Ive played PC games in the past but my rig is about at the point where new games won't run. And even though I'm not dead set on getting back into the scene, I'm a curious puppy and I like to keep my options open. The hassle of upgrading my desktop (or replacing it) is too big of a bite for me to be chewing on. The easy fix would be to get a solid gaming laptop. Ive never played on a laptop, though. I've typed on laptops, but there's a difference between gaming and browsing.

So for all you laptop'ers out there, how do you like the set up when compared to a desktop? Does it feel like a gimped gaming experience cus of being sans-home-set up?

, I'm a curious puppy and I like to keep my options open. 

"Puppy said:

, I'm a curious puppy and I like to keep my options open. 

This thread is over.

"

"Drebin_893 said:

"Puppy said:

, I'm a curious puppy and I like to keep my options open. 

This thread is over.

"

What?"

Wow, thanks for being helpful...

I recently (less than a week ago) got a new laptop that should play modern games on low graphics settings for £550 (about $800, but we pay a decent amount of tax, so it would probably be cheaper in the US) and it seems fine. I haven't tried any really demanding games yet, but it seems great so far. So you can do gaming on a laptop. But if you want high graphics settings, you're going to have to spend a lot of money.

It is more expensive than a desktop, but I love the convenience of being able to take it wherever. Even though most of the time I'm just sitting on the sofa with it, I prefer doing that than sitting up at a desk. Sitting up at a desk just isn't a comfortable gaming experience for me. That's why I've always mainly been a Console gamer, but hopefully I should be able to do some half decent PC gaming on my new laptop.

I'm also a console gamer, first and foremost! Anyway no, I wasn't so much talking about price and laptop power. I'm more curious about how the compact form affects playstyle. Is the difference something radical?

Thanks for actually addressing my question! Unlike *ruff* others... xD

Ive been gaming on a laptop for 2 years now, its brilliant.
Being able to game in my office, infront of the TV, in the lounge or even on the train or at work or uni.

There a few major drawbacks to gaming on a laptop though.

1. The Cost

2. Battery Life

The Final Word

There's no difference in how comfortable you are, just buy a mouse of course, touchpad isn't ideal for most games. Oh, and the monitor size of course, if you can put up with that, it's fine. And I guess make sure you like the feel of the keys, but most nice laptops have very nice keyboards.

And battery life, well, you can always plug it in somewhere if available, I wouldn't game on a trip, maybe watch a DVD, and it has enough life for that. Any good laptop should have many options to reduce aspects you don't need when not gaming in order to increase the battery life. Stuff like dimming the monitor, reducing the visual flair of Windows Vista (if you have it installed) and other similar stuff.

I've been using my laptop for gaming for four years now (and so, it being an old laptop, I'm also in the position of being unable to play most new games). As Al3xand3r says, there's really no difference in comfort; you'll want to buy a mouse, and maybe a keyboard, and it's basically like a portable desktop at that point. If anything, it just makes it harder to adjust the monitor. And of course, it's tough to upgrade much beyond the hard drive & RAM.

If you're big on portability, go for a laptop. But if you're not going to need to lug your gaming machine around, I'd get a desktop. If you don't want to bother building it, you can always order a desktop just like you would a laptop, and it'll at least be upgradeable; and probably cheaper.

-Good
-Gaming
-Laptop

Choose two.

I game primarily on a newer laptop, and I like it.  It's not perfect, especially when it comes to the awkward keyboard layout, but you can work around that by purchasing an external keyboard and mouse.  I personally love it because I often take short trips for business, and it is nice to drag my games along with me in a convenient fashion.

"-Good-Gaming-LaptopChoose two."

I just got a laptop for 1400 that can run old Source engine games maxed out, and newer games at around medium settings, so if you really want to go laptop, it's very easy to do so.  Just get a mouse.  Touchpads are impossible to use for shooters.

just as a note,  they arent called laptops,    ive just cleaned mine (dust settles inside the fans every so often causing it to get a bit too hot, so i take it apart and clean it), yesterday when doing so i actually read one of the sticker on the bottom for the first time and it says,
trav3ler said:

"Caution! This surface is hot, avoid bodily contact and DO NOT place on LAP when in use."

Well i was forced into buying a laptop for college and i must say it i enjoy it a lot. It can run atm most games at high settings and isn't a hassle to play games. It takes a little while to get use to the keyboard but after that everything is fine.

Thanks for all the replies everyone! I think I'll pass on the laptop; and I got a good kick out of

i just thought i'd put my 2 cents worth into this topic...

Laptop gaming is awesome... in a lot of ways it can be better then desktop gaming, especially when your going over to LAN parties with your friends, last thing you wanna do is carry a 30 lbs case, all the cables, and a monitor just to hook up for a couple of hours and then having to carry all that shit all the way back home lol... a laptop is all in one, just carry it and go! laptops are to the point where they are ALMOST, almost overtaking desktop gaming, if it wasn't for the limitation in upgradability, more so with the graphics cards then anything else, which really hinders what you can get coz once you've bought a laptop... you cant change anything your stuck with what you got ecept for say RAM that you can change.

With that in mind, no $500 laptop from best buy or walmart is gonna do what you need to do in gaming, so as some ppl have already mentioned in this topic, if you want a gaming laptop, then you HAVE to expect to start paying a LOT. i've seen very very good gaming laptops from gateway from like 1300-1600 dollors and thats a GOOD price, get the same specs from the likes of alienware / falcon norrthwest or voodoo and you  can expect to pay in the region of 3000 for it.

Only real suggestion i was give when going for a gaming laptop is absolutely! make sure it has a branded graphics card in it.. nvidia 6600 is not going to cut it... ati onboard card is simply not going to cut it... look for the specs and take serious consideration if it even lists a graphics card or not, if it doesn't, then its some cheap piece of crap onboard graphics card that wont even run some videos never lone a game!