Console style gaming with a laptop

Has anyone else been doing this? As someone who doesn't like putting a desktop PC in the living room, this is one of the better ways to do console like gaming on a PC. What I do: Hook up the laptop to the TV with an HDMI cable, set the sound to come from the TV, turn on the controller, and set the screen to only show monitor 2 (the TV). Having a wireless keyboard/trackpad helps with launching games from the couch.

There are several usability issues making the experience not as easy as a console. One of the bigger ones for me is a controller isn't always supported in games that have a console version. Other problems include: more frequent crashes and weird glitches than a console, needing to navigate multiple platforms (Steam, Origin, non-DRM games), games not detecting the GPU, and games requiring you to modify ini files sometimes. PC gaming on a TV isn't quite as easy and idiot proof as consoles but it's almost there. What are other people's experiences?

 

Other than racing games, I just can't stand a controller in multiplayer games, and since my laptop (ASUS N56DP) has a nice 1080p screen, great sound quality (for a laptop) even though I use headphones, and even a very good keyboard I just don't bother connecting my laptop to the TV in the living room unless I watch a Soccer game with other people and while gaming I have to have a mouse connected. I am planning on upgrading my processor to A10 5750m soon and I think that will let me use AMD's improved wireless display on windows 8.1 and I think ASUS' new Miracadt compatible HDMI dongle will let me do that so I will probably try gaming in this setup soon. AMD'S wireless display is supposed to have lower latency than Intel's so I am hoping that with the new ASUS RT-AC68U I just bought and a Killer wireless card I am planning to buy there won't be too much lag. Now I just wish Samsung UN8000 series had miracast support, even the evolution kit doesn't have it.

 

I sit my laptop next to my TV using the TV as a monitor. If it's not being used as a laptop that's where it lives. I have a wireless K/M and 360 Pad.
I love the experience. Sure sometimes you have to deal with the odd PC related bug but in my opinion consoles can't compare, but I'm pretty bias.

 

I have my desktop hooked up to my tv, pictures can be found here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/not...s-your-computer-room-2-a-310.html#post9494812

I use an xbox 360 controller, logitech flight stick, logitech racing cockpit, and a logitech gaming mouse + keyboard on table that is on wheels. For single player or co-op games like Left 4 Dead using the xbox 360 controller is great. When you run Steam in big picture mode, you can use the controller to navigate it, and really every new game released besides RTS/MMORPG's work with the 360 controller really well. however, if you are going to play competitive multiplayer like BF4, COD, Counter Strike, Rising Storm, etc.... then you will be destroyed if you play with the controller, and that's why I have the mouse+keyboard setup. Also, I usually mostly use the mouse+keyboard anyways for all my games because I prefer that setup, unless I play games like Devil May Cry or Metal Gear Rising. As for using several different platforms besides Steam to launch your games, you can put shortcuts to your non-steam games to your steam library, so that way you will only have to deal with steam. As for glitches and all that, that rarely happens on pc - and if it does a quick google search will fix that within minutes and you will never deal with it again.

If you look at my pictures you will notice I also have a xbox 360 there too, and I rarely play that.... I would much rather play on the pc with the smoother gameplay, better visuals, the mod supports, and of course the tons of pc exclusives such as DayZ and my old school pc rpg's.

 

Hey Mike, is this your treadmill PC setup?

Battlestation showcase: the best of your PCs | PC Gamer

Nice! Way to get featured on PC Gamer. :thumbsup:

 

Yes that's me :thumbsup:, but those other setups are mindblowing

 

does xbox one controller work with pc?or just x360?im buying soon one..which is better???

 

I think that only x360 controller is supported by pc not Xbox1

 

I tried this with some games that lend themselves to being controlled with a controller or a flight stick. Problems I ran into were that you need a fairly serious laptop to run games on the TV's native 1080P at decent settings, and, in the case of my old Alienware, there were some funny driver glitches when using the HDMI out. But in general it can be a great experience playing on a much larger screen and some games, especially console ports like Skyrim or Saints Row work really well that way.

Personally I have a desktop attached to a TV and a monitor with the displays mirrored (so I can use one or the other, depending on what I'm doing). I can also attach either laptop to either TV or monitor with some carefully placed HDMI/VGA cables. It's all wired in to a proper sound system too