Laptops and Gaming. Does It Work?

[Incompl te]

I'm thinking of perhaps getting a laptop for personal use (ie schoolwork) and the obvious gaming. However, as for the latter I fear that laptops may be a bad choice when it comes to games (Only high end laptops being able to play GOOD games, smaller screen, no mouse [can be fixed] etc.) (smaller keyboard [I have abnormally large hands] etc).

What are your opinions on this?

 

[Kiutu]

Yeah, this is something I am curious about too. Though I remember a bad experience with this. On a long road trip is when I bought NWN after seeing it in a store and thought it would be good during trips on my mom's laptop. It worked...mostly. I could not continue the story past the prologue because it would not load outdoor enviroments. Though this is probably why I liked the toolset so much since i just made my own indoor areas to waste time in.

 

[Flishiz]

I've been using my MacBook Pro for some serious gaming for a year now. It runs just about everything rather nicely, although that may be the 2.6Ghz processor talking.

 

[7moreDead_v1legacy]

A few of my clan/old guild members had game spec'd laptops. A few of them being Alien wares kit, which although being the bee's knees (well I was impressed) costs a small fortune.

http://www.alienware.com/products/area-51-m17x-notebook.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51M17X-GC&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

 

[DYin01]

Desktops are better for gaming than laptops. First of all they're cheaper. Secondly, they're easier to upgrade. It's also more comfortable (as you already stated) to play on a desktop because of the normal keyboard and mouse.

 

[Rolling 20]

My girlfriend and I use a laptop to play World of Warcraft. Not the most amazing strain on a graphics card, but still a good test of a good PC.

Don't under-estimate laptops. If you want to be a proper Pc-gamer then by all means purchase a proper custom-made PC. If not and you just want to play the occasional seasonal game....then a laptop works just as well.

 

[Incompl te]

Well they arent a bad choice per se. What it comes down to is how much money are you willing to spend, and what kind of games would you be wanting to play? There are manufacturers out there that can build you one to your very specific needs, but oh boy are they going to cost you. Altho on the plus side it should be a keeper for a while longer than your average college laptop.

Well the games would be along the FPS (TF2, Portal) and Guild Wars line.

Although from what I hear i'll invest in a new shiny comp. Or some accessories.

 

[kazork]

Because I travel a lot and stil like to game I use a laptop to game.
And i am very happy about it.
The laptop cost me 750 euros and it can play Far cry 2 with everything on High(except HDR)

So it is possible even for a average price (for a laptop at least).

 

[PandarenBa]

Depends on a laptop model.

You have to do a bit tweaking with them anyway, I've had my gaming laptop for half a year now... Plays WoW, Fallout 3 and other games pretty well on high settings.

 

[iJosh]

I have a MacBook Pro, So it runs pretty much anything smoothly.

 

[spoot-smeg]

I have a gaming laptop and it is doing just fine I have been using it for games programming and high end gaming for a while mine plays crysis just fine on medium to high and didn't cost a great deal

 

[crimsonblast]

laptops and gaming is a bad mix, but doable.

The best laptop is the Alienware specced machines for games. Buy them fast, because DELL purchased ALIENWARE, three years ago? and we all know what DELL will begin to shove inside to lower the costs, cheapest stuff they can find, but keep the profit margin high. This would be a business lesson but this is the Escapist Forums.

As pointed out above, Alienware is pricey, but worth the price to make sure you have no game frustration.

 

[furnatic]

If you travel, alot, then by all means. Just be ready to feel the damage done to your wallet. Being military, the gaming laptop is perhaps the best item in my inventory of non-essential crap I take with me on deployment.

 

[radioedit420]

I have a Toshiba Satellite, not a gaming laptop, but I can still run COD4, Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead, and other great (recent) games.

 

[Aqualung]

I use my Dell Inspiron 1525 right now to play Guild Wars and LOTRO. I have to set the graphics to a lower standard to run smoothly, but I don't really care about that. It does work, you just have to be willing to adjust.

I wish someone like Microsoft would start producing gaming-specific laptops.

 

[Vlane]

Well they arent a bad choice per se. What it comes down to is how much money are you willing to spend, and what kind of games would you be wanting to play? There are manufacturers out there that can build you one to your very specific needs, but oh boy are they going to cost you. Altho on the plus side it should be a keeper for a while longer than your average college laptop.

Well the games would be along the FPS (TF2, Portal) and Guild Wars line.

Although from what I hear i'll invest in a new shiny comp. Or some accessories.

I play those games on my old laptop (bought in 2007) and they run pretty well. If you buy a normal laptop now you should be able to play these games without a problem on the highest settings. It won't cost too much either. My friend has a laptop which can play Far Cry 2 on medium settings and he bought it for 700?.

Of course if you have the money you should buy a PC.