Poll: Gaming Laptops

[atrain117]

I've been gaming on this laptop for the last three years (and it is a Dell!). So far, I haven't encountered a game that it hasn't been able to run and most new games can be run on medium settings or mostly medium with a few lows.

The main problem I had started about 1,5 year ago when I started to suffer from overheating when running certain games (Empire: Total War being the main perpetrator). Cleaning the fans and buying a Cooling Pad with fans has helped remove that problem entirely though and thanks to the elevation of the pad, I know have a much better working position when typing or playing a game requiring extensive use of the keyboard.

As a college student myself, I fully endorse the gaming laptop. I think it speaks volumes that all of my gaming friends have all switched to laptops and are happy with their performance.

XPS 1530?

 

[Colonel Alzheimer's]

snip

While that is definitely true about Alienware as a whole, the model I'm talking about actually seems about the same price as other laptops that can run games. Of course, I'm sure it's overpriced, but so are a lot of laptops capable of running games, and the Alienware laptop seems more than capable.
Also worth noting is that it is entirely possible I have no fucking clue what I'm talking about.

 

[octafish]

I'll join the chorus of nay-sayers, if you want a notebook for school that you take to class and carry around all day, look at a netbook or CULV, they are light, you should get 6+ hours of life out of their batteries, and you can still play some older classic games. I have a netbook and love it. I can't imagine taking notes in class with anything other than pen and paper, but I could imagine using it for essay writing in a library or cafe. I have a Toshiba NB200 which I bought based on positive reviews of the keyboard, as netbook keyboards can be a bit cramped. A netbook really shouldn't be your only PC though but you could get by with a CULV. I'd recommend a cheap business type laptop with good battery-life or a netbook, combined with a m-ATX Desktop with a lock. Best of both worlds and you can even setup a classic game LAN with your notebook and desktop.

Build your own desktop, it is easy, and a handy skill given you are going off to study and make your way in the world. Look for LAN box builds online to get an idea of size and specs. Oh and stay grounded when building your PC, I'm waiting for a new BIOS chip, because I foolishly static killed my Mobo.

If you feel you can only get one I'd say desktop, but keep an eye towards supplementing it with a notebook in the future.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

XPS 1530?

XPS M1710. It was expensive at the time, but it hasn't let me down.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

As a student who will be entering college next Summer, I've been considering purchasing a computer for school. However, for my entire life I've only been a console gamer, and I've wanted to get in to PC gaming for quite some time. I figured it would be nice if I could take care of both of these things in one swoop. Most people say that bringing a laptop to college is way smarter than bringing a desktop, so I had all but given up on gaming PC's until I heard about this [http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/alienware-m11x/4505-3121_7-33954404.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody;1r] (I'm obviously way late to the party)
If you don't feel like reading, it's a laptop from Alienware with a starting price of $799, with some pretty decent specs compared to desktops of a similar price. I'm pretty stuck about whether to get it or not, so I figured I'd pose the question to you. However, this isn't just about this one laptop, it's about gaming laptops in general. Are they worth buying? Am I being retarded because I won't have time to game in college? Is there another kind of gaming laptop that's better?
In case you're wondering, my price range is probably around $1000, although I could conceivably go a little higher than that at some point.

I got myself a good gaming laptop for around 730 pounds, which is a bit more than a 1000 dollars.

It's one of the Acer 3820TG line laptops. There are quite a few models depending on region (which is bullshit), but the German version I got has an ATI Radeon 5650 (1Gb Vram) which is plenty for most new games. I've been playing Dragon Age: Origins, Fallout 3, Mass Effect 2, Empire Total War, Starcraft 2 on medium-high settings. It also ran BFBC2 pretty well. It's also only 13" and weighs 1.8kg. Because it has no DVD drive, it has two fans instead and never overheats. It gets around 5 hours on battery life when you switch to the onboard graphics. I love the thing.

Shop around. Have a look overseas and consider shipping a laptop to the US (keyboards are easy to buy on Ebay, you can reinstall windows in English using an OEM cd-key legally). You will be surprised with what you find. Most people believe 'gaming laptops' don't exist simply because it's the 'conventional logic' and they never bother looking for themselves.

Edit: Oh yeah, and it beats out the Alienware M11x handily. Just google for a comparison.

 

[Dango]

Yes, and I'm on one right now, Asus make really great ones.

 

[PPB]

Ideally, you want a gaming desktop at home and a light laptop to bring on the campus. I've never been in a residence so I can't really comment on this if it's your case, but I guess it shouldn't be a big issue unless the room is very small.

On laptop usage in university itself, I think it greatly depends on what kind of classes you are taking. I like bringing mine because I spend a lot of time in the library and I want a convenient internet access for online textbooks and the like. While it's true that bringing a laptop to class isn't ideal in a lot of cases, some lectures will have you listen to a teacher who roots him/herself in front of the class and talks non-stop for hours. If it's all text, taking notes on a laptop makes organising, modifying and correcting your notes much easier.

So my personal recommendation is to get a desktop. If you feel like you would need a laptop to bring to classes or in the library, get yourself a cheap netbook.

 

[Paulie92]

I would buy whatever is best for the subjects you're doing and then see what games could fit it. You might be pleasantly suprised

 

[mikespoff]

Am I being retarded because I won't have time to game in college?

No, you will definitely have time to game in college.

On topic, while it's true that desktops are hugely superior to laptops for gaming, it is also not necessary to have a top-of-the line gaming machine to get a great gaming experience. The latest and greatest video card is generally overkill: dropping your games to "medium" graphics and tweaking some of the bloom, lighting and filtering effects will go a long way towards getting even the newest games to run smoothly on a mid-range machine. This is especially important when you consider that you'll be limited to the screen size and resolution of a laptop, rather than (let's say) a 24" LCD monitor...

 

[Googooguru]

I Got the Alien ware M11x ... God Damn awesome piece of Machinery..

 

[mikespoff]

So my personal recommendation is to get a desktop. If you feel like you would need a laptop to bring to classes or in the library, get yourself a cheap netbook.

An excellent suggestion. For working at home, a desktop is much more comfortable, stable and far better value for money. It's upgradeable when you decide you need a bigger harddrive. It lets you work long hours with much healthier posture.

If you try and get a laptop powerful enough to game and work seriously on (particularly if you get a big and comfortable keyboard and monitor), you'll end up with a brick that will be uncomfortable to carry around all day.

Ideally, get a gaming PC for home (which you can build for $600-700 quite easily), and a small netbook for a couple hundred bucks that you can use for notes and taking to class/library.

 

[StBishop]

I'd say save your money; buy an Asus laptop instead. They're damn good quality for the price.

I have an Asus N81-vg right now. It has an Nvidia GT 120M 1gb graphics card, a 2.4ghz dual core processor, and 4gb of RAM. Runs most newer games on at least medium settings. And this is a year old. It cost me $1000 USD! So you can get something even better.

Don't listen to the sheep that are going to come into this thread saying "Durhurhur gaming laptop dun exist buy craptop and gamin desktop insted lulz" because $1000 won't get you a good gaming desktop with a laptop as well, but it can get you a pretty good gaming laptop.

Isn't something that can run newer games on medium settings a gaming laptop? Granted, not a laptop designated for gaming, but a gaming laptop nonetheless.

If you really need it to be a laptop then yes its worth it, otherwise I'd just go with a desktop.

Yeah, I'd rather get a desktop but everyone keeps telling me that a laptop is the only way to go for college. Unless, of course, anyone here has had a different experience...
[sub]subtle hint[/sub]

I have had that different experience. I'll assume you don't live in Australia and point out that here, college = fancy highschool, I assume that where you live College = University or other form of tertiary education.

If that's the case, I don't take a laptop to uni, I take all of my notes in a notebook all the time. If I download lecture slides, I copy them into a notebook later. I don't use a laptop for anything other than research and typing up assignments.

And even then, It's exactly where it is now, on the coffee table in the living room plugged in to both power and lan'd interent rather than wireless. I essentially use it in the same way as a pc.

In the interest of full disclosure I don't game on my Desktop anymore as it died and I have severly limited funds to replace it with. If I wanted to play PC games, it'd be on a Desktop.

Alienware is owned by Dell and Dell is a trash company with piss poor build quality and customer service.

.

my computer is a Dell XPS and the quality is amazing, I can play Crysis max settings with mods with no lag, many things without lag. So I guess your state varies becuase myn isnt piss poor build quality.

Unless your specificaly talking about Alienware.

You're both correct. XPS's are good. All other Dell products that I have used (A considerable number) are shitty beyond compare.

Dell products in my experience, with the exclusion of XPS products specifically, are rubbish. As far as I'm aware this is generally accepted as fact by anyone that I've talked to who's used Dell products.

 

[StBishop]

Damn it! Double Post.

 

[stinkypitz]

Dont buy from alienware, you will pay much more than its worth. Browse newegg.com for something if you really insist on a laptop (newegg has great prices) but I strongly advise getting a desktop for gaming and a low-cost laptop to manage your college stuff. Thats what I do and it works nicely.

 

[Skuffyshootster]

I'm looking into getting an Asus G73jh [http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220695&cm_re=asus_g73jh_laptop-_-34-220-695-_-Product], and based off the specs and other pieces of info I've gathered, this thing is a steal for the price you'll be paying (for a gaming laptop, anyway).

If you're going to be playing a lot of games, you might want to consider shelling out the extra 500$, but if you're only interested in running a few, you should get something more in your price range.

 

[Lupeclan]

I would definitely consider buying a gaming laptop if your into gaming and, if you need a laptop for collage / university then if you get a gaming one its just better quality.

 

[Darkgoosey666]

my advice is this- im in the same situation and while i considered a desktop i decided against it because you can get laptops that are just as powerful , they just cost a bit more.

the laptop im getting is the asus g73jh with 8gb ram, 1tb hdd and 2.8ghz processor for 1070 pounds. i havent found a better deal than that yet.

 

[Catalyst6]

If you don't feel like reading, it's a laptop from Alienware with a starting price of $799, with some pretty decent specs compared to desktops of a similar price. I'm pretty stuck about whether to get it or not, so I figured I'd pose the question to you. However, this isn't just about this one laptop, it's about gaming laptops in general. Are they worth buying? Am I being retarded because I won't have time to game in college? Is there another kind of gaming laptop that's better?

I actually have the big brother of that laptop, the m17x, and I've never had any real problems with it. The power is more than necessary for high-level gaming, and the mechanics are top-notch. While a lot of the problems with gaming laptops involve overheating, the m17x has monster fans that keep it cool. I can run my laptop for hours on end and it'll still only be warm. Although, I wouldn't get the m11x, that thing is basically a netbook. Go for the 17, or at least the 15, to get a decent platform.

I have had a couple hardware problems (plastic bit in one of the USBs broke, one of the rubber feet fell off) but Alienware is REALLY good about fixing it. As in, they replaced my entire motherboard and the bottom panel of my computer for the respective problems, absolutely free.

Frankly, getting a gaming laptop is a matter of functionality. Yes, you could drop the dough on a desktop and a netbook, but why would you when a gaming laptop is more than sufficient? Plus, may the gods forbid if you want to play a game anywhere other than in your dormroom, such as at a lan party or just in a common hall. After all, power cords are just *so* hard to carry around. Yes, the laptop is big and so is the cord, but put it in a big bag and you're golden.

Really, the m__x series is a desktop that folds in the middle. The things are big and heavy as hell, but they're more than functional and relatively portable. Yes, you might not be able to run everything on Super Uber Maximum settings, but let's face it: you're in college now. You're not going to be able to afford to upgrade *anything* once you build your computer, regardless if it's a laptop or PC. Get the laptop, trust me.