No hardcore gamer can stay away from his �rig� for too long. Just like auto enthusiasts pamper and polish their �baby�, a gamer�s rig is his pride and joy, something to brag about to his friends. But what happens when moving becomes necessary? Hauling a 20 pound bulky case halfway across the county to attend a LAN party is no easy task, but avid gamers do it several times each year in order to be with their peers.Fortunately there is an alternativeA gaming laptop allows for much greater mobility, while not sacrificing the performance of traditional desktop PCs. The only limiting factor is how long you are away from a AC outlet; however, recent advancements in battery technology have made this less of a concern. Several years ago, an adequate machine would set you back several thousand dollars. Passion about gaming was not enough; you also needed deep pockets.Competition is driving prices downAs manufacturers realized there was money in the mobile gaming market, competition drove the prices down to the point that gaming laptops were available for under a thousand dollars. Some even go as low as 700 dollars. What sets a gaming laptop apart from others is the presence of a discrete graphics card. A dedicated GPU is more powerful than an integrated one, and coupled with the faster, dedicated memory this translates into gaming performance that can rival that of desktop PCs.The problem is choiceToo much choice is as much of a problem as too little choice, making an informed decision that much harder. Fortunately, there are several steps that can narrow down the number of options. Of outmost importance is the power of the GPU;
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/ has a list graphical chips ordered by performance. RAM memory is cheap, and most games require four GB, so the difference in price between two and four GB is not worth the drop in performance. Laptops are also harder to open up for an upgrade than desktop PCs. Games put a lot of strain of the battery, but manufacturers do not report battery life under full load. After deciding on a model, search around for a review and see what experience others have had;
http://www.Amazon.com/ is a great place for this, if only for their huge offer and large customer base.Brand has little relevance, an analysis of reported defects show an almost uniform distribution of defects across all manufacturers, with top brands actually having a slightly higher number. The best way to keep the price down is to not pay for what you do not need. Few gamers will use a Blu-Ray player since most games still come on DVD. A beautiful case is nice, but art is expensive. Games can take up a lot of space, but unless they are combined with music or video, a one TB hard drive is overkill.