<p>I have been looking into getting a gaming laptop. The one im looking at however is a little heavy for a 15.4" and has a poor battery life. Will it be a big deal if the laptop isnt very mobile? How often do you carry it around campus?</p>
<p>why would you waste 3000 bucks on a gaming laptop?just get a 360.</p>
<p>Second that. Buy a cheap tv and a 360/wii/ps3 with a few games. Then get an 1800 dollar sony vaio with the works. you'll have a top of the line laptop with probably 5+ hours of battery life and plenty of entertainment.</p>
<p>who said i was wasting 3000? clearly the context is different for us. anyway pretending that i WANT a notebook that i can play games on, my question remains...</p>
<p>Some people like to game on the PC...</p>
<p>I play Call of Duty 2 "semi-professionally" and to play it I need a top of the line computer.</p>
<p>a gaming laptop is a poor replacement for a desktop...so if you were to have $3000, just build a top-of-the line desktop or buy alienware or falcon northwest. then you can get a cheap, portable laptop for when you go study in the library.</p>
<p>Some people like to carry their laptop to all their classes. Some people don't and just take notes on paper.</p>
<p>Decide what you want to do. If you want to use the laptop in class get one that is as small as possible and with as long a battery life as possible. If you're content to leave it in your room, go with a gaming laptop then.</p>
<p>If you're college is close to home, (driving distance) and you don't plan on ever taking the computer out of your room, I would actually go with a desktop, since you won't need the portability.</p>
<p>Ehhh, I don't like desktops in a college setting. It ties you down too much. </p>
<p>It is really hard to determine whether or not portability is going to be an issue for you, since you have not yet started college. Some people need to carry laptops everywhere, other never even take it out of their room. </p>
<p>It really depends on what you are going to do with your laptop. Laptops are perfectly fine for gaming. Yes, the top of the line gaming desktop completely blows out the best gaming laptop, but there are laptops that can satisfy most, if not all, your gaming needs. </p>
<p>I carry around my laptop everywhere. I am a EE major, so I have to do a lot of group projects or individual work on the computer. Portability is subjective. I have a 12.1" Dell 710m, and its light as a feather and I love it. It won't play most new games, but I'm willing to some of that up for portability. I didn't have much time to play games in college anyways. </p>
<p>15 inchers can be heavy, but its not impossible to carry around. Build some muscle and you'll be fine. Battery life might not be THAT much of an issue, because a lot of study areas around campus have power outlets. </p>
<p>I'm not sure how power games you will want to run, but there are some 14 inch laptops that have dedicated video cards. They aren't hte highest end, but it's not intel integrated.</p>
<p>I've been in a dorm for a summer program for the past month. I've taken my computer to the library, to class, and, best of all, to the pool. I've been able to hang out with my friends in the shade (glare) and do research and write papers.
Be mobile.</p>
<p>I have a 15.4, and frankly, it's a ***** to carry around. After a whole day of lugging around a laptop, you'll wish you had gone with something smaller.</p>
<p>I don't even bother anymore frankly.</p>
<p>Really, just decide how much gaming you want to do. If you're serious about it, then don't even bother trying to get something you can carry around to class. A big laptop would be better than a desktop for lan parties and the like I guess.</p>
<p>There's nothing wrong with a gaming laptop, and frankly, playing certain games (especially FPS/RTS) on PC is much better than playing their console counterparts.</p>
<p>That said, I've got a pretty heavy 17" laptop. I don't lug it around very often, so portability was a lesser priority for me. I brought it to the library/friend's rooms occasionally, but not very often. It was in my room most of the time.</p>
<p>i'm getting a laptop that can outgame most gaming laptops..and mine is an inspiron for 1350 including tax.
i got a 350 off coupon from dell so i don't have to pay the 1700 it was gonna cost.</p>
<p>it's good.
just look for deals online.</p>
<p>Yup, I have an Inspiron 1520 and I get at least 4.25 hr out of each charge with the screen brightness @ 100%. If I had the T7300 processor and the 8600GT video card, I'd still get at least 3 hrs out of a charge. These figures are with the 9-cell battery, BTW.</p>
<p>Battery life is really a non-issue if you choose carefully. Mine only weighs 7 lbs, not that heavy to me.</p>