Why gaming laptops?

[crudus]

Over the passed few weeks I have seen a lot of people asking advice for their gaming laptops, and I have never understood why people want to own these things. Ninety percent of the time you need to be within a power cord's length to a wall anyway at which point you have a mobile desktop(not a lightweight one either), the costs of a laptop can be up to twice as much for a desktop with same/similar specs, and heat is a big issue. I have heard people say mobility can be a factor to which I reply "buy an ultraportable or a regular laptop for the mobility, spend the difference on a desktop with better specs".

So please tell me from where this desire for owning a gaming laptop stems.

 

[IronStorm9]

Maybe these people are in college and don't want to have to lug an entire desktop + monitor out of storage every year.
<---- Is a college sophomore and wants desperately to own a gaming laptop, but has nowhere near the funds.

 

[Drenaje1]

Honestly? I have no idea. Everything you've stated is completely true. There's almost no reason to spend so much money on a 'gaming' laptop...sure it's portable, but why does that matter? Play lots of games when you're out on the town? Oh please.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Maybe these people are in college and don't want to have to lug an entire desktop + monitor out of storage every year.
<---- Is a college sophomore and wants desperately to own a gaming laptop, but has nowhere near the funds.

I'm an incoming college freshman, and that is exactly the reason I have a gaming laptop. After all, I NEED a laptop for school, my current desktop was top of the line 10 years ago, and I can't afford to buy 2 new computers. Therefore, gaming laptop it is.

 

[crudus]

I'm an incoming college freshman, and that is exactly the reason I have a gaming laptop. After all, I NEED a laptop for school, my current desktop was top of the line 10 years ago, and I can't afford to buy 2 new computers. Therefore, gaming laptop it is.

If you can afford to buy a gaming laptop, you can afford to buy a work laptop and build a gaming PC.

Maybe these people are in college and don't want to have to lug an entire desktop + monitor out of storage every year.
<---- Is a college sophomore and wants desperately to own a gaming laptop, but has nowhere near the funds.

Like I stated in the OP, just get an ultraportable or a regular laptop. It will be half of the weight at least(a tenth if you get the ultraportable).

 

[IronStorm9]

Maybe these people are in college and don't want to have to lug an entire desktop + monitor out of storage every year.
<---- Is a college sophomore and wants desperately to own a gaming laptop, but has nowhere near the funds.

Like I stated in the OP, just get an ultraportable or a regular laptop. It will be half of the weight at least(a tenth if you get the ultraportable).

But those laptops suck for gaming. My HP that I bought a year or two ago can't play any games made in the last five years (except DA:O for some reason).

 

[Mr. Omega]

I may primarily play on consoles, but I like to play a couple games on my laptop. There are also some I'd like to be able to, but can't. I'm not so much curious as to getting a new laptop, I'm more curious if it is at all possible to mod my laptop to get it up to date, or at least able to play Battlefield 3. I'm usually plugged into an outlet, and if I do take it outside, I'm not using it for gaming. The only issues I see is the heat, and the fact that modding it would almost certainly void the warranty.

Not everyone has the income to afford two computers, I only have this laptop because it was a combination of a high-school graduation gift and "birthday present". I have limited space to keep things, and I need something portable for school. The gaming is purely secondary. But being able to do some more stuff with it besides TF2 and really old games would be nice.

 

[Archangel768]

I always found that getting a regular laptop and a gaming desktop to be too expensive compared to just getting a gaming laptop.

I'm also pretty picky when it comes to speed so a regular laptop isn't going to cut it for me even when I'm just doing word processing etc for school/uni. I want something high quality. Also, for me, a gaming laptop isn't a laptop that can play games at full graphics, just a laptop that can play any game out there at the time at around medium settings.

Also, being in Australia, I find the prices are lot worse than other countries so that may be why buying a regular laptop (which to me isn't fast enough anyway) and a gaming desktop is just as expensive than buying a powerful laptop that can act as both. I just don't have the money to buy a gaming desktop on top of getting a laptop that is powerful enough to suit my wants.

Work laptops are usually too low quality for me and they slow down way to fast for my liking even when doing basic tasks. It just gets annoying.

 

[EdwardOrchard]

-Versatility. You can play high-end games with maxed out graphics, play movies and music, you can even write your thesis.
-Portability. Whether you're in your room, in the classroom (am I the only one who played WoW during boring lectures?), or on the GO-train for your hour long commute.
-Accessibility of Wifi. Even Gulak's Meat House on the floor above the corner-store has free wireless these days.

 

[Tim_Buoy]

some people just don't want to have to deal with 2 machines simple. Or they're like me and my family which like to game with each other during family get togethers and don't want to lug around monitors and a tower everytime.

 

[crudus]

But those laptops suck for gaming. My HP that I bought a year or two ago can't play any games made in the last five years (except DA:O for some reason).

I am begging to question if you actually are reading my posts. A (reasonable) ultraportable is anywhere between $200 and $400 and is only meant to work-related tasks. You can then build a good gaming desktop for around $700 which is meant for games. You would have a gaming computer with none of the laptops drawbacks, and you would have a laptop. If you tell me you don't have the money for that, then you don't have the money for a gaming laptop.

 

[IronStorm9]

But those laptops suck for gaming. My HP that I bought a year or two ago can't play any games made in the last five years (except DA:O for some reason).

I am begging to question if you actually are reading my posts. A (reasonable) ultraportable is anywhere between $200 and $400 and is only meant to work-related tasks. You can then build a good gaming desktop for around $700 which is meant for games. You would have a gaming computer with none of the laptops drawbacks, and you would have a laptop. If you tell me you don't have the money for that, then you don't have the money for a gaming laptop.

Being a college student, I don't have the money to buy two computers, nor do I have the money to get a gaming laptop. If I did, I would get a gaming laptop because it's more convenient than having to deal with two computers and more space-efficient for a small dorm room.

 

[OtherSideofSky]

I have to travel way too much to make use of a desktop for gaming. Once you factor in the cost of shipping the thing all over the world, it more than makes up for the price difference.

 

[Wharrgarble]

I prefer my gaming laptop to a desktop computer. It's as simple as that.

The supposed drawbacks aren't an issue to me.

 

[TeeBs]

Because I can't justify lugging a desktop around every where I go, and the whole buy 2 thing doesn't make sense to me. I would not buy a phone or a ipod if I had a iphone, not because it will cost more, but I love the fact that I can have it all in one system. I don't need to deal with personalizing multiple machines, downloading software twice and installing new stuffs twice. its more convenient to have it all in one. At least in my opinion.

 

[Sight Unseen]

My "gaming laptop" isn't a super expensive laptop that can run any game at the highest specs. It's a laptop that was given to me as a gift that can run most games at moderate settings. It's nice not having to deal with two separate computers, even though my laptop does now stay firmly attached to my desk, it's nice having the option to bring it with me anywhere I want relatively easily.

Now that I bought a tablet for school computing, my laptop is basically a glorified desktop ( USB mouse and keyboard and a separate screen, I don't actually have to touch it. But it does all I really need it to do well enough for my standards and, again, it was a gift. So I can't complain too much.

EDIT: Also my "gaming Laptop" is a Samsung R525, which retails at $549 and can play any game I want it to play, so it is almost cheaper than your "cheap ultralite laptop" and definitely MUCH cheaper than any desktop computer with the same specs, and it runs everything I need it to run and is portable-ish. No brainer to me.

 

[Korten12]

Well for one, it would be very annoying to bring a gaming desktop to your friend house if you want to play a game but not talk over the internet (such as what my friend and me do with Vindictus) and so a gaming laptop is perfect.

 

[crudus]

Really, did you need to make a thread for this?
Because people want a lightweight computer they can bring with them anywhere to play games on at all times. Because some people do not want to pack their "lightweight desktop", screen, cables, keyboard... Lightweight just became heavy as fuck when you have to bring all the other stuff to ey?

Yes I did, because gaming laptops aren't lightweight. I hear of ones hitting double digits in pounds (that's almost 5 kilos!) which is a lot heavier when you are carrying it. Now I haven't weighed my desktop and screen in a while, but it is in that order of magnitude(my rough estimate would probably be 14-15 pounds).

-Versatility. You can play high-end games with maxed out graphics, play movies and music, you can even write your thesis.
-Portability. Whether you're in your room, in the classroom (am I the only one who played WoW during boring lectures?), or on the GO-train for your hour long commute.
-Accessibility of Wifi. Even Gulak's Meat House on the floor above the corner-store has free wireless these days.

Versatility: A desktop can do those things.
Portability: The lecture thing sounds like a bad idea. While I can't refute gaming on a train, I will say it isn't the only thing you can do on a train.
The third thing: A regular laptop can do that. Also, do you really need to have internet access 24/7 wherever you are?

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

Depends on the person, for example, i travel to other continents weekly, so a laptop is a need, and being portable is infact an important factor for many people, and if they buy a super portable laptop which has shite stats, how can they game on it? you see i have the same question as you except for desktops. they are impractical, because high-end gaming laptops performance means low battery life, so both options need to have a power socket nearby, but if you need to travel/move/whatever, laptops are way better, and the heating problem can be solved tremendously easily