For those of you wanting to buy a gaming laptop

[BigTortoise]

I should tell you right now that a PC itself is a much better idea. The only thing a gaming laptop has over a PC is portability. Here's a little further explanation:

1. A gaming laptop's battery will usually last about 2 hours when put under heavy load (i.e. playing games.)
While of course a PC has a constant power supply.

2. Gaming laptop's are WELL expensive when compared to a PC.
Take a look at This gaming laptop [http://www.amazon.com/G73SW-A1-Republic-Gamers-17-3-Inch-Gaming/dp/B004I1J864/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313597361&sr=8-1]
The Asus G73 is probably the best you can get for a gaming laptop (Oh, by the way, Alienware is overpriced shit with a cooling system that will burn your house down.)
-i7 2.4-2.8GHz processor (Quad-Core)
-8gb DDR3 RAM
-GTX 460m gpu
-1TB hard drive space
$1500

Now, look at This list of parts from Newegg [http://i.imgur.com/g19gr.jpg]
-3.1-3.4 i5 processor (Quad Core)
-8gb DDR3 RAM
-GTX 560 gpu
-1TB hard drive
-High End motherboard with room for upgrades.
$750
If I had dropped to a slower CPU and GPU to exactly match the laptop, the PC probably could have been around $620.

3. Upgradeability
You can upgrade every single component of a computer. The only thign you can really upgrade for a laptop is RAM.

This also makes broken/defective parts easier to replace. Trust me, it's much easier to order your own replacement then send it back to the company and wait for a new laptop with a sky high bill.

4. You're going to college. The last thing you need is a gaming machine.
I know this only applies to some of you but I've seen topic where kids going off to college want a good gaming laptop. You ought to be more focused on school than video games. Leave it to when you come home for breaks.

In conclusion, I suggest everyone build a good tower for gaming and if you need a laptop, keep a decent $400-500 laptop for any traveling work.

__

While I'm at it I'm going to say one more thing:

Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Diablo 3, DotA 2, etc HAVE NOT BEEN RELEASED YET! Stop asking for machines that will run games which no one has played yet. We're computer experts, not magicians.

(If there's anything that still needs to be said, please say so)

 

[Togs]

Desktops maybe cheaper and better all round but people want the portability, and are willing to pay extra for it.

Also all work and no play make Jack a dull boy, college/university is not just about getting good grades.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Desktops maybe cheaper and better all round but people want the portability, and are willing to pay extra for it.

Thing is that gaming laptops aren't portable in the sense of 'carry around all day in your backpack'. They're bulky and heavy, they also chew through their batteries in short time which means extended use leashes you to a powerpoint.

They are, however, convenient if you've got limited living space and move around a bit.

 

[Zantos]

My greatest regret in this moving student house rubbish is that I've got a big heavy PC that needs carting around. When it comes to moving time, portability is totally worth it.

 

[Maxtro]

If one wants portability and be able to play modern games, there only really is one option.

Have two computers.

I just bought a netbook which I'm going to use for school and general web browsing.

Once Skyrim comes out I'm going to build a gaming PC that would also let me play the PC only games that I'm missing out on.

Buying both is still cheaper than having a gaming laptop and I get the best of both worlds.

 

[Episode42]

If one wants portability and be able to play modern games, there only really is one option.

Have two computers.

I just bought a netbook which I'm going to use for school and general web browsing.

Once Skyrim comes out I'm going to build a gaming PC that would also let me play the PC only games that I'm missing out on.

Buying both is still cheaper than having a gaming laptop and I get the best of both worlds.

This is exactly the approach i've taken. My main PC is a HP beast with decent specs, then i've got a little baby netbook for mucking about with the internet or if i want a PC to take somewhere, plus it's quick enough to run Half Life, so it's not exactly a terrible machine.

Combined they've cost me about £750, which isn't exactly a huge sum.

 

[MASTACHIEFPWN]

I've a gaming laptop, and i am extreamly pleased with it. For it's 700$ price tag, it can run crysis, has some hard drive space, 4gigs of ram, but it does have a weak processor. only downside. it's only like 4 pounds as well.

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

Have two computers.

This. This. This...

It's cheaper to buy a laptop for school and build your own desktop than to buy a gaming laptop that will be obsolete in less than two years anyway. Take it from someone (me) who went through three gaming laptops in six years. You have to replace them so frequently to keep up that it's not even worth it. Build your own tower rig and buy a cheap $500 workhorse laptop - it will still be cheaper than a gaming rig. The tower I built is a six-core beast that has more power than I'll ever need and barely scratched $1,500.00.

 

[Slaanesh]

I have both a gaming rig(cost me about $900 and this was like 2 years ago) and a laptop($650, from 2 months ago).

I got a laptop because I wanted portability and to be able to play my games if I'm over a friends place if they're hogging up the console(and my desktop was having freezing/crashing problems, so I'm trying to get to the bottom of the problem).

Honestly, my laptop isn't really a laptop, more like a portable desktop, if you know what I mean. Battery life is abysmal but this cheap bad boy can handle Crysis and Metro 2033 on medium-high settings. Whenever I'm at my cousins or friends place, I plug this baby in and BAM, its my home away from home.

Best $650 I ever spent.

 

[Archangel768]

2 problems.

A: Power Supply

Laptops do have a constant power supply. This is the power cable that plugs in from the wall. So that means that the Laptop has two options for power. Constant power supply and the ability to go portable for a short period of time, that being 2 hours on it's battery.

The desktop however only has the constant power supply. Moving it would mean that you would have to move it to another position where there is a constant power supply which is very limiting. The desktop does not have the battery.

So here it seems, the laptop has everything in power supply that the desktop has and MORE because it has the battery as well.

B: Pricing

The desktop listed on that link does not include a mouse and keyboard, a monitor, a set of speakers and no disc drive. The laptop comes with all of this.

A final point I would like to make is that the laptop can play a ton of games and it is easy to take the laptop anywhere you want and play them. You can't do this so easily with the desktop as it is really inconvenient.

My friend has a gaming desktop computer and sometimes my friends and I get together for a LAN, but, my friend finds it very frustrating to bring his computer because of it's size and the bother he has to go to, to disassemble it and reassemble it so instead he just got a gaming laptop for when he wants to game elsewhere outside of his home.