Replacing Desktop with Laptop

Indie

Indie

Indie

Soldato
Joined
11 Jul 2006
Posts
4,530
Location
Cradley, West Midlands
Hi all,

Not posted in General Hardware for a little while.. however, I'm toying with the idea of replacing my current desktop with a gaming laptop.

Current Spec:

Case: BitFenix Prodigy (ITX) (Black)
CPU: i7 2600K Sandybridge at stock
Mobo: Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe (1155)
RAM: Corsair Vengeance Blue 8GB 1600MHz
GPU: MSI HD 7850 OC 1GB
SSD: OCZ Agility 3 120GB
HDD: WD Caviar Green 2TB
PSU: Corsair TX650M PSU

Main reason I'm toying with going over to the dark side is the increased requirement for portability. Whilst the Prodigy is quite portable, I can't just take it downstairs and sit on the sofa with it, as I'd need to take monitor, mouse keyboard etc etc. Would also be nice to take to work and have a dabble over lunch time etc... A lot of my friends don't live close, so when I visit it would be nice to have something I can still game on.

When I'm back in my office at home I can always hook it up to my monitors etc and use as a normal desktop too. So ideally, I don't want to see a dip in performance, or at least not too much from what I currently have.

Games wise: WoW and Titanfall mainly at the moment. Also Starcraft II, Diablo 3. With Tomb Raider and a couple of other single player games still on my "to play list"

really quite like the look of this one:
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI GS702OD-409UK STEALTH 17.3" True HD LED, Intel i7-4700MQ, 8GB DDR3, 128GB SSD & 1TB HDD, NVIDIA GTX 765M 2GB - Windows 8 Laptop £999.95
Total : £1,009.55 (includes shipping : £8.00).



Just after opinions and maybe a few recommendations really, as never owned a gaming laptop as such before.
 
tom_e said:
Do it! It's beautiful, I like to sit and look at mine even when I'm not using it.
Click to expand...

That's going in my quote of the day... for sure! :p

You own one of these then? If so, how do you find gaming on them?

Quite like this one as it has a slightly bigger screen than most of the others. 15.6 just isn't big enough! :D
 
Yep I've got one, it's handled everything I've thrown at it in 1080p goodness with the settings mostly set towards high.
That's been with Thief, BF4, COD and Assassin's Creed Black flag.

All the heat gets generated and exhausted up by the screen as well so there's no cooking of your hand on the palm rest area, it's just generally a very well thought out and built piece of kit and at less than 1k it's a bargain.
 
This offends my inner gamer. Laptops are for... actually, what are laptops even for anymore?

In seriousness, you might be one of the few people for whom a laptop makes some sense - just be aware of the fact that you pay basically double the price for the same performance, and that no matter what you do a gaming laptop will be heavy, loud and hot. Is there any chance you could add it to your current machine, rather than replacing it?

Sent from my work laptop.
 
Audigex said:
This offends my inner gamer. Laptops are for... actually, what are laptops even for anymore?

In seriousness, you might be one of the few people for whom a laptop makes some sense - just be aware of the fact that you pay basically double the price for the same performance, and that no matter what you do a gaming laptop will be heavy, loud and hot. Is there any chance you could add it to your current machine, rather than replacing it?

Sent from my work laptop.
Click to expand...

The GS70 is not heavy at just over 2.5kg, is no louder than a normal machine, but yes I wouldn't want to leave on hovering over my crown jewels while gaming unless I wanted them lightly roasted.
 
tom_e said:
Yep I've got one, it's handled everything I've thrown at it in 1080p goodness with the settings mostly set towards high.
That's been with Thief, BF4, COD and Assassin's Creed Black flag.

All the heat gets generated and exhausted up by the screen as well so there's no cooking of your hand on the palm rest area, it's just generally a very well thought out and built piece of kit and at less than 1k it's a bargain.
Click to expand...

Great, Thanks! Useful as always, sir!

Audigex said:
Sent from my work laptop.
Click to expand...

You filthy filthy man!!! :p

The only way I could do it is either sticking it on my credit card, or finance. As it be selling my old bits to make a bit of money towards it.

I know I'd be paying a premium, but its convenience for me really, like you say it seems to make sense!
 
Having dipped a toe into gaming laptops I'm now a bit torn.

They're terrible value for money of course, but the portability is lovely. Having said that, anything above 15.6" is going to stop being particularly portable or usable off a desk, while if it's not bigger then you'll probably feel the lack of an external screen. Mine is 15.6" - but my mate has a screen set up that I can use when I go round for some gaming so it works out well for me and is much less effort than a desktop to shift.

For me the portability was worth it at the time, though now I've got it all wired up like a desktop - gaming on it was acceptable but when I pushed it I could feel it vibrating under my fingers which was annoying, plus it got a bit toasty.

I was unlucky and had/have a series of problems with it - being a laptop this was a bigger deal as it's harder to just swap bits in and out, but of course hopefully you won't have any so it'll not matter!

Overall I'd say try playing with a mates gaming laptop if anyone owns one, but in general so long as you don't mind the price it can be worth it, especially if you need a laptop anyway for work or similar.

For me I doubt I'll be getting another one unless there is a big change in the market, I'd replace mine with a low-end casual use laptop and stick to gaming on my desktop, but then I seldom get to visit my mates to game so the portability isn't as helpful as it used to be - if I still gamed at other peoples houses frequently I'd certainly aim to always have one.

Edit: I should mention, mine is heavier than average as it's got an optical drive as well as multiple HDDs and discrete graphics, so the case is not exactly slim. Your experience may vary!
 
Thanks for that, quite a helpful review indeed!

I'm now trying to think or predict if my circumstances would change in the near future. 3 years down the line then its not a problem, as its done its job then!

It is looking more and more attractive though. might start working on the missus now, as this might take a while!
 
Decision made... and the missus didn't seem all that bothered, possibly because I didn't tell her the price :D

Going to dismantle both mine and her PC's then build the best one I can out of both parts so she still has a machine to use if she wants. Then I'll sell off the rest of the parts! I guess the MM will have some items coming their way shortly! :)
 
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