Maingear’s new Nomad 15 portable gaming laptop boasts impressive specs

By Mika Turim-Nygren November 13, 2012

Image used with permission by copyright holder

When it comes to gaming laptops, buyers often face a direct tradeoff between high-end specs and actual portability. In fact, our review of the 5 best gaming laptops last month featured a number of 16-inch (and larger) behemoths that weigh in closer to a calculus textbook than a paperback. Maingear today announced its Nomad 15, which aims to offer the best of both worlds.

Complementing the company’s feather-weight option, the 11.6-inch Pulse 11, the Nomad 15 boasts a 15.5-inch 1920 x 1080 anti-glare matte screen and clocks in at an average 7.7 pounds – still not light, but not backbreaking either. More importantly, nearly everything in this Windows 7 rig is customizable. Choose your graphics card from the top-of-the-line NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M, GTX 675MX, 675MX, or GTX 680M, all of which allow for Maingear’s one-touch GPU overclocking. The third-generation Intel quad-core i7 processors run as high as 3.8GHz, complemented by up to 32GB of RAM and the option of dual hard drives, either SSD (2 x 256GB) or HHD (2 x 750GB).

Image used with permission by copyright holder

But the flashiness doesn’t end there: a backlit keyboard, built-in subwoofer, and complimentary hand-painted chassis (anything from lime-green to Lamborghini-yellow) amp up the cool factor. Both the optical drive and wireless card are upgradeable, while standard ports include HDMI, DVI-I, two USB 2.0, three USB 3.0, and a single Fire Wire. However, be forewarned that goodness comes at a price: the basic setup starts at $1,549, and an all-upgraded version runs a cool $2,599. It may be worth waiting for Maingear’s Black Friday sale, when at least you’ll get free shipping and bonus swag for your arm-and-a-leg.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Laptops

Mika Turim-Nygren

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Mika Turim-Nygren writes about technology, travel, and culture. She is a PhD student in American literature at the University…

Computing

Alienware sale: Get up to $1,000 off gaming laptops and PCs

The Alienware x14 R2 gaming laptop on a desk.

There’s a huge sale on all things Alienware at Dell right now meaning some fantastic gaming laptop deals and gaming PC deals are yours to snap up. That includes some surprisingly affordable gaming rigs right up to some maxed out options too. If you’re looking to treat yourself to a new gaming setup, take a look at the full sale for yourself. There are over 20 different models in the sale so there are plenty of options. If you’re not sure where to begin, keep reading and we’ll guide you through our favorite picks.

What to shop for in the Dell gaming PC sale
Dell is one of the best gaming laptop brands so checking out the best gaming laptops it makes is the perfect starting point. One of the more inexpensive options is the which is down to $1,400 from $1,750. It has an AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX processor, 16GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage. Even better, it has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card teamed up with a 16-inch QHD+ screen with 2560 x 1600 resolution, 240Hz refresh rate, and 3ms response time. It’s a perfect entry point to the gaming laptop world.

Web

Best Buy deals: Save on laptops, TVs, appliances, and more

best buy shuts down insignia line smart home products store 2 768x768

Best Buy is always a great retailer to turn to if you’re looking for some savings. There are almost always Best Buy deals taking place on TVs, appliances, and devices we use to navigate the digital world. In fact, right now at Best Buy you can find some of the best TV deals, best laptop deals, and best phone deals that can be shopped, and we haven’t even mentioned the deals on tablets and home audio equipment currently taking place at Best Buy. We’ve rounded up all of the best Best Buy deals you can shop right now and categorized them for your convenience below, so read onward for some great opportunities to save.
Best Buy TV deals

There may be no better place to purchase one of the best TVs than Best Buy. There is almost always some huge savings to find on TVs at Best Buy, and that’s certainly the case right now. You’ll find deals top TV brands like Sony, Samsung, and LG, and more budget-friendly brands like TCL and Hisense are in play, too.

Computing

This Razer gaming laptop with an RTX 4090 is $400 off for a limited time

The Razer Blade 18 on a table in front of a window.

One of the best gaming laptop deals is over at Razer with $400 off the Razer Blade 16. A high-end gaming laptop, it usually costs $4,300 but right now, you can buy it for $3,900. While that isn’t a cheap price by any means, it’s a good price for what it has to offer with some seriously high-end hardware involved. If you’re keen to learn more, keep reading while we take you through what to expect.

Why you should buy the Razer Blade 16
Razer makes some of the best gaming laptops around and the Razer Blade 16 demonstrates exactly what it does so well. It looks sleek and stylish with a subtle gamer aesthetic which means it looks as good in a coffee shop as it would as part of your gaming setup. However, underneath that sleek hood is some great hardware. It has a 13th-generation Intel Core i9-13950HX processor paired up with 32GB of memory and sporting a massive 2TB of SSD storage. The latter is perfect for gaming given so many titles take up an increasing amount of space but having twice the RAM of the average gaming laptop also futureproofs the Razer Blade 16.