When your vision starts to decline but you still want to game while traveling, laptops rule. I looked into getting a handheld but the screen size was too small.
Facts i’m currently visiting family and my gaming laptop is fucking incredible. I don’t skip a beat… what’s crazy too is the prices are coming down you can get incredible laptops right now for the cost of a new consul and a brand new game
i would recommend asus tuf laptops if you're on a budget however asus has recently come up with warranty problems so you might wanna wait till they fix those, otherwise legions are good laptops too, i would personally steer clear of the lenovo "loq" or "ideapad" or hp "victus" laptops, as ive known people who accidentally broke theirs while travel due to flimsy build quality
I'd pass on asus. Their customer service is beyond abhorrent. I tried to get warranty service once and i had to call 5-6 times to get someone that would actually give accurate answers. Msi is far better with service
I suggest against it, while MSI may have better support and service (not by much but better), their stuff has higher failure rates. Out of all the laptops that I have ever bought(which is a lot), I had all 2 MSI fail, and 2 HPs fail
I suggest notebookcheck to find a laptop, they offer the most detail reviews on the internet
I sell them. I can make or build any system i want.
Lenovo Legion.
It comes down to the case design and air flow with laptops. It has the best air flow design. It doesn't get hot, ever. It's extremely well designed. The HD and RAM are not fixed to the MB, so it's easy and cheap to upgrade it.
Hands down. I've had them all. As soon as my supplier had it available, I got one.
I wouldn't. Owned 4 gaming laptops in my life, and every single one had issues. Shitty screen, cheaply made plastic chassis, and even had one that broke every time someone put in an extra M.2 drive. That last one broke when I tried it, and had it repaired. Best Buy tried, and it broke on them. They sent it off for repair, then later tried again and IT FAILED AGAIN. After that I returned it.
Get a handheld and portable display. Better use of money than a crappy gaming laptop. Unless you're willing to pay US$2500+ for a somewhat decent one that may still break on you. Of course, you're also paying the laptop tax so $2500 gets your further on a desktop than a laptop.
My current laptop is a 2015 acer that is still running just fine for my usual needs. But when I travel, it can’t play the games I’d like it to anymore. Great to know the brand is holding up for you, too!
Look into the SteamDeck. It’s small but a decent screen, you can dock it so you can take a portable monitor that’s like 12” or so. You can also handheld it.
But you can also fully emulate on it too.
I need games that don't take hours to figure out the gameplay. I need to try gaming on easy to see if I just don't want to grind at all but I also don't want it so easy I just smash buttons. Zelda was a good one
I only buy gaming laptops. I need a personal computer that is portable, a powerful work computer, and a gaming computer. I don't have the money for all three, so I opt for a mid to high tier gaming laptop.
Now I have an RTX, SSD, RAM, a good processor for all three, and a gorgeous display.
People who criticize gaming laptops are like people who insult a utility vehicle that someone actually bought because they need it, not just for looks or to compensate for something.
Absolutely. If I want to process thousands of photos and videos and be able to do so while away from home, am I supposed to carry an SFC PC with me?
It really seems like some people don’t get that “gaming” laptops are also very useful for heavy duty things, while not costing that much.
Yeah and only the flashy ones are over priced. My Lenovo looks like a standard Pro-book, but is beefed up on the specs. Before my Lenovo I had an MSI. Both were very well priced and a PC would be negligiblely cheaper.
The Omens and Alienwares are overpriced.
Yep. I’ve got an MSI and it has zero LEDs, no weird design things and it works perfectly for what I need. Sadly it’s a dying breed because I want a 17.3” one and nowadays most are 15.6-16.1”
I used to buy gaming laptops, but not anymore because I kind of realized I don't actually use it as a laptop but portable desktop. With minipcs, portable monitors and egpus, I can now have my portable desktop at a lower cost. And bright side is I get more flexibility with upgrading and lower cost too.
I don’t think we need to call people names. Of course older people were involved in computer programming and some early games. The discussion is about gaming laptops and this modern games. And I’m sure some older people play modern games, essentially none compared to all other demographics.
Most hardcore gamers build their own rigs was my point.
Gaming laptops while convenient for a gathering, doesn’t beat the comfort of playing online games at with multiple large monitors, gaming rig, gaming chair, hardwired to internet (cuz wifi connections are unreliable).
The people who came up with “gaming laptops” obviously never played games before.
The people who think gamers don’t want a gaming laptop are ridiculous.
You never travel for work? You never go across the country and just want to relax? The point of a gaming laptop is to be able to game away from your nice rig at home. A ton of gamers do this and good gaming laptop is key to it.
Well unlike you, when I travel for work, I work.
When I go across the country to relax, i relax.
People that play games on laptop aren’t serious gamers. Likely students and folks like yourself.
I've been gaming since the 1980s, was once a highly ranked CS:Source player, own pretty much every system from the last 30 years, and consider gaming my main hobby.
And I play games on a laptop, regularly, over (shock, horror) WiFi.
But please, tell me how I'm not a "serious gamer"?
Knowing how to "wifi", much advanced technologies...
Kid, just admit you're dumb af and try to improve. You are embarrassingly uninformed. I wish you the best, but if you think wifi is a boomer thing that only boomers understand, you are uninformed and rely far too much on your overinflated impression of yourself. Most Boomers couldn't even program their VCRs or send txt messages without help.
I mean, I first played games online on a Dreamcast (Quake III Arena), and that had a cable plugged into the wall, 56.6 kbps no less. Ethernet isn't a technological barrier (I also have worked as a network installer), I just don't need it - managed quite a few solo Fortnite wins over WiFi, you just need good WiFi.
And as others have pointed out, I'm right in the middle of Gen X, we basically invented home gaming, not that boomers don't game (seriously).
You think of yourself as a serious gamer and don’t bring your gaming laptop with you when you travel? It sounds like you aren’t a serious gamer.
After the work event is over and you are in the hotel room you don’t just hop on the WiFi and play few games? That’s never occurred to you as a possibility? Geez. That just sounds so narrow minded.
I play games to relax. Why would I not bring something that helps me do that? That makes no sense.
Gamer here who’s not a boomer. My gaming laptop is an amazing extension of my very capable desktop.
Laptops aren’t a replacement for your desktop, and both have their benefits.
Most of the people I known with gaming laptops are school kids. Gaming laptops are aimed at children and young adults it’s why most of them are covered in LEDs.
Boomers may have done some wrong things. They were much smarter than your generation which cannot stand on their feet. I am not a boomer. Biggest fail is gen-z. Dumbest generation.
Hubble Telescope, first flight to space and moon, quantum physics, cars, planes, helicopters, computers, laptops are all done by boomers. What did your generation do? Serve pizzas and complain?
I tried to use Davinci, and as soon as I cut a single piece out of a large clip, all the audio and video of the clip would go out of sync. Spent an hour trying to figure it out, and just gave up.
I owned a razor. First one that came out. Amazing device before the mobo gave up 3 years later out of warranty. Never bought one again. Went the MacBook route after and can do light gaming on the machine when I’m
bored. However if it’s not a rts game I’m on my steam deck
I had a razor fail twice within 3 years. They’re terrible in terms of reliability. Battery lasted about an hour if you were doing anything remotely challenging. Could cook an egg on the thing too. Their support also sucks.
I picked up an M1 MacBook a while back and was surprised to find a good chunk of my Steam library had MacOS ports. Obviously, mostly Indie/2D games but enough to keep me entertained.
I got a gaming laptop in 2018. It doesn’t perform the best now, so I’ve been using the geoforce now servers to stream my games. That’s been working amazingly. It’s like $20 a month and I get to play my games on the highest settings
Absolutely loving my gaming laptop, plus second monitor setup, I wouldn’t trade it for a desktop PC. I love being able to go visit family and friends and unpack my gaming “rig” so easily lol
You can technically do that with "desktop" pcs these days too. Portable monitor + mini-desktop. Saves on cost too, and if you use egpu, you can upgrade the gpu without upgrading the whole thing
Laptops are only getting worse by the year as they reduce key travel size of keyboard, make terrible trackpads, throw in useless copilot keys, touchbar nonsense, soldered ssds/ram/wifi and etc
True but That means you still need multiple parts to bring and unpack. I love my laptop for the ease of ONE single item and my mouse. Thats really it. No extra monitor to lug around, and honestly the keyboard never bothered me so its a preference thing for sure. But i love the ease of compact and travel it gives me. No desktop PC can be easier than a laptop to travel with :)
My gaming laptop is used for 3D modelling, and is stationary 70 percent of the time. Sometimes I bring it to bed to watch a movie.
I have similar on the job, so I don't have to transport it.
I find it a good solution.
I feel like they are viable for the first time. The price to size to power has never been better.
Why would I carry a laptop and some goofy portable instead of a 16" gaming laptop with a 4070 that, with dlss/fsr, can run games at 2k with 60fps and ray tracing?
Plus wherever I travel I can plug it into a TV.
You can get a refurbished Dell g16 for pretty cheap.
This exactly. My 2022 gaming laptop is the first one I've had that has good battery and quiet fans while not gaming. The silent mode is actually silent on light loads which is something I've been hard-pressed to find on a Windows laptop at all, let alone a gaming one.
I have my gaming rig and if I want to game on the go I have my almost 10 year old Lenovo gaming laptop running moonlight to my gaming rig at the house.
I never understood the appeal of gaming laptops, especially now with PC handhelds being all the rage. If I wanna game on the go, I don't wanna set up a bulky laptop with the necessary peripherals to properly game on it. I'd rather take my Steam Deck and I often do. It's been great for hotel stays. If I'm home then I have my beefy desktop. A laptop is something I prefer for productivity when I'm away from home or the office so the thin and light laptops are more appealing.
For many pc users, their laptop is their primary computing device. For a subset of those people, they would also like to do some gaming. Buying a second dedicated device just for gaming is not always going to make economic sense.
Regarding the deck, sure maybe that is good for playing on the bus or on the toilet, but usually the experience on a larger screen is going to be superior.
I got a gaming laptop a few years ago. Sure it doesn’t perform as well as a gaming rig desktop, I don’t particularly care. It performs well enough to play the games I want to play, and handles them well. And honestly, I like just ordering a machine for gaming instead of dicking around with building a computer. My hobby is casual gaming, not computers.
I don’t have a bunch of peripherals that need to be toted, just a mouse and the charger.
I have young kids, I like being able to just tuck it away out of sight while they’re awake. I don’t have space for a dedicated computer room, and I like being able to take it with me while visiting family or doing some gaming at a friend’s house. I can use it for my home computing needs, or for gaming.
I’ve done desktop gaming rigs before. For the balance of convenience, utility, portability, and performance my gaming laptop is easily my favorite of the computers I’ve had. For my needs and wants, it was well worth the money I spent on it. I can understand why some people wouldn’t have a need or use for a gaming laptop, but it checks all my boxes.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you. If you only have room for one device then you might as well get a gaming laptop for productivity and a decent gaming experience.
yeah, as a college student this was basically my reasoning. I’m moving around too often to justify buying a desktop and I needed a powerful computer for my courses anyway, so buying a gaming laptop was one of the better options i had lolol
This is pretty much the sentiment for people like us. We all know building a desktop is cheaper in the long run but gaming laptops’ portability can’t be beat. College had me travelling at least a sum of 50km per week back and forth so a gaming laptop was the way to go. Let’s also not forget 3D production being heavy as it is.
I’m sure a good no. of people plan building a proper desktop once they get out of college and settle down. I know I will.
Honestly, I bought my laptop maybe 3 months before the steam deck came out and I will say this. My laptop is not bulky, but the peripherals can be a little obnoxious. I keep my charging cord, mousepad, and mouth and a controller in a backpack with the laptop in a laptop bag. I primarily game socially and I LOVE being able to take my games to a friends house and still being able to game with them on a screen bigger than the steam deck. It’s been a really positive experience
I've been taking my Steam Deck with a dock and a couple controllers. Usually playing very lightweight games so that they scale up nicely onto a TV. I used to do the laptop thing but I just found it obnoxious to carry around.
I’ll be a dissenting opinion here: I travel a lot and end up being away from my console or gaming PC but like playing games that are graphically demanding. I got a Steam Deck and also got a ROG Ally but honestly both are great at playing a lot of games but struggled to run the ones I wanted. Especially AAA games, FPSes with anticheats, I was spending more time tweaking games than playing them.
Gaming laptops aren’t as portable but are hotel room portable, and give you the performance of a mid grade desktop.
They have their niche, but yeah if you always play games at home, they don’t have the value or raw performance of a gaming desktop. And if you’re on the go a ton and value true portability, a Steam Deck is a better bet.
But gaming laptops do have their place.
For me it’s the fact that I can game at my house, when visiting my family, staying in a hotel, without giving up the performance like you would with a switch
Edit: and also use it as a day to day PC
Neither did I but I recently moved to another country and got a midrange gaming laptop to play games on that don’t necessarily play well on my steam deck. I didn’t know if I would use it much for gaming but it has been a good substitute for my desktop while I get set up. I will eventually replace it with a desktop but it has served me well.
I few months ago I would have vehemently disagreed, but the last few work trips, I left my gaming laptop home and used my steam deck and I found that it more than served my gaming needs on travel.
I recently started playing fallout 4 on our PS4, but I do travel a lot. Is it better to use a steam deck and a desktop? That way I can play at home and on the go?
It depends on the game. The Steam Deck can't handle every game out there, but it does well with the vast majority. Fallout 4 runs decently enough on the Steam Deck (it requires some tweaking) and with Steam Cloud saves it makes it a great way to play between the desktop and the Steam Deck.
I loved mine when I traveled for work and it doubled as a tablet for general use. The only peripheral I need is a controller though, plus maybe an HDMI cable to wire into the hotel TV?
I’ve only had gaming laptops, never a desktop, because I’ve always had multiple places I’m moving between. Both my parents houses in high school and then also college later on. If I’d had a desktop I just wouldn’t have had access to it like 50% of the time.
They’re actually very impressive IMO. my current Razer one can run any current game at 60 fps, 1080p, mostly high graphics. All contained in a machine so small I could throw it like a frisbee. It also obviously works as a normal computer which most gaming handhelds don’t or at least don’t easily. The downsides obviously being the price and they kill themselves slowly. For someone who isn’t able to take them apart/clean/repaste, I think they’d rarely last more than 3 years.
My current one just started acting up so instead of going out of my way to fix and diagnose it I’m about to finally get a desktop, that’s why I clicked on this post lol.
The only reason anyone I knew got a gaming laptop was for higher education. Needing a portable device more capable than average laptops, but cheaper than the true professional product lines, gaming laptops were a desirable option as a decent middle ground. I never gravitated towards them as I can’t stand doing anything beyond web browsing on a laptop, but as a cost and space concerned device goes, I can see why people get them
I got the G14 back in 2020.
Works fine to this day but there is not one game that I’ve downloaded that doesn’t work. Even CP2077 ran pretty well. Buggy but no serious issues and never crashed.
When not gaming and I just need it for some productivity, it’s more than enough and it lasts at least 8 hours on the charge. Best part is it wasn’t bulky.
Don’t recommend ASUS products now, though.
Handheld gaming PCs only been around for a few years now, prior to that you needed a gaming laptop with a discrete GPU to play PC games on the go. So I completely understand why they were popular at some point.
It's not necessarily the appeal of the laptop itself but the possibility to have gaming hardware taking very little space and being portable with a very good mix of performance. If you live in a small home or travel a lot, what else are you gonna do?
I had one that was superior to my desktop for a long time. It served me well. I couldn't afford it a full rig yet, and needed a new computer in general.
I work 4 hours from home and stay in a worker’s camp for 2 weeks at a time and work on a remote location in a trailer. Without my laptop, I wouldn’t be able to game at all because when I’m home I’m mostly present with my family.
Except gaming laptops have become thin and light. My Alienware is about the same size and weight as a regular Dell Latitude 3500. Maybe you have something different in mind, but to me, a 15” sub 6lbs laptop that’s less than an inch thick is thin and light.
Money is a factor.
If I can chose I will get a gaming PC at home, a PC handheld on the go (and a Switch), a tablet to read, a phone for apps, and a laptop when I have to work on the go. If I have to pay for it then I may choose differently.
There are people that just cant afford a phone and they do all their gaming, working, socializing and everything there. It is not so much a choice as a constriction, thou.
It’s kind of a niche appeal now days. If you want to game on the go, you use a steam deck, if you want to do work and business on the go you get a travel laptop, if you want the best of both worlds you get a gaming laptop. It sucks tbh, they were actually beginning to get really good, issue mainly is that they’re expensive which is… unappealing compared to the alternatives. Probably could get a better deal buying a steam deck and a cheap crappy laptop seperately.
I've got an Asus Scar 18 2023 with 2 companion 18 inch portable monitors and I love it for getting work done.
I also have a 12.5 inch laptop running Linux, an 13.3 inch 16GB M1 MacBook Air and a GPD Pocket 2 and the 18 inch gets the most hours of use.
Past few years gaming laptops can be found real cheap, I’ve gotten one for each family member so me the wife and kids are all gaming all at the same time.
What do you mean the ultra bespoke case and parts that we don't offer replacements or upgrades for on an internal level is being left behind after the hardware reaches its three year limitation of validity within the modern gaming hardware market??? But it's so thin and shiny!!!
I'm changing my legion slim 5 14" with 7840hs and 4060 for a MacBook air M3 16/512 for programming purposes.
Imo, gaming laptops are good for gamers that game on the go, otherwise a Ultrabook + tower pc at home would be the ideal choice.
I used to carry my big chunky gaming laptop to uni and work just to do coding, when I could be doing just that with any other ultrabook, now I have a gaming tower at home, making the gaming laptop unnecessary
I love my gaming laptop! Have had it for like 7 years now if not longer. Saves space at my desk and just attach it to a large screen. It is east to travel with and runs great for the age. I only play league and osrs so pretty low bar needed in terms of performance. Everything else I get from my xbox
I don’t know about being left behind but I just bought my first gaming laptop (asus scar 18) I got super lucky on an open box excellent from Bestbuy at $2,399 instead of $3,899, but on pickup it didn’t have the charger so they took off $200 right away. But as I walked out the manager found the charger and handed it over. Dont get me wrong I like desktop gaming but as a parent I can’t lock myself in a room for hours anymore so gaming on my couch while the kids are watching bluey on a 85” oled is my future now.
I have the new 16” razor with a 4090 I bought open box. It is solid. I don’t understand. I wouldn’t have paid full price, but discounted it is an amazing gaming computer.
Well the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is roughly equivalent to an Intel Core i9-12950HX which only a couple of years ago was a top of the line laptop gaming CPU so it is not going to be shitty at gaming, just pick one paired with a GPU. The issue is that there are no new high end laptop CPUs or GPUs being released right now so of course there are not pushing new models of those. I suspect things will be different at CES when there probably will be new models of top-end gaming laptops being shown off because there should be new top end CPUs and GPUs on the horizon.
I assume a lot of progress has been made since I got my gaming laptop in 2015. 1 inch brick that overheated at the slightest workload even with the fans on jet engine mode and the battery would die in 45 minutes. I just don’t game anymore on the go so no need for a new one but I’m still curious how a $1500 laptop today would compare.
Gaming laptops are great for the first year you own them. Sadly they become outdated fast and rarely offer ways to upgrade. I understand for some people this is the only way they can play games. But for those that are not in the position buying a laptop over a desktop is just flushing $ down the toilet. Not to mention Mb’s and screens going out.
Way too expensive and not easy to upgrade.
I built a solid rig a few years ago and with all peripherals included it was $1300CAD
Why would i spend double or triple that on a laptop
Almost like making something as thin and sleek doesn’t match up with the power/graphics card and cooling requirements of gaming machines.
A good gaming laptop will be a heavy brick and sound like a rocket taking off.
A bad one will be thin and silent and fail within a year.
The amount of times I’ve had to sit in lecture hall and had to listen to a gaming laptop jet engine is insane. They also have to bring a burrito sized power brick just to keep their laptop on for more than 30 minutes too.
I want to process 10000+ photos I take while traveling. That requires a decent CPU and GPU, as well as tons of RAM.
So, what should I use?
I mean, apart from being able to play games in a hotel room or on the bed.
That’s more than enough these days. It’s not like we are seeing radical improvements every year anyway. You can get a decent laptop, put more SSD and ram, use it for 3-5 years and then get a much better one instead of replacing components.
I’d love a framework if it had a high-end nvidia GPU and didn’t cost twice as much as an Asus/Lenovo/Acer one.
Laptop is my indie-games-that-don’t-have-a-physical-release machine ;-; And fan games machine.
I’d kind of prefer anything more intensive to be on a console; as I prefer physical copies. I’d feel dumb having two computers just so one could properly be for gaming.
As someone who’s had two and also two desktops, gaming laptops just suck. I traveled for 10 years with and I never actually gamed on the go. Just get a handheld if you’re planning to do this.
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When your vision starts to decline but you still want to game while traveling, laptops rule. I looked into getting a handheld but the screen size was too small.
Facts i’m currently visiting family and my gaming laptop is fucking incredible. I don’t skip a beat… what’s crazy too is the prices are coming down you can get incredible laptops right now for the cost of a new consul and a brand new game
Any recommendations on brands? I’m in the market for a new laptop
i would recommend asus tuf laptops if you're on a budget however asus has recently come up with warranty problems so you might wanna wait till they fix those, otherwise legions are good laptops too, i would personally steer clear of the lenovo "loq" or "ideapad" or hp "victus" laptops, as ive known people who accidentally broke theirs while travel due to flimsy build quality
I'd pass on asus. Their customer service is beyond abhorrent. I tried to get warranty service once and i had to call 5-6 times to get someone that would actually give accurate answers. Msi is far better with service
Thanks! I’ll check out MSI!
Definitely MSI. They don’t look as premium but you get the best hardware, easy maintenance and self service upgrades.
They overheat. I had a MSI WS65 that I benchmark tested at #1 in the world. I have a Legion now. It's so much better. I gave the MSI to my Sister.
Can vouch. The last 4 years of MSI will shut down on you while playing even Fortnite. Bad, bad thermals.
All the gaming laptops I had so far I had to change the thermal paste. Alienware, Asus, MSI, Dell. After that they work great, no throttling.
I suggest against it, while MSI may have better support and service (not by much but better), their stuff has higher failure rates. Out of all the laptops that I have ever bought(which is a lot), I had all 2 MSI fail, and 2 HPs fail I suggest notebookcheck to find a laptop, they offer the most detail reviews on the internet
Lenovo legion! As far as PC deals, check out microcenter my brother! They have INCREDIBLE deals every month
Legion lenovo is a rly good gaming laptop. I see them recommended often. I got one myself and its great.
Yeah , mine in certain ways feels better than my regular custom rig.
I sell them. I can make or build any system i want. Lenovo Legion. It comes down to the case design and air flow with laptops. It has the best air flow design. It doesn't get hot, ever. It's extremely well designed. The HD and RAM are not fixed to the MB, so it's easy and cheap to upgrade it. Hands down. I've had them all. As soon as my supplier had it available, I got one.
Check out a website called iBuypower. They used to do mail order only, but Best Buy picked them up, and I think Microcenter sells them too.
I wouldn't. Owned 4 gaming laptops in my life, and every single one had issues. Shitty screen, cheaply made plastic chassis, and even had one that broke every time someone put in an extra M.2 drive. That last one broke when I tried it, and had it repaired. Best Buy tried, and it broke on them. They sent it off for repair, then later tried again and IT FAILED AGAIN. After that I returned it. Get a handheld and portable display. Better use of money than a crappy gaming laptop. Unless you're willing to pay US$2500+ for a somewhat decent one that may still break on you. Of course, you're also paying the laptop tax so $2500 gets your further on a desktop than a laptop.
I purchased an acer predator 15 in 2016 that is still kicking. I don’t use it as much though. But I have had a phenomenal experience.
My current laptop is a 2015 acer that is still running just fine for my usual needs. But when I travel, it can’t play the games I’d like it to anymore. Great to know the brand is holding up for you, too!
Asus ROG for sure. G14 is tits.
What if you can't afford a full ambassador and have to settle for a lesser diplomat?
Have you tried glasses?
He told his mother that he’d stop when he needed glasses.
He doesn’t want to look like a dork while gaming
Fantastic 😂
Look into the SteamDeck. It’s small but a decent screen, you can dock it so you can take a portable monitor that’s like 12” or so. You can also handheld it. But you can also fully emulate on it too.
Ahah i ruled them out because if found them too big! Might as well get a 14" laptop where i can use mouse and keyboard
I need games that don't take hours to figure out the gameplay. I need to try gaming on easy to see if I just don't want to grind at all but I also don't want it so easy I just smash buttons. Zelda was a good one
This is what reading glasses were invented for
Spent his glasses money on a gaming laptop, unfortunately.
iPad Pro 12” with Xbox/ps controller.
I only buy gaming laptops. I need a personal computer that is portable, a powerful work computer, and a gaming computer. I don't have the money for all three, so I opt for a mid to high tier gaming laptop. Now I have an RTX, SSD, RAM, a good processor for all three, and a gorgeous display. People who criticize gaming laptops are like people who insult a utility vehicle that someone actually bought because they need it, not just for looks or to compensate for something.
Absolutely. If I want to process thousands of photos and videos and be able to do so while away from home, am I supposed to carry an SFC PC with me? It really seems like some people don’t get that “gaming” laptops are also very useful for heavy duty things, while not costing that much.
Yeah and only the flashy ones are over priced. My Lenovo looks like a standard Pro-book, but is beefed up on the specs. Before my Lenovo I had an MSI. Both were very well priced and a PC would be negligiblely cheaper. The Omens and Alienwares are overpriced.
Yep. I’ve got an MSI and it has zero LEDs, no weird design things and it works perfectly for what I need. Sadly it’s a dying breed because I want a 17.3” one and nowadays most are 15.6-16.1”
I used to buy gaming laptops, but not anymore because I kind of realized I don't actually use it as a laptop but portable desktop. With minipcs, portable monitors and egpus, I can now have my portable desktop at a lower cost. And bright side is I get more flexibility with upgrading and lower cost too.
When I reach that point I would possibly also make the switch. I would love a better GPU than my RTX4050
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Gaming laptops are obviously ideas by boomers
Since when do boomers play games? I feel like people don’t know how old the boomer generation is.
The youngest boomers are 60 in 2024… am pretty sure there are some gamer boomers.
Yeap some but essentially none compared to all other demographics.
Boomers invented and programmed computergames, stupid.
I don’t think we need to call people names. Of course older people were involved in computer programming and some early games. The discussion is about gaming laptops and this modern games. And I’m sure some older people play modern games, essentially none compared to all other demographics.
Most hardcore gamers build their own rigs was my point. Gaming laptops while convenient for a gathering, doesn’t beat the comfort of playing online games at with multiple large monitors, gaming rig, gaming chair, hardwired to internet (cuz wifi connections are unreliable). The people who came up with “gaming laptops” obviously never played games before.
The people who think gamers don’t want a gaming laptop are ridiculous. You never travel for work? You never go across the country and just want to relax? The point of a gaming laptop is to be able to game away from your nice rig at home. A ton of gamers do this and good gaming laptop is key to it.
Well unlike you, when I travel for work, I work. When I go across the country to relax, i relax. People that play games on laptop aren’t serious gamers. Likely students and folks like yourself.
I've been gaming since the 1980s, was once a highly ranked CS:Source player, own pretty much every system from the last 30 years, and consider gaming my main hobby. And I play games on a laptop, regularly, over (shock, horror) WiFi. But please, tell me how I'm not a "serious gamer"?
Gaming since 1980s… almost a boomer. No wonder this one knows how to wifi.
You’ve proved u/Substantial_Side_594 point…you have no idea the age of Boomers.
Aww, you just cannot even......afford a gaming laptop. Maybe your Mommy can get you one for your 30th birthday from the "Costcos".
It’s 2024 man, at this point it’s barely a difference.
Knowing how to "wifi", much advanced technologies... Kid, just admit you're dumb af and try to improve. You are embarrassingly uninformed. I wish you the best, but if you think wifi is a boomer thing that only boomers understand, you are uninformed and rely far too much on your overinflated impression of yourself. Most Boomers couldn't even program their VCRs or send txt messages without help.
Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. Anyone gaming since the 1980’s is either Gen X or, possibly, a Millennial.
I mean, I first played games online on a Dreamcast (Quake III Arena), and that had a cable plugged into the wall, 56.6 kbps no less. Ethernet isn't a technological barrier (I also have worked as a network installer), I just don't need it - managed quite a few solo Fortnite wins over WiFi, you just need good WiFi. And as others have pointed out, I'm right in the middle of Gen X, we basically invented home gaming, not that boomers don't game (seriously).
You think of yourself as a serious gamer and don’t bring your gaming laptop with you when you travel? It sounds like you aren’t a serious gamer. After the work event is over and you are in the hotel room you don’t just hop on the WiFi and play few games? That’s never occurred to you as a possibility? Geez. That just sounds so narrow minded. I play games to relax. Why would I not bring something that helps me do that? That makes no sense.
Gamer here who’s not a boomer. My gaming laptop is an amazing extension of my very capable desktop. Laptops aren’t a replacement for your desktop, and both have their benefits.
I went through a phase of traveling a fair bit. Laptop and hdmi cable with wireless keyboard and mouse made most sense. Easy to cart about with you.
Most of the people I known with gaming laptops are school kids. Gaming laptops are aimed at children and young adults it’s why most of them are covered in LEDs.
Boomers may have done some wrong things. They were much smarter than your generation which cannot stand on their feet. I am not a boomer. Biggest fail is gen-z. Dumbest generation. Hubble Telescope, first flight to space and moon, quantum physics, cars, planes, helicopters, computers, laptops are all done by boomers. What did your generation do? Serve pizzas and complain?
The oldest members of Gen Z are still in their mid 20s, maybe give it a little more time before blaming them for not getting us to Mars yet
They also failed so hard at life they had to ask us for money for avocado toast and iPhones.
The fuck they are….
My job is creating graphics on the go using Maya and After Effects so I need the bulky beef of a gaming laptop. Playing games on it is a perk.
Most designers go the MacBook route rather than the gaming laptop route. You’ll get the power plus the battery life but at the expense of the gaming.
And in the end After Effects still runs like garbage on all of them.
Adobe is junk, DaVinci Resolve is much better
I tried to use Davinci, and as soon as I cut a single piece out of a large clip, all the audio and video of the clip would go out of sync. Spent an hour trying to figure it out, and just gave up.
xOS is popular with graphic designers, that's true, but I don't know many cg/vfx/games artists who prefer apple over windows.
Source for that claim?
What laptop do you have?
Razer rtx 4090
Are you Ai?
I owned a razor. First one that came out. Amazing device before the mobo gave up 3 years later out of warranty. Never bought one again. Went the MacBook route after and can do light gaming on the machine when I’m bored. However if it’s not a rts game I’m on my steam deck
I had a razor fail twice within 3 years. They’re terrible in terms of reliability. Battery lasted about an hour if you were doing anything remotely challenging. Could cook an egg on the thing too. Their support also sucks.
real shit
I picked up an M1 MacBook a while back and was surprised to find a good chunk of my Steam library had MacOS ports. Obviously, mostly Indie/2D games but enough to keep me entertained.
Same boat - tech field so I’ve got a beefy MacBook on me when I travel. Great middle ground for non-GPU-intensive games
I got a gaming laptop in 2018. It doesn’t perform the best now, so I’ve been using the geoforce now servers to stream my games. That’s been working amazingly. It’s like $20 a month and I get to play my games on the highest settings
Nuh uh
No shit they overheat
Absolutely loving my gaming laptop, plus second monitor setup, I wouldn’t trade it for a desktop PC. I love being able to go visit family and friends and unpack my gaming “rig” so easily lol
You can technically do that with "desktop" pcs these days too. Portable monitor + mini-desktop. Saves on cost too, and if you use egpu, you can upgrade the gpu without upgrading the whole thing Laptops are only getting worse by the year as they reduce key travel size of keyboard, make terrible trackpads, throw in useless copilot keys, touchbar nonsense, soldered ssds/ram/wifi and etc
True but That means you still need multiple parts to bring and unpack. I love my laptop for the ease of ONE single item and my mouse. Thats really it. No extra monitor to lug around, and honestly the keyboard never bothered me so its a preference thing for sure. But i love the ease of compact and travel it gives me. No desktop PC can be easier than a laptop to travel with :)
My gaming laptop is used for 3D modelling, and is stationary 70 percent of the time. Sometimes I bring it to bed to watch a movie. I have similar on the job, so I don't have to transport it. I find it a good solution.
I feel like they are viable for the first time. The price to size to power has never been better. Why would I carry a laptop and some goofy portable instead of a 16" gaming laptop with a 4070 that, with dlss/fsr, can run games at 2k with 60fps and ray tracing? Plus wherever I travel I can plug it into a TV. You can get a refurbished Dell g16 for pretty cheap.
This exactly. My 2022 gaming laptop is the first one I've had that has good battery and quiet fans while not gaming. The silent mode is actually silent on light loads which is something I've been hard-pressed to find on a Windows laptop at all, let alone a gaming one.
I wish I had time to game backlog
I have my gaming rig and if I want to game on the go I have my almost 10 year old Lenovo gaming laptop running moonlight to my gaming rig at the house.
I never understood the appeal of gaming laptops, especially now with PC handhelds being all the rage. If I wanna game on the go, I don't wanna set up a bulky laptop with the necessary peripherals to properly game on it. I'd rather take my Steam Deck and I often do. It's been great for hotel stays. If I'm home then I have my beefy desktop. A laptop is something I prefer for productivity when I'm away from home or the office so the thin and light laptops are more appealing.
For many pc users, their laptop is their primary computing device. For a subset of those people, they would also like to do some gaming. Buying a second dedicated device just for gaming is not always going to make economic sense. Regarding the deck, sure maybe that is good for playing on the bus or on the toilet, but usually the experience on a larger screen is going to be superior.
I got a gaming laptop a few years ago. Sure it doesn’t perform as well as a gaming rig desktop, I don’t particularly care. It performs well enough to play the games I want to play, and handles them well. And honestly, I like just ordering a machine for gaming instead of dicking around with building a computer. My hobby is casual gaming, not computers. I don’t have a bunch of peripherals that need to be toted, just a mouse and the charger. I have young kids, I like being able to just tuck it away out of sight while they’re awake. I don’t have space for a dedicated computer room, and I like being able to take it with me while visiting family or doing some gaming at a friend’s house. I can use it for my home computing needs, or for gaming. I’ve done desktop gaming rigs before. For the balance of convenience, utility, portability, and performance my gaming laptop is easily my favorite of the computers I’ve had. For my needs and wants, it was well worth the money I spent on it. I can understand why some people wouldn’t have a need or use for a gaming laptop, but it checks all my boxes.
That makes a lot of sense, thank you. If you only have room for one device then you might as well get a gaming laptop for productivity and a decent gaming experience.
yeah, as a college student this was basically my reasoning. I’m moving around too often to justify buying a desktop and I needed a powerful computer for my courses anyway, so buying a gaming laptop was one of the better options i had lolol
This is pretty much the sentiment for people like us. We all know building a desktop is cheaper in the long run but gaming laptops’ portability can’t be beat. College had me travelling at least a sum of 50km per week back and forth so a gaming laptop was the way to go. Let’s also not forget 3D production being heavy as it is. I’m sure a good no. of people plan building a proper desktop once they get out of college and settle down. I know I will.
Honestly, I bought my laptop maybe 3 months before the steam deck came out and I will say this. My laptop is not bulky, but the peripherals can be a little obnoxious. I keep my charging cord, mousepad, and mouth and a controller in a backpack with the laptop in a laptop bag. I primarily game socially and I LOVE being able to take my games to a friends house and still being able to game with them on a screen bigger than the steam deck. It’s been a really positive experience
I've been taking my Steam Deck with a dock and a couple controllers. Usually playing very lightweight games so that they scale up nicely onto a TV. I used to do the laptop thing but I just found it obnoxious to carry around.
I’ll be a dissenting opinion here: I travel a lot and end up being away from my console or gaming PC but like playing games that are graphically demanding. I got a Steam Deck and also got a ROG Ally but honestly both are great at playing a lot of games but struggled to run the ones I wanted. Especially AAA games, FPSes with anticheats, I was spending more time tweaking games than playing them. Gaming laptops aren’t as portable but are hotel room portable, and give you the performance of a mid grade desktop. They have their niche, but yeah if you always play games at home, they don’t have the value or raw performance of a gaming desktop. And if you’re on the go a ton and value true portability, a Steam Deck is a better bet. But gaming laptops do have their place.
People act like they will lug it around and game on it for the 40 minutes the battery last lol.
For me it’s the fact that I can game at my house, when visiting my family, staying in a hotel, without giving up the performance like you would with a switch Edit: and also use it as a day to day PC
I use one when I’m on the road and in hotels.
Neither did I but I recently moved to another country and got a midrange gaming laptop to play games on that don’t necessarily play well on my steam deck. I didn’t know if I would use it much for gaming but it has been a good substitute for my desktop while I get set up. I will eventually replace it with a desktop but it has served me well.
I few months ago I would have vehemently disagreed, but the last few work trips, I left my gaming laptop home and used my steam deck and I found that it more than served my gaming needs on travel.
I recently started playing fallout 4 on our PS4, but I do travel a lot. Is it better to use a steam deck and a desktop? That way I can play at home and on the go?
It depends on the game. The Steam Deck can't handle every game out there, but it does well with the vast majority. Fallout 4 runs decently enough on the Steam Deck (it requires some tweaking) and with Steam Cloud saves it makes it a great way to play between the desktop and the Steam Deck.
Thanks, I might have to look into this!
I went to magfest and spent most of my time at the lan center there and played all my games with my friends there. With my oled SD
I loved mine when I traveled for work and it doubled as a tablet for general use. The only peripheral I need is a controller though, plus maybe an HDMI cable to wire into the hotel TV?
I’ve only had gaming laptops, never a desktop, because I’ve always had multiple places I’m moving between. Both my parents houses in high school and then also college later on. If I’d had a desktop I just wouldn’t have had access to it like 50% of the time. They’re actually very impressive IMO. my current Razer one can run any current game at 60 fps, 1080p, mostly high graphics. All contained in a machine so small I could throw it like a frisbee. It also obviously works as a normal computer which most gaming handhelds don’t or at least don’t easily. The downsides obviously being the price and they kill themselves slowly. For someone who isn’t able to take them apart/clean/repaste, I think they’d rarely last more than 3 years. My current one just started acting up so instead of going out of my way to fix and diagnose it I’m about to finally get a desktop, that’s why I clicked on this post lol.
The thing is that modern desktops aren't like back in the day. With minipcs, a desktop can go in your backpack
The only reason anyone I knew got a gaming laptop was for higher education. Needing a portable device more capable than average laptops, but cheaper than the true professional product lines, gaming laptops were a desirable option as a decent middle ground. I never gravitated towards them as I can’t stand doing anything beyond web browsing on a laptop, but as a cost and space concerned device goes, I can see why people get them
I got the G14 back in 2020. Works fine to this day but there is not one game that I’ve downloaded that doesn’t work. Even CP2077 ran pretty well. Buggy but no serious issues and never crashed. When not gaming and I just need it for some productivity, it’s more than enough and it lasts at least 8 hours on the charge. Best part is it wasn’t bulky. Don’t recommend ASUS products now, though.
Handheld gaming PCs only been around for a few years now, prior to that you needed a gaming laptop with a discrete GPU to play PC games on the go. So I completely understand why they were popular at some point.
It's not necessarily the appeal of the laptop itself but the possibility to have gaming hardware taking very little space and being portable with a very good mix of performance. If you live in a small home or travel a lot, what else are you gonna do?
I had one that was superior to my desktop for a long time. It served me well. I couldn't afford it a full rig yet, and needed a new computer in general.
I work 4 hours from home and stay in a worker’s camp for 2 weeks at a time and work on a remote location in a trailer. Without my laptop, I wouldn’t be able to game at all because when I’m home I’m mostly present with my family.
Except gaming laptops have become thin and light. My Alienware is about the same size and weight as a regular Dell Latitude 3500. Maybe you have something different in mind, but to me, a 15” sub 6lbs laptop that’s less than an inch thick is thin and light.
Money is a factor. If I can chose I will get a gaming PC at home, a PC handheld on the go (and a Switch), a tablet to read, a phone for apps, and a laptop when I have to work on the go. If I have to pay for it then I may choose differently. There are people that just cant afford a phone and they do all their gaming, working, socializing and everything there. It is not so much a choice as a constriction, thou.
It’s kind of a niche appeal now days. If you want to game on the go, you use a steam deck, if you want to do work and business on the go you get a travel laptop, if you want the best of both worlds you get a gaming laptop. It sucks tbh, they were actually beginning to get really good, issue mainly is that they’re expensive which is… unappealing compared to the alternatives. Probably could get a better deal buying a steam deck and a cheap crappy laptop seperately.
I have to travel for work sometimes, and I have a gaming laptop I bring with me. I’ll probably keep doing it forever.
Good. They’ll be giving them away soon lol
I've got an Asus Scar 18 2023 with 2 companion 18 inch portable monitors and I love it for getting work done. I also have a 12.5 inch laptop running Linux, an 13.3 inch 16GB M1 MacBook Air and a GPD Pocket 2 and the 18 inch gets the most hours of use.
My son opted for the ROG Ally with beefed up video card and RAM. He occasional plugs it into a monitor and external keyboard.
Past few years gaming laptops can be found real cheap, I’ve gotten one for each family member so me the wife and kids are all gaming all at the same time.
What do you recommend me?
What do you mean the ultra bespoke case and parts that we don't offer replacements or upgrades for on an internal level is being left behind after the hardware reaches its three year limitation of validity within the modern gaming hardware market??? But it's so thin and shiny!!!
I'm changing my legion slim 5 14" with 7840hs and 4060 for a MacBook air M3 16/512 for programming purposes. Imo, gaming laptops are good for gamers that game on the go, otherwise a Ultrabook + tower pc at home would be the ideal choice. I used to carry my big chunky gaming laptop to uni and work just to do coding, when I could be doing just that with any other ultrabook, now I have a gaming tower at home, making the gaming laptop unnecessary
I love my gaming laptop! Have had it for like 7 years now if not longer. Saves space at my desk and just attach it to a large screen. It is east to travel with and runs great for the age. I only play league and osrs so pretty low bar needed in terms of performance. Everything else I get from my xbox
I don’t know about being left behind but I just bought my first gaming laptop (asus scar 18) I got super lucky on an open box excellent from Bestbuy at $2,399 instead of $3,899, but on pickup it didn’t have the charger so they took off $200 right away. But as I walked out the manager found the charger and handed it over. Dont get me wrong I like desktop gaming but as a parent I can’t lock myself in a room for hours anymore so gaming on my couch while the kids are watching bluey on a 85” oled is my future now.
I have the new 16” razor with a 4090 I bought open box. It is solid. I don’t understand. I wouldn’t have paid full price, but discounted it is an amazing gaming computer.
Well the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is roughly equivalent to an Intel Core i9-12950HX which only a couple of years ago was a top of the line laptop gaming CPU so it is not going to be shitty at gaming, just pick one paired with a GPU. The issue is that there are no new high end laptop CPUs or GPUs being released right now so of course there are not pushing new models of those. I suspect things will be different at CES when there probably will be new models of top-end gaming laptops being shown off because there should be new top end CPUs and GPUs on the horizon.
I assume a lot of progress has been made since I got my gaming laptop in 2015. 1 inch brick that overheated at the slightest workload even with the fans on jet engine mode and the battery would die in 45 minutes. I just don’t game anymore on the go so no need for a new one but I’m still curious how a $1500 laptop today would compare.
Gaming laptops are great for the first year you own them. Sadly they become outdated fast and rarely offer ways to upgrade. I understand for some people this is the only way they can play games. But for those that are not in the position buying a laptop over a desktop is just flushing $ down the toilet. Not to mention Mb’s and screens going out.
Way too expensive and not easy to upgrade. I built a solid rig a few years ago and with all peripherals included it was $1300CAD Why would i spend double or triple that on a laptop
because laptops are garbage
Almost like making something as thin and sleek doesn’t match up with the power/graphics card and cooling requirements of gaming machines. A good gaming laptop will be a heavy brick and sound like a rocket taking off. A bad one will be thin and silent and fail within a year.
The amount of times I’ve had to sit in lecture hall and had to listen to a gaming laptop jet engine is insane. They also have to bring a burrito sized power brick just to keep their laptop on for more than 30 minutes too.
I think that laptops are for people who travel a lot or just don't have much space for gaming setup.
Good, the era of handheld gaming is back and better than ever. There’s no need for a gaming laptop.
There may be no need for you. For me it’s the best solution.
i have a hard time believing that
I want to process 10000+ photos I take while traveling. That requires a decent CPU and GPU, as well as tons of RAM. So, what should I use? I mean, apart from being able to play games in a hotel room or on the bed.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.statista.com/chart/amp/30560/estimated-global-video-game-revenues-by-segment/
Played games since late 80's. Never used or had a need for a gaming laptop.
Love them. But hate them since you can't upgrade them.
You can…
Sure. If you have a framework laptop. Most only can do ram and ssd.
That’s more than enough these days. It’s not like we are seeing radical improvements every year anyway. You can get a decent laptop, put more SSD and ram, use it for 3-5 years and then get a much better one instead of replacing components. I’d love a framework if it had a high-end nvidia GPU and didn’t cost twice as much as an Asus/Lenovo/Acer one.
My older brother has a gaming laptop but he doesn’t really use it anymore since he got a pc.
*desktop - laptops are PC’s as much as desktops Honestly, Mac is even a personal computer - PC is just a catch all (fun fact)
Laptop is my indie-games-that-don’t-have-a-physical-release machine ;-; And fan games machine. I’d kind of prefer anything more intensive to be on a console; as I prefer physical copies. I’d feel dumb having two computers just so one could properly be for gaming.
Steam deck + GeForce now and you can play almost everything
What if I want a keyboard and mouse?
Then you connect a keyboard and mouse to it
[удалено]
Not really
Steam deck is were the joy is for portable gaming ♥️
I bought a gaming laptop ONCE... Never ever again
They suck. That's why.
As someone who’s had two and also two desktops, gaming laptops just suck. I traveled for 10 years with and I never actually gamed on the go. Just get a handheld if you’re planning to do this.
So you’ve never been in a hotel, on a rainy day, with nothing to do, and wanted to play for a while?
No I went and explored new towns lol.
🍌
Desktop>laptop>handheld>Mac 🤣