one that’s right. Now, if you’re kid who owns a gaming laptop worth Php 100,000 because you have rich parents and all you do is play plant vs zombies, please go away and stream some Dora the Explorer.

Warranty and Customer Support

• Let’s face it, there are companies that makes their product look the best of all and offers you the best but once you bought the item and something happened, they give you the crappiest customer support ever. Now you regret buying it. Another thing to take note of is the warranty. This is quite simple, just take note of this, a company that offers full product warranty for 5 years or longer is a kind of company that assures you that their products are premium and they have confidence. Compared to a company that only offers 1 year of warranty or less. Don’t also fall for extended warranty sales which sellers offer you additional years of warranty for a price.

Long Term Hardware Support

• Just like warranty, the only difference on this one is that long term hardware support assures you that you’ll get the latest technology from the manufacturer. Example, latest drivers, on-air update of their hardware support and not just leave you behind with “You get what you buy”. There are companies that offer products as is and you won’t get any updates at all.

Tips on Buying Gaming Laptops… or laptops in general

• Freebies – some stores may have special ongoing promotions so be sure to ask. Freebies will range from a free laptop bag, a mouse, headset, Starbucks vouchers all the way to a printer.
• Discounts – if you’re paying cash, be sure to say you’re paying cash basis and you might get a lower price. Also try and haggle if they can lower the price. Don’t be afraid to do so, you’ll be surprised how much some stores will bring down prices, all you have to do is ask.
• Upgrades – should they give you a discount, you may want to ask if they can convert that savings into an upgrade of sorts like a larger HDD or more RAM
• Operating System – make sure to ask if they model you want has the operating system (OS) included. If you’re going legit, having it included saves some money.

Without further ado, here’s our 5 recommended laptop for your budget gaming needs that are under Php30,000:

[signoff icon=”info-circled”]Take note of the distinct model numbers of these laptops as most will fall under a certain model name and will have various configurations and prices. Price references for these laptops are Villman, Gigahertz, Complink, Asianic, etc. where model is available.[/signoff]

HP 14-r220TX

Specifications:

Processor: 2.1 GHz Intel Core i3-5010U
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 820M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
RAM: 2 GB 1600 MHz DDR3L SDRAM
Display: 14″ diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit (1366 x 768)
Storage: 500 GB 5400 rpm SATA

Price: 27990.00 Php

Available: AccentMicro, Asianic
The HP 14-r220TX features one of the latest Intel Processor for the i3 category which was released during the first quarter of 2015. This laptop is very well equipped for an HD 720p display resolution gaming. Gaming experience on this laptop will be decent. Thanks to NVIDIA GeForce 820 that features 2GB DDR3 of dedicated memory so 2GB RAM will not be a problem.

Lenovo IdeaPad Z4070

Specifications:

Processor: 1.90GHz Intel Core i3-4030U
GPU: 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 840M
RAM: 4GB DDR3
Display: 14″ FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 widescreen
Storage: 500GB HDD

Price: 28990.00 Php

Available: AccentMicro

The Lenovo Z4070 is one of those laptop that offers flexibility of hardware. Look for the one that offers the same specifications stated. This model of Lenovo Z4070 is equipped with 4th generation of i3 and it comes with NVIDIA 840m which is a much more powerful card compared to 820m to accommodate its 1080p resolution offering for smoother gaming.

ASUS X455LJ-WX042H

Specifications:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i5 5200U Processor
GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 920M with 2GB DDR3 VRAM
RAM: 4GB DDR3L 1600 MHz SDRAM upgradable
Display: 14.0″ 16:9 HD (1366×768)
Storage: 500GB HDD 5400 RPM

PHP29,999.00

Available: elnstore

The Asus X455LJ is probably the best laptop we can recommend out there that’s available. It is equipped with Intel’s latest i5-5200U Broadwell and come with a NVIDIA GeForce 920M. 4GB of RAM will be plenty for gaming while browsing.

MSI CX61-2PC I3045

Specifications:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-4000M 2.4Ghz Processor
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 820M 2GB
RAM: 4GB DDR3L ,up to 1600MHz
Display: 15.6″ HD (1366×768) / FHD(1920×1080) LED backlight
Storage: 500GB HDD 5400 RPM

PHP29,990.00

Available: elnstore

MSI actually offers some of the best gaming laptop available out there but the price range of their gaming laptop are above Php30,000. The CX61 support a 15.6-inch (1366×768) LED backlit screen which has undergone atomization treatment to remove all unwanted glare to make reading easier and less tiring on the eyes. I wish MSI provides new gaming grade laptop under Php30,000 soon and not just those high-end ones.

ACER ASPIRE E5-551G-812L

Specifications:

Processor: A8-7100 3.0Ghz Quad Core
GPU: Radeon R7 M265 2GB DDR3
RAM: 4GB DDR3L SDRAM
Display: 14″ HD (1366 x 768) 16:9 Acer
CineCrystal LED-backlit TFT LCD
Storage: 500GB HDD 5400 RPM

PHP29,890.00

Available: elnstore

Acer might be the only brand that offers the best gaming laptop from the AMD side. The Aspire E5 comes with AMD’s latest Kaveri APU A8-7100 quad core and provides gaming processing unit of R7 265m which is better than 820 in some games.

Regardless of what laptop you pick or if you have brand preferences, all of the laptop listed here are good for gaming. Our 5 recommended gaming laptops are designed to provide acceptable gaming on 720p resolution except for the Lenovo although experience suggests this thing can play Diablo III and other MMOs on decent settings. Asus offers the best among the list but that’s because some manufacturers aren’t releasing their latest laptop under Php30,000 yet. Lenovo offers the best flexibility and Acer represents the best gaming laptop from AMD. HP on the other hand has proven that they are the veteran in laptop manufacturing.

BossMac’s Notes: By definition, if you’re primarily a PC gamer that’s used to at least 60FPS on 1080p you’re options aren’t listed here. Most of the selection here are entry-level by comparison to their desktop counterparts but the point is, these models’ specs are enough to play majority of games at low to medium settings at a modest resolution like their native 1366×768 (or a preferred 720p). Those of you still in school looking to find an affordable model that can serve as your primary notebook in school while also doubling as a gaming laptop in the dorm or at home after class will find many of the models satisfactory especially if you’re into DOTA2 and other competitive gaming titles. If you’re into AAA games you’d have to settle to dialing down on the graphics settings.

If laptops aren’t your choice, you can check out our guide for building a gaming PC on a budget:

Php20,000 Gaming PC Build Guide – June 2015

Php15,000 Gaming PC Build Guide – 2015

If you’re complaining that these are multimedia laptops that can’t run GTA V in low at 60FPS, then you’re already well-educated enough to know the difference between playable, acceptable and optimal in terms of gaming performance and you already know that actual gaming laptops start at around Php40,000. We’ll cover those in a future article but in the mean time we’d like to focus on those fitting the above-listed budget.