My Gaming Laptop

So you’re looking to buy a good laptop or notebook for gaming?

First of all, you need to understand that there is a fundamental difference between a laptop and a notebook. On the outside they may look remarkably similar, but under the hood there is a normally a big difference.

Notebooks are really designed as a portable business tool. They’re small, lightweight and may (usually do) miss some features that a standard desktop PC or laptop will have.

But I’ll get straight to the point – you really can’t use a notebook for serious gaming.

The main reason is that a notebook computer does not normally have a dedicated graphics card, so this limits the gaming options available to you for a start. All you’ll be able to play is Windows Minesweeper.

And they normally don’t come with a DVD/CD drive – especially at the lower end of the price bracket.  So you really should rule out a notebook for gaming.

So onto choosing a good gaming laptop.

First off, don’t buy a Mac. There simply aren’t the games out there for them. I know this is a real pain in the a** for web develepers and designers who adore the Mac, but the plain, simple truth is that computer gaming revolves around a PC platform.

Now you could also consider what other tasks you plan to use your laptop for i.e. study, work etc – but I think if you buy one that is geared for gaming, then it’s going to handle just about any other application with ease, except maybe intense video editing or graphic design.

Budget is obviously a factor too. When you consider this, think realistically about how long you want the laptop to last. I think three years is probably the maximum you could expect before your graphics card and or processor really able to run the latest games. I guess it depends on if you want a cheap gaming laptop or the ultimate (or somewhere in between).

Some people get hung up on the battery life of laptops. It’s not an issue for me because I normally have mine plugged into a power source when I’m using it anyway. It’s more the convenience of being able to play games on the couch or in bed that appeals to me, rather than being confined to a desk.

There are several other factors about choosing the best gaming laptop for your needs that I think I’ve addressed in another post – minimum specs and all that sort of stuff.