Gaming Laptops
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Alienware M-15x With 2GB of RAM, an 8600GTS, and a 2.1 GHz Intel CPU. If you get the 1440x900 screen it will work, but why a laptop? A desktop is much better for gaming. If you were playing LAN party games, I could understand, but these are single player RPG's. So why?
I have to do a lot of traveling and waiting. I have a laptop that won't play them because of the graphics card (Hewlett Packard junk). I have a desk top that plays Oblivion at medium with very little lag (maxed graphics stops it in it's tracks though). It can't seem to handle Fallout 3 well either. I added a larger graphics card, fan and power supply just to play Oblivion on it.crimson5pheonix said:
As far as the portability goes, I have been dragging my 360 and a 15.4" flat screen around, so any laptop would be an improvement.
Bah, the PC Nazi's are idiots anyways.
The big downside is that for a good gaming laptop you end up paying at least twice what a desktop is going to run you. So look at paying at least $1500, if not quite a bit more.
What you want is a decent processor (dual core, 2.1ghz) and at least 3 gig of ram (which means yur gonna be running Vista, 4 is going to be better for you). Look for a laptop that is using either an ATI or an nVidia chipset (not an intel or some other type) for the video, and has _dedicated_ ram for the card. Your sound won't matter too much, if you really need better sound pick up an external USB soundcard or something.
Gateway makes reliable laptops, as does HP. Dell seems to have partnered with Alienware, and those are some pretty nice gamer laptops. The Lenova laptops seem pretty reliable also.
Okay, so here are the problems with a gaming laptop:
*Small screen (usually you get a 15 - 17" screen, but they are good screens)
*Heat (laptops get very hot, so playing for a long time could be a bad thing)
*Control (you will need to buy an external mouse, period. Trackpads are worthless for gaming)
*Longivity (gaming laptops seem to have lower battery life, probably because they have more power than a normal laptop)
*Repairs (you can't repair a laptop yourself generally. Should _anything_ break you are without a PC for awhile)
Now the gaming laptops are not too bad for portability really, what with how nicely things are getting condensed. Basically check one of the major manufacturers and see what they have under gaming laptop. 6 to 15 pounds isn't too bad.. I take my desktop machine to PAX every year.. the first year it was still in a big heavy full tower case and weighed in, just for the main box, at close to 60 pounds.
The big downside is that for a good gaming laptop you end up paying at least twice what a desktop is going to run you. So look at paying at least $1500, if not quite a bit more.
What you want is a decent processor (dual core, 2.1ghz) and at least 3 gig of ram (which means yur gonna be running Vista, 4 is going to be better for you). Look for a laptop that is using either an ATI or an nVidia chipset (not an intel or some other type) for the video, and has _dedicated_ ram for the card. Your sound won't matter too much, if you really need better sound pick up an external USB soundcard or something.
Gateway makes reliable laptops, as does HP. Dell seems to have partnered with Alienware, and those are some pretty nice gamer laptops. The Lenova laptops seem pretty reliable also.
Okay, so here are the problems with a gaming laptop:
*Small screen (usually you get a 15 - 17" screen, but they are good screens)
*Heat (laptops get very hot, so playing for a long time could be a bad thing)
*Control (you will need to buy an external mouse, period. Trackpads are worthless for gaming)
*Longivity (gaming laptops seem to have lower battery life, probably because they have more power than a normal laptop)
*Repairs (you can't repair a laptop yourself generally. Should _anything_ break you are without a PC for awhile)
Now the gaming laptops are not too bad for portability really, what with how nicely things are getting condensed. Basically check one of the major manufacturers and see what they have under gaming laptop. 6 to 15 pounds isn't too bad.. I take my desktop machine to PAX every year.. the first year it was still in a big heavy full tower case and weighed in, just for the main box, at close to 60 pounds.
I have a Falcon Northwest Fragbook TLX1. The company currently is currently pushing the new TLX2, making mine obsolete. I've had this computer for a little over a year and half now, and despite it's age, it still runs Fallout 3 with only a few hiccups, although for silky smooth game play I have it set to a midpoint between low and medium.
If you're looking for a good gaming laptop, and you have the money, I tentatively recommend Falcon. I say tentatively because I've had some persistent, annoying, but not serious technical problems with it. Almost all of them are due to oversensitivity issues in the computers external buttons. The optical drive pops out at the slightest provocation or pressure on it, which would not be a problem except that the optical drive is rather fragile and I've had to repair it twice. It is also difficult to get to turn off in any real capacity. The pressure sensor on the computer's on button is waaay oversensitive, and will cause the computer to turn on even if just gently prodded and picked up. The fine people at Falcon fixed the problem once, only to have it pop up again. It also has a weird problem were if the computer's Li-on battery burns out, the computer will freak out and not turn on again until it gets a fresh battery, regardless of whether or not it has a charger plugged in. Furthermore, the computer gets very little battery life because it's equipment is being so demanding.
That being said though, my Falcon laptop is the best I have ever had. Despite being a year and a half old (and somewhat outdated), and despite being the smallest desktop replacement the company sells, apart from niggling technical errors, it has managed to keep up with most of my friends desktops. While for the most part you'll be playing games on medium, for an outdated gaming laptop with great portability, that's pretty impressive. Also, despite the niggling technical difficulties, I've had this computor for a year and half without any serious internal hardware issues (that weren't caused by me being careless.) It works well with Vista (the only real BSODs I have had were due to heating issues. I had some other miscellaneous ones, but updating my BIOS and video drivers solved that). It has a 1680 by 1050 native resolution, and a very pretty screen. The keyboard is great too, complete with a full number keypad.
Before I forget:
180GB HDD
nVidia 8800GTM graphics card
4GB DDR2 RAM
2.4Ghz Pentium dual core
Absurdly good heatsinking
Like I said, it's a gaming laptop that's actually feasibly portable, and damn sexy to boot. The new one just came out, and is pretty sweet methinks. Only issue is that it costs absurd amounts of dough, but if you're actually in the market for a gaming laptop, you probably have that money to begin with.
If you're looking for a good gaming laptop, and you have the money, I tentatively recommend Falcon. I say tentatively because I've had some persistent, annoying, but not serious technical problems with it. Almost all of them are due to oversensitivity issues in the computers external buttons. The optical drive pops out at the slightest provocation or pressure on it, which would not be a problem except that the optical drive is rather fragile and I've had to repair it twice. It is also difficult to get to turn off in any real capacity. The pressure sensor on the computer's on button is waaay oversensitive, and will cause the computer to turn on even if just gently prodded and picked up. The fine people at Falcon fixed the problem once, only to have it pop up again. It also has a weird problem were if the computer's Li-on battery burns out, the computer will freak out and not turn on again until it gets a fresh battery, regardless of whether or not it has a charger plugged in. Furthermore, the computer gets very little battery life because it's equipment is being so demanding.
That being said though, my Falcon laptop is the best I have ever had. Despite being a year and a half old (and somewhat outdated), and despite being the smallest desktop replacement the company sells, apart from niggling technical errors, it has managed to keep up with most of my friends desktops. While for the most part you'll be playing games on medium, for an outdated gaming laptop with great portability, that's pretty impressive. Also, despite the niggling technical difficulties, I've had this computor for a year and half without any serious internal hardware issues (that weren't caused by me being careless.) It works well with Vista (the only real BSODs I have had were due to heating issues. I had some other miscellaneous ones, but updating my BIOS and video drivers solved that). It has a 1680 by 1050 native resolution, and a very pretty screen. The keyboard is great too, complete with a full number keypad.
Before I forget:
180GB HDD
nVidia 8800GTM graphics card
4GB DDR2 RAM
2.4Ghz Pentium dual core
Absurdly good heatsinking
Like I said, it's a gaming laptop that's actually feasibly portable, and damn sexy to boot. The new one just came out, and is pretty sweet methinks. Only issue is that it costs absurd amounts of dough, but if you're actually in the market for a gaming laptop, you probably have that money to begin with.
Lies, lies and deceit. There is nothing wrong with Intel parts. I just want to say that I go with whoever makes the fastest parts at the time. Intel makes the fastest parts right now and there is nothing wrong with them. I use Intel processors in both my laptop and my desktop and they both run Oblivion and Fallout well.Skizle said: