Why aren't there more 13.3" or 14" gaming laptops

JimboJet

JimboJet

JimboJet

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I'm starting this thread really to see if its just me or whether the community also sees a lack of options for portable gaming.

I have a 4/5 yr old 13.3" Sony that i'm looking to replace now that the graphics are unable to cope with the games i play most often. Really as it stands I only see 2 options and they are both Dell, the m11x r3 or the m14x.

I know screen size is a factor as is heat concerns but surely there are more reasons for than against! Come on manufacturers design more stuff for the real world! If you really want a gaming laptop then it seems you have to go 15.4" or higher, with 17.3" being the real home of gaming laptops. At these sizes portability is vastly reduced.

I travel internationally a lot, i don't wish to lug around a heavy slab of tech but i stay in hotels for days on end with bugger all to do save for the gym/get ****ed.... my liver would rather i played games!
 
JimboJet said:
I'm starting this thread really to see if its just me or whether the community also sees a lack of options for portable gaming.

I have a 4/5 yr old 13.3" Sony that i'm looking to replace now that the graphics are unable to cope with the games i play most often. Really as it stands I only see 2 options and they are both Dell, the m11x r3 or the m14x.

I know screen size is a factor as is heat concerns but surely there are more reasons for than against! Come on manufacturers design more stuff for the real world! If you really want a gaming laptop then it seems you have to go 15.4" or higher, with 17.3" being the real home of gaming laptops. At these sizes portability is vastly reduced.

I travel internationally a lot, i don't wish to lug around a heavy slab of tech but i stay in hotels for days on end with bugger all to do save for the gym/get ****ed.... my liver would rather i played games!
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The 14x is a great machine, i doubt you would be disappointed. Head to the dell outlet, you can get a bargain on there, you can get this spec,


Alienware M14x
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Processor: Intel Core i7-2630QM (2.00GHz, 6MB cache, Quad Core) with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.80 GHz
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 Dual Channel 1600 MHz SDRAM Memory (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD+/- RW Drive
Display: 14.1in Widescreen High Definition + (1600x900) WLED with TrueLife
Graphics: 1.5 GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus
LCD Cover : Black WLAN
Intel Wireless LAN 6205 2x2 (802.11a/b/g/n) Card
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
Back Up Media Not Included

for £735 at the mo
 
Mainly as the 13" market is designed for portability now with the MBA setting the benchmark of what people expect.

There are some good business 13" laptops as well but none of them could be considered gaming machines.

There is also a lack of space for the GPU. The Alienware MX11 is actually quite a big chassis to accommodate the graphics card when compared to other 11" notebooks or netbooks.

14" is really the minimum size for a gaming machine now with the Alienware MX14.

I don’t think there ever have been that many 13” powerhouses though and even the older dell XPS machines were average at that size.
 
Scrutinize said:
Mainly as the 13" market is designed for portability now with the MBA setting the benchmark of what people expect.

There are some good business 13" laptops as well but none of them could be considered gaming machines.

There is also a lack of space for the GPU. The Alienware MX11 is actually quite a big chassis to accommodate the graphics card when compared to other 11" notebooks or netbooks.

14" is really the minimum size for a gaming machine now with the Alienware MX14.

I don’t think there ever have been that many 13” powerhouses though and even the older dell XPS machines were average at that size.
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14" is do-able, i had the M14x, it was a beautiful machine, im so used to powerful desktop cards though, it just felt inadequate to me (if i cant run things 60fps with high detail)
 
Scrutinize said:
I don’t think there ever have been that many 13” powerhouses though and even the older dell XPS machines were average at that size.
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Thats entirely my point, i believe there'd be a demand for them if they existed. The m11x is really too small to be a true gaming machine (example in fps the distant target graphics content would be scaled down too much to fit 1368x768 on 11" display) So i'd agree that 13.3" to 15" is the sweet spot.


I had seen that m14x on the outlet and would have committed to buying had i been at home. I'm off to Hong Kong again in a few hrs so was going to see whats kicking around over there! Very tempting to buy it now so its there for when i return though!
 
JimboJet said:
Thats entirely my point, i believe there'd be a demand for them if they existed. The m11x is really too small to be a true gaming machine (example in fps the distant target graphics content would be scaled down too much to fit 1368x768 on 11" display) So i'd agree that 13.3" to 15" is the sweet spot.


I had seen that m14x on the outlet and would have committed to buying had i been at home. I'm off to Hong Kong again in a few hrs so was going to see whats kicking around over there! Very tempting to buy it now so its there for when i return though!
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They are on all the time, so always a bargain available! Good thing about it is its only £20 to return after a week if its not suitable, so you can try it and return it if its not what you want. 14" for me would be perfect but i want a better gpu, a 6990 or 580 in the 14", not a 555.
 
Andrei23 said:
Or you could buy a normal 13-14 inch laptop with i5/i7 and buy an external graphics card and hook it up to your laptop. Look it up :)
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Which is where the VAIO Z comes in.

I think the major problem is the heat. High end graphics cards let out a lot of it and small chassis just can't cope.
 
For gaming Llano is pretty good yet 13"-14" Laptops with it are rare, or (using the term lightly due to their frankly laughable build quality) "assembled" by HP. Problem is lack of space for cooling as well as smaller batteries. Asus ultra book has this problem meaning it has to be highly optimised for power saving. Most 13" are aimed at portability but as APU's improve we'll see the possibility for "gaming" or more realistically, laptops that happen to be good enough to game on, increase. ATM sony are the only company that do a decent 14" "gaming" laptop. Only problem there is the AMD graphics. Personally I would rather have Nvidia simply because of optimus tech. AMD where bringing their version to the mobile market but early reviews said it was lacking compared to Nvidia. I don't even know if Sony implemented it since their current lineup refresh happened just before AMD formally launched the tech for it to be implemented.
 
feeddagoat said:
For gaming Llano is pretty good yet 13"-14" Laptops with it are rare, or (using the term lightly due to their frankly laughable build quality) "assembled" by HP.
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Get what you pay for comes to mind... The EliteBook I've had my hands on is supreme in its build quality.
 
I've more or less decided on an m14x. I suspect they'll release an m14x r2 in the first half of next yr which is too long to wait really. I'll sell the m14x nearer the time whilst its still worth something!

Incidentally, anyone know much about the Asus G53SX?
 
What do you mean? The Elitebooks aren't built well or that you get what you pay for?

I've been using my elitebook at work daily and I am starting to love it, it even puts my M1330 XPS to shame, which is one of the better built laptops I've had a play with.
 
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