Hello everyone!

After reading a few different forums I have come to realize that the group of "experts" we have on Tomshardware seem to be the nicest and most patient. I am currently a Navy Reserve Aircrewman. As an aircrewman I get an opportunity to fly all over the world, which leaves alot of downtime in places, that for the most part aren’t necessarily the most fun to be in. I know that when I have flown into alot of bases there is usually an area where you can pick up wi-fi and such. I really enjoy computer gaming and I have a slim budget of about $1200. I know when it comes to building a comparable computer I will probably get taken for alot more money then I need to spend. If possible, I would really like it if someone could tell me about a good laptop that can give me the ability to play some of the newer games on mid settings. I’m not really much of a techy but I know you need a decent graphics card and good memory. If there are places with a military discount that would be a plus, but I know I will be pushing the envelope looking for a $1200 gaming computer. Thanks so much for any help!

Hm...1200....I've seen the Gateway P-6831FX drop as low as 1400 dollars...maybe you can find a way to get a military discount on that?

You can have a look at the Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800, it has a NVIDIA?GeForce?8700M GT card. And I have noticed that a deal on the Dell XPS M1530 15.4 inch 3GB 200GB laptop is $1199, it has a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT card. I think you can have a look at them.

i would check out dell they do gov discounts and they have the best hardware in notebooks they also own alien ware now (gaming notebook company)
the xps line is there gaming systems
i have a older D600 that i can play portal and a few other games well i am not at home in front of my xps that we got 30% off 10% for the gov and 20% off sale

Dell has great discounts.... I'd recommend at least an 8600m GT for gaming. You can now get a Vostro laptop with an 8600m gt for under $1000 now. I have the 1720 with the 8600m gt and can play all modern games just fine on medium to high settings.

In the next few months, AMD is supposed to be releasing the PUMA platform which should provide a decent graphics platform at a good price. Since all the low cost vendors should be offering the platform, your choices should be pretty good. Both NEX and AAFES have web sites so you should be able to check prices and new offerings. Since you're traveling all over the place, it'll be interesting to see what technology is offered in different countries.

P.S. - Thanks for serving

Thanks everyone!