Why are gaming laptops still so damn ugly?

[Nvidiaguy07]

Been looking around at other gaming laptops, since I just bought a Razer Blade, and its very loud and gets super hot.

Every high end laptop is so damn ugly its ridiculous. And im 99% sure MOST people would prefer a more plain and sleek looking laptop like the macbook, or even this razer blade (minus the dumb logo). I would even prefer the look of most budget laptops to the grossness that I see out today.

Who actually wants a red and black atrocity with exhaust fans that look like they came off a muscle car?

I might give the new Dell Inspiron 7000 series a shot, since theyre not COMPLETELY disgusting, but I still might end up trying to get rid of the red highlights.

 

[fralexandr]

If you're not looking for sli, have you looked at the gigabyte p series?

Most of the more normal looking gaming laptops make more compromises in the cooling department.
The gigabyte sacrifices some cooling for lighter weight and form factor.

Sleek and high tdp = nope

 

[dave_the_nerd]

gamer chic is cancer.

 

[Sheep221]

Most of any gaming hardware is ugly, including desktop cases and peripherals. That aggressive look is probably being inspired by violent nature and competitiveness in games.
Either way I don't like it either. That's why I still use 14 yr old case as my desktop, I just always put new parts inside and I guess I will keep doing that until ATX based parts will be made, today any better case just looks so ugly.
When I ever wanted to play games I just put a discrete graphics card into office rig and that was about it.
Buying all the gaming gear is ridiculous, gaming rigs look like anything but not computers.

btw, Acer Predator 2008 was the most aggressive looking computer I ever seen so far, the design is really good technical-wise but very aggressive

 

[Blue_Max]

I might give the new Dell Inspiron 7000 series a shot, since theyre not COMPLETELY disgusting, but I still might end up trying to get rid of the red highlights.

I was going to suggest exactly that machine. They even just made a brand new Inspiron 5000 gaming with RX 460 video for 2-300 dollars less and no red lights (IIRC).

Best part of the Inspirons is the extended + accidental warranties are about 1/4 the cost of their Alienware ones!

 

[Valantar]

OP: you're close to the core issue when you mention that your Blade is hot and loud - huge vents and thick cases are necessary to avoid that with high end hardware, and 'sleek' design doesn't go over well with those two things. A MacBook-like design that's twice as thick and with large vents would look god-awful - the design leans on thinness to be aesthetically pleasing, after all. While I don't favor the gamer look at all, I'd rather have a well done and thought through (toned-down) gamer aesthetic than some hodge-podge trying to make a huge, thick laptop look thin and minimalist. Then again, there are cleaner-looking gaming laptops out there too. Those tend to look bad too, though, as they usually lean towards the '2009 15" consumer laptop' aesthetic more than anything else.

 

[Raduque]

"Gamer Culture".

Same reason "gamer" cases are ugly as hell too.

 

[CSMR]

Who actually wants a red and black atrocity with exhaust fans that look like they came off a muscle car?

Gamers have bad taste. Look at the mechanical keyboards with LEDs. If you make a keyboard without LEDs gamers line up to complain.

The bad taste extends to games, and there is a perception that gaming has to be a visually realistic experience, leading to an obsession with GPUs and the need to buy expensive and hot and loud systems.

 

[dullard]

Try to buy a pair of running shoes that aren't hideous. There are a few almost good looking running shoes, but 99% of them are bright awful colored clashing disasters. We are in a horrible trend that people equate speed and ugliness.

 

[FutureShock28]

You got a point there. I assume they try to make beefy , thick and uggly as if that would make it look more powerful to gamers. It works actually when I look at an uggly laptop I either think it's gaming or workstation laptop.

 

[Commodus]

On this note: we need more Windows keyboards with scissor switches (the Surface Keyboard is a good example of that). Part of why I prefer Macs is that I like the feel of their keyboards... and I'm not a fan of the clack-clack-clack noise from mechanicals. I want a keyboard that feels like it's getting out of the way.

Between that and the garish nature of a lot of gaming rigs, it feels like the Windows PC industry is making computers for teens, not adults. Not to disparage teens -- I suspect a lot of them don't like these PCs and keyboards, either!

 

[EXCellR8]

i've always considered the words "gaming laptop" to be an oxymoron.

the gamiest thing I own is probably the mid-tower NZXT case. black and orange but i'm a sucker for anything with orange accents

 

[Valantar]

i've always considered the words "gaming laptop" to be an oxymoron.

That used to be the case, but improved cooling systems and more efficient GPUs and CPUs have made them quite viable. The only real downside these days is cost and lack of upgradeability.

 

[EXCellR8]

except for the fact that the screens get bigger, and they're decked out with all sorts of glowing trim and flashy logos. i'd agree that they are more efficient now, but it's probably just about a wash when you scale everything up.

some of these more expensive units also have 2x GPU and support overclocking... all on a LI battery.

 

[Valantar]

Yeah, battery life on "laptops" like that is a joke, more of an UPS than anything else. Still, I think the sweet spot is the small-ish GTX 1060-class laptops like the Aero 14 and the Razer Blade (although that has a somewhat subpar cooling system) - good enough performance for 1080p high to ultra and 1440p medium at reasonable prices and with actual functional batteries.

 

[rumpleforeskin]

I've all but given up on owning a laptop with any power any more. The costs of ownership are not insignificant if you want a good gaming experience and the lack of any upgrade path adds to that cost.

I now use a fairly cheap Chromebook as the web browsing side of it is just as good as some of my previous laptops and when I want to game I use nvidia streaming (via the moonlight app) and let my desktop do the hard work. I also host a virtual windows machine on my server that I remote desktop into if I need to do any things that absolutely must use a windows environment.

Of course all this is dependent on a reasonable internet connection.

 

[Madao]

I would prefer a laptop that looks and feels like a brick that coincidently happens to fit on your lap. 10 lbs of battery, 10 lbs of gaming power, and no stupid gimmick copyrights relating to meaningless things like "sleek" or "pretty".


There is literally zero excuse for all modern laptops having non-serviceable batteries the size of a girly smartphone.
And for that matter, phones should be 3/4 to an inch thick, mostly battery space. 8,000mah should be the legal minimum on any phone whose total cost is over $250.

 

[JeffMD]

The only laptops I ever considered ugly were the asus ones with its its bright orange molding and red-only lighting... hideous stuff. But there are many gaming laptops that use a very "normal" looking shell (maybe a bit chunkier back end for larger grills) so I have no idea what OP is thinking of when he thinks they are ALL ugly. Seriously dude.. just stay away from laptops.

I got the MSI gaming and I'm cool with it. I am indifferent to the red line trim and the badge looks like it should be on a car, but the rest of it looks normal.

 

[Gikaseixas]

The only laptops I ever considered ugly were the asus ones with its its bright orange molding and red-only lighting... hideous stuff

Taste is subjective. I have one . The thing just works efficiently and is very reliable too. Initially i wanted the Razer 17'' because of it's Mac like design and construction but when i tried one i noticed right away that thermal would be a limiting factor as under load it was throttling both CPU and GPU so yeah, i went with the beast and i love it. Heck i even love the style now, it grew on me and i wouldn't trade it for a sleeker machine... until there's better cooling technology or more powerful components that work cooler than the existing ones

 

[Murloc]

Most of any gaming hardware is ugly, including desktop cases and peripherals. That aggressive look is probably being inspired by violent nature and competitiveness in games.
Either way I don't like it either. That's why I still use 14 yr old case as my desktop, I just always put new parts inside and I guess I will keep doing that until ATX based parts will be made, today any better case just looks so ugly.
When I ever wanted to play games I just put a discrete graphics card into office rig and that was about it.
Buying all the gaming gear is ridiculous, gaming rigs look like anything but not computers.

btw, Acer Predator 2008 was the most aggressive looking computer I ever seen so far, the design is really good technical-wise but very aggressive

what's so wrong with a CM 690?

Gamers have bad taste. Look at the mechanical keyboards with LEDs. If you make a keyboard without LEDs gamers line up to complain.

The bad taste extends to games, and there is a perception that gaming has to be a visually realistic experience, leading to an obsession with GPUs and the need to buy expensive and hot and loud systems.

the thing is you can turn off the LEDs and most people like them for the backlightning, I don't think most people care that it's RGB LEDs or not, it's just a nice to have if they have LEDs of a certain colour in the case.

 

[cbn]

Been looking around at other gaming laptops, since I just bought a Razer Blade, and its very loud and gets super hot.

Every high end laptop is so damn ugly its ridiculous. And im 99% sure MOST people would prefer a more plain and sleek looking laptop like the macbook, or even this razer blade (minus the dumb logo). I would even prefer the look of most budget laptops to the grossness that I see out today.

This one looks pretty good and it is only 5.29 lbs for a 15.6" with GTX 1070:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...GABYTE_P_Series_P35Xv6-_-34-233-181-_-Product

 

[cbn]

Deleted. (Posted in wrong thread)

 

[dave_the_nerd]

This one looks pretty good and it is only 5.29 lbs for a 15.6" with GTX 1070:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...GABYTE_P_Series_P35Xv6-_-34-233-181-_-Product

Gaming laptop, huh?

In my day, a 6 pound laptop with a midrange discrete GPU was just called a "laptop."

I'm old.

 

[b-mac]

The Eurocom Tornado looks like a plain Jane black laptop, was o e of the reason I went with it. 1070, desktop 6700, and IPS GSYNC.

 

[ninaholic37]

I had a white 8.9" netbook to play Dos games. It was light and slim and cute.