Build a computer or get a laptop?

[Pattyd16]

So I have been wanting to get my own pc/laptop for a long time now, and my current desktop which i share with some other siblings and family is a piece of shit that gets worse everyday. So i was wondering if anyone here had some high technical knowledge about gaming computers and if they could give me some insight into what I should do.

Considering buying this nice laptop for a great price: Acer Aspire 8940G, did some research on it, it looks like a good deal and one of my buddy's has an older Acer laptop and it's really nice to look at and I've seen him run WoW at great settings with high fps before. This laptop seems like a pretty good purchase that won't get outdated and obsolete too quickly, like all of my desktops have.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115679

Or I have a friend that is somewhat knowledgeable with computers and he said he might help me make a system.

Let me know what you think and thanks for taking the time to help me out.

PS: I'm on somewhat of a tight budget, looking to only spend around $1000 - $1500.

[holyfire]

if you have no reason to move it anywhere, and no "so i can watch tv and play at the same time" doesnt count. a pc will always give you better value for money, vastly improved performance for less money.

[Phreeze]

if you have no reason to move it anywhere, and no "so i can watch tv and play at the same time" doesnt count. a pc will always give you better value for money, vastly improved performance for less money.

+1

hardware is usually better, screens much bigger (22" are cheap now). A PC is always more comfortable to use (or a Mac for the fanboys). Check the offers at Dell or if you have some knowledge or a friend has, buy the parts yourself and build it up, install Windows 7,be happy. If money is not a question you can even go for a Mac if you're a design fan (no Mac vs PC discussions pls).

as said: only if you really need running around with a laptop, buy a laptop with a medium-power gfx card. And if you go for a laptop and want serious gaming, battery power will suffer under:
-nice graphics card
-big screens (everything above 15,4")
-phat CPUs
-more than 1 HDD
Powerful laptops aren't even quiet anymore :-/
So: that 18,4" acer laptop might be cool for gaming etc. But the battery will go down very fast even in office mode. if you don't wanna be plugged in all the time, go for a PC. You will get much better hardware for about 1000$ (or less).

[Krypper]

$1000-1500 gaming computer means desktop. "Gaming" laptops really aren't all that awesome anyway, since you're still tethered to the wall...it's just easier to move from one room to the next.

[Deleted]

Alienware builds Complete Desktop Systems for pure Gaming. And there are great Machines between 1000$ to 1500$.

[skyclops]

i,d always always always go the pc route
for longevity reasons & many more
its easier to upgrade a pc
if a specific part of a pc fails you can get a cheap replacement until you can afford the high end parts you need
therefor still having a pc
you can overclock a pc & tinker with it adding water cooling etc if you want to break benchmarks
pcs are far Superior to laptops in everyway
like to see a laptop do duel sli cards ;D
pc m8ty its the ONLY choice

[Grimster]

Alienware link

[Devenu]

Before I went off to college I got a gaming laptop. It works pretty nice, but it has since started overheating and it damaged the graphics card; on top of that I was unable to go in there and clean it out myself because that would void the warranty. It's too obnoxiously big to bring to classes as well. Honestly though, if I had to make the choice again, I would still stick with the laptop. I go from home to campus so much that it's nice to be able to bring my work with me and still be able to play WoW and some other stuff in my spare time.


Get a desktop if you're living in one area, and get a laptop if you must move around a lot.

[freeradical]

I use a laptop for gaming and working (hence why i bought a laptop).

Works awesome for both games and work, mobility is the key!
The price is usually higher for a laptop, but in my case the "pro's" overshines the "con's".

[Shenshu]

As others have said, go with a desktop if you're not going to be extremely mobile. I went to university out of state for three years, and I shipped my computer back and forth for a year (for summer and xmas) since I lived in the dorm and they kicked us out then. The second time my computer was shipped back it got damaged in transit so I was basically out $800. At that point I got a gaming laptop and it worked fine for the game I was playing at the time (FFXI), but once I got settled at a permanent residence I built a gaming rig again and have upgraded it two or three times since I've had it.

Short answer, get a desktop. It's way more configurable and cheaper.

[skeptic57]

I don't feel like explaining, and I actually stumbled on this article a few minutes ago.

http://www.hardware-revolution.com/500-gaming-computer/

The thing with building your own PC is the ability to upgrade certain components without having to buy a whole new machine.

Building your own computer will also give you knowledge you will need in the future if you want to upgrade, such as CPU socket types, RAM pin type, and other important things.

[Lunataria]

here is how it works:

Do you need mobility
as a feature of your computer?
/ \
/ \
No Yes
/ \
/ \
Get a Desktop Get a laptop

Note that alienware laptops have HORRIBLE cooling systems and are likely to nuke themselves, and they have no battery life. they are basically desktops that can exist while not plugged in for about 30 minutes...

[Sentex]

Get a desktop, never buy a laptop with the intensions of playing on it...

if you or a friend of yours have any pc knowledge it should be easy to build one your self, and that is way cheaper then buying a pre build pc.
build a Core i7 based system, and you pc went get outdated too soon, a good idea is to buy a core i7 920, as it is cheap and have great overclocking capabilitys.
if you have intentions of overclocking you should get some 1600MHz RAM.

btw, people that buys an Alienware pc, is getting butt fucked, they are extremely overpriced, you can build an equal pc for half the price...

ps. gaming laptops doesn't exist!

[Lynixx]

i can only suggest you to never buy laptop for playing wow,it is just bad idea,i learned that hard way,even if you buy very good laptop it heat up very fast and all performance slow down,so go buy PC

[Shenshu]

ps. gaming laptops doesn't exist!

Wrong. My laptop back in the day was just as good spec wise as a desktop. 7 years ago: P4 3.0 GHz, 2GB RAM, 512MB video card. Look at desktops back then, it was just as good.

[Pope]

so much fail in this thread....

yeah, a desktop is cool and stuff, good performance, you can upgrade it blablabla

BUT:
did you ever made a lan-party?
do you know how bad it is, to always ask your mommy to drive your desktop around?

i can only suggest you to never buy laptop for playing wow,it is just bad idea,i learned that hard way,even if you buy very good laptop it heat up very fast and all performance slow down,so go buy PC

and this is so wrong..
my laptop can play wow (with accu) and still remain 2h power.

so... take a dell. they're awesome

[Athanathos]

i can only suggest you to never buy laptop for playing wow,it is just bad idea,i learned that hard way,even if you buy very good laptop it heat up very fast and all performance slow down,so go buy PC

Well then you probably had an old laptop

Anyways, its what you want to do with the thing. I own a laptop for a year now, and honestly, I don't want to go back to a PC anymore. There are a couple of things to consider.

-Are you a big PC/Windows Games player?
-Do you buy allot of other games for your system?
-Do you watch allot of movies/series on your system?

If you answered yes on these, then better get yourself a PC. With a PC you can get bigass screens for almost no money. Watching movies or series are allot better on a PC, and besides you probably have some nice surround system hooked onto your PC, a thing which can be aquired on a laptop, but not worth it (and not all laptops support surround).
And ofcourse, if you play allot of games besides wow, go get yourself a PC. With a PC you can upgrade your graphicscard allot easier, plus PC's can push out way better graphics/animations etc then laptops.

However..

-Do you only play WoW?
-Do you like to sit downstairs, while chatting, surfing or doing some other stuff on your system?(I do not support playing WoW downstairs with family around :P)
-You don't mind playing newer games on medium or sometimes even on low graphics/animation etc?
-Do you want to play some older games, or WoW, whilst being with your friend (who plays too) a bit more often?

Then you better buy a laptop. These things I summed up are in my point of view. Really, on newer laptops, do find some with a good graphics card, WoW can easily play on all high. I have myself an HP laptop, came new on the market 1 1/2 years ago, all settings are set on max and the only time the FPS go <40 is in Dalaran.
I also drop by my friend probably once a month. Then we do some CO-OP games together or something, sometimes also WoW (but that's strange since you talk eachother on TS normally whilst playing :P).

I also have myself a PS3, so I cba really about not having a big screen (I prefer wow playing on my 17" widescreen laptop then on my 24"widescreen I currently use for my PS3), I cba not playing the new games on my laptop, I will on my PS3.

I can add allot more, but it's really personal preference. I don't want to play anymore games on my laptop besides WoW (I do, but I don't care about the graphics anymore so to speak), all my movies I copy to my portable HDD, and will watch those on my PS3 with proper surround, and I like to carry my laptop to university (I hate writing, besides typing goes way faster :P).

I do have that gaming will eat the battery alive. I can play WoW whilst using the battery alone for a lil' more then an hour. But then again, laptop bags have enough space to carry around the 'electricity cord' and with plenty of those things in the wall you can plug it in and play as long as you want almost everywhere these days. (sorry, but I just don't know those words in english, hope you understand what I mean :P)


Just sum up the things you want, and make your decision based on that



PS
I do have an external cooler which I bring along to my friend or LANparties, it does help cooling the laptop since the keyboard CAN become pretty warm. If you want to buy one, and are looking for an external cooler, be carefull. First find out if your vents on the bottom of your laptop suck air in or out. If you have a laptop that sucks air in, and you will get an external cooler that blows air down, you will basically help your laptop burn himself (you cut the airsupply since your blowing away the air from the vents :P). So external cooler> laptop blows out, cooler blows down > laptop sucks in, cooler blows up.

[blahism]

PC.. you just wouldn't be happy gaming on a laptop and when you have a laptop that you thought could run wow and cataclysm or 3.3 comes out and it runs like doo doo you will be mad

get a fantastic pc and a huge ass 24" monitor for 1k or get a so-so laptop

[chaud]

BUT:
did you ever made a lan-party?
do you know how bad it is, to always ask your mommy to drive your desktop around?

I drive my own car, and this isn't 1992, we don't have LAN parties. We have the internet.

[kneeo]

so much fail in this thread....

Are you seriously trying to suggest that everyone telling the OP to get a desktop if he's not going to be constantly mobile, and wants something that, for the most part, can get better quality than a laptop, fails?

Obvious troll is quite obvious, now kindly take your mostly useless information elsewhere.