Do People Underestimate Laptops?

[Soviet Heavy]

In terms of performance. Gamers will often say that if you truly want to get the most out of PC gaming, you are better off going with a desktop. While that is certainly true, I don't think people give laptops enough credit.

I had a Samsung R522, a 2009 model laptop. It has lasted me three years, and it has been able to play any game apart from The Witcher 2 at acceptable levels. Sure, I never got the bleeding eye 60FPS framerates, but for what it did it did well.

Everything ran off a 512MB 4300 series ATI card. Rather impressive for something so out of date. I had to retire this computer last week, and I got a new $650 dollar laptop to last me through school, and it has performed even better.

Mid range entertainment laptops are not the ideal gaming platform, but they do their job well enough, and for people who can put up with occasional framerate issues or lower graphical settings, they are ideal.

 

[aba1]

Even all that aside laptops usually cost twice as much for the same specs (roughly). They have a much larger tendency to over heat also. Plus desktops are customizable so you can upgrade them when the time comes and while you can do it with a laptop very few people can.

 

[Erana]

I'll trade high-res textures for being able to game wherever I want any day. In fact, I think that's one of the biggest advantages of non-console gaming; I can play Oblivion in a Hotel room, or play a round of TF2 as a break when setting up a show or the likes. And I have never found high-res textures or the likes as important to immersion as a game running smoothly; running a game on its lowest settings are fine for me, as long as the game doesn't start stuttering as soon as a battle starts and particle effects begin to fly. And for games in the price point I'm willing to pay for (I am not dropping $60 on a game that's going to be $20 in a few years) I don't really have a problem.

 

[Fappy]

Laptops generally don't last as long and are harder to maintain.

 

[Dags90]

Plus desktops are customizable so you can upgrade them when the time comes and while you can do it with a laptop very few people can.

You can also build them with blinking case lights. Do people underestimate blinking lights?

Moar LEDS!


One con of laptops: Much more likely to be dropped. This is an important point for butterfingers like myself.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Cost/Lifespan ratio is where me and laptops don't get along. They really need to make a gaming laptop that can be submerged in water, run over by a tank and set on fire and still work.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

In terms of performance. Gamers will often say that if you truly want to get the most out of PC gaming, you are better off going with a desktop. While that is certainly true, I don't think people give laptops enough credit.

You are spending twice as much for a machine that does the same, and that is more likely to overhead and not last as long.

Laptops add portability. That's it. In every other way they are far inferior to desktops.

Well put it this way: I don't want to haul a desktop to lecture halls, and I can't afford to get both a laptop and a tower. So I wait for a decent machine to go on clearance or hit a back to school sale, save 300 bucks and still have a machine that can do what I want.

It might not be the best machine overall, but it is the best for what I need to do within the price range I can afford.

 

[Melon Hunter]

Yeah, I've had the same thought. Particularly on the portability front: I move back and forth between university three times a year with a car full of stuff. A laptop that can easily slip into a bag is far easier than a whacking great tower and monitor, and that's not even mentioning when I move back and forth to lecture halls. The best desktop money can buy isn't going to be much use if you have to do a lot of computing on the go, but still want a machine that can play a selection of up-to-date games at an acceptable pace.

 

[eimatshya]

I've been gaming exclusively on laptops for years now. I've had to move around a lot, including to different countries, meaning that it hasn't been practical to have a desktop. I've never had any problems with overheating or noticed any difference in the lifespans of the two laptops I've had compared to the three desktops I've had.

That said, laptops are a lot more expensive. If I had some assurance that I would be able to stay in one place, or at least in one country, long term I would get a desktop over a laptop.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I used to games alot on my laptop when I started pc gaming more, but I could only manage low to sometimes medium specs and the heat the thing gave off after a few hours gaming I'm surprised my jeans never melted onto my skin. That and the inability to upgrade without buying a new laptop, I felt it was more suitable for me to play games on a desktop. Nonetheless my laptop served me well and is still going strong after 4 years of solid use, although it now has linux on it so gaming on it has taken a bit of back seat.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I bought a gaming laptop for me to use while at my university since I'd be doing a lot of travel back-and-forth by plane for vacations.

I paid way more for the laptop than I would have paid for the equivalent desktop PC, but the portability was worth it. For the most part it was adequate. It could run every game at max settings when I bought it, and toward the end of my four years with it I was still running new games at high settings... until it died from heat-related wear and tear about halfway through my second semester senior year. I was looking at about $900 in repairs to get it operational again, to which I promptly said, "Yeah... fuck that," and bought a gaming desktop after graduation.

Though the laptop got me through school, I think I'm unlikely to ever bother buying a gaming laptop again. The mobility was nice for all of the air travel I had to do, but wouldn't be a selling point for me under normal circumstances. Paying twice as much so that I can game while sitting on my couch just isn't worth it when I can just use my TV as a monitor instead and do the same thing.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I prefer desktop for gaming, netbook for word processing/internet myself. Sure a mobile PC gaming platform would be nice but I don't have the money to spend on an extra portable computer.

 

[lacktheknack]

An equivalent laptop will cost way more, be harder to repair, and, in my experience, will scorch you and itself if you try any newer games.

Desktop is significantly superior.

 

[Omnific One]

I paid $699 a year ago for a laptop that does pretty well pushing out near maxed Skyrim and the like at 30-45 FPS or so. So, OP, it really depends on which one you buy.

I have a desktop, too, and I game a lot more on that, and it's better. It, however, cost me only $500 total.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

It has lasted me three years, and it has been able to play any game apart from The Witcher 2 at acceptable levels.

[...]

Everything ran off a 512MB 4300 series ATI card.

If that's what you consider(ed) acceptable, more power to you. It served your needs well, and that's what counts. It was your computer, after all, and you were the one using it. I personally would not have been happy with something like that, but that's why I bought something else that met my needs instead. Hooray for having different options available. Yay.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

It has lasted me three years, and it has been able to play any game apart from The Witcher 2 at acceptable levels.

[...]

Everything ran off a 512MB 4300 series ATI card.

If that's what you consider(ed) acceptable, more power to you. It served your needs well, and that's what counts. It was your computer, after all, and you were the one using it. I personally would not have been happy with something like that, but that's why I bought something else that met my needs instead. Hooray for having different options available. Yay.

Gaming on a budget, you have to make concessions.

 

[Fiad]

I got a refurbished laptop off of ebay for 600 or so. Can play almost anything I have thrown at it. Dead Island being the only thing that lags on it for some reason. It works for me and that is all that matters. Plus, I can sit in the back of boring lectures and play video games and the professor is none the wiser.