Why do people buy huge, heavy laptops?

[Dataisgod]

Got a job about a 9 months ago which has potential to be moved every 6 months so to keep the gaming going I picked up a 17inch dell vostro. For the most part it has been fine but its damn annoying to have on the move. Too big typically for an economy seat on a plane for trips home and such but it does the job for WoW. However after lugging it on a short haul trip once to many times I bit the bullet and picked up a eee1000 which is great. So I still have the 17inch for when I change location with work allowing reasonable gaming performance but the eee1000 for quick trips home.

Saying that however having just installed WAR and also recently started playing COD4 the 8600m/laptop combo just is not really cutting it and it is becoming frustrating. As a result i'm considering a desktop location changes be damned i'll just have to fedex it :/

 

[reflux]

Its very simple:

1) Saves A LOT of space.

2) Two in One. Desktop Replacement.

3) Portable. "Unless your a girl or have never done any exercise", the weight of a gaming laptop is negligible compared to the benefit of having one. If you are away, you can play all your games, watch your movies all on max settings.

4) Does not get as hot as you may think. It does not matter how many cards or processors you have in your lappy, if anything the gaming laptops do not get as hot with general use whereas a normal laptop would overheat when anything above normal is being done on it.

5) Lots of functionality, you can put everything and anything you want on it and take it wherever you want. If you had desktop and laptop, you would be constantly moving files, duplicating them and not being able to do what you want when out and about as a normal laptop does not have as much functionality and diversity.

The only con to a gaming laptop is the battery life. However gaming laptops are for people like the poster above, need a desktop with portability. Being able to take it along to conferences, meetings, shows etc, while also being able to enjoy your lappy while away.

1) Saves a lot of space...to do what with? Write letters by hand? Sketch people?

2) What's your point?

3) The weight quite clearly is a problem...I carted a Dell XPS around in a £50 laptop backpack for over a year, and it would make my shoulders ache. I'm no pasty nerd either.

4) This is nonsense, they still get very hot. Thankfully I just sold my XPS, but the guy I sold it to just had to have a new graphics card put in at the cost of £250 because the old one had worn out over time, due to being allowed to load at 90c in such cramped conditions.

5) Wrong, wrong, wrong. I have both, it isn't an issue.

Cons...besides them being incredibly expensive, poorly specced, hot and noisy, and a magnet for thieves....I can think of more if you want?

Give it a year and you'll wish you never wasted so much money. And findd me someone who needs to play games at maximum settings in Starbucks and I'll eat my hat.

Laptops are for mobility, not performance.

 

[james.miller]

Laptops are for mobility, not performance.

performance laptops are for both, but you can kiss any kind of value for money and longivety goodbye.

 

[krisboats]

1) Saves a lot of space...to do what with? Write letters by hand? Sketch people?

Or put your feet under your bedroom desk, a space that was previously occupied by the tower unit/cables.

3) The weight quite clearly is a problem...I carted a Dell XPS around in a £50 laptop backpack for over a year, and it would make my shoulders ache. I'm no pasty nerd either.

I carry a 7 year old 15.4" laptop round thats heavier than my parents 16" widescreen jobbie, canon 400d body, 2 lenses, macro rings and filters, a bottle of water and the laptop power supply in my backpack. Its not too bad at all, my biking gear is definately a lot worse!

 

[b0rn2sk8]

Why is everyone aguing about the point of big laptops?

Theres obviously a market for them and there selling quite well. Every manufacturer has a solution which really can only indicate one thing.... they sell.

Its the complete opersite end of the Macbook Air market. Everyone thought that was pointless compared to a regular macbook, yet it sells exteemly well infact its been the best selling mac on apple.com/uk since release.

Back to the topic.


Not everyone is the same and has the same needs, some people need a computer that is portable but powerful. These computers fill that gap in the market. If they didint sell they wouldnt exist! Also 15" laptops are good, i use mine a lot. But its hard to use over long periods of time due to its size.

Has anyone not noticed theres also a tend towards Laptops away from towers?

In the last few years iv gone from a standard PC to a full tower with water cooling, now im back toa mid tower. My next PC will me mATX because space is an issue. After that, who knows i could be the prowd owner of a 17" laptop.

 

[SkyLegend]

1) Saves a lot of space...to do what with? Write letters by hand? Sketch people?

2) What's your point?

3) The weight quite clearly is a problem...I carted a Dell XPS around in a £50 laptop backpack for over a year, and it would make my shoulders ache. I'm no pasty nerd either.

4) This is nonsense, they still get very hot. Thankfully I just sold my XPS, but the guy I sold it to just had to have a new graphics card put in at the cost of £250 because the old one had worn out over time, due to being allowed to load at 90c in such cramped conditions.

5) Wrong, wrong, wrong. I have both, it isn't an issue.

Cons...besides them being incredibly expensive, poorly specced, hot and noisy, and a magnet for thieves....I can think of more if you want?

Give it a year and you'll wish you never wasted so much money. And findd me someone who needs to play games at maximum settings in Starbucks and I'll eat my hat.

Laptops are for mobility, not performance.

I respect your view, you want a laptop for mobility, which is fair enough and the XPS is definatly not for you, fair enough.

Putting it in terms that most people could understand without writing an essay I will say the following:

Some people want laptops for mobility and sacrifice performance, Some people want performance and sacrifice mobility, however people who do not fit in those two brackets want something that has a little of both. This is where the XPS M1730 fits perfectly. Big heavy laptops are for people who want the performance of a desktop, without the large space requirement. People who want to be able to move to different locations around the house and use their laptop. People who regularly travel for longer periods of time "not talking about day trips, but for several days to weeks" and are avid gamers that would like to be able to enjoy all their time spent away.

Any person in their right mind would realise that getting a larger, heavier laptop is not for 100% successful mobility, but for the ability to have change, and performance at a high price.

Everyone says everything you buy has a short shelf life, but my experience is that if you treat something right, and give it some respect... it lasts a lot longer than you might think.

I still have my original PS1 and PS2 and both look like their brand new. Not to mention all my old computers are being used by other family members and all work perfectly well.

 

[Strife212]

Theres no way in hell I'm getting my PC to a LAN, its way too big/heavy... I can see why a gaming laptop would be good.

Although for LAN use surely you are better off building a PC in a small case.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

But then you'd have to cart the screen around and stuff.
With a laptop you've only got the one thing to plug in and it's extremely easy to carry around.

I've never found carrying heavy laptops around difficult, as long as you've got a quality backpack it's easy.

 

[thedinks]

both the wife and I have laptops, m1710 and m1730 respectively I also have a thermal take Thai-chi rig, I loved my computer until I discovered that gaming laptops had closed the gap on desktops. I don't use my rig anymore it's big, it's clunky, there's cables all over the place and no matter how tidy you get them, it all needs to be pulled out again when the cat brings a mouse in, let's it go, and it runs behind the computer. In comparison I have a power lead and a mouse to plug in on the laptop thats it job done. They save space, they look tidy and can even keep your drinks warm if you place them at the back. If I get bored of my surroundings I can pick it up and move I can even go outside for an hour before the battery dies. My wife can trundle into the kitchen with her laptop and watch how make cake on the web.


Heavy? Yes. Too heavy? No.

 

[SkyLegend]

They save space, they look tidy and can even keep your drinks warm if you place them at the back.

Heavy? Yes. Too heavy? No.

These 2 statements are spot on!

 

[RGWanderer]

As someone mentioned, if you are internationally mobile, then it makes far more sense. I moved from South Africa to the UK, and my tower, and 20" monitor, was never going to be cost effective to bring over - I would have paid more than it would cost to replace them. A DTR laptop (I got a Dell M1710 in 2006) is something you can take with you (I have taken it back to SA twice now, on holidays), and still be able to keep up with *most* games.

Also, an international warranty is required to make this effective. I ooked at other brands - espeically things like Rock etc., but if you are going back to Africa, or the Us, or Aus, you need to be able to get local support, and not be told "you will need to send it back, and pay for that sending, to claim on warranty".

 

[nalla]

someone who wants to keep fit at the same time as do there work on a pc lol.

 

[JTrickle]

My mum is talking about buying a laptop next month to replace her half dead desktop. I'll be recommending a 17" laptop, as they arent that expensive at £400 ish. It can be folded up to put to the side of a desk if she isnt intending to use it for a while.

She was talking about converting a perfectly good walk in wardrobe to a computer room, as she wants it out of sight.

Superstar wardrobe > desktop anyday.