Recommend me a laptop!

[originalbadboy]

Nothing mobile can handle Diablo 3 right now (I'm talking about 60FPS/V-Sync/1920x1080) unless you want to spend crazy money on SLI capability - trust me on that. Wait until next year's revisions, or do what I should have done and build a desktop.

To be honest though thats a pretty elitist way of looking at it .. not everybody wants or needs to plays games in 1080p and 60fps.

I certainly don't , and I would know for a fact that I would need to spend a hefty amount of money to get a machine capable of doing just that. Not everybody wants a full desktop, fans blazing, with a massive monitor, speakers etc. I dont have the room for that sort of set up in my flat, so laptop it is.

Personally as long as a game runs at around 30fps at least at 720p thats good enough for me. You are still looking at spending a minmimum of ?500 for a laptop that can do that though.

[Brad]

I accept that not everyone has space for a desktop. To me though gaming on a laptop = an expensive disappointment. Get a Vita instead for gaming?

[dataDave]

Personally as long as a game runs at around 30fps at least at 720p thats good enough for me. You are still looking at spending a minmimum of ?500 for a laptop that can do that though.

I simply wouldn't spend over 200bats for something that's going to deliver a max of 30fps in smudge-o-vision.

If you're spending 1200 and getting 30fps... Like FSW says, that's an expensive disappointment.

[JSR]

No, it won't, not at all.

Yet, it does?

[dataDave]

What GPU is being used? The game currently saps up a whopping 12% of my CPU when playing.

And, he's playing at 1366x768. Run that on a 1920x1080 display (pretty much standard on new gaming laptops*) and be prepared to be extremely disappointed.

*I'd have gone with a 1600x900 screen given the choice.

[MrKirov]

Thanks for the replies peeps, it may make us reconsider our position.

I can have space for a desktop, its just with its minimal usage (we use iphoens for general browsing- this would only be for d/l's/games/psp/itunes that a laptop would be better.

May have to get a desktop with decent specs jugding by the circumstances- not really much of a pc gamer anyway, just fancied a few games. Probably best to wait for my imminent "recommend me a desktop" thread!!

[dataDave]

That will be fun. I'm wondering how small a 'capable' system can get.

My laptop is used purely for games, that's all it does. My phone handles absolutely everything else comfortably.

[originalbadboy]

And, he's playing at 1366x768. Run that on a 1920x1080 display (pretty much standard on new gaming laptops*) and be prepared to be extremely disappointed.

I wouldnt say 1080p is by any means standard at this point for most gaming laptops, 1600x900 is probably getting there though. Again you are assuming that everybody HAS to play at 1080p. Besides as long as a game is running at the native res of the display thats all that matters, its not going to be 'blur o vision' as long as its running in native res on decent LCD panel.

What's wrong with playing a game at 1366x768? .. absolutely nothing.

The only game I have issues with on my Dell XPS 17 so far is BF3 which I dropped to 720p. Not a problem though as it gets played on the projector and pretty much looks on par with the 360 version.

1080p @ 60fps is not really possible on the majority of PC hardware currently doing the rounds unless you want to spend a lot of money.

You can get a half decent gaming laptop set up for around ?500 these days, ok so it wont runs games in super duper high def at ultra settings. But then unless you are obsessed with the magic 1080p and 60fps then there is no reason to not go down that route.

Guess its all about expectations, coming from someone who has played PC games on and off for a long time, I know that the 60fps nirvana is difficult to achieve at the best of times anyway even if you have the right hardware. (See Diablo III as proof) That's why I much prefer console gaming on the whole, at least you know what you are getting even if it is 30fps.

[JSR]

What GPU is being used? The game currently saps up a whopping 12% of my CPU when playing.

And, he's playing at 1366x768. Run that on a 1920x1080 display (pretty much standard on new gaming laptops*) and be prepared to be extremely disappointed.

The GPU is Ivy Bridge. It uses the CPU's internal GPU, which beats most laptop based graphic cards in raw performance, not to mention price.

The OP is looking for a cheap laptop, preferably around 400 quids. There are NO laptops with a resolution of 1920x1080 under 600 pounds, so I don't see how that is relevant.

[EvilBoris]

Thanks for the replies peeps, it may make us reconsider our position.

I can have space for a desktop, its just with its minimal usage (we use iphoens for general browsing- this would only be for d/l's/games/psp/itunes that a laptop would be better.

May have to get a desktop with decent specs jugding by the circumstances- not really much of a pc gamer anyway, just fancied a few games. Probably best to wait for my imminent "recommend me a desktop" thread!!

I was in the same situation, but as I had no massive need to play anything specific (just wanted to play around) I didn't think blowing ?900+ on a laptop was the most sensible thing to do. So I built a cheap desktop instead.
My Desktop I built recently is plugged straight into my TV with the HDMI socket on the graphics card. It sits in my TV cabinet with all my other boxes.

Bought a tiny wireless logitech keyboard with a trackpad for browsing and points and clicks and use a 360 wireless pad for everything else.

[dataDave]

The GPU is Ivy Bridge. It uses the CPU's internal GPU, which beats most laptop based graphic cards in raw performance, not to mention price.

Intel HD 4000? It hardly beats anything.

Nothing around 400bats is going to play (recent) games. That's the kind of range my mum would pick up in Tesco. No one even casually arsed about games should be wasting money doing that.

[dataDave]

I wouldnt say 1080p is by any means standard at this point for most gaming laptops, 1600x900 is probably getting there though. Again you are assuming that everybody HAS to play at 1080p. Besides as long as a game is running at the native res of the display thats all that matters, its not going to be 'blur o vision' as long as its running in native res on decent LCD panel.

What's wrong with playing a game at 1366x768? .. absolutely nothing.

The only game I have issues with on my Dell XPS 17 so far is BF3 which I dropped to 720p. Not a problem though as it gets played on the projector and pretty much looks on par with the 360 version.

1080p @ 60fps is not really possible on the majority of PC hardware currently doing the rounds unless you want to spend a lot of money.

You can get a half decent gaming laptop set up for around ?500 these days, ok so it wont runs games in super duper high def at ultra settings. But then unless you are obsessed with the magic 1080p and 60fps then there is no reason to not go down that route.

Guess its all about expectations, coming from someone who has played PC games on and off for a long time, I know that the 60fps nirvana is difficult to achieve at the best of times anyway even if you have the right hardware. (See Diablo III as proof) That's why I much prefer console gaming on the whole, at least you know what you are getting even if it is 30fps.

The problem with console gaming is that the hardware is getting extremely old now. It's really doesn't take that much grunt to get 60fps unless we're talking about the likes of BF3, laptops on the other hand aren't there yet - unless you go for something crazy.

As for 1080 screens, do a search on all the latest gaming laptops, as that's what the OP wants to do - play games. They will all be 1080p, reducing the resolution down to anything less than native simply looks ballwank.

Kirov, do what Boris did. I'm interested to see what you can get within your budget.