need advice for buying a laptop w/gaming in mind

[Warriorisabouttodie]

I am gettting a check from the IRS for almost a thousand dollars, so I think this month might be a good time to get a notebook computer. I use a Intel iMac as my desktop, but the only Mac laptop within my budget is a Macbook which has integrated graphics and won't be useful for gaming. I am torn between 1. buying a cheap windows laptop (probably HP Pavillion or Toshiba) that is onsale and dealing with the fact most games probably won't run on this machine 2. buying a decked out HP for around 1100 or 1200 with a dedicated gfx chip which will run games (to what degree I have no idea) or spending the same amount for a Macbook which although I like OSX and know I will probablty be happier with a Macbook than a cheap pc laptop it won't be any better at running games than a pc at 1/3 the price.

 

I want to know if spending the extra money on a pc laptop that has a gfx card is worth it. Will I be able to reasonably use this laptop to run games or would I be disappointed anyway and maybe I should just go for a notebook that can do all the other things you expect a notebook to do (word pro, web browsing, emulation, video chatting etc..) and use the extra money to buy a PSP?

Edited February 5, 2008 by Warriorisabouttodie

[nathanallan]

afaik, $1000 isn't enough for serious gaming. I would reccomend alienware. A friend of mine bought an alienware desktopand he's been really happy with it.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

afaik, $1000 isn't enough for serious gaming. I would reccomend alienware. A friend of mine bought an alienware desktopand he's been really happy with it.

 

I realize I would need to add some more money to my check, but starting off with almost a 1000 dollars makes it a lot easier to justify the expense. The Alienware notebooks are great but they start at 1700 dollars which is out of my price range.

Edited February 5, 2008 by Warriorisabouttodie

[HammR25]

If you really want to get into gaming don't buy a laptop. They're all terrible for gaming. If you happened to get a Mac laptop you'd have to make sure it had one of the Intel processors so it would be able to run games through Windows or it would be completely worthless for gaming......but you'd still come back to all laptops being bad for gaming unless you're only going to be running MAME or something.

Edited February 5, 2008 by HammR25

[MCHufnagel]

Too bad you couldn't pick one up last week. Best Buy was selling a Gateway that's geared toward gaming, but it was for $1249.99 with a free game. And it was rated fairly high for gaming too.

 

There are some very good gaming laptops, but they're pretty expensive. This one looks like it could work out well. And it's in your price range.

 

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer...onfigurator_top

[Trey]

afaik, $1000 isn't enough for serious gaming. I would reccomend alienware. A friend of mine bought an alienware desktopand he's been really happy with it.

 

I realize I would need to add some more money to my check, but starting off with almost a 1000 dollars makes it a lot easier to justify the expense. The Alienware notebooks are great but they start at 1700 dollars which is out of my price range.

 

you need this: http://www.pcmicroworks.com/blackhawk.htm

[+remowilliams]

You should pass on the idea of a laptop and go for a desktop if gaming is your primary reason for buying. You can get great modern gaming laptops but as Trey just handily pointed out - they are very expensive.

 

Cheaper laptops will quickly become obsolete (possibly as soon as you buy them) in the graphics department and leave you stuck without an upgrade path. So get a desktop, unless your idea of gaming is internet flash based games or old PC titles.

[spacecadet]

Eh, don't listen to these people telling you not to consider a laptop for gaming. I mean, the question is, are you planning to chase the latest Crysis benchmarks and spend $600 on a new graphics card every time one comes out? Even for most gamers, the answer is no. And you will spend as much on desktop computing doing that over a couple of years as you would just buying a new laptop every once in a while.

 

So buy a reasonably priced laptop with dedicated gfx and enjoy it. Hell, I play games on my laptop *without* dedicated graphics. Most games run fine. Some don't, but then I didn't expect them to - I'm sure they would with dedicated vram.

 

A desktop computer will give you better short term bang for the buck, but unless you spend $2,000 or more on a desktop, you're going to be compromising anyway and you're going to be dealing with obsolescence pretty quick. I don't think there's really a big advantage there.

 

I've learned not to chase benchmarks over the years - I haven't upgraded my desktop in probably 4 years (it still runs 95% of games fine) and I replace my laptop every few years. No, I can't run Crysis at its top settings, and I don't care.

 

I guess I would say buy a cheap laptop with dedicated graphics that you can play most games on, *and* get a PSP. That's probably going to be the most satisfying way to go.

[Avid Fan]

I would avoid a laptop for gaming at all costs. Unless its for emulation. For what you'll spend on a laptop, you'll regret it a year later.

My friend did this. For 1/2 the price he paid for his laptop, he got a new PC and a top of the line graphics card. Not to mention, playing games on a laptop will drain your battery like nothing else

 

Get a DS or PSP, both are pretty cool now

[Hyper_Eye]

Look... you can get a laptop that can game pretty well without spending huge bucks. But, anything with Intel integrated graphics is off the list. You simply can't game with it (okay... maybe you could play WoW and some fairly aged games but that doesn't make a gaming machine.)

 

The MacBook Pro is the only way to game on a Mac laptop. The XPS line from Dell is pretty darn good. The XPS gaming line is pricey but you can look in the XPS line and go with the 15.4" widescreen with the GeForce 8600M GT which is going to be able to game pretty well. It has a core 2 duo and 2gigs of memory at the base price which is about $1450. You could also look at the 17" widescreen Inspiron which has a version with the 8600M GT as well. It has the same core 2 duo proc and 2 gigs of memory at 667mhz as the XPS but the base price is a little more attractive at $1300. Use the difference to upgrade to the 1920x1200 screen which is going to make a huge difference.

 

This is just looking at Dell which is the way I would go if I were shopping for a laptop. I have been dealing with them for some time (mostly work related) and their customer service is exceptional. They also provide systems specced pretty nicely for good prices. But, there are other laptop manufacturers and you will probably find pretty similar offerings.

 

But, I build my own desktop machines and I have for a long time. You could have a pretty incredible gaming machine for $1400 if you buy the parts yourself and you will also get the best quality as long as you know what to look for and where to find it. When you buy pre-built machines you are buying a lot of re-branded stuff that is generally considered low-end or offbrand on it's own. You will get things like FIC mobos (or some other crappy brand), reference design video cards, cheap memory (and the timing is never advertised), etc. Sure there are exceptions like Alienware but you pay a premium with them when you could obtain the same hardware for much less. Buy each part specially and get the right stuff. Then you can pick from hardware from companies like ASUS, XFX, Corsair, OCZ, Coolermaster, Thermaltake, Crucial, etc. You will know what every piece of hardware in your machine is, that it is the best quality, and that it is going to scream. I have been building machines for a long time, I develop software for a living (a fair portion of it using OpenGL), and I love to read about and generally know what the good hardware of the moment is. So, that's my opinion.

[+LS650]

The OP has to decide which is more important: the latest games, or portability?

 

I really have to disagree with some of the comments written previously. I think to say something like "most games won't run" is just not so. Most games released in the last couple of years, maybe - but the last time I looked, this was the ATARIage web site. Any laptop, even a cheap sub-$1000 laptop can run excellent emulators for every Atari system (well, except the Jaguar).

 

As well, there are literally THOUSANDS of other good games available for even the cheapest entry-level laptop.

 

Personally, I had a great desktop and a PSP, and found that I really wanted the ability to do word processing and run a decent web browser rather than the Mickey Mouse NetFront browser in the PSP. I've sold both and now have a small, easy to carry laptop that runs plenty of decent games.

Edited February 6, 2008 by ls650

[+remowilliams]

Most games released in the last couple of years, maybe - but the last time I looked, this was the ATARIage web site. Any laptop, even a cheap sub-$1000 laptop can run excellent emulators for every Atari system (well, except the Jaguar).

Well, since this is in the 'Modern Gaming' section I'd assume the OP is looking to play modern games not 20-30 year old ones.

 

Laptops do not make good 'modern' gaming machines at any given point in time, beyond six months or so unless you pay a decent amount of cash, or get one that is upgradeable.

[MCHufnagel]

Not all modern games are resource hogs like Crysis. The laptop I linked to will play Bioshock and all Source Engine games (The Orange Box), for example, with no problems. Of course they won't look as good as they do on my desktop. But I payed plenty for it a year and a half ago. People need to remember that PC gamers don't roll through the amount of games console gamers go through. A game that plays well now, will still play well a few years from now. And PC gamers are willing to tweak their systems to play a game.

 

The biggest problem I have with gaming laptops is that the screens are so small! I'm used to HTPC gaming with my HDTV.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

First of all to all of you that recommended I build a desktop PC. For years since the end of the Amiga in 94 actually I built pc's and upgraded gfx cards, but when I started using Mac's as my main computer (when they switched to Intel) I gave up on that world. I am (of course) a retro gamer who has a 2600, SNES, and N64 but I like modern games too and to be honest I don't crazy over emulation (except AtariMacOSX, jag emulator for t2k and using them to preview games I am bidding on) Im happy with my iMac and like the idea of leaving games to gaming machines (altho I have Quake 4,III, Hitman contracts,and some racing games installed) . That doesnt mean I dont want to play pc games it's just not my first priority for getting a laptop. I figured for the price of the lowest end Macbook I could custom order an HP laptop with a GeForce 8400M GS integrated graphics card, 2.2 ghz core 2 duo, 250 mb hard drive and 3 gigs of memory. I still really like the way Mac's look and feel (OS X), so if this HP won't let me play games then I would probably be happier with a Macbook (unfortunately I can't afford a Macbook pro which would be the ideal choice for me) or whatever HP/Toshiba model is on sale that week with integrated gfx (tend to go for 650-750 after rebates).

 

I still can't decide but am I right in thinking (from the posts) that if I did get a laptop with the Geforce in it I would be able to play any pc game out there at a reasonable framrate? I realize games may come out this summer that my laptop will choke on, but if it can run everything up to now that leaves me with a lot of games to play!!!

 

The worst thing for me is going back to Windows. I really dont like Vista much...

[Hyper_Eye]

Your chances of that are a little better if you move up to the 8600M GT but you are on the right track. I hear you on the Windows issue. This machine that I do my browsing on is an original Mac Mini with a G4 running Leopard. My main desktop runs Gentoo Linux.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

Your chances of that are a little better if you move up to the 8600M GT but you are on the right track. I hear you on the Windows issue. This machine that I do my browsing on is an original Mac Mini with a G4 running Leopard. My main desktop runs Gentoo Linux.

 

 

Basically it comes down to this... the more I think about it if I'm going to spend all this money I should either get the HP with the all the extra's including the gfx card or get a Macbook and forget about games. If the HP laptop isn't going to give me much enjoyment in the game category (if every fps is gonna run at reduced frame rate etc..) then why torture myself with a pc/windows?? Then again if it will run these games and I can probably install Linux on it as well then the HP might be the way to go. I get the feeling from your post that the 8400GS is still gonna be kinda lacking in the gfx department. Another point for the Macintosh is that 2/3 years down the road if I to sell it, the Macbook will still be worth something while the pc regardless of specs will be worth less than half of what I paid.

 

Apple makes great notebooks but why oh why do they need to cost so much? I'm not sure I would want a 2500 dollar notebook anyway!!! As cool as they are I would be afraid it would get broken or stolen.

Edited February 6, 2008 by Warriorisabouttodie