Gaming Laptop = Bad Idea Right Now

I was ready to pull the trigger and order a dell e1705. Then... I realized how it was a really bad investment. It just seems like a bad idea to buy a gaming laptop... when for all we know, dx10 cards could come out in august/sept and make systems like the e1705 obsolete. Sure, if u have enough money to buy a new laptop when they arrive, please, ignore this thread...but for the rest of us it just seems like a poor investment.

Should I abandon all hope of gaming on a laptop? Should I buy a desktop for gaming and get a cheaper laptop (maybe a stripped down e1505)?

 

Heh, every computer (desktops included) are obsolete before you even get them out of the store. I'm not bothered with the imminent release of the Next Big Thing(tm) whether it be CPU, GPU, PPU, etc. If you fall into that trap you'll never end up making a decision.

Admittedly I'm not a huge games player, but to my eyes at least DX9 (revision C?) looks pretty spangly already. Considering all games currently under development are gonna work on DX9 compliant hardware too, unless you're planning on keeping your notebook for a long time, I wouldn't worry about it that much.

If you simply must have a DX10 compliant GPU once they're released then yeah, maybe a desktop plus a cheaper notebook is the way to go.

 

Oye, Don't worry yourself. You can always come up with some reason "not to buy now".

 

I have to agree...Do not ever be worried about the next gen in hardware or software. I remember when Nvidia released a new gpu with T&L...omg people couldn't wait to buy this card and enjoy all those game who took advantage of the tech...well, well, well, it took like a year or two before any games who used T&L entered the market, and that was like 2 games. Don't expect the market to be flooded with DX10 games within the next year...

Buy for Your current needs and wants

 

I know I just feel like this is a worthy reason. I mean a gaming laptops purpose is to game on... and if 3 months down the road it's not what u need to game on... then it doesn't really serve its purpose. I'm thinking the x1400 might be able to hold me over. Actually no im not...

 

DX10 is far off and most games won't even utilize it for a long time. It's impossible to stay current without buying something new every week.

 

And game developers would not have capitalized on the new technologies as well and their customers, us, would still be using the older technologies.

 

It'll be a while before dx10 is required for games. When that happens, your computer will prob. be completely obselete. The 7900 gs will last a while; if you need a gaming laptop, get one now. If you have time, wait for core 2 duo.

 

Wait ? Wait ?...If you want you could wait for 10 more years and then you would have a laptop which has a Quad Core Processor + SLi Graphics. I have to agree with Bokazoit ,Daetlus and TedJ. Your current Graphics card could still be used to run DirectX 10 Games , its just that you can't able to make use of DX10 stuffs such as new Pixel Shader thingy and lots more...You should not be really worried on this and its impossible to keep in 'sync' with Technology

My 2 cents !

 

You can continue to wait for new technology as it crops up.

My take on this is simple. Does the machine you want to buy satisfy your current needs (and perhaps some future needs too)? If it does, then good. Go ahead and buy it.

If, however, you want to wait for new technology, you'll never stop waiting. New technology comes up all the time and what makes it worse is that it'll be pricey and may even be unreliable.

I'd rather go for what is tried and tested for the moment. True, it may be the latest or most high tech machine out there but at least I know that it fits my budget and is suitable for my present (and some future) needs.

 

Normally Id agree, but a new DirectX is a BIG change and has a much longer cycle time, if you can deal with what you have then waiting a month or two could really be worth it, while it wont be required straight away, its looking like industry odoption will be faster than DX9 and microsoft have made sure a couple of titles will at least use it on launch. Its up to you, but im waiting (to be fair with a 6800U )

 

LOL! Do tell us how it works out, Meaker

 

To me a gamming laptop is for playing games you want to play. If you play every new game as soon as they come out then you will constantly need to upgrade since the laptop is always behind the game developers. Ive gotten to play every game I ever wanted with a laptop with an x300 integrated graphics chip with 128mb shared. Albiet, Q4 is on low graphics at 640x480 but HL2 and UT2k4 are at full throttle at 1024x768. My laptop cost $500. So, I definately got my moneys worth and I dont need to upgrade for a few couple of years on my laptop. MY desktop is different, Im saving money now so that when UT2k7 comes out I can upgrade to dual core & SLI still I expect only to spend 300-400 dollars next year on MB, CPU and Graphics card.

 

Agreed! I bought a laptop few months back that was considered "performance" laptop with the ATI x1600 GPU. Around the same time Oblivion was released, and I looked forward playing it on the laptop. Got a bit dissapointed since Oblivion needs SOOO much power. I felt like my $2600 investment went down the drain...

...But when i thik about it it's not. It's just a bad investment buying games for PC's or laptops that can't handle them, not vice versa. Play games that were released 1 or 2 years ago and you will get major satisfaction playing them at highest settings...

... The games that are released today... play them on the laptop of tomorrow... I'm not even considering playing Oblivion again until i get my next laptop, even though my x1600 can handle it pretty well....

So that's my tip, buy games you can handle isntead of spending fortunes on Laptops that barely can handle them.. There are SOOOO many games to choose from, and they are good even if they are 1-2 or 3 years old.

 

Well well, the question is if you need it now, buy it, if you dont and you want to wait then wait.
I have waited long enough, my PC is 4 year old, I need a new one so I buy a new one. As everyone have said, the DX10 is new and can not prove it usefulness YET. It take 1 or 2 year to effectively developed program and game with it. AND if you look at the game Crysis which you DX9 you will say WOW, holy.... By buying a laptop now with near maximum performent, you can play game in 2 year. that is good.
And if you want to play game online then get a PSP, by using Laptop, mainly playing game, but aside from that is working and doing many thing.
To make this short, buy if you need it. And when you bought it, dont look back, just look at your laptop and say it beautiful.

 

nicely put

 

I'm gonna have to agree with everyone else. I was all set to wait for Core 2 Duo and DX10, but as the time kept drawing out longer and longer and my computer at the time just kept falling farther and farther behind the times, I asked myself what I was waiting for. If I waited for the Core 2 Duo, then Santa Rosa would be coming out in a few months. If I waited for DX10, then a few months later a faster DX10 card would come out and I would be stuck again. So I pulled the trigger and bought my M90. Now I know that this computer will not be my primary gaming computer for more than a year or so, at which time it will go to being my school workstation and I'll probably get a desktop that I can upgrade as things progress.

For now, I'm playing current games like Prey and F.E.A.R. at max settings, and I'm happy. I :heart: my laptop.

 

Considering we're about a good 2 to 3 years from seeing Direct X 10 being a requirement, you should be fine.

Crysis at maximum requires SLi currently, so you can wait all you like, you'll still quickly fall off the technology curve.

I can currently play Oblivion practically maxed out at 1440X900, as long as UT2007 runs at medium-high and I can get hold of a PlayStation 3, I'm set. When the GeForce 8000 series comes down in price (And heck, they may soon be replaced by a 9000 series with a hardware unification of shaders) then I'll make the jump again.

 

Yea. Point-in-case: 3 Days after I placed my order for my e1705 with the 7800 Go, Dell throws in the 7900 GS. it hasn't even shipped and it's obsolete. Does it matter that much to me? No, not really. It would've been nice, yea, but I mean im sure if I had gotten that, then some new slightly better CPU would've come into play.

 

Keep wating you'll never get -anything- if you keep waiting, you know why? Once they release a newer (INSERT THINGEY HERE) 2 weeks later they'll announce something even better. And you'll say ohh.. .look... they'll release it in 5-6 months... let me wait even longer... 5 months go by.. you're not doing anything... all the great games have passed... and the newest (INSTERT THINGEY HERE) is released, you go... GREAT! NOW I HAVE the top of the line... then they announce an even better model 5 months down the line... And you go... oh I dont want to be obsolete in 5 months.. I'll just wait... a total of one year has passed, everyone who bought their laptops have played the heck out of it, had fun with all the great games that got released while you are still waiting for the latest and the greatest... finally you decide to get the newest (INSERT THINGEY HERE) by that time, everyone else has saved enough to get the (INSERT THINGEY HERE) so now you're on par with everyone else, and the only difference is, they got to play while you waited for absolutely nothing.

 

well, remember, the hardware doesnt get worse, just the software gets more taxing. So, i agree with everyone who said to use last generation software on current generation hardware. It will always work better. I mean, if you look at it, We would all be having a lot of fun playing Diablo if Diablo2 and Diablo2 LOD was never released. But once they were released, suddenly they became a requirement, and you couldnt have fun without them.

So, its all a matter of how the human brain functions.

 

I agree that if you want it now to go ahead and get it. Cause the full features of the new stuff coming out (64bit, DX10, etc.) will take some time to proliferate and become necessities. I was all set to get the Core 2 Duo so I could run stuff in 64bit, but you know, the delaying just makes you pass up really good deals on whats out now as manufacturers try to clear some of ther inventory. Just buy a good one now (top of the line if possible) and be happy playing all the games that are out now and don't worry about the ones that'll come out in the future with no known requirements.

 

one solution is to buy a ps3 or 360 for gaming. I know they arnt portable but they have such a long life cycle that u really get ur moneys worth. Only problem is buy the end of the cycle the console will seem pretty poor compared to modern computers.

 

I'd never buy a notebook for high end gaming. I'm perfectly content to let my notebook determine which games I can and can't play....because it offers me so many other benefits. And, there are literally hundreds of great games and mods that came out the past few years that I haven't got around to playing yet that my X1600 will eat for lunch.

If gaming were a priority for me, I'd spend $750 on a desktop rig that would blow away any notebook that will be released for the next 12 months. As it is, gaming is just one of my priorities so it needs to compromise.

 

Thats not true, he has saved money on one high end laptops (everone else bought 2, he bought only one) + interest.
I say wait if you can, banks are givening very good rates now. Intel vs AMD price war may lower prices on processors even further.

 

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/06/29/r600_is_a_dx9_performer/

ATi's next generation GPU is a Direct X9 card...something to further establish that DX10 won't be a requirement for quite some time.

 

I kinda skimmed through this thread, but how long until the day that video cards are easily upgradable on a laptop? Granted there'd probably have to be some sort of standard if there isn't right now, but how long until that's possible? (ExpressCard would be a possibility too, right?)

 

I agree with this. Most of the time now games are being ported to consoles from pcs. You can go out and save cash on the laptop and buy a console. Once you have the console you don't have to worry about upgrading anything and whether the game will work or not. It just works. And with the next gen consoles implementing online play as a standard, there won't be much a difference between pc and console gaming.

 

Besides the fact that it sucks to play half the shooters with controllers...I much prefer a keyboard and a mouse when playing a shooter such as CS. To me a little more realistic. I've never really cared for the gameplay of a console game...but that's just me.

 

If yoe're always waiting for the new thing for coming out you'll never buy anything

 

'nuff said

 

And I mean this in the nicest possible way, DO NOT LISTEN TO THESE CLOWNS. I have been in this situation. The bottom line, as a consumer, you should understand the difference between making a smart purchase based on the qualities that will suffice both present and future uses as opposed to a dumb purchase that will only excite your needs for your current intresests. Well, since I have been in your situation, there are two smart things I recommend. One: Take the best of both worlds. What I mean by that is, buy a curent gaming computer that doesn't use directx 10, but will still maintain some mainstream power in the next year and a half and sell it on ebay when your ready to upgrade. I did that when PCI express was the next big thing, but I had to pony up 700 dollars to pay the difference in order to upgrade. Two, you can wait. You'll save more money and I think the wait will be ten times more fulfilling. Just because you wait for directx 10, that does not mean you will become a monetary tool that has to donate all his money in order to keep up with the monthly gaming trend. Directx 10 is a monumental step regardless of when programmers will implement the technology in gaming. Even though it seems distant, it will become highly prevelant in gaming, even if the date isn't too near. You can still plan ahead without focusing on every little new technology. Know the difference between an important change and a trivial one. I'd wait.

 

^ DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS CLOWN!

Upgrade now and when a DX10 game becomes available that you would like to play, buy a DX10 card. Crazy, mind-numbing logic, I know.

 

Ted, good point. If I had like you do bionix then I would of saved a load of money. Somethings are worth waiting, some are not. A friend of mine had ruined his IBM t42 a while back and decided to wait for the core duo. Not only did he benefit from that he also got a better graphics card and new rams. But if you would wait for any new technology comming up then you''ll never buy a laptop.

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chele
If yoe're always waiting for the new thing for coming out you'll never buy anything

Wait.. wait wait wait wait..... I KNOW WHAT THIS IS CALLED..!

Gamer's Curse

 

On consoles: anyone who's actually waiting for PS3 is out of their mind. Everyone knows the Wii is it.

On 64-bit: Unfortunately, I'm forced to go back on some comments I've made regarding 64-bit technology. Vista x64, at least at this juncture, has all of the same failings as XP x64. Several friends and I all have Beta 2, and we use the x86 version on our Athlon 64s because of the better compatibility. If Microsoft hadn't screwed the pooch on x64 it'd be a different story, but as it stands, a Core Duo will last you a while.

On DX10: Those of you waiting for DX10 hardware, you just keep on waiting. The first DX10-capable hardware announced to arrive on notebooks is the Intel GMA X3000 of all parts, and that's not until next year. nVidia and ATI's next cards are both DX9 parts, not DX10. And, just to drive one more nail in that coffin, they've warned power supply producers that their DX10 parts could be drawing in excess of 300w.

Yeah, definitely notebook friendly. I honestly wouldn't count on a very fast migration to DX10, ESPECIALLY not in notebooks. Remember also how long the Radeon 9xxx series and the GeForce FX series were on the market before DX9 games started really appearing in force.

If you're waiting for DX10 hardware in a notebook, I guarantee you'll be waiting a LOT longer than August or September.

On SLI in desktops: SLI is only worth anything in a desktop if you're using top of the line hardware. Two midrange cards will be more expensive, consume more power, generate more heat, and will still be slower combined than one card from the next grade up. (For example, two 7600GTs barely match the performance of a 7800GT.) This is the entire reason why SLI is having such a hard time penetrating any market other than the enthusiast market: neither manufacturer wants their lower class cards cannibalizing their high end.

On waiting: If you know - IF YOU KNOW - you're on the cusp of a hardware transition, then it's fine to wait. For example, now's a miserable time to build a desktop. But laptops are a different beast: it'll be a few months before Core 2 Duos see any penetration in the market, and the only mobile graphics refresh on the horizon is the ATI Radeon Xpress 1250. Remember, people are still selling X600s and X700s in notebooks, even that transition isn't complete yet. Additionally, I don't expect the Core 2 Duos to be that much more compelling than existing Core Duos.

I also wanted to chime in that old games are great, too. Source ports of old id games are a wicked way to breathe some new life into older games (ever seen Doom II in full 3D?). And some old games, like American McGee's Alice, STILL look fantastic and run on pretty low end hardware (Alice runs on Intel Extreme Graphics 2 for crying out loud).

 

Excellent Point Pulp (you must get reputation )
i completely agree with you................
Waiting for DX10?......just keep on waiting!

My advice: take a small bite from each new pie.
Meaning: buy what you can now....and then buy what you can from the next "phenomena" of technology !...........because technology will change faster than you can count! keep up with it by taking small bites at a time that will FIT your needs.

example:
buy a basic midrange card (go 6600 or 7400 or 7600) now....then when "the next big thing" will come out....go buy the midrange card from there (like Go8400 Go8600 etc.) and let me tell you....the mainstream technology from the next generation will outshine the mainstream generation from this generation....so keep to the midranges......cheap and up-to-date

 

OK guys, you are all thinking about the Gamers curse, what about the people like me that will have only 1 opportunity in about 3 years to spend money on a laptop that may need to last even more? Not everyone will keep investing 300-400 dollars every year on his laptop... Some of us just want to buy and forget, but doing as much research right now so we don't have to regret something in the future. I am a gamer, a 1 time mid-budget laptop consumer and probably more informed on the Details (architecture/uses/codes/programing etc) than most average consumers (i am really a fan of difficult topics).
i have a budget of $2200 including shipping and taxes so its really about $2000.

So mi opinions are:
*Core 2 duo, means more performance, 64bit computing (on people that know how to take advantage of this its a great thing, because i have seen A LOT OF benchmarks 64bitvs32bit and most of them are doing things the wrong way, so if you don't want to put brains on this subject, just forget about it), SSE4 and other details that are non important for the average user, but it will cost you the same $$$$$ as current core duos (if doing things the right way, because there will be always someone ripping someone else off), so like it or not its just 1-2 months away and i really don't have my money right now, so another month for more speed at same price its a bargain for me, i am not millionaire to just give away money to great corporations like Intel (i live in CR, we fabricate ALL processors here, but they cost 30% more than n the US... that is just wrong) I like mid range products, are current, i am not a slave of capitalism so i wont need to pay 0% more on anything just to say i have the best product there is, i like performance/price ratio. its not worth waiting for the new socket, is just to far away for me, so i will stay with t7200 667ddr2 support. If you need to wait for more than 4 months when money in hand, then it is just not worth it.

*DX10, needs needs and more needs, i am a gamer, but that is just to far away to wait, i NEED a laptop in about 3 months.... Others can wait and lose the opportunity to actually enjoy your lappy.

*New alcoholic batteries... well like i say i am a gamer ad a student and not a business man, so i don't need extreme battery life and i need MY lappy now, batteries can be upgraded latter on anyway...

*Vista... well i will stay with Win XP 64 bit, cuz vista again i too far away and like any other MS product, they will be a pain in the ·$% without service pack 5 , Again to far away, enjoy lappy blah blah blah. And have you seen the requirements for Vista? i prefer to use my extra CPU/ram/video resources on more performance for games on win xp 64bit.

*Sorry amd, but turion x2 and socket change was just to slow for me, see you next time AMD.

*Again, if someone has a bad deal, it means someone has a goodone... Just do a research...

*Waiting for something else? well keep on waiting, but not too much plz, sometimes they are not worth it in terms of time, price/performance ratio and remember THIS, if you are thinking on buying a laptop, you are already thinking in terms of productivity, Why not a PC that is faster? well because a laptop gives you different options in your daily life... portabilty.... so don't think about buyin becuase something is better, think of it as if it can give you more useful stuff/options...

*Gaming laptop/desktop replacement, well that is indeed what it does, you can game on it, and still use office... but if its not in your budget or you wont game... then forget about it

So i recomend this system for mid budget buyers:
e1705 on epp account with 12% off on long term warranty systems, 36% off on the best e1705 system, and a $2 epp coupon for 30% off that can be bought on ebay, reducing a $3000 system to $1300 with high end graphics that can be overclocked to the performance of 79000gtx, 2 gigsof ram, 100Gb/7200rpm ram, and a t2400 that you can sell later on the month of september or even agust to buy yourself the t7200 i mentioned above...

 

Calm down dudes, I know you want your lappy, I am in the same situation as you so I feel you dudes.
Well, like master Yolda said, DX10 is till to far away.
AND I personally think this is the BEST time to buy a laptop, why?
Because of Intel Price drop, and it summer time, spending money times, the major leap to the Core series, be it Core or Core2, and Laptop maker have discounts like Dell, lot of discounts though I order ASUS
Vista, what is Vista, you want to be MS lab rat like someone here was saying, it will be full of bugs, at least half a year to made it work and wont crash.
Other than that, though new tech voodoo wont happen till Q4 of this year which is very long.
Laptop are not meant to be playing but it meant to be played (or the other way around you get the idea)
Though who want to wait, I wish you luck

 

Sounds good, but when I try to buy it, it says it costs $1,838. (That is the second best model. The best model even says $2,137)

Will I really be able to get a 30% off coupon on top of that?

And how can I get it for $1,300 ?

 

good job on bumping a few motnhs old thread

 

LOL, that means that for the first time in the history of computers, the price of a laptop is actually higher than what it used to be a after a few months!