is a gaming laptop worth it?

hey guys im about to get a gaming laptop but i have a few concerns. i longed for a laptop for school and a laptop is what i really need/want. this laptop will replace my desktop that im about to give to my aunt, so it would make sense to get a gaming one inorder to save money in purchasing another desktop.

my concerns are that by playing games ocassionally with a laptop will it do damage to the system or shorten the lifespan of the laptop. i dont want it to overheat or anything

also im scared to use the keyboard while palying games because im afraid i might damage it while playing intensive games.

what do you think i should do? get the gaming laptop? or just get a decent one not so expensive disregard the gaming and invest in a desktop exclusively for gaming and high demands.

thanks in advance guys



btw im planning on getting a sager np2090

 

well will you be gaming on the go? if so get the laptop. if not, get a cheap laptop, and get a half decent gaming desktop.

 

Man what do you do to your computer that you're scared of breaking it by playing a game on it?

Laptops can handle games just as well as desktops, both regarding to lifespan and the keyboard. If you keep it cool, then there's no reason why a laptop can't last you as long as a desktop. And unless you bang on your keys like a retard kid playing the drums I don't see how you can possibly break a laptop keyboard any faster than a normal keyboard.

 

This post reminds me of the angry German kid. Personally, I would much rather get the gaming laptop...unless you're like the angry German kid.

 

Overheating problems, well, if you want to prolong the life of the laptop here's what you do.
1. When you get the laptop, take it out of the box and check that everything is good.
2. Install all your favourite games/program/etc.
3. Put laptop back in box and don't remove for another 20 years.
4. (20 years later) Take laptop out of closet, fire it up and start playing your favourite games of 20 years ago.
5. Congratulate yourself for having prolonged the life of the hardware 20 some years longer than it should have lasted.

But seriously, those things are designed to run with hot temps so they have big fans to cool it.

Keyboard, you could always get an external one.

I would definitely suggest getting a cheap laptop with really good battery life and build a desktop. You'll get the best of both worlds, plus you won't be able to play games at school (Intel GM) besides, you won't get much done note taking on a desktop replacement that only has an hour of battery life.
The only reason to get a laptop with decent gaming abilities is if you just don't have room for a desktop (like me).

 

This sounds familiar to this:

Gaming laptops are a complete joke - I think NBR needs to edumacate this person

 

never saw that when it was posted. tis a good read. this is coming from a G1 owner

 

For me it was one of the best invenstments of my life without a doubt.

I play about 6 hours a night while at work on my laptop, without it it id be playing 0 and instead be stuck playing flash games on the work pcs....

 

well i take my laptop to uni and play CoH plus others. it would be a bit hard lugging around even a lanbox. i do play alot at home on my desk, hence me getting a lanbox for home and my regular saturday of lanning.

but if you are not playing games on the go, it is a terrible waste of money.

 

Don't worry about the keyboard. I play on my laptop everyday now and it's fine. The WASD keys are still as good as they were when they were new. You can always bring a keyboard anyway if you're staying in someone else's place. And BTW, gaming on batteries is crap especially on a laptop like the Sager NP2090. You won't be even playing for an hour. So it's just as good as a desktop replacement. Or you can just get a mid-range gaming laptop with a 14 or 15 inch screen and they've got decent battery life too. 2 1/2 to 4 hours depending on the battery's capacity and the laptop's power drain. Gigantic 17" laptops are called desktop replacements because they don't even last beyond an hour and a half on batteries. Placing them on your lap sucks too. They're heavy and hot. I personally don't see the 17" laptops as something "useful" to me because if I really need to type or do something that will last over 2 hours given that there are no power outlets around, it just won't work. I find myself in situations like that a lot. 2 hours of battery just doesn't cut.

GF 8400M GS/GT = For people who don't care about mad graphics. Excellent portability with the capacity to play games. Usually found on 13" and 14" laptops.

GF 8600M GS/GT = For people who at least want some nice graphics on their laptop. Decent portability with the capacity to play most games at high settings. Usually found on 14" and 15" laptops.

GF 8700M GT/Go 7950 GTX = For people who want eye-candy and won't play unless the game looks as nice as possible. Bad portability but with the capacity to play games at mostly maximum settings, given that there's a power outlet around. No power outlet, no play, no work. Found on 17" and larger laptops. And another thing, you can buy two laptops with a GF 8600M GT for the price of one laptop with a GF Go 7950 GTX 8700M GT.

It's not surprising to see nearly everyone here getting or having the mid-range ones. I also noticed that most of them also have a f*cked up gaming desktop in addition to their already gaming-capable laptops. It's probably because of the insane prices of those 17" laptops. Like Jalf said, it's a waste of money if you're not going to play it all the time and you might find yourself not being able to if you're a busy person.

Don't worry about it overheating. As mentioned, they're built to run quite hot. You can always expect your laptop to warm your palms while typing on it.

P.S. Don't give your aunt your old desktop. You might soon find yourself being blown up by a BFG by a character with the same name as your aunt...

 

Take good care of it, like don't play in a hot enviroment, clean the fans regularly, don't overclock, and it will work like a charm. The only possible drawbacks I see:

- Within a week, you 'w' key will look dirty

- After 1 month, there will be a grey spot where your handwrist sits while pressing 'w'.

- After 6 months your battery will be nothing more than extra weight

- After a year and a half, you may need to replace the 'w' key.

- After 2 years, your laptop will not be a 'gaming' laptop anymore. However, it will still be more powerful than most laptops out in the market.

- After 3 years, you'll be lucky if nothing goes wrong. Bad hard drive, bad lcd, bad memory, bad anything can happen, even in non gaming laptops.

How do I know this? Personal experience:
- My 2 non gaming HP notebooks had problems after 1 year and a half(one got a bad hard drive, the other got a burned lcd).
- My S460PB I used for moderate gaming(mostly CS, and some flight simulator games). Gave it to my sister about 2 months ago, and it turned 2 years old yesterday. Not a problem so far. Even the 'w' key is ok XD.
- Right now I'm using the notbook on my sig for moderate gaming, and I'm enjoying every second of it.

 

I want your job.

 

Use an external keyboard for gaming if you're concerned about the keys. That is my number one concern as well. Not only that, I don't know how many crumbs have made their way into my keyboard over the years, so another reason to use an external when gaming.

That being said, is it really that expensive to replace a laptop keyboard? Maybe $100? If you get two years out of it, then maybe you won't be gaming that much on it by then anyways.

 

they are great for gaming parties, you can take them with you and socialise

you can take your games if you go to a conference or a course located in a boring town.

notebook components are pretty good
yeah there are signs of wear on my 1.9year old Acer but hey thats just the finish,

by the way the pc is more upgradeable considering that components are out of date 3-6 months after purchase
but that doesnt REALLY matter if it can play your games!

 

Get a external gaming keypad.
Don't need a full keyboard just for gaming. keypad would be smaller and easier to lug around. There are several available. $15-30 depending. not so bad.
And you can get small wrist rests built for laptops to prevent that gunk/staining on the laptop housing. Personally, I use an old handkerchief folded several times.

My Sager is 15 months old now and the keyboard has little sign of wear. It probably sees 15-20 hours of various gaming a week. As for age, it runs the Crysis demo nice and smooth on 1280x960 and medium+ settings.

 

I think you bought the wrong laptop . My laptop is now 1,5 years old and it wont take long before it is 2 years old. At the moment it still is a gaming laptop. My w key doesnt have a grey spot, my battery works as perfect as in the beginning (i must admit i dont use the battery much). My w key doesnt even look dirty

 

err, I was talking present vs future. Considering the new DX10 games like crysis, I'm pretty sure in 2 years, anything that's known as high end right now, will not be enough to play future games at resonable settings. Maybe the upcoming 8800M will, but who knows...

Anyways, how the heck do you keep the keyboard clean?
Maybe it's the design of my laptops - they all have the fans on the left side, so that's the side that gets hot, so my hand sweats, and the moisture probably makes the dirt stick to those keys. Does your laptop have a fan on the left side?

I've been tempted to use an external keyboard, but living in a small dorm, forces me to have a small desk, thus no room for a keyboard.

 

Speaking from someone who has owned his laptop for 3 months and works 10-12 hours per day on it then goes home and plays 2-4 hours in the evening 3-4 nights of the week...

agreed

Not an issue for my laptop, I've played in hot and cold.

Agreed

Overclock intelligently and it isn't a problem.

Mine looks fine. Get those wipes used for cleaning the screen and lightly go over the keyboard and wrist-rest on a regular basis. You may re-use a wipe a few times on the keyboard, but do not use the same cloth to clean the screen as the keyboard. (consider it dirty)

Mine has no such "spot"... and I use mine ALL DAY 5 days a week. Clean the keyboard/wrist-rest and this isn't a problem.

Batteries do not last forever, but they last longer than 6 months if you take care of them.
After 3 months, mine still lasts over 2.5 hours in power-save mode.


Note that experience varies by vendor and body type.
Some laptops are made of lesser materials not made to last very long.
Some people's wrists can melt through anything as well...

I am very happy with my "gaming" laptop.

 

Arg, you guys are making me realize that I probably don't wash my hands properly lol

 

As i said before; get a gaming keypad.

http://www.amazon.com/WolfKing-DK2388UBL-Warrior-Gaming-Keypad/dp/B000EXWJSE
http://www.amazon.com/Saitek-PZ31A-Pro-Gamer-Command/dp/B000BU0F5Y/ref=pd_bxgy_e_text_b
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1DR5HKFGQ2MK3N8RJFD6
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1DR5HKFGQ2MK3N8RJFD6
http://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Snipa-G...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1194532134&sr=1-24

Don't have to buy from amazon, obviously, but they've got pictures of all 5.

 

now I am finding some strange comments on many topics similar to this
people go on about how long a certain notebook will last vs a desktop pc.

from experience I have found upgrading to be a strange beast, when it comes to desktops.

Typically I upgrade every 2 years anyway, as I like to stay abreast of technology.

but taking the past few years into consideration upgrading the pc involved nearly a whole unit, making it not that much different to upgrading to a new notebook.

We have seen Socket changes on motherboards, Ram changes, graphics slot changes. So when a friend or family member comes to me and says whats the best thing to upgrade me to the latest graphics, I find the best value for money (not necessarily the cheapest) course of action is to upgrade the whole Motherboard/memory/processor/graphics card setup, sometimes with new hard drives too.

so when people say they want a notebook to last 4-5 years before they upgrade
they have to ask themselves whether they would also wait that long with a desktop , especially if they use it for gaming.

a gaming laptop will still fetch a handsome price second hand, which is more than can be said for a second hand desktop.

to summarise I think a gaming laptop is definitely worth it, both with my previous posts and this one.

as for wear and tear, it happens no matter what kit you have
admittedly a new keyboard for a desktop is a whole heap cheaper than one for a notebook.

external devices can help there though as many have said

get that laptop and be portable!!!

 

Well if you want to be portable go with a gaming laptop. If you want raw power and want to play games at highest resolutions with very smooth frame rates, AA and AF get a killer desktop rig.

I am both portable and stationary. I own a gaming laptop and I own a killer desktop rig which I play all my games on unless I´m moving around. For the price of a gaming laptop you can get a killer desktop and then I mean a killer desktop and also desktops are easy overclockers and no restriction on heat. Just my 2 cents

 

All your concerns can be solved with certain accessories.

If your concernd about heat, get a laptop cooling pad.

If your concerned with the keyboard get an exteranal one, or a like Elminst said a gaming pad.

If you concerned with everything...keyboard, heat, screen, etc...find a Dock, buy a monitor, mouse and keyboard.

 

Well for me a laptop was my choice. Wanted to be portable for lan parties and trips out of state. So I bought the fastest 15" lappy at the time and have been happy ever since. I can run pretty much every game I want though obvious compromise for crysis and such newer games.

Never had any overheating problems, though I have a nice notebook cooler (in sig) that I would recommend!

Anyways wear and tear has not been an issue with this or even my two year old hp so I'm not to worried about that, just be good to your notebook and it will be good to you

 

my 2 cents ...

gaming laptop are over-rated. you pay a huge premium for something that is not the latest and greatest (relative to it's desktop counterparts) in terms of processor & graphic prowess.

my suggestion: get yourself a laptop that is decent enough, then get yourself one of those portable gaming handheld (PSP or DS are good) with the money that your saved from NOT buying a gaming laptop.

 

get a portable long battery life laptop (such are usually cheap) and get a gamer rig desktop. gaming laptops are almost like desktop replacements so its not really portable =) good luck tho

 

if you need a replacement for ur desktop.. just get another desktop....
but you can always go with the D900.. beast.
nice and cool, and you wont break the keyboard. But as many have said, its not so portable. For me it was perfect. I need a "desktop replacement" for college, that is still portable enuf for me to bring home once a week on a commute. This fit those needs perfectly. GL on ur decision, if you like gaming, it'll be a pricy decision either way!