Gaming laptops have been all over the place when it comes considering gaming on the go. Although one can easily build an equivalent PC or maybe even a better one in the same price range and with all the features but the portability factor is what takes these gaming laptops miles ahead of the latter.
With time, the gaming laptops have been getting more sexier when it comes to both looks and features.With the backlit keyboards and the glowing touchpads, the makers have put a lot of thought when it comes to making these laptops and making them a visual eye candy. Coming to the features, gaming laptops have different combinations of features and each one of them varies in sizes, designs, and other specifications.
Choosing a laptop does depend a lot on the green in your pocket.However, there are a lot of choices for different price ranges. Let’s see how you can choose a perfect laptop depending on these attributes:
Table of Contents
Design and Display
In most of my reviews, I usually describe the design of a laptop, although this is not the criteria for buying a gaming laptop but I still consider it to hold some value because if given a choice between the plain Gigabyte laptop which looks like an office notebook and a visually appealing Alienware laptop, I would instantly be inclined more towards the latter even though Gigabyte laptop has a better performance.
Even though the design doesn’t matter when it comes to gaming, but that does not eliminate the impact it has on consumers. When it comes to gaming the looks are no way related however,the design might be a little helpful if it is introduced to make the working of the laptop more efficient.
The display of the laptop is important when it comes to gaming and anything less than 1920×1080 pixels is not worth it.There are laptops with much better resolutions available now although they are a bit more expensive but it is totally worth the gaming experience.
There are supporters on both sides, team matte, and team gloss, few find the matte display dull compared to the gloss whereas there are a few people who despise the glare that arises in a glossy display. Both the displays have been received well by the consumers so it totally depends on you and your needs.
Which side are you on? Team matte or team gloss? 🙂
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard and touchpad are really important when it comes to buying a new laptop and I strongly believe that before you buy any laptop, you do go to your nearest dealer and see how comfortable the keyboard and touch of the laptop is when you actually use it.
You can buy it online once you have made your decision but having a look at it is always better.I do find most of the laptops pretty okay when it comes to their keyboard and touchpad because it is a matter of time and you just get used to it (excluding a few laptops having a poor quality of touchpad).
However, most of the time I use a separate mouse and even keyboard in order to make the entire gaming experience much better and comfortable, if that is the case with you as well then these two factors should not be a deal breaker while buying a laptop.
The only feature that has been annoying in many laptops is the touchpad. When the touchpad is not as sensitive as it should be, it can get annoying.This issue is mentioned in most of the reviews so you can make a better choice there although the keyboard and the touch quality of the laptop are above average in most of the cases.
Gaming and Graphics
Most of the gaming laptops have the NVIDIA graphics card where you might mostly see the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M, 960M, 970M, 980M.
In the given deck of graphics cards, the 960M is the one which starts off by playing all the titles though not on high and ultra settings.So, if you are okay with not utilising the maximum of your display and playing on medium settings then the this is the graphics card you should be looking for in a laptop. Since the GPU in a laptop is not replaceable so it’s better to get the best one on the first go because unlike a PC, you cannot upgrade the GPU in a laptop.
Coming to the 970M it is a slight upgrade from the 960M but it lets you play plenty of titles in the high settings and maybe the less taxing ones in the ultra settings as well. To jump right in the ultra settings with most of the titles you need the 980M which is way closer in performance to its PC version as well.
With all the GPU talk now let’s move on to the storage. Having an SSD in your laptop will improve the performance speed multiple times when compared to using the HDD drive, in case you want to know the difference between the check out the video below.
Coming to the processor, all the laptops have the Intel i7 and since it supports multi-threading and turbo boost you would really not need to worry much when it comes to gaming as it is not as important as the graphics card but still it is recommended to go for the i5 or i7 processor for better gaming.
Battery Life and overheating issues
In laptops, battery life is something important though it is very rare to find a laptop with an above average battery life. Alienware gaming laptops have the best battery life and they have set standards very high for most of the laptops.Asus laptops usually have an average battery life.
The heat produced depends on the graphics card and the design of the laptop like thinner laptops tend to heat up faster but the thicker ones are usually thick due to the cooling exhaust fans in the system.This may not be true all the time so do check the battery life of your laptop before making a purchase.
The average battery life while gaming should be around 3 hours and if you have that then you are settling for a laptop with a really good battery life.
Important points to remember before buying
- Avoid laptop with a touchscreen as you barely use it while gaming and it will only deplete your battery faster.
- Make sure you have done enough research on the quality of the keyboard and touch or go ahead to your nearest vendor and see it for yourself before making a choice.
- Invest in a laptop with the best graphics card since you have no option to upgrade it in future. Upgrading a graphics card would simply mean buying another new laptop.
- Make sure that you have checked and clarified all your doubts about warranty period of the laptops.
- If you want the’Gaming on the go’ feature then check and compare the weights of different gaming laptops.
- Make sure you choose a laptop with a lot of SSD space rather than spending money on extra RAM. A laptop with 8 GB RAM is more than enough for gaming in most of the cases.
- Do not choose any processor below Intel i5.Intel i7 is better, however, make a choice according to your gaming needs.
In case I have missed anything or you have any further questions, leave them in the comment section below and I would be happy to help 🙂
First: I’m Team Matte! Glossy displays sure can be nice for movies, but if there’s *any* glare while I’m playing, I’m not going to be happy.
I agree, go with a 1080p display only, but the few 4K laptops out there–I dunno. Laptop GPU performance playing a 4K game… Maybe. I know you can always change the settings to play it in 1080p, but I think for now I’d stick with 1080p for a gaming laptop.
The touchpad is essential! Having used many different Windows laptops (a few gaming, Alienware and some Dell XPS) as well as a couple MacBooks in the past, no laptop has ever had a good enough touchpad, except for my MacBooks. Windows machines are definitely #1 for gaming, but man the OEM touchpads usually just stink. Yeah, I usually go for an external mouse, but day-to-day when not gaming, I’d like to have a decent touchpad.
As far as the HDD, I *definitely* can’t have anything without an SSD. However, most laptop OEMs charge ridiculous prices for high capacity SSDs. I’m much more likely to get a plain-old spinning HDD and replace it myself with a much cheaper SSD online for a fraction of the cost. Still, if it’s not an SSD, it’s way too slow for me.
What do you think about some of the gaming laptops that have external “desktop-grade” GPUs, like the Alienware and its custom thunderbolt-esque box for more graphics oomph? I’m really intrigued and might consider one myself.
Hi Lincoln,
Those are an incredible investment, I mean I would suggest the Graphics Amplifier any day to a person who is into gaming but most of us are just happy with the kind of graphics that we get on our laptops, maybe because of the restricted gaming time we get.
I really wanted one as well but due lack of time, I haven’t touched that one yet but my friend has been using it and according to the gameplay, I think it is a really good buy for about $200. I think you should go ahead and get that! It sounds exciting to me.
I really, really enjoyed this article!
Its has plenty of good advice, such as the display to look for (matte vs glossy and resolution), touchpad, SSD vs HDD, a very good GPU explanation, and other specs to look for. I especially like the SSD video included–nice touch!
However, where’s the links? I don’t really see any internal linking or any links to recommended products? Maybe they’re still in the works, but it’s critical to have links going to and within each post. If an article doesn’t necessarily review or promote any products, it should “funnel” to another post or page that does.
Now, if you have any other posts that mention anything you discussed in this article, make sure to link the new post to this one. Still you’re going to want to funnel this post to another one.
I recommend not focusing on any particular product here, but I do think that this would be a great way to link to another post (or your category page) of some gaming laptop reviews.
Product reviews are essential for this type of website. Try to get a few in-depth reviews (and some videos would be stellar, even if you don’t make them). I see you already have reviews up and the category link nicely placed in your Main Menu–awesome sauce.
Another idea for more content would be to make another post that:
* explains SSDs vs HDDs more in-depth (and link this post to that one, and vice versa.
**a rough intro to replacing your HDD with a SSD (and disclaimer!)
*a review guide of the best SSDs (and affiliate links on Amazon, NewEgg, etc., personally I like Samsung EVO Pro, and Crucial MX300 are probably the most affordable)
* explains the different GPUs available in gaming laptops, and that links to the specific product review pages that have those GPU models
** NVidida vs AMD ATI Radeon for laptop GPUs
* different display resolutions and matte vs glossy. How about the new gigantic 21″ inch display I just heard about from Acer, the Predator?! lol That would be a fun one to talk about.
* Do you recommend 4K resolutions for gaming laptops? Should customers wait, or be future proofed? Will GPU performance suffer with 4K laptop gaming?
* Different mobile CPUs, explaining the difference between Intel Atom, Celeron, Pentium, Core i3/i5/i7 (obviously go for Intel Core i5/i7)
* AMD vs Intel for gaming (obviously Intel…)
Lastly, there’s just some very minor spacing issues with some of the sentences. I know my posts are riddled with typos, and I didn’t notice any here–just a couple sentences start immediately after a “.” and no space.
Also (OK, this time “lastly”) if you have some long posts, I recommend the plugin “Table of Contents Plus”, as it automatically creates a nice collapsible Table of Contents for each post or page using your headers. It’s completely optional, and looks kind of like a Wiki TOC, but for long posts it really help in readability. Make sure you use enough headers 😀
All in all, fantastic website (and one I’m very interested in). I didn’t take much time to review the rest of your site, so I apologize if you’ve already done some of my suggestions.
Good luck! 😀
Thank you for your suggestions 🙂
Great article Shrey !
You covered all bases and the essential features when considering a laptop for gaming. I agree, an SSD is definitely more important than spending more cash on more ram and choosing one with the best battery life is crucial. I’m sure your readers will thank you for saving them money & giving them sensible advice , myself included 🙂
Thank-you so much. I hope you could make a better decision on which gaming laptop to go for once you have gone through this post 🙂
In the case you need any further help, feel free to contact me here.
I have been looking for a decent gaming laptop for quite some time. Because of my lifestyle, I do not tend to one place for too long and it is not efficient for me to carry a desktop around with me.
Thanks for running through all of the things that I need to look out for.
How much would you say that I need to spend at the very least for a decent gaming laptop?
Keep the budget at around $950 , you would get a pretty good entry level gaming laptop in that range. If you are a hardcore gamer then I would suggest something around $1500. In this range you could even get a VR ready laptop on discount in Amazon.
The thing about gaming laptops is that you cannot replace the graphics card. If you want to do so, you need to replace the entire laptop. So see all your options before buying 🙂
Hey.
Very helpful post. So what would you choose if you were to buy a gaming laptop? Gigabyte or Alienware? How about ‘cooling stations’? It would be interesting to read something on that, since the overheating is common issue with gaming (and also work laptops) laptops?
Are SSDs with lots of space reasonably priced, or is the price still relatively high?
I would choose Alienware because of the battery life. I haven’t faced many issues with overheating maybe that is the reason I didn’t mention that but yes, overheating is a problem for many laptops.I mean maybe the reason is the keyboard doesn’t get hot but yes one side of the laptop does! Maybe I could start writing on it soon.
SSDs are relatively expensive man, I so wish they were not but that is not the case.
Most of the time I wouldn’t go looking for a “gaming laptop”, kind of beats the point of it being cheap and mobile, then again it might not be the same where you are from.
I would love to write more, but there’s this guy who already beat me to the punch, so writing suggestions would feel a bit redundant.
Still, these are some good things to look for when talking about gaming laptops.
Good job reviewing the basics, I’m sure it will help a lot of people!
Haha, glad you liked it though and yes, there is this guy who has given a hell lot of suggestions on how to make this page better and help people in choosing the right gaming laptop 🙂
I really like gaming laptops because they are on the go! I have an Alienware mx11 and still have it currently, the problem is that it’s not strong enough to stream. What can you suggest for a streamer like me? Should I still get a gaming laptop or buy a desktop to stream my games? I stream on the PS4 by the way.
Well. I think that totally depends on the internet connection and your laptop specs. Once you are sorted out on having a great internet connection, the next thing I would recommend is having a good graphics card and SSD for a better graphic resolution and since you have options to select from when it comes to resolution, choose what you laptop can handle.
As of now I would not be able to recommend you an exact laptop since I do not know the exact settings you want to play on but yes, you will need a better laptop than the one you already have. For that I suggest you to look into a few laptops with Nvidia 970M graphics card.
Hope this helps 🙂
Hello Shrey,
Your review regarding the gaming laptop seems all about the important criteria before choosing the best gaming laptop. Gaming is one of my number one hobby at home after 5. I personally have bough 2 gaming laptop and before I buy, I must look into how speed is the processor, the ram capacity and graphic card memory. Nevertheless, your article ultimately helps me to choose the best gaming gadget.
Cheers!
Hi Roudell
I’m glad that you liked this article. The reason I did not write much on the processor speed is because I wanted to give the basic and important information and at the same time keep the article an interesting read without getting all techie.LOL
I will be bookmarking this. I want to buy a good gaming laptop but never know what to look for. I am glad you listed some graphic cards cuz I never know which ones to look for. I know they’re important for a nice display. I always like gaming keyboards and equipment for the colorful lights too. Bookmarking this info. tfs 🙂
Great Marlinda!
I hope this helps you find the right gaming laptop, you could look into the under $1000 and over $1000 listings and in case you have any further questions, just leave a comment and I would be glad to help you out!
Nice post, I’ve been hunting for a gaming laptop for a while now and I’ll put all your recommendations into consideration before getting one. I’m a software dev and i would like to get something really fast and responsive with loots of ram to allow me switch between dev environments
Well, SSD is very important when you want your laptop to perform really well. I do not know the exact softwares that you would be using with your laptop but all I can say is having more SSD will help a lot in keeping your laptop have excellent performance times.
Just keep this is mind before choosing the laptop for your work. Hope this helps 🙂
I use an Asus gaming laptop myself. It’s kind of big and clunky, but it gets the job done and I’m able to play all the games I’ve installed on it so far.
I hate the touch pad though. Sometimes I think it’s dead ’cause no matter what I do it won’t register. Thankfully I always use a wireless mouse when I play games.
And man I WISH I had an SSD in that thing. I play with my brother (he has a desktop) and we’ll play next to each other, but he will always load everything faster than I will. He has an SSD.
Great post!
That bad touchpad!! Did you drop something on it , LOL. Anyway the only company I trust with touchpads is DELL , for some reason I really love the functionality of their touch-pad and no matter which model I have used they have always provided some quality service.