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[rareside]

I'm currently living on the road. Since I'm always staying in hotels, I decided I want to get a laptop, but I need to be able to play games on it, and not shitty games, either.. I gotta be able to play new games (in particular the new Tribes game).

Was wondering if anyone has laptops that are game-worthy.

The model I'm looking at is an HP.. specs off the top of my head are:

P4 3.2 GHz
512 RAM
80GB HD
17" Widescreen monitor

and the videocard is a GeForce FX Go5700

The main thing I'm worried about is the vidcard, but this is my first time buying a laptop, so it may be fine..

Any help appreciated.

 

[tenchir]

I'm currently living on the road. Since I'm always staying in hotels, I decided I want to get a laptop, but I need to be able to play games on it, and not shitty games, either.. I gotta be able to play new games (in particular the new Tribes game).

Was wondering if anyone has laptops that are game-worthy.

The model I'm looking at is an HP.. specs off the top of my head are:

P4 3.2 GHz
512 RAM
80GB HD
17" Widescreen monitor

and the videocard is a GeForce FX Go5700

The main thing I'm worried about is the vidcard, but this is my first time buying a laptop, so it may be fine..

Any help appreciated.

They don't have ones that are equipped with Mobility Radeon 9800? Or Mobility x800?

 

[dream]

I used a Dell XPS for a while and it absolutely rocked.

 

[Dilbert]

Hey...I used to be in the exact same situation. I accepted an assignment overseas for several months, and since the company wouldn't provide me a laptop...I sprung for my own. It was good enough to play Return to Castle Wolfenstein and the original Unreal Tournament, but would choke on today's games.

There's no getting around it -- the videocard WILL be the limiting factor, and there's really no good way to upgrade in the future. I don't know specifically how capable the FX Go 5700 is, and I don't ever remember seeing benchmarks of laptops vs. desktops for gaming.

The other thing to consider is cost and convenience. Yes, you want to play FPS while you're on the road...but gaming laptops are EXPENSIVE. You don't mention the price of the system you're considering, but I bet it's at least $2500. If you have the spare money...great...but those extra hundreds of dollars can be used for other stuff. The BIGGEST problem I had was that my laptop was huge and heavy -- almost ten pounds (!!!) with the dual battery configuration. Yes, it had a gorgeous, sharp 17" 1280x1024 display...yes, it had an almost full-size keyboard which was very comfortable to type on...and yes, it was powerful for its time. But I needed to buy a special carrying case because it was too big to fit in most of the bags I wanted to buy, and I got REALLY sick of carrying it around when I returned from my assignment and started going on more frequent trips. I'm much happier with a five-pound laptop. If you travel all the time, it's something to consider.

Incidentally, I have a company laptop now, and although I loaded UT onto it to kill time on long business trips, it runs like ass, as you might expect. I ended up buying a GBA SP for those times I get stuck on long trips, and I've been very happy. It won't ever play Tribes, though...

 

[akascream]

Doesn't Alienware make a laptop?


Dunno how good they are?
http://www.alienware.com/Product_Pages/notebook_gaming.aspx

 

[Lyte Edge]

I have an Alienware Area 51m laptop; works great. It's a Pentium 4 3.2ghz Extreme Edition with Hyper Threading blah blah blah, 1 gig of RAM, and a DVD/RW drive. PC gaming is a blast on it and Doom 3 was the first game I tried that I couldn't run at full detail (still high settings though). I've got an ATI Mobile Radeon 9600 in this PC though, and you can get better cards than that now anyway. Alienware's advantage over some of the other models is that you can upgrade the graphics card yourself; other manufacturers require you to send the PC in for a fee or no upgrades at all.

If you've got the cash to spend, a gaming class laptop is definitely awesome. Just remember that if you want long battery life, you DON'T want a laptop like this. I always have a place to plug in the AC, so it doesn't matter to me.

I have to say, it's really cool to be able to take the laptop out on the porch and play wiresless online games like UT2K4. And it's great to be able to take the computer anywhere I want to with little hassle of having to pack it up...I just disconnect the external hard drive, unplug the computer, and I'm ready to go.

 

[rareside]

Thanks for the advice!

jinx, yeah it seems like I'm in the same predicament you are (or were)... Usually I stay in a hotel for about a week at a time, so the size of the laptop isn't that bothersome. Granted, I say this before I buy it...

Upon searching Google for the GeForce FX Go5700 specs, I did manage to find a head-to-head article where they benchmark it on many games, and it doesn't seem too bad. Most of the games were pretty new and it was reaching about 30 frames per second in game. Not sure what resolution/graphics level were being used, but it should be managable.

I wish there were more options when it came to videocards in general.. it's the thing I hate most about upgrading/buying new CPU's. Their lifespans are shite.

I'm just too excited about being on the road though. I already have a GBA, but at home I'm stuck on dial-up, and being on the road provides free broadband in all the hotels, so I can't resist the temptation!

 

[Bebpo]

I've got a Radeon 9600M (64meg) in my laptop and it runs pretty much everything including Doom3 at an acceptable framerate. If there's a 9800M out than go for that of course, but if your stuck with a 9600M you should still be able to play all PC games for another year at least.

 

[royale]

Check out the ACER Ferrari laptop. Its got a ATI Mobility 9700 in it which i believe is one of the top video cards as far as laptops go.

ACER Ferrari

 

[Future]

Try sager as well. Awesome gaming laptops, but they will run over $2K if you want something really good.

If you can wait, eventually laptops will start using PCIE graphics cards, which you'll be able to upgrade to keep your notebook up to date

 

[Lyte Edge]

Don't worry too much about the size of the laptop. They don't give you a little one-strap carrying case for these monsters; you get a high-quality backpack, and when I have it on, it's no big deal to haul around. I had to walk for a LONG time carrying the laptop on my back when I brought it to Japan, and it didn't bother me at all. My luggage on the other hand...

 

[Rhindle]

If you can wait, eventually laptops will start using PCIE graphics cards, which you'll be able to upgrade to keep your notebook up to date

Interesting, when are those likely to be available?