Are gaming laptops worth it?

[Drunken Savior]

I've been looking at getting a new laptop sometime around the last 3 months of the year to replace my old one from 2007. Still works fine, it's just really starting to show its age when I try to use Adobe CS5 (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and Premiere), ENVI or ArcGIS. So I figure if I'm going to drop some cash on a new laptop, how much more wold I have to drop to buy a good gaming laptop? Maybe something with a GTX 560M or better.

I found the Asus G53SX-NH71 to have the features I want and be within what I consider to be 'reasonable.' Since I don't plan on buying a laptop for another 3 months at least, I'm not seriously considering this particular model. Also I read some reviews where people have serious problems with the AC jack, suggesting it might be a design flaw.

In the end, spending that much on a laptop doesn't quite sit well with me. Since this isn't going to be my main PC gaming machine, I'm hesitant to spend this much on a machine that I'll only spend around 5-10% of my gaming time on.

Here's what I want in a machine:
-Smaller than a 17" screen preferred. (Don't want it to be too heavy)
-Dedicated number pad (For Excel and other work programs. I'm not going to carry around a USB number pad)
-Can play most games on high settings (not very high or ultra) or if the game is graphically intensive like Witcher 2, medium settings running at an average of 30 fps or higher.
-Costing around $1,100 give or take $200 after taxes and shipping. (I live in CA, so calculate sales tax (~8% to make it easy) if you find it on Newegg. No sales tax if you find it on Amazon)
-Not ugly. I'm looking at you TOSHIBA Qosmio series.

However, what I'm afraid of is doubling the cost from jumping from just a work laptop (primary use) to a gaming laptop when I have a perfectly capable desktop.

[Reality]

Have you considered maybe the "onLive" gaming service before? It'll stream games to your laptop if you have a good enough wifi connection.

[Drunken Savior]

That's actually an excellent suggestion. Problem is that I'm probably going to be working in areas with poor internet, if there is internet at all. Last summer at Bryce Canyon, I had no internet in my living quarters. If I wanted to go online, I'd actually drive out of the park and into the small surrounding city to sit in the hotel lobby to use their wifi just to go online. A lot of the seasonal park staff did that.

[Edit] On a superficial note, it pisses me off that since I played my games offline, Steam doesn't give me 'credit' for playing them. I spent over 40 hours playing Sim City 4 and finished Call of Cthulhu, damnit! I wanna see that reflected!

[Icarus4578]

I honestly wouldn't know. Then again I use computers mainly for music-related purposes.

Maybe Alucard, the master of computer, would know. But he's busy right now chasing kangaroos off his property.

[spider-prime]

fuck, how much do you have if you can waste 11,000 dollars on a laptop just to play games?

[Northeastmonk]

I saw this site http://www.originpc.com/ which ships you a large wooden crate. I'd do a custom build with an extended warranty. Especially if you want a gaming laptop. To me store built laptops limit what you can harness in terms of power and performance. My Viao is great with its graphics and bluray drive, but I think I could of gotten more ram if I would of made one.

I'd spend 1800-2k, then pocket the 9k for a car. lol just saying

[Drunken Savior]

Originally Posted by spider-prime

fuck, how much do you have if you can waste 11,000 dollars on a laptop just to play games?

LOL, sorry. That's a typo. Should be 1,100. I have a bad habit of thinking "Eleven Hundred" but typing out eleven thousand numerically. Obviously if I was spending eleven thousand on a laptop, it'd do more than play games.

[Alucard]

I'm not one to ask about laptops. They piss me off when it comes to games. Maybe back in the day when I didnt mind playing games at xbox graphic detail I would of been ok. But yeah, a few thousand would do the trick to a good one. I've also noticed most people who say they can run games well on their laptops dont say too often what detail/res they are running what game at. Run Witcher 2 at high detail with smooth gameplay, and you got yourself a winner.

[Zack]

$1100? i don't think you'll be getting 30 fps playing witcher 2 even on medium settings

[KingOfSentinels]

I wouldn't bother with a Gaming laptop personally, they do seem too expensive.

You can grab a cheap, standard laptop and install indie games on it, and also use OnLive with it like Reality said. Leave Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 for your home PC and stick Limbo, Bastion, PvZ, and the hundreds of other epic Indie games onto the laptop, and older games too. Not every awesome game needs a powerful PC after all.

[Drunken Savior]

Originally Posted by Zack

$1100? i don't think you'll be getting 30 fps playing witcher 2 even on medium settings

Perhaps. I tried finding benchmark tests for the 560M and Witcher 2 and could only find a youtube video where some guy with similar specs (same memory, weaker CPU, same GPU) claimed to get 30-40 on high settings. I saw a lot of anecdotal evidence that people with 560Ms are running the game on High above 30fps. If you can find something greater than anecdotal evidence or improper youtube videos that could help me.

Originally Posted by KingOfSentinels

I wouldn't bother with a Gaming laptop personally, they do seem too expensive.

You can grab a cheap, standard laptop and install indie games on it, and also use OnLive with it like Reality said. Leave Witcher 2 and Battlefield 3 for your home PC and stick Limbo, Bastion, PvZ, and the hundreds of other epic Indie games onto the laptop, and older games too. Not every awesome game needs a powerful PC after all.

Kinda learning towards that. Maybe just something that can play Bastion, Civ IV, SimCity 4, maaaaybe Portal 2, maaaybe Sanctum and emulators. I'm not a big fan of buying low end stuff that I'm disappointed with a year or two down the line because I didn't think past the year after purchase. I spend a lot of time thinking about purchases as big as these. That's why I'm trying to get an understanding of things now instead of in September. :/

In regards to Online, my big concern is that in the areas I expect to be working in (National Parks, Mines, Other Remote Locations), I may or may not have a strong internet connection, if I have one at all. So I can't really rely on OnLive for my needs.

[Alucard]

Make sure at the very least its got a really strong cpu. Quad core would be nice. And you may as well ignore battery life cause anything strong enough to run anything decent will have a lifespan of a sony vita.

[KingOfSentinels]

You'll be able to pick up something to play those games no problem.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215257

Just looked around Newegg for a bit and I think this laptop would solve it. It's got a nice, healthy HDD space and 4GB RAM. The quad-core CPU clocked at 1.5GHz isn't exactly fantastic but it's got a 6520G graphics chip which will run any Indie games you throw at it, and will handle modern games on lower settings. Benchmarks show it getting ~28 FPS on Crysis at medium which is very respectable for that price. It won't shy away from much you throw at it if you're willing to lower game settings. The reviews on Newegg are very generous about its gaming performance, and performance in general.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...G.55734.0.html

15'' screen, light and compact, though it's pegged as a 4 hour battery length. Has it's dedicated number pad like you wanted, quite sleek. In terms of actual power and gaming performance it's a pretty good deal at that price.

[Drunken Savior]

Well I decided that if I get a gaming laptop, it'll be one that plays simple games: Bastion, Portal 2, Sim City 4, Civ 4...nothing too intensive.

So probably just something with the newer Icy Bridge Intel HD Graphics (2500/4000) for me.

I'm hoping I can find something with a BluRay drive. But if not, I'll just bring an external drive.

[calintz]

with those specs, you can just wait for MS Surface