There are numerous technical features and specifications that you need to carefully consider when buying a gaming laptop. With a desktop machine, you can usually change some of the components later on if you feel like they were not the right choice.
However, with laptops, most things are usually fixed and you cannot change much in it. There it’s a must to carefully look at every little technical detail before getting one for yourself. In a previous article, we have already covered the most important factors that you need to keep in mind when buying a new laptop. Check out the article here:
While it is obvious that desktops remain popular for most PC gamers, they do not offer the portability that you get with gaming laptops. Moreover, gaming laptops also offer flexibility that allows you to do other tasks like word processing, video editing, and photo editing on the go.
Before you rush to your favorite computer store and get the laptop with the best specs, keep in mind that aside from the specifications of the laptop, you should also look into other aspects of the device you are going to purchase.
The woes of cheap gaming laptops
Nowadays you can get really powerful hardware in terms of CPU/GPU/ram in cheap/budget laptops. However, there are premium laptops that are priced a lot higher with the same powerful hardware.
Have you ever wondered how can the same powerful hardware be present in both cheap and premium laptops? I learned the truth after purchasing my Asus TUF gaming laptop. Here read more about Asus 2-In-1 Q535 Detailed Review 2023. Clevo nh70 is also a best gaming laptop review.
To be precise, cheap and budget gaming laptops actually make compromises on a lot of factors in a very neatly hidden manner. Here are some examples:
1. Cheaper display panel
IPS-Level TN panel instead of IPS panel – The IPS-level TN panels are actually TN panels with enhancements to make them work more like ips panels. It delivers satisfactory results but is still a compromise in quality.
2. Poor Color gamut
Some cheaper gaming laptops may have 62.5% sRGB color gamut displays instead of 99.9% sRGB. This is a really big problem because colors are displayed completely differently from what they are intended to be. Pure RGB red #F00 appears orange and pure RGB blue – #00F appears light sky blue. The colors are somewhat “faded” in their appearance because the display cannot produce that many colors.
Lower color gamut laptops are also very unusable for any graphics-related work like image editing because you would never know how the image is supposed to look actually. If you are getting a new gaming laptop, make sure that it has a 99% RGB gamut display.
3. Cheaper wifi chipsets
Cheaper wifi chipsets like MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 instead of Intel AX200 – The MediaTek chipset has serious problems like disconnections when using
wifi5/6 and poor power management.
A lot of laptops do not mention this particular detail in the specs online. So it can be difficult to find. So go ahead and read online reviews and find out this particular detail. Prefer the intel wifi chipset over MediaTek.
4. Slower USB ports
A mix of USB ports with more Gen1 ports compared to Gen2 ports – Premium laptops offer more Gen2 ports.
5. Plastic body instead of the metal body
This is not a huge downside, because plastic bodies have the advantage of making the laptop less heavy compared to metal bodies, but plastic certainly helps reduce cost because it is cheaper to manufacture. In terms of quality and durability, there are pros and cons to both. Plastic bodies, if made of poor quality, can be brittle and crack with little impact or even due to laptop’s internal heat, whereas metal bodies are made of very thin sheets that will bend or dent with repeated impacts or pressure in daily use.
Metal bodies have other problems that I have seen personally. Being a good conductor of heat, the entire chassis can heat up making typing uncomfortable. Also, the super flat metal surface makes it slippery and less tolerant of hand sweat making typing uneasy. This problem does not happen with plastic chassis as it’s a poor conductor of heat and with the textured surface can handle sweat very well.
Finally, the look and feel of plastic bodies (like color, texture, and shape) can be customized heavily whereas metal bodies have limitations in this area when considering the cost of manufacturing.
Important features to check
Now let’s take a look are the core features one by one. These are the important tech specs that you must absolutely check when selecting your first or next gaming laptop.
- Graphics Card/GPU and TGP – RTX 3060/3070/3080, GTX 1650/1660, etc.
- CPU – Intel or AMD, 6 core or 8 core, Intel 11th gen, Ryzen 7 5800H, etc.
- RAM – 8GB or 16GB
- Storage – NVME or HDD
- Display – 15.6″ vs 17.3″, 120 Hz/144 Hz/165 Hz/240 Hz/300 Hz/360 Hz display
- Keyboard – Regular vs RGB, Layout matters
Conclusion
In summary, a gaming laptop is a good investment for users who prefer portability. However, they are not good when it comes to upgradability, particularly with CPU and GPU.
With this, opting for mid to top-level gaming laptops would be a better option even if they cost a bit higher. Mid to top-tier gaming components would be better for future-proofing your gaming laptop, making sure that it can still handle new games in the coming years.
