Laptop or PC?

P

Project X

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My lil bro wants to upgrade his PC , now my father suggested that i give him my PC and i buy a laptop because ill be going to University next year and it would be more convenient to have a laptop since it is portable and all... Problem is im a gamer and i don't think there's a laptop out there(at a decent price) that would support all the games coming out.. I wouldn't be able to upgrade it as much as i want. so what do you guys think i should do?
 
I would buy a pc. Maybe look for a chassis that is small-ish and quite portable and of course get an lcd. Its not really that hard to move a pc around. But if that fails you could always give up gaming. :)
 
lol

PC hands down, just get an LCD cause the crappest thing about a pc is the crt monitor...

Can always ducktape the LCD screen to the side of the case and pretends its a massive laptop, would be the kewlest kind on the block ;)
 
Laptop for gaming = fail, unless its a R20k job. For non-gaming purposes a laptop rocks.
 
I suppose it would all depend on what u would call a "decent" price.
I honestly cant see myself going back to a desktop for quite some time to come.
my mobile 7900GTX512 chomps quite alot of games up @ 1920x1200 .... admitably not the new gen like crysis,UT3. But if i tune down their resolution, i can still run them at near high settings.
the fact that u can fold it away, easy transport to friends/lan, near silent operation, virtualy no cables ...
I suppose i am lucky,seeing that all the games i am currently playing, i can play at native res and all details on max (which amazingly includes Bioshock) ... so its a hands down lappy vote from me ;-)
 
Ok whats the best gaming notebook/laptop and how much is it ?
Is it possible to just upgrade a laptop when you feel like it?
 
Can anyone explain the difference between 8800m gtx and the normal 8800 gtx
 
Project X said:
Ok whats the best gaming notebook/laptop and how much is it ?
Is it possible to just upgrade a laptop when you feel like it?
Click to expand...

Sure, depending on what it is you mean to upgrade, and how far you'd like to upgrade it. Notebook motherboards (like desktop motherboards) usually have a maximum amount of RAM supported. For notebooks, this is usually lower than your average desktop amount. Processors aren't usually user upgradable because sometimes the processor is soldered onto the board. Hard drives can be upgraded, but you can't add extra hard drives (i.e. if you have a 160GB hard drive, you can't ADD another 250GB or whatever... You can only REPLACE the 160GB with whatever capacity you choose). RAM is usually quite easy to upgrade: most manufacturers make it very easy to access the RAM slots (and some don't: Some models have several RAM slots, one of which is located under the keyboard!).

R15 304-00: http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=19822
R21 829-00: http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=18993

etc...

The point is that you'll end up paying MUCH more for a notebook than for a desktop with equivalent specs. Put differently, for the same price, you'll get a much better performing machine when going for a desktop.

If it's mobility you need, then obviously a notebook is the only option. What you need to decide is whether or not mobility really is NEEDED. If you're talking about mobility in the sense of moving the computer to and from home, then a desktop PC with an LCD screen should be fine. If you mean mobility as in taking it to campus everyday, then obviously a notebook is the only feasible option.
 
sn3rd said:
Sure, depending on what it is you mean to upgrade, and how far you'd like to upgrade it. Notebook motherboards (like desktop motherboards) usually have a maximum amount of RAM supported. For notebooks, this is usually lower than your average desktop amount. Processors aren't usually user upgradable because sometimes the processor is soldered onto the board. Hard drives can be upgraded, but you can't add extra hard drives (i.e. if you have a 160GB hard drive, you can't ADD another 250GB or whatever... You can only REPLACE the 160GB with whatever capacity you choose). RAM is usually quite easy to upgrade: most manufacturers make it very easy to access the RAM slots (and some don't: Some models have several RAM slots, one of which is located under the keyboard!).

R15 304-00: http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=19822
R21 829-00: http://www.laptopdirect.co.za/laptop_specifications.php?laptop=18993

etc...

The point is that you'll end up paying MUCH more for a notebook than for a desktop with equivalent specs. Put differently, for the same price, you'll get a much better performing machine when going for a desktop.

If it's mobility you need, then obviously a notebook is the only option. What you need to decide is whether or not mobility really is NEEDED. If you're talking about mobility in the sense of moving the computer to and from home, then a desktop PC with an LCD screen should be fine. If you mean mobility as in taking it to campus everyday, then obviously a notebook is the only feasible option.
Click to expand...

The thing is i could end up going to cape town and my home is PTA so going home for the holidays etc could be trouble...
 
m = mobile...

Uses less power and probably performs less aswell... The main thing about laptops are the manufacturers try to keep the battery life as good as possible, and that means using hardware that uses less power... Less power = less power ;)
 
Get a decent desktop and an Asus EEE PC to carry around.
Failing that get a nice laptop and an Xbox for games.
 
The ONLY gaming laptop ( imo ) is the alienware series but expect to import and pay through your arse for it ;)

If your dad can afford to get you an alienware lappy, then i'd say go for that definitely. Not only will you have an amazing machine... you will also have major bragging rights
 
Last edited:
well... I'm in the same situation here, and what I got to is, that i'm going to slowly upgrade my pc, eg:buy a case when I see a good one, buy a decent mobo, then a cpu etc... and finish with the gpu,

so In total i'm going to spend about 10k on the desktop,

So for the portability i'm gonna buy a cheap notebook, maybe put linux in it and just use open office, and for that i'm spend 5k tops (since it isn't there for raw power, just documents on the go)
 
killadoob said:
yea but for 21k

you can buy a 7k notebook for school and 14k will get you a pretty great desktop :)
Click to expand...

Good point.

And then it also depends if you will be in RES or not. I know many res's make you move out for vac, so you won't have a choice about moving the PC around.

My opinion: wherever possible, try spend as much of the money as you can on a desktop. Notebooks are overrated, unless you need to have a notebook for everyday mobility.
 
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