For most people, any capable gaming laptop would be a bad deal. Too heavy, too expensive, runs too hot, too short of a life expectancy before the excessive heat fries things.
Gaming laptops really only make sense for people who are going to take a laptop somewhere and play games away from home. It does have to be plugged into a wall, however, or else a gaming laptop will drain the battery really, really fast. If you're a business traveler who wants to play games in hotels, then have at it. But just because you need both a laptop and also a gaming system, it doesn't follow that you need a gaming laptop.
There's another category of player who needs gaming laptops, people who have to sit in the living room and pretend to watch TV with their wife while actually gaming.
Now, I understand what you are saying about the heat issue, pretty sure that was the cause of all issues I experienced on my first Dell and then Gateway laptop. In fact, when the Gateway killed its 2nd motherboard, they gave up and sent me a new Acer to replace it, and fortunately I've gotten almost 2 years on it with no issues.
My advice is when purchasing high end gaming laptops always buy the best, maximum warranty you can and make sure the vendor is strong enough to support it. I've avoided literally thousands of dollars in repairs by having them in place, and like I said, got a free laptop about 2.5 yrs in on my last laptop.
Speaking of which, Quzzical, if you had to buy a gaming laptop right now, what do you think would be the best bet? Something in the under 2K range I'm thinking.
You might want to see if you can get away with having a desktop next to your chair, and then a keyboard or gamepad or some such in your lap and a monitor arm to mount the monitor in front of you. That offers some huge advantages from a technical perspective. Though if the issue is "wife wants you to pretend to watch TV with her", then you're leaving the realm of technical advantages and subject to the whims of your wife, so I don't know what she'll let you get away with.
In laptops, the major thing that drives performance forward is energy efficiency increases, as that lets you get more performance out of the same heat output as before. Die shrinks are mostly what drives that, and we're about halfway through a cycle of them. On the CPU side, Ivy Bridge launched at 22 nm a little over a year ago and Broadwell at 14 nm is a ilttle over a year away. Haswell is coming in about a month, but that's on the same process node as Ivy Bridge, so I wouldn't expect much in the way of energy efficiency gains under load.
On the video card side, AMD got to 28 nm with the Radeon HD 7000 series early last year and Nvidia got there with the GeForce 600 series around the middle of last year--though in both cases, you have to exclude rebrands of older cards. AMD will probably get to 20 nm early next year, and Nvidia probably several months later.
If you do want to buy a high end laptop right now, then you want a Core i7-3630 or better for the CPU, and a GeForce GTX 670MX, 675MX, or 680M or a Radeon HD 7970M for the video card. You definitely don't want the GeForce GTX 670M or 675M, as those are rebrands of some awful Fermi cards that should never have gone into laptops in the first place.
You'd presumably want an SSD, as well, and not just for the performance. If you're setting the laptop on your lap (indirectly as you describe), then you're probably going to shake the laptop some while sitting there. Hard drives don't like being shaken while in use. Solid state drives don't care.
I agree quiz, the only reason I am mentioning ultrabooks is because i judge from personal experience. after having a 3kg laptop for quite some time, i found that it was heavy and bulky to carry around and work/game. however, an ultrabook was perfectly fine, even though I had to moderate my gaming menu (but gog and my extensive backlog make sure i have always nice things to play, even if they are a bit dated). however, the powerfull laptop i had was very nice during the summer, when i go to my cottage and/of friends' houses in the country, where carrying capacity is not a problem since the laptop is not moved all the time. The same applies if you want to move your laptop in your house.
But, for example, I travel by train often and the trip is 5 hours long. I really like to be able to keep playing for most of that trip, and to be able to carry it around when i reach my destination.
I really think its all about what you need your laptop for. It so often happens that this is where most people stumble either before buying or after using the laptop for a few months.
I agree quiz, the only reason I am mentioning ultrabooks is because i judge from personal experience. after having a 3kg laptop for quite some time, i found that it was heavy and bulky to carry around and work/game. however, an ultrabook was perfectly fine, even though I had to moderate my gaming menu (but gog and my extensive backlog make sure i have always nice things to play, even if they are a bit dated).
Ultrabook doesn't mean "light" so much as "thin". 13" is going to be a lot less than 3 kg whether it's an ultrabook or not.
If you're looking for an ultraportable laptop that can handle many (not all!) games pretty well at low to moderate settings, then something based on AMD's upcoming Kabini chip would be ideal. That will be lower power than most ultrabooks, too, but it won't be an ultrabook because that's an Intel trademark that requires use of Intel hardware.
Originally posted by eyelolled The ASUS K55 Series is crap. It is some of the weakest construction I have ever seen in a notebook and I wouldn't spend money on it. You can click the touchpad buttons 3/4 the way up the edge of the touchpad. If you handle the notebook with one hand by the side, you'll hear the plastic cracking as it flexes from being to weak to support it's own weight. It's just garbage and though it pains me to say it, I'd say it's on equal terms to your average acer/emachines quality.
If you want a touchpad that works, get an external mouse and plug it in. You're never going to find a touchpad that is anywhere near as good as a simple wired laser mouse. Sometimes plugging in an external mouse isn't an option, but if it is, then do it.
That is a load of crap. Not even so much that you would suggest it, but that it would be an allowable excuse at all. If the cooling fan on the CPU didn't work as default, would you say it's ok just open the chassis and point another fan at it? If the keyboard didn't work so you had to plug in an external, would that be a viable reason to go ahead an purchase anyway? SCREW THAT. ASUS built a crap series of notebook, and nobody should let them off the hook for it.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
Originally posted by eyelolled The ASUS K55 Series is crap. It is some of the weakest construction I have ever seen in a notebook and I wouldn't spend money on it. You can click the touchpad buttons 3/4 the way up the edge of the touchpad. If you handle the notebook with one hand by the side, you'll hear the plastic cracking as it flexes from being to weak to support it's own weight. It's just garbage and though it pains me to say it, I'd say it's on equal terms to your average acer/emachines quality.
If you want a touchpad that works, get an external mouse and plug it in. You're never going to find a touchpad that is anywhere near as good as a simple wired laser mouse. Sometimes plugging in an external mouse isn't an option, but if it is, then do it.
That is a load of crap. Not even so much that you would suggest it, but that it would be an allowable excuse at all. If the cooling fan on the CPU didn't work as default, would you say it's ok just open the chassis and point another fan at it? If the keyboard didn't work so you had to plug in an external, would that be a viable reason to go ahead an purchase anyway? SCREW THAT. ASUS built a crap series of notebook, and nobody should let them off the hook for it.
Touchpads don't work as well as mice. It's the nature of the technology. Given a choice between a touchpad and a real wired laser mouse, you want the latter.
Now, Asus may be to blame for making an especially bad touchpad--meaning, worse than most other touchpads. I don't know if that's the case or not, but you seem to think it is.
Originally posted by eyelolled The ASUS K55 Series is crap. It is some of the weakest construction I have ever seen in a notebook and I wouldn't spend money on it. You can click the touchpad buttons 3/4 the way up the edge of the touchpad. If you handle the notebook with one hand by the side, you'll hear the plastic cracking as it flexes from being to weak to support it's own weight. It's just garbage and though it pains me to say it, I'd say it's on equal terms to your average acer/emachines quality.
If you want a touchpad that works, get an external mouse and plug it in. You're never going to find a touchpad that is anywhere near as good as a simple wired laser mouse. Sometimes plugging in an external mouse isn't an option, but if it is, then do it.
That is a load of crap. Not even so much that you would suggest it, but that it would be an allowable excuse at all. If the cooling fan on the CPU didn't work as default, would you say it's ok just open the chassis and point another fan at it? If the keyboard didn't work so you had to plug in an external, would that be a viable reason to go ahead an purchase anyway? SCREW THAT. ASUS built a crap series of notebook, and nobody should let them off the hook for it.
Touchpads don't work as well as mice. It's the nature of the technology. Given a choice between a touchpad and a real wired laser mouse, you want the latter.
Now, Asus may be to blame for making an especially bad touchpad--meaning, worse than most other touchpads. I don't know if that's the case or not, but you seem to think it is.
oh I agree that touchpads don't work as good as mice, and I'm not saying that using a mouse isn't probably preferred anyhow, but sometimes the touchpad is the best viable option because of the environment a person may find themselves in. In those sorts of times, a person shouldn't have to accept problems with a device to such an extent. Honestly, you can click the button 3/4 the way up the side of the touchpad. And the entire portion of the button area is also the tracking area, so if you decide to click "no I don't want that malware" and your finger slides a bit while clicking, you might be installing the malware instead.
Seriously, stop in at a store and try it out. It's terrible.
The user interface should be comfortable and friendly, not cumbersome and weak.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
Comments
You might want to see if you can get away with having a desktop next to your chair, and then a keyboard or gamepad or some such in your lap and a monitor arm to mount the monitor in front of you. That offers some huge advantages from a technical perspective. Though if the issue is "wife wants you to pretend to watch TV with her", then you're leaving the realm of technical advantages and subject to the whims of your wife, so I don't know what she'll let you get away with.
In laptops, the major thing that drives performance forward is energy efficiency increases, as that lets you get more performance out of the same heat output as before. Die shrinks are mostly what drives that, and we're about halfway through a cycle of them. On the CPU side, Ivy Bridge launched at 22 nm a little over a year ago and Broadwell at 14 nm is a ilttle over a year away. Haswell is coming in about a month, but that's on the same process node as Ivy Bridge, so I wouldn't expect much in the way of energy efficiency gains under load.
On the video card side, AMD got to 28 nm with the Radeon HD 7000 series early last year and Nvidia got there with the GeForce 600 series around the middle of last year--though in both cases, you have to exclude rebrands of older cards. AMD will probably get to 20 nm early next year, and Nvidia probably several months later.
If you do want to buy a high end laptop right now, then you want a Core i7-3630 or better for the CPU, and a GeForce GTX 670MX, 675MX, or 680M or a Radeon HD 7970M for the video card. You definitely don't want the GeForce GTX 670M or 675M, as those are rebrands of some awful Fermi cards that should never have gone into laptops in the first place.
You'd presumably want an SSD, as well, and not just for the performance. If you're setting the laptop on your lap (indirectly as you describe), then you're probably going to shake the laptop some while sitting there. Hard drives don't like being shaken while in use. Solid state drives don't care.
I agree quiz, the only reason I am mentioning ultrabooks is because i judge from personal experience. after having a 3kg laptop for quite some time, i found that it was heavy and bulky to carry around and work/game. however, an ultrabook was perfectly fine, even though I had to moderate my gaming menu (but gog and my extensive backlog make sure i have always nice things to play, even if they are a bit dated).
however, the powerfull laptop i had was very nice during the summer, when i go to my cottage and/of friends' houses in the country, where carrying capacity is not a problem since the laptop is not moved all the time. The same applies if you want to move your laptop in your house.
But, for example, I travel by train often and the trip is 5 hours long. I really like to be able to keep playing for most of that trip, and to be able to carry it around when i reach my destination.
I really think its all about what you need your laptop for. It so often happens that this is where most people stumble either before buying or after using the laptop for a few months.
Ultrabook doesn't mean "light" so much as "thin". 13" is going to be a lot less than 3 kg whether it's an ultrabook or not.
If you're looking for an ultraportable laptop that can handle many (not all!) games pretty well at low to moderate settings, then something based on AMD's upcoming Kabini chip would be ideal. That will be lower power than most ultrabooks, too, but it won't be an ultrabook because that's an Intel trademark that requires use of Intel hardware.
That is a load of crap. Not even so much that you would suggest it, but that it would be an allowable excuse at all. If the cooling fan on the CPU didn't work as default, would you say it's ok just open the chassis and point another fan at it? If the keyboard didn't work so you had to plug in an external, would that be a viable reason to go ahead an purchase anyway? SCREW THAT. ASUS built a crap series of notebook, and nobody should let them off the hook for it.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
Touchpads don't work as well as mice. It's the nature of the technology. Given a choice between a touchpad and a real wired laser mouse, you want the latter.
Now, Asus may be to blame for making an especially bad touchpad--meaning, worse than most other touchpads. I don't know if that's the case or not, but you seem to think it is.
oh I agree that touchpads don't work as good as mice, and I'm not saying that using a mouse isn't probably preferred anyhow, but sometimes the touchpad is the best viable option because of the environment a person may find themselves in. In those sorts of times, a person shouldn't have to accept problems with a device to such an extent. Honestly, you can click the button 3/4 the way up the side of the touchpad. And the entire portion of the button area is also the tracking area, so if you decide to click "no I don't want that malware" and your finger slides a bit while clicking, you might be installing the malware instead.
Seriously, stop in at a store and try it out. It's terrible.
The user interface should be comfortable and friendly, not cumbersome and weak.
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.