As technology has matured and manufacturing has improved, computer components have been refined to become more energy efficient and to emit less heat. These developments have allowed the creation of powerful mobile hardware designed to fit inside a laptop. While desktop computers used to be a PC gamers only option, this new hardware has enabled the creation of special gaming laptops capable of running the latest games at high settings; gamers can now choose whether to buy a desktop rig or to buy laptop for their gaming pleasure. This article will examine gaming laptops, pointing out what consumers should look for when choosing a gaming laptop and which brands are making the best gaming laptops available today.
Screen Size, Screen Resolution and Physical Dimensions
Gaming laptops come in a variety of sizes, ranging from 11.6″ screen sizes all the way up to 18.4″ behemoths. Laptops with larger screens run at a higher screen resolution than those with smaller screens, meaning that they need more powerful hardware to run games at acceptable frame rates.
Screen size also dictates the size of the laptop. 11.6″ laptops are small, easily portable and lightweight while an 18.4″ laptop is significantly larger, heavier and harder to move from location to location. Smaller laptops are ideally suited for gamers who spend a lot of time on the go moving from place to place, whereas larger “desktop replacement” gaming laptops are recommended for gamers who move their laptop infrequently but still require the flexibility that a laptop provides.
Battery Life
Running computer hardware at full load requires a lot of power which can quickly deplete battery life. Most gaming laptops offer a battery life of a few hours at most, which may be inadequate for those who wish to game for longer periods of time. It is possible to buy laptop accessories like external batteries or external power packs that can boost battery life, but these can be heavy, cumbersome and difficult to transport.
CPUs, GPUs & RAM
Modern day CPUs and GPUs come in both desktop and mobile flavors. The mobile types require significantly less power than their desktop counterparts while emitting less heat making them perfect for use in laptops.
Intel & AMD both produce mobile chips that are capable of playing current generation games at high quality settings. Generally, AMD chips offer better power efficiency while Intel chips offer more brute power.
RAM prices have fallen dramatically in recent years, allowing for laptops to carry large amounts of RAM as standard. 4 GB should now be considered as the bare minimum, with 8 GB being an optimal amount of RAM. 16 GB of RAM should ensure that the gaming laptop is capable of running the latest games well into the future.
Hard drives & SSDs
Solid state drives, or SSDs as they are more commonly known, have become more popular in recent times as prices have dropped to affordable levels. For gaming laptops, SSDs provide quick read and write access leading to snappy operating system performance and short loading times while gaming. SSDs also emit less heat, use less power and are more reliable than standard disk drives. SSDs are unable to match the storage limits of disk drives, however, with limited space available. The ideal solution to this problem is to pair up an SSD based gaming laptop with an external hard drive.
Recommended Gaming Laptop Manufacturers
Most laptop manufacturers produce gaming laptops. Alienware, a company focused on building high performance gaming rigs, produces a wide variety of laptops with screen sizes starting as small as 11.6″ and as large as 18.4″. These laptops don’t come cheap, however, but their performance and build quality reflects the price.
Asus, MSI, Dell and Sony also produce a number of gaming laptops in a variety of different form factors. These laptops are designed for all purpose usage but they come equipped with powerful CPUs and GPUs capable of running games.
Apple’s Macbook Pro range offers a unique proposition for gamers looking for a portable rig. While these machines are unable to match the performance of their more powerful Windows based counterparts, these laptops offer significantly better battery life than most gaming laptops in a smaller and lighter form factor.
Conclusion
Gaming laptops are a powerful option for gamers looking to game while on the move. These machines are capable of running the latest games at high settings providing gaming performance that was previously unheard of. They are a perfect purchase for gamers looking for a portable gaming fix.
ASUS G73JH-B1 17-Inch Gaming Laptop
The ASUS G73JH-B1 is for those who want to take a big leap on top of the market competition. It’s now known simply as the ASUS ROG or Republic of Gamers. Actually, G73JH is a mega gaming notebook which takes the newest games up to the supreme level of exiting realism. It features Full HD graphics and you’d love the blistering super fast framerate.
At the helm is Core i7 quad-core processor from Intel, while graphics charisma is powered by ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870, a highly efficient graphics processor which is backed by DirectX 11. It features 1Gigabyte of GDDR5 VRAM along with 8 Gigabyte of DDR3 type system memory. The G73Jh-A2 will unleash its super-hypersonic performance for rendering today’s plus tomorrow’s most demanding games with sheer ease.
The G73Jh-B1 is equipped with 1 Terabyte of hard disk space that works at 7200 RPM speed. Things get speedier with hi-speed wireless N (configured as – 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 Gigahertz) and CPU Level performance booster of ASUS. Other smart configurations include Bluetooth v2.1 technology and HDMI connectivity. Interactive chatting is enabled with a 2.0 Megapixel camera. And the Blu-Ray combo drive has been integrated seamlessly with ASUS G73JH-B1.
Not to mention the DirectX 11 support alongside Altec Lansing speakers that features sound through EAX Advanced HD 4.0 compatible system. Amazingly enough, the G73Jh-B1 has an impressive 3DMark06 score (13,667) and this helps the wipe out competition. Also incorporated are a free backpack and a laser gaming mouse (configured as 3200 DPI). Hence, the G73JH comes forward with a two-year global warranty and a 1-year Accidental Damage Warranty along with a thirty-day Flawless Display Guarantee.
The ASUS G73JH-B1 is complete as a gaming laptop. The display appears simply amazing as it’s equipped with true 1080p resolution and it’s lightning fast, capable of handling virtually everything you throw at it.
MSI GT780DX – The Real Gaming Notebook
Do you love to game, have a bunch of money, and want the portability of a laptop? Then you want to take a look at the MSI GT780DX (couldn’t they come up with a catchier name?). It’s a hugely powerful computer designed specifically for gaming, but obviously it can handle anything else you’ll need it to do.
Let’s talk specs. It comes with a 17 inch full HD screen, a second generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, a GeForce graphics card packed with RAM, and can support up to 32GB of system memory. It comes with a gaming keyboard that’s meant to take more of a beating than a typical laptop. You can trick it out as you please with a solid state drive, various DVD burners and players, and more. This is by no means a cheap laptop, of course. You’ll pay upwards of $2500 for the highest end versions of it.
Asus G74SX gaming laptop
Asus has quietly become one of the most successful and inventive makers of gaming laptops and the latest and most powerful in their collection is the Asus G74SX. They call it a performance notebook (and you’ll pay for that performance, which you should expect) and it delivers. The latest and greatest games will run at 60 FPS and games released two years into the future will still look amazing. That’s the benefit of buying quality. You don’t have to replace it anytime soon.
The Intel Core i7 CPU pumps out serious power and even more impressive is the Nvidia GTX 560M video card with 3GB of GDDR5 VRAM. It will do all the work your games need, freeing the processor to make the rest of the experience even speedier. You can customize your hard drive up to 750GB and add up to 16GB of RAM. There’s a built in Blu-Ray player, an 8-in-1 card reader, an HD webcam, jacks galore for anything you need to plug in, impressive built in speakers, full-HD LED-backlit display, backlit gaming keyboard and more. If you don’t want to buy the top of the line Asus offers cheaper versions that pull back on some of the higher end components.
Gateway NV59C31u 15.6-Inch Laptop
Gateway NV59C31u is a laptop that blends premium performance with exceptional style.
This 15.6″ laptop provides you with highly powerful processing from Intel Core i3 dual-core processor. You get great graphics, 64-bit Home Premium version of Windows 7 operating system and superb connectivity while you’re on-the-go. The Gateway NV59C31u has the power to multitask easily and lets you enjoy all sorts of digital media entertainment.
Ingenious digital media usage, content creation or sophisticated 3D gaming becomes easy with the advanced Intel Core i3 processor. There are other features like Wireless-N networking that lets you enjoy faster connection speed while you’re connected to a hot spot. The HDMI port delivers higher quality video output while HD audio lets users enjoy home theater experience.
One useful feature about the Gateway NV59C31u is the ability to back up all user’s data conveniently using the MyBackup Function Key. The versatile multi-gesture touchpad supports such intuitive gestures as pinching, flicking or swirling fingers to get the benefits of navigation on web pages, images, spreadsheets or things like that.
The laptop has a built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam with a microphone that allows you to engage in video chats, voice communication or just take pictures of yourself for sharing them on the Internet. You can also quickly join a social network website by pressing just one single key. This machine is definitely worth checking out.
Other key features of Gateway NV59C31u:
2.26GHz Intel Core i3-350M CPU
500GB SATA hard drive @ 5400 RPM
4GB DDR3 RAM
Intel HD type Graphics with 128MB of dedicated memory
15.6-inch LED-backlit widescreen display at 1366×768-pixel resolution.
8x SuperMulti DVD+R/RW drive
Samsung Series 7 700G7A laptop for gamers
Samsung, the Korean manufacturer of laptops and other consumer electronics, has decided to widen its presence in gaming computers niche and announced the launch of Samsung Series 7 700G7A laptop made especially for gamers. The laptop is expected to come with the most powerful hardware you can expect from a gaming machine. Having a 17.3-inch full-HD screen, the laptop can easily act as a desktop replacement, after all it’s hard to imagine someone carrying around a machine that big and heavy. One interesting touch about the Samsung 700G7A that gamers are going to like the most, is that WASD keys on a keyboard that are usually used for playing, are backlit with a different color than other keys.
The planned price for the laptop is roughly 2,600 USD.
Specs of the Samsung 700G7A:
Intel Core i7 2GHz CPU
Radeon HD 6970M video card with 2GB memory
16GB of RAM
17.3-inch full HD screen at 1,920×1,080 pixels
802.11n Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 3.0
HDMI video out
Backlit keyboard
Asus Lamborghini VX7: now on Sandy Bridge
Asus’ most powerful gaming laptop to date, Lamborghini VX7, has been released with new Intel Sandy Bridge processor. The Asus-Automobili ultra high speed laptop not only looks blazing fast in its orange chassis, it sports a quad-core Intel Core i7-2630QM mobile processor with Intel HM65 Express chipset and Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M video card with 3GB video memory.
Its 15.6-inch LED-backlit display that can be either full-HD or 1366×768 HD 3D is ideal for hardcore gaming and watching high definition movies. You can stock up to 16GB of DDR3 memory, two hard disk drives with up to 1.5 GB total storage capacity and a blu-ray / dvd reader/writer.
Asus Lamborghini VX7 also has:
Gigabit ethernet
Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n)
8-in-1 card reader
Bluetooth 2.1
USB 3.0
HDMI & VGA outputs
Although i don’t think the price matters much for people who are set on buying this new laptop by Asus, just in case You want to pre-order this beastly ultra-lux sports car like laptop, it will cost You as low as $2,250.
Fujitsu LifeBook NH751: a laptop for gamers
Fujitsu made a surprise move and introduced the 17.3-inch Full HD screen Lifebook NH751 laptop targeted specifically for gamers. Although the line of Fujitsu laptops already had high performance entertainment systems, this would be the first of their attempt to enter the gaming segment. The NH751 laptop is built on Sandy Bridge platform and powered by a quad-core Intel i7 processor and powerful Nvidia GeForce GT525M switchable graphics. Despite its large screen size, it can run up to 5 hours on a battery using its integrated Intel graphics card. The machine also boasts an anti-glare full-HD 17.3-inch display display and a spill-resistant keyboard.
The specifications of Lifebook NH751 are as follows:
Intel Core i7 2630QM 2GHz processor
17.3-inch display with full-HD resolution
Nvidia GeForce GT525M graphics card
8GB RAM
640GB HDD
Blu-ray writer
Windows 7 Home Premium
Experience Powerful Gaming: One Laptop With Three Collapsing Screens
Today we’re going to present you a new Prime Gaming notebook with three OLED screens concept designed by Kyle Cherry. If you’re a hardcore gamer, you know that the more viewing estate you’re getting, the better. The new laptop is going to please you with unsurpassed in-game visibility with an astonishing 32:10 aspect ratio. Imagine how your favorite game would look on three collapsing screens at once.
With its lid closed, the laptop looks pretty compact, about the size of a regular 13″ notebook. The main OLED display of a laptop measures an unpretentious 10 inches, but with two additional display expanded, the combined size of a viewing panel will be 26 inches. Both the left and the right screens are Aux OLED screens with 8:10 aspect. The chassis of a new laptop is made of aluminum body which pretty much guarantees its sturdiness, and the newest Intel processor that powers the laptop ensures it can handle any task you’re going to throw at it.
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