Best Gaming Laptops?
- Thread starter SonCamKu
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Gaming laptops and tight budgets don't really go together. TO get a solid gaming one your pretty much looking at a desktop with a battery pack that cost a ton more than an actual desktop. You can get a laptop with a okayish (for mobile)discrete gfx card for 1000ish. Honestly I tell everyone unless you have have to have and can't possibly live without a laptop to game its better to buy a solid 800 dollar pc that will smoke any gaming laptop and buying the best 300ish dollar laptop if you need mobile computing.
Downsides to gaming laptop, heat, battery life, way less performance per dollar, less support usually M gfx cards are not always supported where a mainstream r9 or gtx is always getting drivers or someone will make a work around for any wonky issues for your card.
Also something breaks good luck fixing it, you might replace HDD and ram but if your mobo or psu or screen dies your gonna be doing some work that isn't quite pull out and snap in new parts.
TLDR I hate gaming laptops.
Downsides to gaming laptop, heat, battery life, way less performance per dollar, less support usually M gfx cards are not always supported where a mainstream r9 or gtx is always getting drivers or someone will make a work around for any wonky issues for your card.
Also something breaks good luck fixing it, you might replace HDD and ram but if your mobo or psu or screen dies your gonna be doing some work that isn't quite pull out and snap in new parts.
TLDR I hate gaming laptops.
As someone who games on a gaming laptop, I must say this. Is the laptop part nessecary, or do you really need it? Playing a game that gets your fan going, sounds like having a fucking wind turbine next to your head. My screen is also in a state of being half-fucked, which means I have to wiggle it about to get my screen to pop up. Just a warning from experience.
Now about buying it. Don't touch Alienware with a ten foot pole. They will bleed you dry for a meh laptop. Go to Ibuypower [http://www.ibuypower.com/] for a decent gaming laptop. I don't know your budget, but I spent 1,500 dollars and got a pretty good gaming laptop in return. 660M GTX graphics card, 16GB of Ramm, Liquid cooling, and a terabyte of memory. They have sales for almost every holiday. I upgraded to the terabyte of memory for a dollar and twenty dollars to go from 8 to 16 gigs of ramm. They have a Halloween sale going on now, just FYI.
Now about buying it. Don't touch Alienware with a ten foot pole. They will bleed you dry for a meh laptop. Go to Ibuypower [http://www.ibuypower.com/] for a decent gaming laptop. I don't know your budget, but I spent 1,500 dollars and got a pretty good gaming laptop in return. 660M GTX graphics card, 16GB of Ramm, Liquid cooling, and a terabyte of memory. They have sales for almost every holiday. I upgraded to the terabyte of memory for a dollar and twenty dollars to go from 8 to 16 gigs of ramm. They have a Halloween sale going on now, just FYI.
I share the opinions of the other posters. Don't get a "gaming" laptop unless you really want to take it with you around town or need a laptop anyway and are tight on money. One of the things I hate about laptops, all-in-one PCs, and many OEM small form factor desktops is the proprietary parts that are hard to find and give you sticker shock that could reanimate the dead. (If I was an Apple fan, I'd be really pissed. The new Mac Minis and Mac Pros are incredibly locked down compared to previous models, and the iMacs require prying the screen off the get to the HDD[footnote]that hit or miss mechanical part that could die from one dust particle that got in it during assembly[/footnote] for a while now.)
If you have no problem with being locked down with most of the specs in your gaming PC, aren't going for high settings and want the portability, a $1000-$1500 laptop with a good CPU and good discreet GFX card is at least a decent investment. Just don't go higher. Past that, you're exponentially ripped off for every increase in specs. (Remember that Alienware warning.)
The good news right now is many PC games are being ported from the PS4 and Xbone and vise versa. Because those consoles are so anemic,[footnote]No offense to console fans.[/footnote] the ports to and from PC often don't have very demanding requirements. A gaming laptop isn't as bad of an idea as it was 5 years ago.
If you have no problem with being locked down with most of the specs in your gaming PC, aren't going for high settings and want the portability, a $1000-$1500 laptop with a good CPU and good discreet GFX card is at least a decent investment. Just don't go higher. Past that, you're exponentially ripped off for every increase in specs. (Remember that Alienware warning.)
The good news right now is many PC games are being ported from the PS4 and Xbone and vise versa. Because those consoles are so anemic,[footnote]No offense to console fans.[/footnote] the ports to and from PC often don't have very demanding requirements. A gaming laptop isn't as bad of an idea as it was 5 years ago.
In my experience MSI has the best power for the price but that price is always around 2k if you want good gaming. The Razer Blades have the highest esthetic, but if your after laptop pr0n I'd have to go for an over priced MacBook.
I had to have a laptop for work and picked up a HP Envy a couple years back that can play most of my games decently. For any real gaming I use a desktop, and a 32" TV.
I had to have a laptop for work and picked up a HP Envy a couple years back that can play most of my games decently. For any real gaming I use a desktop, and a 32" TV.
I actually do use a laptop as a pretty decent gaming device, as well as for most everything else I'd need a regular desktop. I tend to move around a good deal, and I don't ever really have much space for putting a desk into my room so it did kinda pay off for me in the long run. If you're curious, it's one of the Asus G-series and I've loved it so far.
That being said, if you're looking for something on a budget, you're really MUCH better off getting the desktop. I think after all the bits and pieces were added to it, the machine cost me roughly 1,200 or so? I'm pretty sure if you can build it yourself, a desktop with the stuff in my machine would probably run for 2/3's the price, maybe even less if you shopped around. I really wouldn't consider laptops if you're on a tight budget.
Any particular reason you'd want the laptop though? Also, what IS the budget you're looking to stick to?
That being said, if you're looking for something on a budget, you're really MUCH better off getting the desktop. I think after all the bits and pieces were added to it, the machine cost me roughly 1,200 or so? I'm pretty sure if you can build it yourself, a desktop with the stuff in my machine would probably run for 2/3's the price, maybe even less if you shopped around. I really wouldn't consider laptops if you're on a tight budget.
Any particular reason you'd want the laptop though? Also, what IS the budget you're looking to stick to?
Apart from being a fiddly pain in the arse to open up and access the bits you need to swap out it's more or less the same as working on a desktop.sneakypenguin said:
There are, however, 4 very important issues:
- the cheaper the laptop, the more components will be either integrated into or soldered onto the motherboard. Any of those go and its a full mobo replacement job. (and most 'factory solderng' isn't something you can do at home)
- components tend to be manufacturer specific for brands of laptop
- sourcing components can be a major pain in the arse
- replacement/upgrade parts cost a damned fortune.