Laptops for gaming
Hints
for Laptop Gamers
We've said, possibly
too many times, that you won't get the performance out of a laptop that
you will from a good, fixed-location gaming machine. That doesn't mean
there aren't a bunch of little tweaks you can do to maximize your laptop
gaming experience.
Lose
the Fluff
All notebooks come with
scads of bundled software, and most of it is preinstalled. Unfortunately,
most of it also involves little programs that run in the background, hogging
precious resources. Before you start a game, do the three-finger salute
(hit CRTL-ALT-DEL) and, with the exception of Systray and Explorer, highlight
each in the Close Program dialog's list box and click End Task.
Also, make sure Active
Desktop is disabled by right-clicking the desktop, selecting the Active
Desktop option in the Context menu, and un-checking View As Web Page if
it's checked.
Aim
Low
Even if you're used to playing all your games at maximum resolution with
all detail levels at full, don't try that on a laptop. Swallow your pride
and run games at 640 x 480, and dumb down some of the details. The result
will be a better frame rate, a smoother game-playing experience, and a
happier gamer.
Choose
Laptop-Friendly Games
Based on our experience with this article, notebooks are certainly now
capable of playing mainstream 3D games such as Quake III Arena, but don't
get your hopes too high on newer releases, especially those with very
high-quality 3D graphics.
Other than these
games, notebooks should be able to handle most, if not all, Real Time
Strategy (RTS) and Role Playing Games (RPG) without a hitch.
Get
a Mouse
Mice are the most versatile gaming controllers, useful in FPS titles,
RTS games, action games, and even some Sims. Laptop touch pads or other
pointing devices are poor substitutes for real mice. There may not be
room for a mouse on a coach-class tray table, but when you get to the
hotel or the classroom you'll be thrilled to pop a mouse into the PS/2
or USB port. Go with a compact, optical mouse so you won't need to carry
along a mouse pad.
Get
a Spare Battery
Gaming requires a lot of use of power-hungry components such as the hard
drive, the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive, the processor, the display, and so on.
Constant gaming will kill a battery much faster than word processing or
spreadsheet drudgery. Use the included AC adapter whenever you can, and
if you predict that you'll be away from an outlet for a long time, get
a spare battery and keep it charged. You'll be glad to have the extra
juice when you get the low battery warning just as you're approaching
an end-level boss.
Check
Your Attitude
Have patience with your laptop. It wasn't made for frame rates; it was
made for PowerPoint presentations and composing middle-management memos.
Don't be discouraged when it doesn't respond as quickly as you like, or
if you notice a bit of blur on the flat display screen that will never
appear on your Sony Trinitron at home.
As long as you keep
your expectations realistic, you can entertain yourself without the help
of horrible in-flight light romances or your hotel's regional magazine.
You can take your games on the road with you with a decent multimedia
laptop; just don't expect perfection.
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