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Gaming Laptops?

SailSail
edited March 2007 in Everything Else
I'm looking to buy a gaming laptop over the summer. Anyone have any recommendations?

Also, can anyone comment on the quality of Alienware, Voodoo, and/or Widow laptops?

Comments

  • KieyKiey
    edited March 2007
    I can't comment on those, but personally if I was going to get a gaming laptop this is the one I want: http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m2010?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

    Unfortunately its like $3k.
    Post edited by Kiey on
  • AprecheApreche
    Gaming laptop is sort of an oxymoron. Gaming with a laptop generally sucks. For less than the price of a gaming laptop you can get a gaming desktop that is more powerful. The batteries in a gaming laptop don't last long at all. If you get one with a nice screen for gaming, it will be heavy, big and hard to carry around. Keyboards on laptops are just no good for gaming at all. You're going to end up just plugging a mouse and keyboard into it and sitting at a desk to play. The only reason to get a gaming laptop at all is to make it easier to carry to LAN parties. If you aren't going to LAN parties, I suggest you just get a gaming desktop. If you are going to LAN parties, I suggest you get a gaming desktop with a MicroATX or similar form factor motherboard and case. You can get small enough desktops these days that are actually lighter than a so-called gaming laptop.

    If you insist on getting a gaming laptop, just pick one. They're all the same basically. You pay a lot of money, and you get a big fast laptop. Dell XPS, AlienWare, it's all basically the same. Just pick whichever one you like.
  • Hitman HartHitman Hart
    If you're going to do the latest and greatest, you're screwed with a laptop, but like I do mostly emulation and now Star Control 2, and they run fine, and I also have the number pad built into the keyboard, so I can do some stuff, and then once you have a good gamepad, you're in business
  • AprecheApreche
    If you're running Windows XP, or Vista more likely with a new laptop, you can use a wired XBox 360 controller as a gamepad. It's awesome.
  • BromleyBromley
    I have a Dell XPS M170. I bought it before they really even advertised the release of this generation of PCs. It runs fantastically, and it has exceptional capabilities to this day. I'm going to upgrade its RAM, CPU, as well as drop in a newer Nvidia (this chip set seems to work better with Dell components) card some time in the next 8 to 12 months. At about 2,500 a year ago, I'd say it was a good buy.

    Scott does, however, have a whole point about desktops. They are much better in all respects, but I really like that I have a laptop that's really easy to take to someones house, and can within seconds be capable of running something like Half Life 2 at pretty astounding graphic levels.
  • AndrewAndrew
    If you're running Windows XP, or Vista more likely with a new laptop, you can use a wired XBox 360 controller as a gamepad. It's awesome.
    That's what I use for my flying in games. You can also use your Wiimote if you have built it bluetooth. Here are my laptop spec's

    Sony VAIO SZ series
    • Intel Core Duo Processor T2500 @ 2.00 GHz each
    • 2 Gigs of RAM
    • nVidia 7400go
    • The ability to turn off my 7400go and use the built in graphics chip (Nice for saving battery) as well as ability to turn off my wireless card
    • Extremely Lightweight < 4lbs (I'm not exactly sure about this, but I think it is around 3.3lbs)
    • 13 inch LCD screen
    I'll be pretty much set gaming wise with this laptop for a while. The one downside was that it was EXTREMELY pricey. Normally I would not have gotten it but I received a $2000 scholarship which made this laptop only really cost me around $800.
  • KieyKiey
    You really only need a gaming laptop if you are going to a LOT of LAN parties, or LAN events, and you have a lot of money to spare.

    Otherwise you are probably much better off getting a gaming rig desktop in a mini case. Those things are almost as portable as a laptop, they aren't as pricey, and whats key is they are upgradeable.
  • SailSail
    edited March 2007
    Although it may sound strange, this laptop is going to be my main computer. The reason I jumped to the conclusion of getting a gaming laptop is that I want to still be able to use Steam. Size, weight, battery life, etc. really isn't an issue. I'll be using it at home and places with outlets when gaming, and anywhere else I'll just be using it for school stuff, web surfing, and watching anime.

    Perhaps someone has an alternative. I've got no more than 2k to spend, and that's even pushing it. I want something that's gonna last me at least 2 years, hopefully much more, and 4 years optimally.

    Buying a desktop is certainly still a possibility, though.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • JasonJason
    This is hilarious, because last night I bought my wife a new laptop. She wanted all the bells and whistles, and whined when I gave her a stripped-down 2.8ghz Dell with 1Gb RAM. She was whining that she wouldn't be able to watch streaming video if she only had a 60Gb HD (let's just say she isn't a mighty h4xx0r). I slapped some sense into her. It's a laptop for word processing and Internets access so she can do college coursework for her master's degree; she doesn't game at all. I explained that she will never do anything that will outstrip that machine's processing power. Ever. Ever.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Tell her to put stickers of flames on it. It will go faster then.
  • AprecheApreche
    Get a desktop man. Only get a laptop if you are going to move around. For a little over $1000 you can get a desktop of awesome. Meanwhile my laptop, which can't game at all, cost almost $2000. If you aren't going to move around a lot, buying a laptop is just a waste.
  • SailSail
    I have resolved to build a desktop.

    See? This is why I come here =)
  • RymRym
    Don't forget that you can make a fairly small and compact desktop PC with the MicroATX form factor. These are reasonably portable for LAN parties, especially when accompanied by LCD monitors.
  • AndrewAndrew
    Don't forget that you can make a fairly small and compact desktop PC with the MicroATX form factor. These are reasonably portable for LAN parties, especially when accompanied by LCD monitors.
    It's going to be pretty damn hard to get some of the new video cards into a MircroATX case. Those things are massive.
  • kenjurakenjura
    Get a MacBook Pro.

    You can dual-boot into Windows for gaming. (Install XP 32-bit if it works, 64-bit if it doesn't; skip Vista) You can also play *THE* game right in the OS (that would be WoW). I'm also a firm believer in pirating the OSX version of games you already own for Windows.

    It should run everything modern just fine, and it will last a long time.

    I really doubt you can beat the performance and utility of the MBP at the same price without going desktop. I highly recommend it as a main PC for anyone relatively computer savvy (oddly enough).
  • AprecheApreche
    I'm also a firm believer in pirating the OSX version of games you already own for Windows.
    Wait wait wait. You have to pirate WoW for Mac if you own the Windows one? You have to pirate WoW at all? I assumed you could just go to Blizzard.com, download it for free and then pay money to play the non-trial game. I knew access to content in the expansion cost money, but the game itself? Wow.
  • AndrewAndrew
    I assumed you could just go to Blizzard.com, download it for free and then pay money to play the non-trial game.
    Yup. To get WoW and BC will cost you around 50 to 60 bucks, and that is just for the software itself.
  • kenjurakenjura
    No, you do not have to pirate WoW for Mac. The install discs will work for either OS. The same is true of Starcraft. I haven't tried Warcraft III, but there's a good chance that works as well. Who'd have thought you could put dual-OS support on one disc?

    Hint, hint every other game developer besides Blizzard.

    And yes, the game does cost money. I'm not sure why they insist on getting their $40 for the expansion, which requires the original, which also costs money; after all, they make most of their money on monthly costs.

    However, it's worth it. I've blown $50 on far too many games that didn't last. I don't begrudge Blizzard making money on something that I like. But I do wonder if their insistence on charging money is almost meant to serve as a premium, elevating them above low- or no-entry-cost MMO competitors, who might be seen as cheap for offering the game at a low price.

    Guild Wars tried to appease the $15/month whiners by not having a monthly cost, not to mention addressing virtually every complaint I had about MMOs back when I, too, was the kind of person who judged games without actually playing them. Turns out everything I thought was wrong. Turns out the actual content and gameplay are what's important, not the rhetoric. World of Warcraft is #1 for a reason.
  • AndrewAndrew
    World of Warcraft is #1 for a reason.
    You mean there are other reasons than just being psychologically addictive?
  • VentureJVentureJ
    edited March 2007
    $19.99 for the actual game and a 1 Month Free Subscription.
    $1.99 for the actual game and a 10-Day Free Trial.

    You don't need Burning Crusade.

    If you already have the account, you could just pay $2 for the game. It's really not that bad.
    Post edited by VentureJ on
  • SailSail
    edited March 2007
    I need something to play TF2 on. I'm not buying a Mac. I've invested too much on Steam games to throw them all away.
    Post edited by Sail on
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