Hi So I recently had this thread looking at building a PC: http://forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?p=2240452#post2240452 Its fairly powerful (as far as I am aware ) but as at university which I will soon be attending, a laptop would be a lot more convenient. If I want the power should I stick with a desktop? Or is there a good laptop out there which can handle some gaming and game development which would include some graphic intensive stuff. How would they compare? Any advice appreciate thanks.
Desktop will always give you better value for money. I am a university student and i thought a laptop would be better and got one, but the fact is you dont use them in lectures, and i never ever really used it as a laptop. The only time i properly used it as a laptop was moving between home and university when i went back during the semester. I used to bring it back with me... I would definetly reccomend a desktop.
I'm a Uni student, I take a desktop and a laptop - see sig - to uni every term, and it's definitely worth it. Basically there's no laptop out there that is as powerful as that build. There are 'laptops' (folding desktop replacements that weight five kilos and are the size of a desk) that are close, but they're grotesquely expensive. The problem is that once you try and get that much power out of a portable form factor, it loses all it's portability - the battery doesn't last, it weighs far too much to carry around. It's also more expensive in the long run - the laptop isn't upgradeable so it will require replacement after a few years if you really lean on it, as compared to a desktop that can be parted, sold, upgraded - all sorts of options you don't have with a laptop. I personally would recommend for any Uni student that can afford it, and needs the power, that they take a desktop and netbook to Uni. Combined, those two (£700, £250) are still cheaper than a big, powerful laptop, they combine the portability, power and huge screen size that the big bulky laptop can only dream of, and best of all can be upgraded or sold as the need arises. However, with that said, really it depends how taxing/frequent your gaming/game design is. If the answer is 'not very,' you may be able to get away with a laptop that's still only a reasonable size and price...
If you can afford it, bring a desktop and laptop to Uni every term like PureSilver does, the desktop for when you need the power/want to game/whatever, and the laptop for when you're in class.
I'm in final year of my games development degree, and I *could not* do without my laptop. It makes programming so much more hassle-free if you can always work on your "own" machine and I take mine to class every day. It's likely that you'll not need a powerful laptop for games development, I've had the same VAIO laptop (1.66GHz/2GB/200GB HDD) for four years and it's never been too slow for any Uni-related graphics programming stuff, so an inexpensive (~£350-£450) laptop should be fine. The best solution is probably to get a laptop for Uni-related stuff like games dev, and desktop for playing games. That's what I did anyway
Ok thats interesting thanks for the thoughts guys. I was just thinking about the 3d integration into the course how absorbing that would be. All courses are different of course and have different content so it may be hard to tell. I will be focusing on programming in my course though. Hmm, haha you just put a spanner in the works, now I will have to start thinking about my choice again.
