Curious - reasons you picked notebook gaming?

This is something I've been wondering for a while. I don't game on any of my notebooks - not even to any significant degree on the dual-8800 XPS M1730 I used to have - and I wondered about the rationale for a gaming enthusiast to buy a notebook.

I have two desktop systems which I built specifically for gaming, which allow me to play the latest games down in a manner I think is acceptable, and every time I stick a game on a notebook even with a (let alone two) decent mobile GPU I feel it's a huge compromise.

What made you choose a notebook over a more capable desktop? Is it mainly a factor of being able to afford only one system?
(For a careful chooser I wouldn't have thought so as costs for a higher-end gaming notebook, or a Netbook/CULV+good desktop would be likely to be similar) Or is it that you're constantly on the move when you want to game and it was a compromise worth making? Or is it something else? Interested in your take.

 

In my case portability (many of my friends now live miles away), noise without completely revamping my desktop system (and its nice to feel like you've got something new when you spend money), power savings to keep family members happy because they don't realise the minimal effect it has in reality (I did the maths as I pay the bills) and also my family social care, sometimes its rather handy to be able to walk off with my system!

There's also the space element. Yes, for the money, if I'd spent it on a desktop I could be running Crossfire 5870, eyefinity 24" etc which'd have been awesome, but if I could fit it in...well that's another story. I can't afford to rent a larger place right now!

 

I originally picked notebook gaming back in 2006 because it allowed me enough mobility to move around the house and setup in different places whenever I felt like it. It also allowed me to take with me some reasonable gaming capabilities when I went elsewhere (which was not often).

Eventually in 2008 I realized a desktop would be much better suited to my needs and as such I built one. Desktops make much more sense for me now since I don't mind playing in one spot and I really don't have the need for a mobile gaming machine.

 

Well truthfully....I didn't know any better. My asus g50vt a1 was my first computer ever and I was determined to get a laptop and then when I was looking at laptops I decided, hey why the hell not, a gaming laptop.
I love my asus g50 to death except that it acts like a desktop (Sits on top of my desk on a cooler almost all the time) and I can't upgrade it
so yea.... thats just me, But other people bring gaming laptops with them to there friends houses and stuff.

Mines nice because whenever I go on a long vacation somewhere I can bring my whole rig with me.

Also it's very nice just being able to grab my system and leave my house if I need to, as alex said.

 

That's another fair point I forgot to make, whilst I could have gone for a desktop and a laptop, ironically it was worth some money to me not to have any hassle having to swap files and programmes around. Its nice your main machine being the portable one, as then there's never any hassle in what's available to you, as that IS your machine you're carrying with you, can plonk myself down anywhere with a power plug and have a session, especially as I have a mobile dongle (perform the right tweaks and you can get latency sub 150-200ms in a signal area, which is playable for all but fast FPS).

Makes a nice change, also means I can go sit in another room etc.

 

Everyone has this stipulation that gaming laptops are rubbish because you can't really game with them on the move, away from a power point.

It's naive to ask for this.

Treat it like I do - as a gaming rig that's much easier to take around to a friends to set up there than a desktop. Never buy one thinking it will be great to play games in a cafe or on a train etc. Gaming on the move just doesn't work that way (well) yet.

It's great for someone who says rents a place. I don't want to lug around a laptop each time I move. Having something I can swing around my shoulder in a minutes notice and yet game on the highest settings is perfect for me.
Because of this situation a desktop could NEVER replace my needs and can't be considered.

So, if you are always on the move from one power socket to the next and want to keep your data with you it's perfect. If your gonna be spending most of your computing downtime in one place or you want a laptop to just saunter about with in public then get a gaming desktop/netbook combo instead.

 

I have a wife. With a laptop, I can be in the same room as her and use the computer. With a desktop (and the size monitor setup I'd really want) I'd need to go in the office to use it. Therefore, constant hours in the office would eventually lead to not having said wife.

In summation, I game on a notebook because I'm married.

 

I'm actually not 100% sure what moved me to laptop gaming. It boils down to portability and "all in one" style computing. Financially, it would have probably cost the same to build my own gaming desktop of equivalent power and buy the cheapest netbook on the market. I don't take it out much but just to have the ability to makes it worth while for me at least.

 

I installed a decent GPU into my desktop and installed a few games but I always found I didn't enjoy staying in one place. All of the antivirus and other security software got in the way of gaming so I started using dual boot. When I did this I found it annoying because I couldn't game and do other things at the same time because the disabled security meant I didn't go online. I also found that lots of time on my desktop would be spent downloading, reading websites, emails, forums etc instead of gaming.

With my gaming laptop I find I enjoy it more, it plays every single game on high or maxed out, it makes less noise and the few times I go away, I take it with me so I have the option of gaming where ever I go.

I found that I am no longer interested in playing my Xbox360 after getting the gaming laptop as well.

For me, gaming on the laptop gives you more choice and freedom, you can game in one location, in a different room or where ever you wish. The desktop has to stay exactly where it is.

 

Without a doubt, one of the more unexpected takes.

 

Well, first of all, might I ask OP why you had a dual 8800 laptop if you didn't plan on gaming on it?

I got one mainly for portability around the house and for occasional LAN gaming sessions. I used to have a Shuttle small form factor PC, and for occasional LAN gaming, that was ok, kind of. But you had to lug around a PC, monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and all appropriate cables. A laptop is so much more convenient. My laptop isn't my primary gaming machine though, I also have a gaming desktop.

 

You may - it was actually used as a mobile (a very loose interpretation of 'mobile' it has to be said, given that I had to heave it to even the car) workstation. We have a visualisation app based on, of all things, the Unreal engine. That, plus other similar requirements meant I went for the M1730 because the M6300 wasn't looking a particularly attractive proposition at the time, and the Elitebooks were working out pretty well for everything else. Things changed with the M6400.

 

I travel a fair bit when I'm heading home or out, a desktop is less useful for me in such a scenario.

Admittedly, I'm still deliberating. I went from a powerful DTR + mobile unit, to a relatively powerful but portable gaming unit. Thinking of going back to the old ways, but since I might be settling down in a single place soon, I can't help but wonder if I should just keep my portables and get a desktop.

Choices, choices, choices.

I like BrandonSi's answer. It's a smart one.

 

i think in this day and age portability is so key.
i have a gaming notebook because everything i have is there. i take to a cafe, a restaurant , to the beach, to a resort, to different offices, to my friends house, to different rooms in my house, etc.
aside from gaming i also use it to edit my u/w videos and pictures, watch movies, display my charts, trade forex, do my accounting and financial statements, and do technical analysis.
having a desktop made sense for me when i was in college. but now that im moving around so much, there is no looking back to a desktop. i have my portable home entertainment system, my a/v editing room and my business powerhouse always with me, whenever and wherever.

 

I chose this laptop when I was living in a dorm in another city for studying. Since there was no room for a Tv and console (and we had no spare tv anyway), I needed to get my daily game experience out of my laptop. it wouldn't be wise to buy a desktop in a dorm, university cities are like 90 percent empty in the weekends so burglars can take everything they want. I live back at home now but I couldn't imagine using anything else than a laptop. This summer for example I stayed at grama's for 4 months for studying, so taking my laptop there was way easier than draging an entire dekstop system with me. My next system will also be a laptop just in case I get tired of living at home again and can leave ASAP xD.

 

I thought it would be great to be able to game at the library and get rid of all the cables and whatnot of my desktop system so I bought a maxed out Dell Studio 15. Then I found out how much it truly sucked at gaming compared to my desktop in every which way. The desktop has been around in some iteration or another since 2003 and upgrades are cheap. Going from a 24" 1080p screen, a quad core, and a top of the line graphics card to the Studio 15 I just couldn't take it. I know it isn't the greatest gaming laptop, but it was a lot more than just the low specs compared to my desktop. Now I just have my desktop and an Inspiron 15 which works much better for me.

I don't think for any price a really optimal gaming laptop exists. The ones that are decent at gaming (compared to desktops, not other laptops) cost multiple thousands of dollars and are not portable other than occasionally lugging them around. The ones that are portable on a daily basis might cost a lot but really don't have much oomph. Don't get me wrong, I really want one because I think the concept is cool and the package is so much smaller and a lot less messy than a desktop, but the technology just isn't there. My dad has a top of the line Alienware he just got to replace his Dell XPS (from when they were Dell's top of the line) for work. Although neither are ever used for gaming, they are loud obnoxious monstrosities that are eclipsed by my desktop after the next upgrade for a zillionth their cost.

How would a laptop make one lick of difference with regards to all that though? It doesn't sound like you were doing it right.

 

@Trottel
Why would one game in the library rofl...Either you do what you need to do there, or you go home where the food is free.

I'd probably annoy everybody with 100 clicks per second (ye thats assassins creed@ buttonbashing )on my loud mouse xD

 

@Trottel

The type of security I use are low level process guards, anti rooktkits, behavior monitors and other real time scanners and I tend not to go online without them. None of these are good alongside gaming for obvious reasons. When I game on my laptop, I do not use any of these and log on via wireless through the protected connection. That's only a small part of why I prefer gaming on the laptop though.

 

I was computer-less from summer of '08 to December of that year. I didn't have broadband at that point running to my apartment anymore. So the logical choice, when I could afford it again, was to buy a notebook for portability's sake, which I did, an Asus G50 series to be exact, because I did want great gaming capabilities and I could afford the damn thing because it was on sale at Best Buy (lol). In an ideal situation, I'd have a decent notebook with decent gaming capabilities, not top of the line, but enough to play the games I play most at max settings (mostly Battlefield 2), and then I'd have a desktop system. Right now though, my lappy is monitor-less (I broke the monitor and removed it). Since I'm not desperate to be mobile right now, it's not a priority to get it fixed, but I have a fun project in mind for it since the computer part works perfectly fine through the HDMI port. I do have a replacement in mind though: one of those sexy little 14.1 in Sony CW seriess with a GT240

So, in conclusion, I'm a decent laptop + fast desktop person in the end. If I can stick to it the plan, I'd get a new laptop every 2 years, and build a desktop every 3-4. Because I have a desktop again, I don't need a screamer lappy of course, but I do desire some form of dedicated graphics no matter what. There needs to be some above rudimentary gaming capabilities in my laptop. Problem with desktop upgrading though, is you're sometimes confounded on what to do with those left over parts after upgrading. Do I build a whole new system with them, sell them, or build that new system and sell it? Oh the possibilities............anyone want some parts for a desktop?

 

Mainly due to mobility. I go to college and go home somewhat often, so I'd like to be able to put my computer in my backpack and do work at school or at home.

 

Because its easy to move from place to place, even if its a little heavy compared to regular consumer notebooks.

 

id like a gaming laptop but its the size weight and price that always get me down, i find it tough to lug around 15" laptops max id ever go is 14" then again if i bought a gaming laptop i wouldnt get half of the work im suppose to be doing done

 

Portability and also cheaper than using a desktop which consumes way more power... the laptop i currently have uses little power and gives good enough performance in games...

 

Ye you can save like 400 euros if you use your laptop 10 hours a day for 5 years compared to a complete desktop system.

 

For the ability to play games in my bed or laying down on a couch.

 

Make sure you don't fry your laptop by playing in bed. You wouldn't be the first one who's laptop burns because the fan openings got blocked.

 

The ability to take my games where ever I go is priceless to me, especially since I have to travel every few months and my current laptop is the most powerful of the systems I've used.

 

My laptop's meant for games?

I got my laptop for watching Anime on, gaming's a secondary benefit to me honestly... I like having everything I need with me wherever I go, as I do fix other people's computers from time to time. Plus I never had a nice computer for myself; it was a Graduation gift to myself.

Sad thing is, anything below 17 inches looks small to me, and anything with lower specs seems slow.

 

It used to be all about only keeping one consolidated machine, but with Windows Live Mesh / Ubuntu One that's way easier. I don't know really.. I did build a desktop once but sold it and now I only have notebooks again, haha.

 

It seems like something you'd naturally avoid, especially on a machine where the fan(s) threaten to make the systems take off when gaming - but for example, a friend that I gave one of the M1730's to called me to say the system kept shutting down and that it was crazily hot. Turned out he was gaming in bed. I thought he had more brains than that to be honest.

 

Cost effective, and ease of use. I go to college and take my laptop with my daily. I don't want to spend money on a whole second computer built for gaming, and I don't want to deal with transferring files between two computers. Plus, having a computer set up solely for gaming and nothing else seems like a waste of space when you live in an apartment.

Basically, it's the perfect compromise. One computer that goes with me everywhere, and has the power to do anything I want. Eventually, when I have a dedicated office (which would require me to actually have a house), then I will have a high end desktop with a business-oriented laptop.

 

That's simple, you can use it in a train, in vacation, in a plane, even in the bed when your ill or in a hospital, you never know whats expecting you. Just the thought that you can move freely with it makes me feel better then owning a desktop. Besides, i have an external monitor, external keyboard and an external mouse ofc, basiclly im experiencing PC gaming, with less noise. The only unconvenience i can think of might be the price (a really big difference), but that's all.
Offer me 2 high-end desktops and a mid-range notebook who runs any game on the market but not necesarilly on max settings, and i'll pick the notebook !

 

I primarily need a laptop that portable (novel ideal I know). I like to PC game but don't care about maxing everything on high resolutions so a gaming PC was a good compromise (my 14" 5lb Sony gets 4 hours battery life and can play most of the new games on high settings at 720p).

 

a question for you laptop gamers: do you guys use external keyboards? I cannot ever get comfortable using a laptop keyboard for gaming.

 

Portability really. Even with a 12 pound laptop. I like to bring entertainment with me when I travel.

No external keyboard yet. I like laptop keyboards.

 

I didn't really pick out a notebook specifically for gaming, I wanted a notebook for the portability and the handiness of having a notebook, BUT I wanted to be able to play a few older games so I did take the graphics card into account, fortunately the notebook I was originally trying to buy was a little worse than the one I bought but with a slightly better graphics card i think (nvidia 7something)...

But when I was on the phone i was on hold for 30 - 45 minutes so i was checking out the dell outlet and found this one

Since then i've become addicted to gaming

 

im in the air force and move around a lot... i much prefer to be able to take my games with me

 

I didn't pick an external keyboard necesarilly for better comfort, but to make sure im not gonna break the notebook's one in time, especially that sometimes i wanna crush things when im really pissed in on-line games, and i better crush the keyboard then the laptop itself
But sure, its more confortabile using an external keyboard, larger and you have a lot of functions on it, especially if you have a ~15inch notebook.

 

Well, I used to lug around an old IBM Portable PS/2 P70 back in the day to play AOL's Never Winter Nights Online game.

I've used laptops for many years basically because I'm on the go many times.

I went many years without buying gaming notebooks / laptops as a criteria.

The current love in with gaming notebooks or facsimiles thereof? World of Warcraft and Everquest II basically.

 

I always use the laptop keyboard but I use my Xbox360 wireless controller for many of my games though.

 

Yeah, an X360 controller is a necessity. It would be nice though if they made an XBOX 360 wireless with bluetooth so you don't need the dongle. I like my old Logitech Rumblepad with the throttle axis though for those flight games. But the X360 controller just seems so much more robust and easier to handle.

Edit: found this one. Not a Microsoft one but Bluetooth for $20. Not sure if it'd work with PC though:

http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-Wireless-Bluetooth-Controller/dp/B0007VDSEC

 

Gaming on some of these systems is a plus rather than the reason why I buy them. I have a PS3 if all I want to do is game.

 

Choke, gasp, wheeze.... ewwww

 

I had a 360 to. Like it but gave it away.

 

No, I was referring to consoles...

 

i think the only thing stopping most gamers from buying a gaming laptop is the price point.
with the way games are now, high end gaming laptops can run them quite well.
i cant see a lot of college kids going for a 2000usd gaming laptop. but if prices drop by 25% or more, then maybe this would be a major segment of the gaming community.

 

Been playing Borderlands on the PC, hate those stupid birds in that game.

 

I gotta get into Borderlands. I bought it during the discounted 4 for 1 sale and only played a little bit. It seems to be quite good.

I'm just kidding about consoles. I own an Xbox 360 but mainly use it for streaming videos and music and playing Live Aracade games. I plan on getting a PS3 slim one of these days mainly for BR capability, but might as well get the console too. I just prefer big budget games on the PC.

Actually you can get a decent gaming laptop for ~$1500. My NP8662 was about $1500 when all said and done and it's well equipped. In about six months you'll probably see the i7 laptops dropping a few hundred bucks when you can get the NP8690 with Core i7 and GTX 280m for aobut the same price.

But I don't think a gaming laptop is too prohibitive if you have a reason to have it for something other than gaming. Definitely too cost prohibitive over a console for sure. But it gives you the portability and other functionality.

 

I needed a laptop for school, and I didn't want to have to have both, so I got a laptop that could play games. Plus, the portability is nice, as I can play with friends at their houses or mine.

 

I needed a laptop for school and since I have massive hands a netbook/desktop combo was not going to work for me. Then when I did the math, a decent size laptop [ie Inspiron, DV6t/z, Asus, etc ($600+), + a custom gaming PC (quad core + GPU with big numbers + a good screen) ($1000) ] was way out of my price range. I then realized some type of compromise was the best solution. So I got a Dell SXPS,16 reasonably speced for $1200. Which, ended up haviing just the right amount of power. I have no trouble running CODMW2 at max setting with 20-50fps. And I can play all my racing sims at max settings with plenty of cars on screen. I also simply prefer notebooks as computers.