Gaming Laptops - The Five Essential Features To
Consider When Buying A Gaming Laptop
Laura Alter
Gone are the days when you would have been laughed at if you
walked into an all-night LAN party carrying your trusty laptop
and expecting to hang with the giant computer towers standing
at everyone’s feet. The gaming laptop computers of today sport
huge, crisp LCD screens, cutting-edge video cards and full-size
keyboards. Not only can these gaming laptop computers hang with
the standard clunky computer tower, but they can also be
ordered fully custom to meet the exact specifications of any
gamer.
Since there are so many customizable components in these
laptops, a standard practice has been to create what some call
a “system builder.” This is the page where you get to add and
subtract components through drop-down menus in order to create
the best gaming laptop computer for your needs and your budget.
This type of page can be overwhelming to someone just starting
the gaming laptop shopping process, but it is very manageable
if you take it just one component at a time.
The Gaming Laptop GPU
This is the heart of a gaming laptop computer. The GPU –
graphics processing unit – is a component that will make or
break your gaming experience. If your GPU isn’t up to snuff,
your games won’t play.
Without getting into specific models since they change all the
time, the key is that the graphics card not share resources
with the computer. A gaming laptop video card must have its own
memory on board. Generally speaking, standard off-the-shelf
laptops will not have this feature. The two current makers of
laptop video cards are nVIDIA and ATI.
Without the Screen, You Don’t Have Much
What good is a gaming laptop without a screen that can actually
render your games? Now certainly, you can connect an external
monitor, but if you can’t actually play on your gaming laptop
without that external monitor, then your laptop isn’t all that
mobile.
While the technology and terminology for LCDs (liquid crystal
displays) could take up an entire article in itself, there are
a few key points to keep in mind when choosing from available
LCD options for your new gaming laptop computer: native
resolution, aspect ratio, rise and fall time, contrast, viewing
angle, and size.
Native Resolution. The native resolution is simply the setting
at which your screen will render the clearest images. Since
games are constantly in motion, slightly soft edges may not
bother most gamers, but keep in mind that while this is your
gaming laptop, you will likely also use it for other things
like surfing the Internet. If the resolution isn’t comfortable,
you aren’t going to enjoy using it.
Aspect Ratio. As you probably know, a movie theater screen and
a TV screen have different proportions. Likewise, there are
widescreen format gaming laptops and there are laptops that
have a standard aspect ratio – like that of a TV. A widescreen
format gaming laptop has advantages and disadvantages. Many
games today do not have a widescreen mode. This means that the
game may stretch across the screen and become distorted or you
may run it with black bars that fill in the sides. There are
ways to get around this, but if you want an out of the box
perfect experience, the widescreen format may not be for you.
That said, a widescreen LCD does offer plenty of screen real
estate for web surfing and other type of computer activities,
and a game played in a wide format setting offers an expansive
field of view. For this reason, there are some very loyal
widescreen-loving gamers out there.
Do your best to find a balance between current and future
technology and what your computer habits are beyond gaming.
Even with its limitations, the widescreen format is found on
most of the best gaming laptop computers.
Rise and Fall. The phrase ‘rise and fall time’ is used to
describe how fast the LCD can respond to changes. In the past,
LCDs have been plagued with the inability to render images as
fast as computer games can spit them out. This presents a major
problem for laptop gamers because if they can’t see the images
properly, they can’t play the game properly. This lag can mean
the difference between playing to win and barely playing.
Fortunately, gaming laptop LCDs have come a long way and they
are only getting better. While once it was impossible to game
on a laptop screen, the gaming laptop LCDs of today offer 25
milliseconds or less rise and fall time while generally
off-the-shelf laptops have 40 milliseconds or less rise and
fall time.
Contrast. If a gaming laptop LCD has poor contrast, that means
that the black areas aren’t quite as black as they should be
and the white areas aren’t quite as white. This is important to
a laptop gamer because you have to see the game properly – as it
was intended to be seen – in order to compete effectively. Look
for a contrast ratio of 400:1 or higher in a custom gaming
laptop computer.
Viewing Angle. This is an often-overlooked LCD feature, but it
must be considered if you are building a gaming laptop
computer. Many high quality LCDs on the market are difficult to
see clearly at any angle other than straight on and at the right
height. This can be a big drawback to gaming on a LCD screen
because a screen with poor viewing angles won’t allow others to
watch the screen as you play and also hurts your view when doing
something as simple as adjusting your seating, which can require
you to then adjust to position of your laptop screen to see it
properly again.
But gaming on a laptop does not mean that you are doomed to
have poor viewing angles. There are LCDs on the market that
have amazing viewing angles – up to 120 degrees. These screens
not only allow gaming onlookers, but they also allow you to use
that giant, crisp screen to do things like play movies and even
make presentations.
Size. In a gaming laptop computer, size is everything. Most
gaming laptops are large, robust pieces of electronics. Having
a machine of this stature means you also get to have a large
screen. The best gaming laptop computer LCD screens out there
are at least 15 inches. A crowd favorite is a 17 inch
widescreen (even with the challenges that widescreens present).
Largr 19 inch laptop screens are just starting to be talked
about with consumers expecting to see 19 inch or even large
models on the market in the near future.
The best way to really get a feel for what laptop LCDs are all
about is to take a trip to a local box store and play with the
LCDs on the display laptops while keeping in mind what you have
read here. While these laptops are not custom gaming laptops,
you can see what the sizes really look like, what different
resolutions look like, and what the viewing angles truly are so
you can start to develop your own preferences.
The RAM – What Type and How Much?
The RAM (random access memory) found in laptops is called
SODIMM (small outline dual inline memory module). The RAM is
responsible for your processing power. If you are shopping for
a custom gaming laptop, you will generally be offered DDR2 RAM
with the choice of how much you want in your computer. Most
high-end games being released today need 1GB of RAM for
optimum, lag-free game play. Some people are going with 2GB to
ensure that they can run multiple applications along with the
game and not experience any slow down in response time. This is
a large investment and you want to be able to use this gaming
laptop for some time in the future. Most custom laptops are
user upgradeable, but this should be left up to professionals.
The CPU – Not Just Mobile Technology
The CPUs (central processing units) found in many custom gaming
laptops are identical to those found in desktops. These chips
require a great deal of cooling power, which in turn can make
your laptop louder than light weight, lower power ultra
portables when the fans kick on and it can become somewhat warm
to the touch. Don’t be alarmed by this – it is normal. And with
these desktop processors comes screaming power! Don’t waste
your money on the latest CPU release that likely has an
inflated price tag (and that price will likely come down before
long). Stick with a current CPU speed that is offered by a
reputable custom gaming laptop reseller, and you really can’t
go wrong.
The Gaming Laptop Hard Drive
This is the final component to consider when building a gaming
laptop. Laptop hard drives come in a variety of speeds and
capacities ranging from 4200 to 7200 RPMs and 40 to over 100
GBs. For the most part, this is user preference. Whenever
possible, go for a 7200 RPM hard drive, but if you need a
capacity not offered in this speed, it’s okay to go for the
5400 RPM drive. Take a look at your current computer, and buy
your capacity based on this. Also keep in mind that with many
custom gaming laptop manufacturers, you have the ability to
upgrade or add another hard drive at a later date.
At the end of the day, gaming laptop computers are all about
power. Don’t expect a twelve-pound notebook with a desktop
processor, numerous fans, a giant heatsink, and independent
video card to last on battery power all that long. But do make
sure to enjoy the jawdrops that you’ll get as you walk into
your regular LAN party location with your new, screaming-fast
gaming laptop computer. Crack that puppy open, fire it up, and
stand clear of the drool as you take on your favorite game with
fellow gamers gathered around to take in the action. Gaming is
not just for desktops anymore!
About The Author: PC Torque Ltd is a leading authority on
laptop gaming news and technology. For more information on how
to to build the best gaming laptop, or to check out the latest
offerings in the custom gaming laptop industry, visit
http://www.pctorque.com
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