18 replies to this topic

[Cyprus]

Im going to college soon. I dont know if I should buy a gaming laptop or a desktop to take along with me. The only gaming laptops I know of are the Dell and Alienware laptops, but they are mad expensive and heavy! What do you guys think? Any help will be appreciated.

-Cyprus

[NC Derek]

2 of my suitemates have laptops that have a amd300 and an ati x800xt. they play source with me and bf2...but they were around 2000 bucks. maybe 2500. its nice. but desktops are a little cheaper, a lot better, dont have overheating problems and you dont really need a lap top. like i have a lap top and never use it. never need to bring it to my classes. theres computer labs everywhere at my college and most rooms have a lap top for every student. so i gave my lap top to my parents...

[Cleric]

I bought a desktop for college and i regret it. Your not going to want to pack up your computer for breaks and at the end of finals to take home to play videogames to bring right back. It gets to be a b*tch. I wish i would have bought a laptop its just more convientent.

However my school allows online gaming only on the weekends so it wasnt a total waste. I guess it depends on you and your school, but i would go with the laptop for now.

There are plenty of laptops that are fairly cheap and will play CSS with good graphics (not great but good enough). I wouldnt know which ones though sry.

[ShLoNkY]

Ive looked into a gaming laptop myself for something that I can use at work. (to play games on obviously) There is a few "descent" ones that can be had for around $1300, but id still go with a desktop. You dont really need a laptop at school for anything. For less than that you can build a helluva gaming desktop. Even the best laptop available couldn't touch my desktop for games. My current rig could be built today for less than $1000. I do a lot of stuff on my laptop at work but the tiny ass keyboard, screen and touchpad really suck for productivity. Thats why i use a dock at work. The only thing that i need my laptop for at work is so i can keep all my personal settings and use different work stations. Thats my 2 cents

Edit: Your school only allows online gaming on weekends?? Where the f*ck do you goto school?? Thats assinine. The college that i went to, you could do whatever the hell you wanted to. ie: kegs and strippers in dorm room...

Edited by ShLoNkY, 04 January 2006 - 01:16 PM.

[Sniprwulf]

as everyone's mentioned, pros and cons to each side.

personal experience, go with desktop. more bang for the buck, yeah u haveto packit up at school but it takes frickin 10 extra minutes if your slow at disconnecting cables. who cares about that. you can upgrade a desktop alot easier than a laptop in the future, as its hard to change alotta things w/laptops. plus, the speed you get on a desktop is not comparable to laptops. most laptop cpu's are designed to use less power, less power means less speed. itsup to u if you wanna spend 2 grand ona decent gaming laptop thats heavy as balls or spend a little over a grand and get a pretty sick gaming desktop

[Cyprus]

Personally i was leaning to making my own desktop. Thanks for the help and information.

-Cyprus

[Massacre]

Dont get a laptop, end of story. Oh and if you do disobey us then remember to prop it up on a book

[NC Derek]

Dont get a laptop, end of story. Oh and if you do disobey us then remember to prop it up on a book

hahaahhaha. yes lap tops with high end processors and vid cards have overheating problems. massacre always had problems with his gmae crashing every 2 minutes. and i bring my desktop back and forth every holiday i come home. no big deal at all. my crt 19 inch is about 60lbs and my case is about 40 lbs. so suck it up...

[Frag0holic]

If you are serious about gaming you will not buy a laptop. Sure packing a desktop into your car can be a hassle, but it's worth maybe 10-15mins of your life. Compare that to having to turn your laptop off thirty minutes per hour to keep it from overheating

[Aziz]

Youre going to college.
You care about gaming or studying? What are you paying tuition for?
I have both - but thats only because i live at home. If i lived on campus, i would go with a laptop.
If you are actually considering working towards a degree in college, do the same. I dont know how i would get around without a laptop. I take it everywhere - coffee shops, school, anywhere i go to work on the sh*t i have to do for my classes. It's very convinient. If youll have a craving for gaming, play some solitare. Man, school is more important to me than gaming - thats one of the reasons you guys dont see me on that much. The other one is gilrs and friends.

But whatever, man. Im used to seeing people pay $40,000 and dont do sh*t in school besides drinking and playing videogames. Sad, but i dont really care.

Really up to you.

[DocSeuss]

When i started college i had a dell laptop. 15" screen with 1 ghz processor. After 2 years i bought a desktop, then another desktop. Now i own my desktop and a 12" iBook.

If you are looking for a gaming laptop, that is going to run over 2 grand. If you are planning to spend 2500, make a 1500 desktop which would be great for gaming, then buy a 12" iBook. The main thing i found when buying a laptop is to buy the smallest one that you can. This way you will actually use it and take it eveywhere. Every class i go to now i take my ibook with me.

make a desktop and buy a ibook

dave

[ShLoNkY]

Aziz: There is nothing wrong with going to school and not doing a damn thing except drinking and chasing women. I did and had a blast. So long as you get a piece of paper at the end that says you learned sh*t. If you don't get one of those then, yeah you are a sh*thead and wasted a lot of money and time. Thats all that matters. I also realize that you are a scholar and I respect that. I went to a crappy school btw. And on the laptop issue: I have both too cuz work gave me one. If I was to buy one myself I'd prolly get an ultra-portable one. I have seen way too many people NOT carry their laptop with them everywhere as Aziz does cuz they are too heavy. This kinda defeats the purpose of a laptop. Ideally you want a dual processor fileserver with remote desktop for everything and 4 gb memory, a tiny laptop with docking station AND an insane gaming desktop. With 4 19" Lcds..... Thats almost what I have...... minus the 4 lcds.

[Frag0holic]

I'm not saying laptops are bad, just not good for gaming. Having an ultra portable laptop would be awesome in College. Just that if you want to be gaming in College you will need a desktop. You wont want to be carrying around a 2k laptop that weighs as much as you do. So to answer the initial question; No, gaming laptops are not worth the money, or the weight.

Edited by Frag0holic, 04 January 2006 - 06:03 PM.

[Cyprus]

Most likely I will buy a lightweight laptop that i can do my work on and carry around. In my room i would probably have a gaming desktop which i will take back home occasionally. Thanks for your help guys.

-Cyprus

[iMSeRiOuS]

rawr nooooooooo get a desktop

[AshFromHousewares]

get a psp...those are pretty neat. It really all depends on what you want man...power...or mobility and ease. I built my own desktop for realtively cheap...and play most of the high end games. and it doesnt way that much. The thing about gaming laptops is that on occasion parts can be hard to replace. One of my friends got an Alienware gaming laptop 2 years ago. Thing cost 3 grand. A couple weeks ago the video card went up...and alienware won't replace it. That sorta thing is specialty made...so hes screwed. If i were you...i'd get a desktop.

[Aziz]

rawr nooooooooo get a desktop

Can you read? Hes getting both.
Nice choice, Cyprus.
I know what you are saying Shlonky. And im not saying that you CANT have fun, and only study. First of all, that would be a bunch of bullsh*t, cuz i love having fun, and, secondly, your brain would f*cking fry. However, school is something you shouldnt forget about. You wont be able to have too much fun later, if you f*ck up school.

Anyway, good luck, man.

[*3RD sfg* killswitch]

I agree with the argument that there are several laptops out there that are worthy gameing laptops, and the fact that desktops are troublesome to transport... however in my personal experience, a desktop is 1.) Cheaper for the same technology 2.) Overall more stable 3.) you can do more with the space... ie. add more HD space.

[RogueAlly]

so you can build a kickass upgradeable desktop, which actually picks up chicks... amazingly enough. For classes just get an ibook or a powerbook, which will also pick up chicks.

Personally I prefer desktops, but my powerbook is uber useful... im on it now in my MEMS 211 class.