Author Topic: Notebook computer for games (Read 4933 times)

eric j · « **on:** March 06, 2007, 03:42:44 PM »

Since the answer to my query wiil lead towards an intel machine, perhaps I should have put "OT" before my title.

A friend of my wife, (by the way I married an old friend in Argos, 15 Feb), has asked me to recommend a notebook for games.

But,

a) I have next to no computer gaming experience
b) I have heard people (including some on this board) say that Intels are better for games and/or have a much wider selection of games available.
c) I have no usable knowledge of Intels.

So,

Would some kind person please offer some advice?

eric j

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2007, 06:33:59 PM »

First, congratulations on the marriage! She may have been an 'old friend' but I hope you both become even older friends!

Second, the topic is computer related...and as long as people stay ON topic and provide positive input ( AWTTW*: We don't need/want brand bashing-it's of no real value here and those types of posts may even be edited or deleted ), I don't mind if it ends up recommending a PC type machine.

However, I would think that a laptop for gaming would probably be a built-to-order machine as it should have a high speed drive, an upgraded video card and as large a screen as possible. Those are just my opinions, however, experts are welcome to bring truth to the thread!

*AWTTW = "A Word To The Wise"

jepinto · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2007, 07:47:40 PM »

The best gaming notebooks.

kelly · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2007, 08:15:05 PM »

Congratulations eric.

No. Intel macs are plenty On Topic.

A good Desktop is always better than a good Laptop for Gaming. But if your friend is intent on a Laptop then the choice is clear. A MacBook Pro.

http://www.lowendmac.com/macbookpro/15.html

With these Intel macs you can run all the PC Games and all the mac Games. So yes. You have the widest choices of any Laptop.

Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro w/ Windows XP running Half-Life 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kH5suKHY84

http://www.barefeats.com/mbcd9.html

http://www.barefeats.com/mbcd3.html

Epaminondas · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:24:49 PM »

QUOTE

A friend of my wife, (by the way I married an old friend in Argos, 15 Feb), has asked me to recommend a notebook for games.

But,

a) I have next to no computer gaming experience

This looks like a perfect recipe for your making a bad recommendation that will make you look pretty silly.

Perhaps you should carefully bow out of this somewhat precarious situation with the same explanation to the friend of your wife's that you just gave to us?

Simply:

Notebooks are a poor choice for gaming.

The gaming community does not use notebooks.

The essential piece of hardware for gaming is the video card, not the processor. Gaming video cards use a lot of power and run HOT. Trapped in the tight confines of a notebook, cooling such a card is problematic. To the exent that it can be done it generally requires LOUD fast-running fans that draw a lot of battery power. The video card itself draws a lot of battery power.

So you do not end up with a notebook that runs off a battery, you end up with a "portable desktop" that has to be plugged in to a wall socket in order to be used.

Gamers tend to like to periodically upgrade their video cards more than any other part of their machines. Notebook video cards typically cannot be upgraded. So a whole new notebook would be required in order to upgrade the video card.

Macintoshes have historically tended to be years behind the Wintel world in regard to video cards. I do not know whether or not this still holds true, but one thing to watch out for is whether the reviews are comparing play of the same game on current Macs and Wintel machines, or if they are just comparing Macs against different Macs.

Comparing game play between different Macs has historically been like racing different turtles against one another. Amusing, but not that interesting.

Comparing playing the same game on a Wintel machine has historically been like throwing a hare into the race.

The best thing for Macintoshers who want to game is to do their computing on a Mac and do their gaming on a gaming console.

The new Wii gaming console is said to be an extaordinary gaming experience. I believe that it runs in the $200-300 range. And a Wii console can be enjoyed by more than one person at once.

The Wii it is designed to get people who are not traditional gamers into gaming.

Your wife's friend might even like it.

YMMV.

Congrats -

Epaminondas

kelly · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:41:29 PM »

You're behind the times E.

mac machines are as good at Gaming as PCs.

Yes Desktops are better but Laptops are useable if that's what you want to use.

Epaminondas · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:52:47 PM »

Kelly,

Do you have any gaming shootouts of the same game on an Apple Mac vs. on a non-Apple Wintel (or Windows/AMD) machine?

I noticed that the gaming shootouts you had were focused on Apple Macs against Apple Macs.

Best regards,

Epaminondas

Paddy · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:13:49 PM »

E:

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3149424

Windows Gaming on MacBook Pro - note: this is on the older (slower) first iteration of the MacBook Pro, so games may perform somewhat better now.

At any rate, serious gamers don't usually use laptops. It gets rather expensive...not that top-of-the-line Alienware or build-it-yourself desktop machines aren't way up there in the stratosphere either!

http://www.laptopadvisor.com/laptop-gaming.html

Gregg · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2007, 07:12:54 AM »

Congrats on the nuptials, eric! Let me be the first to wish you a happy first anniversary.... Feburary is a busy month around here for such greetings.

I have a comment on "more games for Windows than Mac"
This is true. However, if you purchase every game that will run on a Mac, you won't run out of games to play. This is wha we call...

red herring –noun
1. a smoked herring.
2. something intended to divert attention from the real problem or matter at hand; a misleading clue.

(not the first one)

sandbox · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2007, 06:24:27 PM »

Acer Aspire 2020 @ 6.5 pounds
A friend who’s a big gamer likes this one because it’s lite.
His last Dell was close to 5 pounds heavier.

http://reviews.cnet.com/Acer_Aspire_2020/4...7-30873506.html

This is an older review, but it should give you some stuff to think about.

kelly · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2007, 06:58:44 PM »

I see. Intel to you means PC.

Ok. Go with Jennie's link.

Epaminondas · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2007, 01:39:52 AM »

Other matters to consider:

Gamers like maximum pixels on the screen. The bigger the screen and the smaller the pixels, the better for gaming. This enables a gamer to be first to see the bad guy coming in on the edge of the screen to get off that all-important first shot.

These sorts of screens are the sorts that make for tiny print. Acceptable for young people's eyes, but generally not so great for older folk. The kids aren't using these screens primarily for print, anyway.

Simply put, the more into gaming people are - the larger the screen.

Notebooks - even 17" notebooks - have smaller screens than are optimal for gaming.

____________________________________________________

In regards to gaming on a Mac - hey, the Mac is great for what the Mac does well. But why use a screwdriver to hammer a nail?

Sure, you can game on a Mac. You can game with a pencil and paper, too - or with a rubber ball or a deck of cards. So what? That is not what computer gaming is about.

As far as computer gaming is concerned, in trying to game on a Mac you are talking about overpaying for an underpowered hardware platform with the wrong Operating System on it.

What kind of sense does that make?

__________________________________________________

A lot of gamers play against each other - online or in a LAN party setup.

To a gaming geek - that is "social activity."

But in either of these scenarios, the laptop gamer will be greatly at a disavantage when compared to the other gamers.

You just cannot pack the same kind of power into a laptop that you can pack into a desktop.

So the other guy will get his shot off first, and the laptop gamer will lose.

Consistently.

So competitive gaming against others will be out.

But that is a lot of what gaming is all about.

__________________________________________________

The following may be helpful in giving you an idea of the relative power of different video cards. Note that the fastest video cards available for lapops are slower than the fastest video cards available for desktops:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/03/06/the...html#conclusion

__________________________________________________

Lastly:

"Gaming Notebook" is an oxymoron - like "Square Circle" or "Fighting for Peace."

Sure, you can get someone to sell you what they call a "Gaming Notebook" - you can get someone to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge if you willing to pay high enough for it -

But you will end up with one of those compromises that isn't really a very good notebook and that isn't really that good for gaming, either.

What you will get is a white elephant with six massive legs.

Best regards,

Epaminondas

Xairbusdriver · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2007, 09:44:18 AM »

Although as a thread gets longer, it is harder to do, it is highly recommended that when one first comes to a thread that one read all the posts in it. Responding to the last post in a thread can easily lead to completely irrelevant and even misleading comments. Arguing with other posters hardly helps answer the original posters direct question ( which may even be modified by posts you skipped ). It also helps keep redundant posts that simply repeat what has already been said earlier.

This thread asks for recommendations in an area that the author admits lack of knowledge. Because the subject is also affected by the subjective opinions of users, I have allowed a certain amount of non-brand specific opinions to enter the discussion. However, it is slowly deteriorating into a 'don't make such a stupid mistake' debate with less input of facts and more and more opinions and not a little very lightly disguised cynicism.

Perhaps the best solution is to have your new wife jointly investigate info about the subject of using a notebook/laptop for gaming by visiting as many sites/forums as you can stand!

The bottom line is that this decision should be hers, not yours ( assuming the costs are mutually covered and agreed to, you're a team now!

). She should be the one who understands the limits that this particular decision may impose on her enjoyment and use of the machine, no matter what the brand.

Unless someone has some added info, adding relevant info about this subject, I will close it in the next 24 hours. After that time, you can PM me with additional info you feel would help eric and his wife.

Gregg · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2007, 12:15:05 PM »

Dear Abby...

tacit · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2007, 09:03:52 PM »

What kind of games are we talking about here?

It makes a big difference. Some games are more demanding graphically than others. The latest generation of first-person shooters really want a very high-end, very fast 3D graphics card; the Intel graphics card in the standard macBook (not the MacBook Pro) absolutely will not work.

Some real-time strategy games are moving in the direction of 3D graphics as well, and perform best on a computer with a good graphics card.

A MacBook Pro makes a fair-to-middling game computer. It's appropriate for all but the most advanced first-person shooters; MMORPG games, RTS games, and the like work fine on it. You'll want to buy a copy of Windows and install Boot Camp, though. It will not play games requiring direct access to the graphics card in virtualization programs like Parallels, because Parallels does not allow direct access to the graphics hardware.

Hard-core gamers are in fact beginning to move toward laptops, because laptops are easier to carry to LAN parties. Several laptops are now on the market which are essentially a desktop computer crammed into a laptop case. Many of these feature desktop processors, not laptop processors, and full-fledged high-end desktop graphics cards, not laptop graphics cards. The downside is they are very expensive (I have a friend who bought a gaming laptop for about $5,000), and have extremely poor battery life (with the processor cranked up to full speed and the graphics card in highest resolution, expect battery life of 20-25 minutes, or 30-40 minutes with an auxiliary battery pack).

The best known of these high-end gamer laptops is the AlienWare Aurora m9700. Quad-core 64-bit processor, two video card slots (with SLI so the video cards act in concert, offering double the frame rate for 3D graphics and games), 4GHz dual-channel memory bus...if you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it.

Another, though less powerful, popular gamer laptop is the Dell XPS M2010. It uses the Core 2 Duo processor and ATi Radeon Mobility graphics card--a good graphics card, but not nearly as sophisticated as the cards in the Alienware. It's also, to be fair, significantly cheaper than the Alienware. The Alienware maxes out at 400 GB of internal hard drive storage; the XPS, at 240GB.

Another highly-regarded gaming laptop is the Rock Xtreme CTX-PRO. I do not have any personal experience with this laptop (I have friends who have the Alienware and the Dell XPS), and it's a UK manufacturer, so the prices are a bit high owing to the weak American dollar these days. The Rock Xtreme systems allow dual graphics cards like the Alienware, and are available with desktop graphics cards rather than laptop graphics cards like the Alienware.

News:

Author Topic: Notebook computer for games (Read 4933 times)