Gaming Laptops ?

[Roadkill]

Having been thinking seriously about the long-term future of my P.C, I have been toying with the idea of Laptops.

I use my P.C for mainly internet / email . . . but also run AutoCAD.

I also (every now and then) use it for gaming.

Obviously I use it for iTunes and picture/music storage, too.

Long story short - I've had a butchers' at Dells 'site and it seems that you can get a substaintially more powerful laptop then the PC I have for around £500-600.



But I'm a F*cking n00b !

Someone enlighten me . . . . what would "do" me ?

EDIT - Budget is absolutely never gonna be more then £650 !

[55starchief]

Just remember that laptops dont last as long as a desktop PC. If you pay the big money you get one that lasts like the mac sammy is using which is now 6 years old but was £1000. Its the old adage you get what you pay for mate

[Cunning Plan]

Lappys have come along way, they used to be quite far behind desktops and extremely expensive..

Now their tech is as good as desktops but as said above, they are harder to upgrade to make them more futurproof.  They are also normally more expensive, figure out of the air, normally around 1/4 more than the equivilent desktop.

I have a modified desktop and a lappy..  The lappy isnt as quick as my old computer even though the lappy isnt even a few months old, but thats because i didnt spend much on it as I only wanted it for the net when i am away and typing in bed like I am right now.....  Which is one of the perks of a lappy..  Even though its a low-ish spec, it will run all design programs (not at same time) and browse the net without too much hassle..  Going to stick another gb ram in at some point though which will help it out..

Its a tough call dude, depends how much you are away from home and ultimatly how much you want to spend..  A gaming laptop is always going to cost alot more than the same desktop..

Sorry if that has just taught you to suck eggs...

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

Sorry if that has just taught you to suck eggs...

What're eggs ?

No, all fair comments.

One of the main reasons of me considering a Laptop is space.

Factor in the monitor and tower and desk and it's taken up a fair portion of the lounge.

I was toying with the idea of moving it to the second spare bedroom but it'd end up occupying nearly quarter of the room by the time you've allowed space around and for sitting . . .

I'm just not sure I want that much of my house dedicated to a PC.  I hate having a TV for the same reason (not that that's going, obviously).



My PC is due an upgrade (over due in fact) so if I'm gonna do it now (or soon) is the time.

[Cunning Plan]

PC is going to be cheaper to upgrade, that said there is only so much you can upgrade before you might as well just buy a completly new system..  I mean, if you want dual core / quad, it means changing the mobo, probably the psu, need a good graphics card etc etc..

If you just dont want the space used and youre not that much of a hardcore gamer, i would start looking more seriously at lappys  Get one with a haaauugeee screen and you wont be missing that, also with wifi you can post from your caddy outside

[55starchief]

If it was me it would be a refurbed 20"imac with either XP r Vista on bootcamp. Edge is happily running a cad program on his imac wih vista and i know for a fact that the intel macs will happily run BF2 and flatout on a windows petiion. I even managed to get BF2 running under OSx albe it lacking some of the graphics which im sure i can figure out with some tweeking. You should easily find a refurbed 20"imac for the budget you have and there will just be a monitor as everything is built in

[art b]

we have 4 lappys and two desktops and they all have different specs, but for most stuff they are great, love the lappy on wireless can use it anywhere in the house ,office,garden, hotels etc etc
wouldnt use em for games though......

[art b]

we have 4 lappys and two desktops and they all have different specs, but for most stuff they are great, love the lappy on wireless can use it anywhere in the house ,office,garden, hotels etc etc
wouldnt use em for games though......

[ianjpage]

Right then - basically as peeps have said there are pros & cons for both:

Laptop....
Pro
Less Space
Portable

Cons
Harder to upgrade / repair
Higher initial cost for high spec

Desktop
Pro
Easier to upgrade / repair
Cheaper overall

Cons
More space needed

Obviously wirelesss, ethernet, DVD drives etc are available for both so that's not really an issue, its more the spec of the laptop will have to be as high as you can afford initially as about the only things you can upgrade are the RAM and the hard disc, whereas on a desktop if you Gfx card is old, you pop it out and replace it.

It really does honstly depend on what you want to do with it - obviously you can get th elaptops to play games (as Andrew & Phil had at the weekend) but they are not cheap at all....whereas the equivilant / higher spec desktop will be IMO a lot cheaper.

If you go for a nice high spec gaming laptop, you are talking something like the following spec:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.00 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 4 MB L2-cache)
17.0" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™
2048MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x1024]
160GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
256MB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 graphics card
Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-PCI Card

This is £979 quid!!!

OK i know you can get lower spec BUT think about this - will that spec work in 2 -> 3 years time when you get a new game.......

What i personally would do is sort the PC out so that it works and has  afairly good spec, and then if you really want to have the portability of a lappy is to save up for a nice cheap laptop (my sister bought one for 299-99 a few weeks ago) that will allow you to surf, email etc so then you got laptop for everything else and a pc in the corner / somewhere for when u want to game.......

[Roadkill]

I was looking at something like this :

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/iip_notebooks?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/iip_notebooks?c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&s=dhs

(The one on the right) ?



Dunno.

[Cunning Plan]

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/150194/dell-xps-420-core-2-quad-3gb-500gb-/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/150194/dell-xps-420-core-2-quad-3gb-500gb-/

[Roadkill]

With maybe an upgrade on the graphics card and battery ?

[ianjpage]

Quoting: Roadkill

I was looking at something like this :

Hmm not bad but has only got 128mb Gfx memory, and seeing as that si something that either be non upgradeable or very hard to upgrade 256mb should really be the minimum...

Hmm looking at teh models there.....tehre is this one:
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5450 (1.66 GHz, 667 MHz FSB, 2 MB L2 cache)
2.0 mega pixel Camera & Tuxedo Black for CCFL Display
15.4" Widescreen™ WXGA (1280x800) TFT Display (220nits) with TrueLife™
3072MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [1x2048+1x1024]
250GB (5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive
NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 8600M GT with 256MB dedicated graphic memory
Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW Slim Slot Load drive, including SW
Intel® Pro Wireless 3945 802.11a/b/g Mini-Card - Europe - Core 2 Duo Processors

Obviously the downpoints to this compared to the other are that its only 1 1.66ghz cpu rather than a 2ghz and it has a 15.4 widescreen rather than 17" .....but should do most of what you want i would think - depends on how you could handle going down to a 15" widescreen - as yours currently runs at 1280X1024 res and this has the wierd res of 1280X800 res.....

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/150194/dell-xps-420-core-2-quad-3gb-500gb-/

Holy $hit - that's mega overkill !

[Roadkill]

Quoting: ianjpage

Hmm not bad but has only got 128mb Gfx memory

Quoting: Roadkill

upgrade on the graphics card

An extra £40 goes to a 256MB card.  

[ianjpage]

hmm true, i think the thing to do is say ok i have x amount of money - what is the best laptop i can get for that amount then ramp up the Gfx, CPU and RAM to the max

[Big Mouse]

I know nothing about this sort of stuff but wouldn't an upgrade of the PC with a high end TV card and wireless keyboard answer all your problems?

No portability I know, and you can't watch corrie at the same time as playing a game but lifes never simple is it?

[55starchief]

I know you wont lbe intrested but this is now available on the apple store

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA877\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA877

Pretty much the spec you want and remember its all built into the screen and in a year or 2's time its still gonna be worth something as HRC has said in ther past

[FUBAR]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/150194/dell-xps-420-core-2-quad-3gb-500gb-/

Thats a pretty good deal!!

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Big Mouse

I know nothing about this sort of stuff but wouldn't an upgrade of the PC with a high end TV card and wireless keyboard answer all your problems?

I already have reasonable graphics and a wireless mouse and keyboard.

It's just that I'm due an upgrade (new mobo, ram ?, GFX card, cpu - I'm guessing £300+) and dislike the fact that I loose so much space to the PC.

At least a Laptop can be hidden in a drawer somewhere and should be good for a couple of years at least.

Quoting: 55starchief

I know you wont lbe intrested but this is now available on the apple store

http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA877\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObjects/ukstore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA877

Pretty much the spec you want and remember its all built into the screen and in a year or 2's time its still gonna be worth something as HRC has said in ther past

I quite like that.  The RAM's a little poor.

If I was definately going to stay with a desk-top type I'd certainly look into Macs.

I do like the fact that they're ALOT less obtrusive.

[EDGE]

he's hanging on the edge of decision...

all we need now is for smeone to reel him in...

[Roadkill]

"The Force is strong in this one . . "



I do like the look of Mac's, I'll admit.  Also the build quality (which I appreciate) is clearly superior.

But it'd be like getting a new mobile phone.  I don't do gadgets.  I hate having to learn anything new.  I purposely get the same type of mobile everytime just so I don't have to waste my precious time  learning a new one.

It's not that I'm lazy, it's just that I don't get excited over stuff like that.

[55starchief]

Quoting: Roadkill

I quite like that. The RAM's a little poor.

Edge has 2 gig of ram he took out of his machine im sure he would be interested in passing on for beer tokens, alternatively he bought 4gig for £60

[Kenny]

Quoting: Roadkill

I'd certainly look into Macs

NOOOOO! dont do it - step away from the light... come back to the dark side, its more fun down here

My company gives me a discount at Dell 3% upto £599  6% over £599 so if you want one let me know.

[55starchief]

Quoting: Kenny

NOOOOO! dont do it - step away from the light... come back to the dark side, its more fun down here

yeah on your hands and knees surrounded by PC parts as you struggle to make the thing work