Laptop vs. PC

[whiteboyskim]

Alright guys I'm seriously debating whether to shelve my old PC and just get a top line laptop. I primarily write and game on my machine but I'm sick of upgrading and tweaking my rigs. Maybe I'm just getting old. Either way, I'm looking for thoughts from people who use their laptops for gaming. Screensize isn't an issue as I'll plug it into my current monitor. Thanks.

[Laner]

If you game, stick with the desktop ... I tried going laptop-only a couple of years ago... It lasted about six months.  Just too many drawbacks.

[whiteboyskim]

Such as?

[Purge]

You're too thin for Laptops. They will fall off of your lap.

[gellar]

Such as?

Can you name one advantage?

[Canuck]

One advantage is that you can play anywhere you like and don't need to shut yourself off in some computer room. I wouldn't be able to bring myself to sit down at a desk to play games anymore. Thats about the only advantage I can think of. One of the major disadvantages of laptops (not as much bang for the buck and not as easy to upgrade) has been alleviated somewhat now that most game production is done for aging consoles. As Kotaku said in their ME3 "can you run it?" article, of course you can-it's using 5 year old tech!

[Laner]

Such as?

- Lower performance, particularly when you take into account the premium you pay for portability.  You're simply not going to be able to play BF3 at full tilt, for example.
- Less storage
- The hassle of having to connect it/disconnect it from an external monitor/keyboard/mouse whenever you want to play. (If you're *not* going to move it, why get a laptop?)
- Lack of expandability
- Noise from tiny fans spinning at 8000 RPM
- While the idea of gaming on the go is appealing, I found my laptop got too hot to use when it was being taxed.  Even if I set it on a table, it was almost hot enough to burn my hands.

The idea of a gaming laptop isn't a bad one, as long as you don't intend on it being your primary means of gaming.  Most everyone I know who uses a laptop to game also has consoles or a gaming PC as their main gaming source, and the laptop is just for light gaming on the go/on the couch.

[Canuck]

I didn't see that the OP was planning on plugging it into his monitor. In that case it would be pretty ridiculous to get a laptop. If you're tired of upgrading then how about simply...don't?
I love gaming on a laptop because I like to sit down on the floor on our hot carpet and game on the coffee table. Or I can surf the net while I'm watching TV or I can take it into bed with me and play games or watch movies there. You can't really do much of that stuff with a desktop.
It also depends on what kind of games you like. I trawl Steam for all their cheap five year old games and I'm a big fan of strategy games which tend not to be too resource intensive. But if you're planning in playing all the new Rage games then a laptop is definitely not what you want.
That said, laptops are definitely not as easily obsolete as they used to be. I got a relatively decent laptop in December '09. It was pretty decently specced for the time but it's not like I got an Alienware or anything like that. It still runs Skyrim beautifully so I have few complaints. I think I should easily be able to get another couple good years out of it as it looks like new consoles are not coming out anytime soon.