LAB NOTES
Gaming laptops suck
Tell me I’m wrong
JEREMY LAIRD, EDITOR
GAMING LAPTOPS have always sucked in certain ways, such as limited upgradeability, lower performance than a desktop, and painful pricing. OK, a laptop is currently one of the few ways to get hold of a halfdecent GPU at a sensible price. Forking out for a high-end laptop rather ruins crypto returns, so gaming laptop sales generally go to gamers who want to play games.
But when GPU pricing and availability eventually return to normality, gaming laptops will again be poor value in terms of pure performance. But it’s not really those obvious issues that bug me. Over the years, I’ve run something like 10 powerful gaming laptops. It all started when I bought a Dell Inspiron 5000 with a Radeon 7500 Mobility chip circa 2002 or 2003. That 15-inch lump had a 1,600 by 1,200 panel. Playing Counter- Strikeat native res was actually doable and looked epic. At least, it did back then.
As it happens, that was probably the high point of my laptop adventures. Since then, I’ve bankrolled another three myself. But one benefit of being in the tech media is long-term loans, taking the total to about 10. Without exception, all have been borked.