I enjoy TF2 from time to and am going off again this time to school and was just wondering if anyone knew of any decent laptops capable of playing TF2 at a decent performance.
Just thought I ask here because I noticed in the LAN vids that a number of players were using their laptops, plus I don't plan on bringing my full tower to school. =P
I know the only reason I'm getting a laptop in the first place really is for school and I figured why not get one that can play a few games to. My desktop is already fine but I wanna leave it home for my cousin.
usually games come with recommended values for graphics card, processor etc. so maybe look at those for tf2 and buy a laptop thats just a little bit above the recommended value. Or just buy a new desktop for school and hand write your notes.
Nowadays some people type faster than they write...
But put a laptop in front of anybody, especially a gamer (which I can only assume you are, given you're asking for laptop advice on Gotfrag), and they will never, ever write any notes worth looking at. At best you'll copy lines off of a professor's power point presentation.
Being a laptop using college student myself, I would definitely suggest you just get a desktop instead.
Most laptops made within the past 3-4 years can play tf2. It's not a very high demanding game. You just might need a FPS config and probably won't play at max settings. If you're trying to buy a new one, I'd just recommend a PC, because you'll want a computer that can play all the latest games coming out and it'll just be too costly for a laptop.
I bought a dv9000t back in 2007 as a desktop replacement (17-inch notebook) at the time I was traveling overseas and needed something that I could take with me on an airplane. It has a 7600 and two processor cores that clock at 2.0 and it's been a decent machine in terms of performance, cost was $1337 (no joke). (I bought it with a minimal RAM configuration and I've spent about $80 on RAM upgrades since I bought it, first purchase was a 1 GB stick for $50 and the most recent was a 2 GB stick last summer for $30, thanks Moore.) It runs TF2 fine, I run it on min settings at 1680x1050 and constantly get above 60 FPS in 12-player games (though my framerate is about half of that with 20 or more players). It can run most modern games, I've played Bioshock and Borderlands and L4D2 is also playable on this thing.
Let me tell you, owning this thing has been a nightmare. The thing is very shoddily designed and it overheats a lot. During the first summer I owned it, it would frequently shut down when I was playing CS:S. After that, I moved back to the US where my room had better air conditioning, and this was less of an issue. However, I eventually got to a point where I was processing media files (video, audio), and I figured that since I had a 2.0 GHz dual-core processor, I ought to be able to clock both cores at 2.0 GHz. Big mistake; I fried my mobo by doing this, this was several months after my warranty expired (go figure) and I had to pay ~$300 to have it replaced.
I advise against getting a laptop as a desktop replacement. When it comes to computers, you have three qualities: inexpensive, portable, powerful. Pick two. Personally, I'll choose inexpensive any time, and get one machine for power and one for portability. Just get yourself a $300 netbook and a $700 gaming desktop; the combined cost of both will probably be less than the cost of a gaming laptop with equal specs. I am considering ditching my gaming laptop to replace it with this setup because I'm tired of having to lug my massive 17-inch laptop to and from class every day and I know some people that I could leave the desktop and monitor with when I go home during the summer.
That being said, any modern laptop that is sold with a decent video card will be able to run TF2 fine. Chances are that the hardware in your typical laptop these days will be on par with what was in a typical "gaming PC" two years ago. Orange Box is two years old so it shouldn't be difficult to find anything that can run it.
Speaking as someone who plays on a laptop in college; don't get a laptop for gaming, not even if you're in college. It's not worth it.
*For the equivalent price, you could get a much more powerful desktop *A laptop crammed with gaming components is practically guaranteed to be a clunker that you won't actually want to carry anywhere *Most gaming laptops have their video cards integrated with their motherboards, meaning you can't upgrade them in the future.
Since the typical gaming laptop is already a bit behind the curve, this means you're sinking a lot of money into something that will have a pretty finite lifespan.
If you will actually use your laptop for anything productive, netbooks are a nightmare. Even for no gaming whatsoever, I will never tell anyone they should get one, not a single one I have dealt with has been pleasant. Get a more portable laptop model with at least a 13.3inch screen, and a decent freakin' keyboard. Many places on your body will thank you for it.
Just get a Dell studio 14z or a Dell studio xps 13. Don't get a 15 inch notebook unless you're an engineering student and use autocad or inventor lots (bigger screen and resolution helps). They tend to be on the more heavy side. I have a decent notebook that can run TF2 at 1440 res at 50-100 fps, but often times it gets really hot. It's gone to the point that I recently was forced to buy a notebook cooler.
Do yourself a favor and just get a 13 or 14 inch notebook. Good balance between performance and portability. (Netbooks suck)
Compal JFL92 | Intel C2D t8300 | m8600GT 512MB DDR2 | Hitachi 200GB HDD | Windows XP SP3
TF2 Capable Laptops
Just thought I ask here because I noticed in the LAN vids that a number of players were using their laptops, plus I don't plan on bringing my full tower to school. =P
it's smooth as can be if you don't mind your tf2 looking like you're playing on an atari
But put a laptop in front of anybody, especially a gamer (which I can only assume you are, given you're asking for laptop advice on Gotfrag), and they will never, ever write any notes worth looking at. At best you'll copy lines off of a professor's power point presentation.
Being a laptop using college student myself, I would definitely suggest you just get a desktop instead.
Man what a waste of money.
and to OP, it depends on if you want to be playing with ultra low settings and save some money or play with something decent and pay a little extra.
Let me tell you, owning this thing has been a nightmare. The thing is very shoddily designed and it overheats a lot. During the first summer I owned it, it would frequently shut down when I was playing CS:S. After that, I moved back to the US where my room had better air conditioning, and this was less of an issue. However, I eventually got to a point where I was processing media files (video, audio), and I figured that since I had a 2.0 GHz dual-core processor, I ought to be able to clock both cores at 2.0 GHz. Big mistake; I fried my mobo by doing this, this was several months after my warranty expired (go figure) and I had to pay ~$300 to have it replaced.
I advise against getting a laptop as a desktop replacement. When it comes to computers, you have three qualities: inexpensive, portable, powerful. Pick two. Personally, I'll choose inexpensive any time, and get one machine for power and one for portability. Just get yourself a $300 netbook and a $700 gaming desktop; the combined cost of both will probably be less than the cost of a gaming laptop with equal specs. I am considering ditching my gaming laptop to replace it with this setup because I'm tired of having to lug my massive 17-inch laptop to and from class every day and I know some people that I could leave the desktop and monitor with when I go home during the summer.
That being said, any modern laptop that is sold with a decent video card will be able to run TF2 fine. Chances are that the hardware in your typical laptop these days will be on par with what was in a typical "gaming PC" two years ago. Orange Box is two years old so it shouldn't be difficult to find anything that can run it.
This.
*For the equivalent price, you could get a much more powerful desktop
*A laptop crammed with gaming components is practically guaranteed to be a clunker that you won't actually want to carry anywhere
*Most gaming laptops have their video cards integrated with their motherboards, meaning you can't upgrade them in the future.
Since the typical gaming laptop is already a bit behind the curve, this means you're sinking a lot of money into something that will have a pretty finite lifespan.
Do yourself a favor and just get a 13 or 14 inch notebook. Good balance between performance and portability. (Netbooks suck)
*going on facebook and playing tetris
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