Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Unless you travel, why a laptop ?
delete5230
Member EpicPosts: 7,081
I was just on the Rift forums. As with many other mmo forums, someone is on a tight budget and asking about Laptops for game play. I was gonna comment on his post but I see this too often.
Now this is only my opinion, but why a Laptop ?......What's with Laptops ?..... I travel, I spend 40% of my time in hotels, I need a laptop, I'm an exception because most people don't. My gaming Laptop burned up a few months ago playing Vanguard on high settings, and I replaced it with a $400 non gaming Laptop, because It's just not worth it for gaming. I have a way better home PC.
You will pay at least $400 more for a gaming Laptop ( $800 ), yet you really can't ever upgrade, along with cooling problems...............I'm just asking Why a Laptop ?........Is it cool to own one ?
If your on a budget, Your Wayyyyy better off with a home PC !
Comments
I whole heartedly agree as I'd rather spend that extra cash on more horsepower, but for many people the ability to take their computer where ever they like, even if it is just within their own house, is a big bonus for many people and worth the extra money.
"Gypsies, tramps, and thieves, we were called by the Admin of the site . . . "
Gaming is still a young persons hobby, with the bulk being college students. Having a game capable laptop makes sense for someone who may be away from home for 8-12 hours a day but also may have extended periods between classes when they could take advantage to get work done or play for a bit.
Warhammer fanatic since '85.
There are many silly reasons people think they need one at home.
*it's easier to clean and move
*you can take it with you in your bed (<--- heard this argument many times)
*they like the look of laptops more
Most reasons are silly.
I feel the same, sure most other pc gamers do too, why spend more to get less of a PC (less of a life span as well)?
The only real reason to have one is for move-a-bility, but at most that usually consists of couch-to-chair if it's really used for gaming, and possibly as a space saver since desktops can/do take up a lot of space in a small room (needing the desk and all lol).
But the things you sacrifice for such things just isn't worth it if PC gaming is your concern.
Well, I had Alienware's gaming laptop some time ago. I spent a HUGE amount of money on it, even more than normal gaming (like Asus, Sager, Falcon...) laptops since with Alienware you are charged from the looks and brand too. I was okay with it, I wanted it. And I never had any problems with it. I could easily run most games maxed out and do all my video editing etc with it. It really was a perfect desktop replacer and for a moment I was very pleased on getting rid of that stuff that comes with desktops (chassis, big lcd, external keyboard etc.) They eat a lot of space.
Still, I always had the feeling that I'd rather play this game with my good ol' gaming keyboard and watch it from the big screen. Yeah, I could always hook my laptop into those, but then again, why buy a laptop if you just hook it into monitor and keyboard all the time?
Back then I also thought that "yeah I can do some gaming while I travel etc." and realised I was never actually doing it. I was too lazy to grab that huge lappy out of it's bag when in train or plane. And when I was visiting my friends or family, I had other things to do than sitting on my monster lappy.
So, currently I have a 15" macbook pro lappy that is still handy size and does all my work stuff very well. All gaming related stuff happens only in home, since that is the only place where I feel like relaxing and drifting into other realms for hours. And I just rather do it with style, with big LCDs, topnotch keyboard and mouse.
LAN parties.
Always read the small print.
1) To watch TV. Don't have a TV in the computer lair, don't want to put one in there. Fun to watch TV sometimes when doing activities in MMO's like farming.
2) To prevent from having to watch TV. - TV watching is my wife's favorite hobby, I'm not a fan, and yet if I sit in the same room as her and nod my head and say "uh huh" from time to time she thinks we're spending time "together".
3) To save my marriage - My wife hates MMORPG's/gaming and I found that just by playing on a laptop in the same room it made her happy and took away most of her anxiety as opposed to when I used to hole up in the lair so it's a small price to keep the peace.
4) When I travel. - Just got back from one of the many trips my wife takes me away on and it was great being able to game while in my hotel room in the evenings after we got back in or in the morning while I waited for her to get ready.
Sure, if I had my way, I'd be sitting in my den behind the best desktop/flat screen monitor I could afford, but real life circumstances being what they are I've been using expensive gaming laptops for over 6 years now.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Err, I got a gaming laptop because these damn Alienware laptops just look so crazy good ... no heating issues whatsoever with it, though. And at least at the moment, my laptop is the better gaming machine than my PC.
This.
Almost WORD FOR WORD.
Seriously, besides the fact that I occasionally do travel (at which point my backpack carries my Asus laptop, PS3, PSP, DS, and an Ipod) the laptop is able to be used my my SUPER comfy recliner. I put my feet up, watch TV, use the armrest AND the mouse. Who WOULDN'T want a gaming rig? I dislike being tied to my desktop (which I have but more because it still works... otherwise it'd just be another flatscreen). In addition to this, my laptop is able to get to EVERYTHING. So when I want to watch something on the TV via the laptop I either can just move it and hook it up (on vacation, families house, at home in the other room, etc) or play it through the 360/PS3.
Frankly, the 400+ is for the convenience. Take care of the laptop and it'll last about 2 years before you need to update. When you figure the cost at roughly 1500.. over 104 weeks... that's only 14 bucks a week. Skip the McDonalds.. get a laptop :-P
And as for heating problems.. my Gateway gaming rig had a cooling pad plugged into the USB. Since I upgraded to this Asus (which is quieter AND can sit on my lap without burning me/causing me to sweat) I'm much happier. Just read the reviews. The cooling situation on the Asus was a HUGE selling point for me.
This is the same for me.
The most common reason for a gaming laptop is because people don't know any better. There are people who have better reasons than that, though.
First off I'm not really on a budget though I am careful with my finances. I am 36 with a career and plenty of spare income to blow. I just picked up a used gaming laptop because I can get free public wifi at work and I like to have my own PC during downtime instead of using my employer's PC/network. I still primarily game on my custom build PC but most of my co workers have their own laptop on their desk so I got tired of borrowing theirs on their days off! I have no intentions of using my laptop at home. It's strictly for downtime at work and travel.
1) It takes up significantly less space and desk space.
2) It uses up far less power than an equivalent desktop model.
3) It doesnt need to be configured and usually the parts support each other.
4) It tends to have a one-place warrenty as opposed to ending up each individual part.
5) Stores tend to be pushing the laptops more and have a larger supply of them.
6) Stores tend to have mid-high end gaming laptops but no gaming desktops.
7) It has far better resale value when you want to upgrade.
8) It moves from room to room with you as opposed to being locked in one location.
9) Even if you dont travel now, you might later and entertain the possibility.
10) They tend to be "cooler."
11) They can be put away when not used unlike a desktop which is always there(IE a desk with a desktop on it is dedicated to the computer -- You can shove a notebook in a drawer and use the desk as a desk and only bring out the laptop when you need a computer.
Instead of looking down on home laptop users, consider the fact that people can do whatever they want with their money. Personally, my laptop is for downtime at work and I still game on a desktop.
Also, some people may not be as tech savvy as others and prefer the all in one aspect of a laptop. Either way it's nothing you should look down on others for.
Good points - that pretty much finishes up this thread for good!
1) And takes up so little that you don't have room to actually use it like a real computer, unless perhaps you have a separate keyboard, monitor, and mouse, in which case, you don't save so much on desk space.
2) You can get low power desktop models, too. Like laptops, they also offer low performance.
3) Actually, there's much greater compatibility among desktop parts than laptop parts, as a lot of laptops have to do custom things to fit the form factor.
4) If you buy a desktop that someone else built, you get the same one-place warranty.
5) If you want a selection, you don't buy in a store. You buy online from somewhere that will let you configure parts.
6) Same answer as 5.
7) A gaming desktop that is a few years old may well still be a viable machine, whether for gaming or otherwise. Not so for a gaming laptop that is a few years old, as it will offer too little performance for gaming, and run too hot to be suitable for anything else. Laptops tend to die entirely a lot sooner than desktops, too.
8) I'd rather have a machine that works well in one room of my apartment than one that works badly in every room.
9) If you want to take a gaming machine with you when you travel, then yes, a laptop makes sense. But see the title of this thread: "Unless you travel..."
10) Actually, no. Gaming laptops tend to run very hot. You can cool desktop parts pretty well if so inclined (nothing in my system goes over about 60 C even under an artificial stress test), but that simply isn't possible to do with a laptop using current technology. It's too much heat in too little space.
11) It's cheaper to buy another desk. And I don't have to take out my desktop and set it up again every time I want to use it. I guess for someone who is severely tight on space, this might be a factor, but even in college when I was in about a 70 square foot dorm room for two years, I had room for a desktop computer.
I don't really understand it either, but hey, it's their money. I try to avoid making any laptop recommendations at all, because I don't feel that any of them are good buys for gaming, especially gaming oriented "high performance" laptops, which may as well be portable lan boxes with bigger cooling problems. If that is what they want to buy, more power to them, it's not like I'm going to be forced to use it.
Most people I see asking for advice are college students looking for something they can lug around to play in-between classes, and haul between home and school. I suspect most of them are using Mom&Dad's money to buy it as well (everyone needs a laptop for school right?), so the price isn't a huge issue.
I do agree, you can almost buy two desktops with the same performance as an equivalent laptop, although when you start to factor in the peripherals (monitor/keyboard/mouse), and desktops last a heck of a lot longer (although they will go through an upgrade or two in their lifespan).
+1 for both Kyleran and Ikeda
We didn't get the laptops for us, we got them for our wives, so that we could keep our hobbies from going into some black hole.
Also, if people would shop around and get ASUS or Sager machines and not the overpriced Alienware bloat then it wouldn't be so bad.
It wasn't about having a tricked out desktop for me, it was about not giving up gaming.
SFxBA
I got a laptop because I tend to move around a lot. Nothing worse than travelling and having to lug around a big ole desktop and a big ole monitor...Heck even those micro cases are pretty bulky compared to laptops.
''/\/\'' Posted using Iphone bunni
( o.o)
(")(")
**This bunny was cloned from bunnies belonging to Gobla and is part of the Quizzical Fanclub and the The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club**
I have an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC. just got it last year for both School and -____- ( world of warcraft) which i no longer play " thank god."
I run everything on high quality with 0 problems. HP is annoying when you first buy t until you go through and delete all the pesty Ad programs in it and the Cd burner and entertainment center apps. After that you have 50gigs worth of extra space, right now im sitting on 1.4 terabites. (:
If you think you need a gaming laptop, then what you really need is a gaming laptop without the traditional drawbacks of gaming laptops: high price tag, runs too hot, fragile, and so forth. Not all of those are fixable in the laptop form factor. But Llano will fix some of them, coming this Spring, with integrated graphics built into the same chip as the processor. And that's integrated graphics actually meant for gaming, not the traditional low end chips that can only nominally run games. Appropriate bins of Llano will neither be unduly expensive, nor run dangerously hot.
Add in a solid state drive instead of a hard drive and you largely fix the fragility problem, too, as well as helping out with the heat and noise issues. Running a lot faster because you don't constantly have to sit there and wait for a hard drive to do something or other is nice, too.
That should make it possible to have a gaming laptop that can run any game decently at moderate settings, and for around $700-$800 or so.
It won't be high end performance by any means. Upgrading it won't be practical, and it will still be an awful pain to fix if it breaks. Touchpads won't magically become viable replacements for mice, and laptop monitors aren't suddenly going to get a few inches taller. But neither will it sterilize you if you actually set it on your lap, and then break entirely when you knock it off your lap and onto the floor. And surely that counts for something.
So even if you want a gaming laptop, the question isn't just why a laptop. It's also, why a gaming laptop, today?
Because society tells us it is ok to have a laptop. If you have a desktop you are a geek and a social misfit.. For example think about Tv shows of the last five years. Like, 24, Chuck, Lost, V, C.S.I whatever and Nip tuck e..t.c. The cool people just whip out there laptops in time of crisis and save the day. Because laptops are cool and streamlinbed and convinient and the very epihony of 00's culture. When that crap does not work for them they go to the computer wizard. Nine times out of ten nowadys is not some scientist in a lab with an archaic bunch of huge computer towers on a wall. It is some overweight besctacled nerd in his Mom's basement with Star Wars posters on his wall and an anti social atitude. For me, that is why most of us who use and build are our own desktops are so arrogant.
idk about the rest but my sager doesnt run hot at all. theh fur gpu test thing only brings it up to low70s
''/\/\'' Posted using Iphone bunni
( o.o)
(")(")
**This bunny was cloned from bunnies belonging to Gobla and is part of the Quizzical Fanclub and the The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club**
2 of my brothers went laptops because they are rarely home enough to make having a desktop worth while. They take their laptops out everywhere with them so that when they come over here or go to their friends or teh other brother's place or even just out to a place like starbucks they can get online and game with teh rest of teh family or even check up on new orders for work and watch videos on the go. I would go for one as well if I had teh funds to keep my Desktop,game collection, and console systems up to date since it is so much easier to take teh laptop to teh friend's/relitive's or Library even. Heck it would give me some thing to do outside since my health has been a little too poor to really do anything outside on a warm day other than lay out in teh sun. When most of your family and friends are gamers and visiting them means an over night stay any ways desktops are a pain to haul around with you. Lucky for me that the health keeps me at home inside most of teh time anyways.
I use my asus g73 as a back up to main rig. It comes in handy an allows my brother to watch hulu on wifi threw out the house an can game when i need. but my main rig is in a thermaltake armor + . its a full tower case that comes just past my knee when standing beside it. An its 480 zotac amp! stays cool around 38ish an with the fans in it i can keep cpu around 18-22 ish.
An yup use a nzxt cooler on the asus g73 laptop.Its not small either with a 17.3 inch screen .But for a back up comp it does just what i want for sevrial years i hope.Space was a factor in buying it .But eventualy when i build another comp it will be a desktop just like one im useing now.Which is 3 years old an still does fine can only hope the notebook lasts as long.Still paying it off after all.
But gameing on the notebook feels weird .Im to used to useing a microsoft natural ergonomic 4000 keyboard.Tho the asus keyboard lights up nicely its just not what i learned to mispell an poorly type on.
"Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing." Robert E. Howard, The Tower of the Elephant (1933)