Gaming Laptops

[Aeriath]

Thanks for the recomendation, but the thought of a laptop consistantly overheating, causing my inevitable infertility as a result is not appealing to me.

Have you thought about turning the brightness down?

If it would cause infertility I'm guessing you'd have it on your lap? In which case the overheating isn't nearly as bad, the vents are just badly placed for a flat surface. The laptop doesn't overheat very often, I believe the last time it did so was after a 7 hour session of Guild Wars and I think that's a more than acceptable time to call it quits.

I've never thought of turning the brightness down but I'll try it over this weekend (I'm at a LAN so I'll see how it goes =D).

 

[Little Duck]

I'm typing this on a laptop that can run Crysis on very high, and one that cost me some serious $$$. I've used it only a few times as an actual laptop, and when I have, it's super hard to manage. I love it for games, but looking back on it, I think it would have made more sense for me to just get a better, cheaper desktop and a net-book, or something comparable. That's my opinion, anyways. You can certainly find a happy medium between a laptop and a gaming laptop, and I could post some of the ones I looked at buying, but I would really recommend taking the advice of some of the other posters in this thread and avoid buying a gaming laptop, however enticing they sound.

Thanks, but I want Gaming because A) I like games and B)I've got an architecture course to do and some of the crap on there is high spec.

The laptop means I can port project around easy peasy without the need to install something twice or constantly changing equip.

 

[Deleted]

I dont think the term exists ha ha ha. My laptop can only play games before 2005.

 

[Megacherv]

This Christmas, I'm gonna treat myself and get a new laptop, but I want a really good spec one. Does anyone have any good sites where I can get all that for quite cheap?

PCSpecialist (checkd your profile and you are in the UK). Get one custom built. Cheaper and awesome

Thanks alot, just gone through this now. I have a laptop the same spec as the alienware I had my eyes on and for much cheaper. I'll keep an eye on it.

Mine's from there and around Alienware spec aswell, £856, which is fantastic compared to Alienware prices.

 

[Megacherv]

Gaming laptops fail as gaming machines, and they fail as laptops. Do yourself a favor and don't get one.

I have one and it's fucking amazing. You obviously need to buy from different people.

 

[sneakypenguin]

It's pretty obvious that you haven't read the other threads on The Escapist relating to gaming laptops, because if you had, you'd probably have noticed an irate man called RAKtheUndead detailing the reasons why gaming laptops are not viable. Among these are the price, the weight, the bulk, the tendency to overheat, and all of this in a package which can't even come close to competing with a gaming desktop of comparable specifications.

While true, and for most the netbook/desktop combo works great, but some of us do need a portable machine. Those of us who go back and fourth to school every week(kinda of a pain to pack everything up) or those of us who run rampant around town from house to house(or room to room). So for some a 1200 dollar laptop actually works out pretty well despite the admitted downsides.

Its just easier to throw a laptop and power cord in a backpack whenever the mood strikes for some rts action with friends.

 

[Little Duck]

It's pretty obvious that you haven't read the other threads on The Escapist relating to gaming laptops, because if you had, you'd probably have noticed an irate man called RAKtheUndead detailing the reasons why gaming laptops are not viable. Among these are the price, the weight, the bulk, the tendency to overheat, and all of this in a package which can't even come close to competing with a gaming desktop of comparable specifications.

And this same person has clearly not read the reasons on this thread why I don't want a desktop. OH SNAP! Also I do rowing, I'm getting fairly well built, I don't really care about a bit more weight.

Anyway here is my spec:

Processor: Intel® Core?2 Duo Mobile T9900 (3.06GHz) 1066MHz FSB/6MB L2 Cache

RAM: 4GB CORSAIR DDR3 1066MHz SODIMM - LIFETIME WARRANTY!

Memory - Hard Disk: 250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 16MB CACHE (7,200rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive: 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Graphics Card: 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX280M PCI Express

Paying £46 a month or £1876

What do you guys think. Thanks for your contributions by the way, I checked all the sites out, but went with PC Specialist. Love them. The overheating stories put me off the dell. If this one overheats, I'll attack it with artic silver.

 

[crimson5pheonix]

I have an Alienware M-15x and I enjoy it for LAN parties. But that's about it because my desktop is too awesome.

 

[Duke Nil]

Gaming laptops fail as gaming machines, and they fail as laptops. Do yourself a favor and don't get one.

Agreed. If you do, however, these guys have pretty good options at alright prices.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/default.php

Go for the i7-820QM, GTX280M, and 4GB RAM

 

[cleverlymadeup]

the unfortunate thing is there are gaming laptops, however the phrase cheap usually doesn't go with good, much like pimping and volvo wagon

tho i guess knowing your price range would help as well. tho i will say that Alienware makes some good ones, they are owned by Dell now, however they aren't the cheapest in the world but for the most part you can upgrade some parts, more than on normal ones at least.

 

[brunothepig]

Laptops are not for gaming. Not sure why. Mine will lag slightly with Crysis, or high specs Assassins Creed. I have 4 GB of RAM and an 1800 MB graphics card! Come on. My friend has a PC with worse specs in every way. Runs all our games fine. So, yeah. Laptops suck for gaming. Still, at least it's portable, and I mainly got it for programming and stuff. Still, wish I could play Crysis properly...

 

[Radelaide]

My laptop is an XPS m1530. Dell don't make them anymore, but they're decent machines if you give them the right equipment.

EG:
Hard Drive: 500 GB HDD
Processor: Intel Core Duo T8300 @ 2.40GHz
RAM: 4GB DDR2 RAM
Graphics Card: nVidia 8600M GT (Dedicated)
Operating System: Vista Ultimate 64-bit
Screen: Full 1680x1050 resolution.

Well, that's what I'm running and it is a nice little set-up. Runs sweet.

don't let anyone tell you they're shit. They're desktop whores

edit: okay, the only thing I can think of that I don't like about my laptop is the sucker overheats! If you're getting a gaming laptop, get a good fan for it to sit on.

 

[Gruthar]

Gaming laptops have their place, too. Although they're certainly never going to be as good as a gaming desktop, in terms of performance and value, they're still decent as you long as you don't expect to game on the battery. I start drawing the line at desktop replacements, but there are a few people who don't mind carrying around that bulk. I really don't understand what this crusade against gaming laptops is about.

I would use myself as an example. These days I spend a lot of time outside my home. I already have a decent desktop (well, more than one), but can't take them with me. And when I'm home, I don't really have time to play games, at least not this semester. At work, I have a lot of down time. I have a little bit of time in between classes. I would love to have a machine to be able to put in a few rounds on on those occasions where I have nothing to do. The ol' Centrino I'm typing on can't handle any game made after about 2000. It's basically an overweight netbook. So I'm keeping an eye open for deals. Most likely I'll go the same route I went with my Centrino; buy it broken and fix it.

The point is there are some decent laptops out there that can handle new games. Maybe not with all the eye candy enabled, but good enough. They don't all weigh 10 lbs or more. If you buy wisely (especially if you're not averse to refurbs), you can get one for around $700-800. Again, not as good as a desktop, but better than nothing for people for whom a desktop machine is not feasible.

Anyway, getting off my soapbox, I like the cut of Asus' jib when it comes to gaming laptops.

 

[Micklet]

Rizeon.co.uk. Its a small british company in the grand scheme of things, but they do some great work. They have bass models from which you can augment as you see fit to near on what you want. You can even leave out an OS, if you already have on spare and itl save you alot of money. I got one 2 years ago for 800 and it runs crysis on max settings, supreme commander rather smoothly and handles any of the new games coming out with ease. Of course I have a desktop too, but my god is this thing handy for college work and gaming on the go.

EDIT: the site itself seems to be down, but you can get in contact with the lads with the email addresses there. good luck.

 

[auronvi]

You guys probably even own iPhones. Shame on you.

iPhone hate and PC excuses

Look, my iPhone remark was tongue in cheek, I take it that your comeback is as well. So we're good in that front (I generally agree on your iPhone points, by the way, but my main complaint has always been that iPods are spectacularly overpriced).

As for your situation, I don't really have a problem with it, but you know that it is not the standard spiel you get from PC gamers. That would go more like this:

"PCs are more powerful and you get to set up your stuff however you want, and they are upgradeable and they look cool with all the blue neons strapped to it".

And okay, yeah, all of that is true, but they are also, again, terribly overpriced. For a reason, sure. The tradeoff is more power and flexibility, but if your reasoning is going to be that cost efficiency is key, then you want an Xbox, not a desktop gaming rig.

Laptops are just as overpriced as desktops, but not less convenient. They are a compact package, which is good for people like me, with space constraints. They are portable, which is good for people like me, who travel and move apartments a lot. They are typically easy to plug to a HDTV with HDMI and VGA outputs, so they can be fit in snug spaces in your media rack and used with wireless controls for handy, comfy couch gaming without sacrificing desktop working comfort. They are silent and power efficient.

And sure, expensive. Because you have to pay for all of that.

This is coming from a PS360PC owner (get that?). I don't see where you get where PCs are overpriced? They are if you try to keep on top of the technology on a month by month basis. For about $1000 I got my PC last year and yes I did splurge on a fancy case and some fancy lights but this thing is still a beast and I feel I got my money's worth.

Obviously I spoil myself and am conveniently in the need of a laptop and this forum convinced me not to go gaming rig with it seeing as I live at home with these 3 machines. If you really commute a lot to and from school/work or whatever and need a gaming PC I may have an option for you...

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/LAN_Party_Xtreme/

^^ I would buy this over a laptop as far as portable PC gaming is concerned. And yes I would lug around a monitor with it because I would see myself going to school for a couple weeks at a time and not come home every other day or anything but if you are moving around that much I guess the laptop would be best. Just wanted to show another option, always wanted an excuse to get one of these.

 

[Gruthar]

SNIP

Look, there is a big difference between "getting your money's worth" and "not being overpriced". You get your money's worth if you buy a Ferrari, but as a car it is damn expensive.

That is my point. You have a PS3, a 360 and a PC. How many games overlap over two or three of those devices? 90%? How many are exclusive to the PC? 5%? Yet your PC costs more than both your PS3 and your 360 combined. That is overpriced. Worth it? Yes. But expensive.

And, if you've been following, that monster of a box you point at would actually make my problems worse (although maybe solve the problems of the OP). I need something small and classy to fit below my TV, not a huge blue box that makes you tear your eyes out with a spork.

And my problem is not commuting, it's moving. Literally changing apartments. And long trips. There is no way I'm packing that in my hand luggage bag when I fly around, is there?

Might just be semantics, but PCs are not overpriced. They are general-purpose machines, whereas consoles are only for games, with a few other multimedia features tacked on. Different roles and all that. PCs are correctly priced for what they are, just more expensive than consoles if all you'll use them for is games.

 

[Tairan]

I think theres a laptop called "Alien Ware" that can run most good games but they are very expensive, but still if u want a gameing laptop this is the one to go for

 

[Baggie]

Unless you travel more than once a week and need a computer all the time, then a gaming laptop is a good idea. Otherwise they cost too much and a desktop pc is cheaper and better.

 

[Tranka Verrane]

www.newegg.com - best site in the world for this stuff.

Only if by 'in the world' you mean 'as long as you live in the US'.

 

[auronvi]

SNIP

SNIPITY SNIP

Might just be semantics, but PCs are not overpriced. They are general-purpose machines, whereas consoles are only for games, with a few other multimedia features tacked on. Different roles and all that. PCs are correctly priced for what they are, just more expensive than consoles if all you'll use them for is games.

Ya, that's the other thing. I do a lot more than just game on my PC. So we say it costs 500 dollars for a PC that can do the basics (browse, word process, Solitaire) then add what it takes to game, another 300-500 dollars and what do we have there? A price of a console!

And my "huge blue box that makes you tear your eyes out with a spork." was directed more towards the OP for a solution. The thing is only a little bigger than a Gamecube. I did agree with you that if you move a lot more than a bi-weekly basis that a laptop would probably be the best choice.

loluanomad?