Who games on a lappy? If you do, why?

[wheresmybacon]

As an IT professional, I have several machines, and I'm about to get yet another, but while researching what's out there in terms of hardware I couldn't help but notice the ads for gaming laptops, and a thought occurred to me: Who buys them?

Students? People who travel? As a gamer myself, I'm very particular about my little cubbie hole/mancave/gaming area. I need my mouse just so; the right height, the right surface, etc. I'm not a pro, but I'm particular. Like the guy who has his own bowling ball. My point is, if you're going to spend a lot of money on a gaming machine, why buy a laptop? If you aren't truly in dire need of portability, it just doesn't make sense to me.

This isn't a diss post, I'm just curious. If you game on a laptop, post here. Tell us what you have, and why you have it. I've always been a desktop guy, but if I had the need - and the funds - for a high-end gaming laptop, I'd buy one.

 

[mundane]

..

 

[VinylxScratches]

Why not? Not everyone wants a huge desktop.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

The only gaming I do on my laptop is the likes of DotA, WC3, Starcraft, etc. old, old games that even Intel's HD Graphics can handle.

 

[spacelord]

My game machine is an ASUS laptop with the Radeon 5870 and it rocks. Unfortunately I travel for work too much lately..but on the bright side I take this laptop so I can play games on the road.

 

[Fhistleb]

Being in the military means I'll move too much. Good thing my laptop is powerful enough to run everything. I am currently building a tower though

 

[pontifex]

not my primary system, but I bought a laptop to game on when I go to my friend's place. Beats lugging around a tower and monitor.

Plays all the games we play just fine and even some that we don't play together it seems to do fairly well. Obviously I can't play some games on max settings though. Got it for an awesome price new and I am happy with it.

 

[clipperfixer]

Gateway P-6831 fx Vista 64 bit, E7500 processor 4 gigs of ram 8800gts video, two hard drives. I use it at home, work and travel for work. Gaming wireless in a hotel sucks. Better than hanging out in bars.....

 

[EvilComputer92]

Envy 14 runs most games at max perfectly.

 

[MJinZ]

As an IT professional, I have several machines, and I'm about to get yet another, but while researching what's out there in terms of hardware I couldn't help but notice the ads for gaming laptops, and a thought occurred to me: Who buys them?

Students? People who travel? As a gamer myself, I'm very particular about my little cubbie hole/mancave/gaming area. I need my mouse just so; the right height, the right surface, etc. I'm not a pro, but I'm particular. Like the guy who has his own bowling ball. My point is, if you're going to spend a lot of money on a gaming machine, why buy a laptop? If you aren't truly in dire need of portability, it just doesn't make sense to me.

This isn't a diss post, I'm just curious. If you game on a laptop, post here. Tell us what you have, and why you have it. I've always been a desktop guy, but if I had the need - and the funds - for a high-end gaming laptop, I'd buy one.

Gaming laptops are basically desktop replacements good for people who want a primary computer without necessarily a primary location.

Basically, they move around too much (travel, work, and especially in between dorms/home/school).

The only difference between someone who owns a 17"+ Laptop for whatever reason and a 17" Gaming Laptop, is that, well, one person is a gamer.

 

[CurseTheSky]

My desktop is my primary gaming rig. Actually, it's my primary everything rig.

However, every now and then I'm at someone else's house for several hours and end up firing up a game to pass the time. Just a couple of weekends ago I ended up playing a few SC2 matches because we were going out for drinks and half of the party was over an hour late meeting us at the house.

I would personally never buy a huge, heavy, and power-hungry gaming laptop, but I love having something portable like my Envy 14 that can still handle moderate games with ease.

 

[Dumac]

Yeah, I'm a student who only owns a laptop.

I'd much rather game on a desktop, however.

 

[spacelord]

Gateway P-6831 fx Vista 64 bit, E7500 processor 4 gigs of ram 8800gts video, two hard drives. I use it at home, work and travel for work. Gaming wireless in a hotel sucks. Better than hanging out in bars.....

I used to think that wireless connections in hotels sucks.. but I've had good luck with Battlefield : Bad Company 2 in the last few hotels. It's rare when and if I get lagged. I was very surprised. The last hotel had a hardwired connection in the room.. and now I am on a wireless and it seems just as good

 

[clipperfixer]

spacelord,
Thats good to know. I find that about 50 percent of the rooms I stay in have a lan port as well as wireless. The lan port is usually way better. Some hotels only have a few crappy access points and the signal is low and that is just the way it is in the room I am in. Some hotels I have stayed in have had wireless that rocks, better than my system at my house. The really good systems have been few though.

 

[Malak]

With an expansion slot you can get a portable video card, and that's really the only thing you'd need to upgrade on a desktop... so why not get a laptop? The portability is pretty useful. The only benefit with a tower is that you can build it yourself and it is cheaper.

 

[Skott]

I do. Nothing hard core since my laptop is not a gaming laptop. Just Torchlight and JA2 for fun stuff to do during slow periods at work mainly or when I'm traveling.

 

[alkemyst]

many people are living with their parents or sharing a place.

They have to make sacrifices for their meager lives.

You also have those that have reached supporting themselves alone that just want to bang out a fragfest being driven to the airport and then continue it on the plane.

 

[Schfifty Five]

I think most people are overlooking the fact that the OP is asking why people prefer laptops if portability was not an issue.

Obviously, if portability is an issue, laptop gaming makes perfect sense.

For me, I own both a desktop and laptop. I primarily do everything on my desktop, but my laptop can handle WoW/SC2 on low settings.

However, I really do not like gaming on a laptop for a few reasons.
- It's uncomfortable on my hands due to the keyboard.
- I do not like looking at the LCD at a downward angle for long periods of time.
- My keyboard/palm rest area get really hot after just a little bit of intense gaming.
- Screen is smaller
- Sound is crappier (though this isn't that big of a deal to me)
- Just overall less comfortable

 

[MBentz]

Being in the military means I'll move too much. Good thing my laptop is powerful enough to run everything. I am currently building a tower though

+1

I don't feel like having a desktop in Afghanistan. Plus with how much moving we do from our "rooms" to the fire station, it would be even a bigger pain.

 

[paperfist]

I can't play a FPS on my lappy (not sure I'd want to) but if I'm sick, feeling lazy or ready for bed and not quite tired it's awesome playing Defense Grid, Civilization or other types of games like this is a nice relaxing manner.

 

[tokie]

I game on my laptop because I move often in my student life, so lugging a desktop around and taking up desk space is an annoyance.

I only really play WC3 and HL1 mods (CS, TFC, etc). My MacBook Pro handles these like a champ with AA/AF. It also handles SC2 well, so no real need for a more powerful system. My only beef with my setup is staring down at a laptop screen. I might just hook it up to a monitor + keyboard and fix that problem.

 

[plumbob]

I do, coz it's portable and can bring it any where. I can lay on the bed and play games while relaxing.

 

[mwmorph]

Being in the military means I'll move too much. Good thing my laptop is powerful enough to run everything. I am currently building a tower though

Same here. Illinois -> South Carolina -> Texas -> Alaska in the last 10 months or so, going to Georgia in January (tentative, but I hope so), Afghanistan next may for another 12 months.

I do have a gaming desktop, it sits in a storage room in Illinois since November since I can't move it with me.
I prefer gaming on a desktop but it's just not practical.

 

[WildW]

On a sort of tangent, I find my netbook (1.6GHz Atom with XP and Intel GPU) is letting me play games that haven't run properly on modern graphics cards for years, and with a processor that's about the right speed. Crimson Skies runs perfectly for instance, and that's been a long while.

I used to have a proper gaming laptop for my only machine for a while. I spend about an equal amount of time at home and at my GF's place, and it was really nice to not have to worry about which PC my save games were on, which set of Firefox favourites I had with me, and so on. I was only playing games that were a few years old, and when at home my laptop plugged into a proper monitor, keyboard and mouse - so I barely noticed it was a laptop then. Once you stick an SSD into a laptop, it stops feeling like one.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Looking to buy a gaming laptop (Fall, Winter) because:
1. Like the ability to game anywhere in the house
2. Both Runz and I game. We have one good gaming computer (PC) BUT sometimes we both want to game at the same time. A gaming laptop is a good solution to "keepint the peace".
Wife of Runz