Gaming Laptops - Convert me.. Again.

[O.D.]

Not had a gaming PC in years. Bought an ACER gaming laptop about 4 years ago (i7 quad, 1gb DDR3 (I think) GPU, 4Gb RAM) and have generally been able to live with it quite happily, play most games on low/medium these days but it works and is still quite nippy.

My original justification for the laptop was that I was never at home, always on the road and needed something I could lug around to mate's houses, work, trains and various other things.

Now, my circumstances have changed and I'm in the market for a new machine. Not decided on laptop, PC or LAN box. Really don't know.

Are gaming laptops (These days) actually worth the £1,500+ price tag? Can they actually deliver what most people imagine they can deliver? I know benchmarks are benchmarks, but.. Are they actually any good?

 

[FrenchTart]

Assuming you don't mind doing a bit of research and building things yourself you can assemble a desktop machine that will do a better job (at playing games at least) than a gaming laptop for less than half that price.

A high-end gaming laptop will play games pretty well but if you spent the equivalent money on a desktop you would be playing games in higher res, higher settings and be able to play with those settings for longer.

If you no longer have the need for it to be a laptop I would say it's a huge waste of money to go that route. Just build a PC (go for a smaller form factor if you like.. won't be that much more cash than a regular PC but will be smaller in case you want to move around) and be done with it

 

[Frenzy]

Listen to the tart.

 

[roughavoc]

So start of 2013 I went with a Laptop, start of 2014, sold my laptop for a LAN box.

What you cannot find out from research is how you actually plan to use your laptop for? Will you be using it as a super portable PC+Screen? Just as a portable PC?

Little things with high end gaming laptops kinda make the word 'laptop' irrelevant. They usually require power to be plugged in all the time to get 100% GPU power, are heavy, battery life sucks for the most part and therefore forces you to use it as a portable desktop replacement

Also how much do you really travel? If you have a car and you stay round at your mates house for 2 days at a time, is bringing a screen and other stuff much of a problem?

To put it simple, if you travel a lot a lot Laptop
If you dont mind carrying a lot LAN PC

Ill put more about performance later on tonight

 

[Mirage]

If you want to be able to sit where you like to use the system, or take it on breaks/out of the house get a gaming laptop, otherwise - the above!

Personally, I've been using a GX660R for the last 2 years over the option of using a much better PC I built - just because I hated having to sit at the desk to use the system. I've just sold that PC as it's been unused for so long and I'm just about to splash £1.5K on a new laptop!

 

[Solaris]

Check this out... makes me want a gaming laptop again... http://www.aorus.com/x7.html

 

[O.D.]

Cheers all.

LAN PCs are something I've looked at, are they actually good bang for buck? Other than the space limitation, will they still perform the same as a high end full-tower setup? I know cooling etc is diffent (Imagine you can get fewer fans in?) but other than that?

I use to travel (Trains, long distance) a fair bit, now I'm more set in one place etc.

That x7 looks mad.

 

[Frenzy]

Looks exactly like the gigabyte one announced at CES solaris.

My laptop is a similar spec and does pump out a bit of heat on a single 765 when gaming so I'm wondering how this laptop will do with two! They either have an impressive cooling system on it or it is going to be very loud.

edit: OP, I never bought my laptop for gaming. I have my Desktop. How ever I find that I'm now gaming on my laptop because I can spend time in other places as a result of the portability.

 

[matthab]

Ive had an m17x r4 for a year now and would I go back to desktop gaming? Probably not.

Ok its more expensive and the performance isnt the same but I can still play all my games on high. I like i can play a game in the lounge, rock up at LAN events and take 5 minutes setting up verses a desktop and I didnt have to have the stress of building it.

 

[Nimdok]

Ive had an m17x r4 for a year now and would I go back to desktop gaming? Probably not.

Ok its more expensive and the performance isnt the same but I can still play all my games on high. I like i can play a game in the lounge, rock up at LAN events and take 5 minutes setting up verses a desktop and I didnt have to have the stress of building it.

I've had mine for some months now, but given the chance I think I'd still go back to desktop gaming. I love my m17x but the reason I went with a laptop in the first place was due to a lack of space at home and the added mobility for playing LAN games at friends' houses (it has been a godsend for this, no longer do I have to pack everything into a car and drive elsewhere, I can just stick it in a backpack and go). Was well aware of the performance hit I would be taking compared to the rig I could have built for the same money, but it struggles with nothing and I can easily play games like Skyrim, Crysis 3, Battlefield 3, FFXIV, Planetside 2, etc. on High - Ultra at 60FPS. There's a lot to be said for the advantage of gaming laptops for mobility and spacesaving.

 

[Solaris]

I've been through an 17" and 15" Alienware gaming laptop... Both of which almost landed me in the chiropractors... they are such a pain to lug about. I've also always had gaming PCs at the same time... the thing that made me stop buying gaming laptops is eyefinity. Having that peripheral vision during a game I just love it!!

 

[Sinque]

I'm in almost the same, slightly different shaped boat as the OP. I travel for down south and back home on weekends for work so I think a desktop would be too immobile for me so i've been looking at gaming laptops. Looking in the price range of around £800 maybe but i'm not entirely sure... Didn't want to create a new thread so attempting a hi-jack! Any ideas are much appreciated, sirs.