<p>When buying a laptop do you look at the one with the longer battery life or the laptop with the most power? Is there an equilibrium between the two? I know the thinkpad has over 11 hrs of battery life. But I also want to play my 3d games, play DVD's and do multemedia functions. Or should I buy a good portable lonng battery life laptop and opt for a game console for my gaming needs(xbox 360)?</p>
<p>Well, I personally went for power + cheapness. I game on my friends' PS2s, but I photoshop on my monster Sony Vaio with godawful battery life (1 hour!). It has a 16" screen, 3ghz pentium 4, 60 gig hard drive, 256 mb ram, and windows XP pro for $950.</p>
<p>I was going to drop 2.5k on a powerbook, but so far this works nicely so long as there's a power outlet nearby (Yay wifi!).</p>
<p>It really depends on how you're going to use the laptop</p>
<p>Just don't game on a laptop, its a bad idea. Laptops are hardly upgradable and no matter what, always slower than desktops with the same specs. Its better to game on a desktop and get a notebook with long battery life and mobility in my opinion.</p>
<p>Find a laptop with a small screen. I use a 12" iBook and get decent battery life. Larger screens drain the battery--I get about 3.5 to 4 hours. A buddy at Penn State got a 17" laptop and he gets about 1.5 hours. Playing a DVD or doing something intense like rendering video also drains it quicker.</p>
<p>Don't game on a laptop, get a Nintendo (or any console). A console is specialized for gaming anyway. If you do play games on your laptop, do something simple like blackjack or Sims 1.</p>
<p>On the contrary, my notebook model comes with an x700 graphics card, and that is excellent at playing games at the highest resolution. Moreover, when I'm not gaming I simply underclock the graphics card core to minimum speeds to maintain the 4hrs of battery life (7.5hrs with 2nd battery combo).</p>
<p>Therefore, is it possible to buy a notebook now that can play games while also maintaining good battery life.</p>
<p>Why get a laptop at all? Most people never take their laptops out of their room and would have been much better off with a similarily equipped desktop for less cash.</p>
<p>It depends on what you're going to do with the laptop, and more importantly, your workflow. If you need a big screen, get a second battery (they pop into the cd/dvd drive slot). On the other hand, if screen size isn't an issue (or if you have good eyes) get a smaller screen. I have a Fujitsu with a 10" screen running at 1280x768 pixels and it's absolutely wonderful...I get about 7 hours out of my battery with th ebrightness down.</p>
<p>:)</p>