Extreme gaming laptops are reaching new benchmarks to
give you the ultimate gaming experience. These ever
increasing powerful machines are offering you better
performances from ever decreasing packages. Gaming laptops
are now reaching standards usually associated with high
end Desktop PCs.
But at some point even the most dedicated gamer has to
ask: when is a laptop not a laptop?
If you take the literal meaning of the word, you should be
able to fit or sit a laptop comfortably on your lap for an
extended period of time. Portability should also be another
defining feature; you should be able to easily carry your
laptop around with you wherever you go. Otherwise, why not
just buy a Desktop PC instead of a laptop?
The long standing argument has been power or performance;
you can get higher performance out of a Desktop PC
than you can get from any laptop. Maybe so, but the gap
is narrowing quickly.
Recent extreme gaming laptops are offering some very
impressive specs. Just take for example, the new Xtreme
SL8 from Rock, (a UK laptop manufacturer) and you will
see that stacking has taken on a whole new meaning.
The Xtreme SL8 is one heck of a mean-machine with ultimate
raw stacking power with Four Intel Core 2 processor cores,
Two NVIDIA 8800M GTX SLi graphics cards and Three 7200rpm
SATA hard drives. This gaming machine can crunch numbers
and offer top mobile performance benchmarks. It might even
give the old PC some serious laptop envy!
This machine supports up to 4GB DDR2 RAM (available up
to 800MHz) with DX10 graphics. Plus, you have all the high
end features such as HD-DVD Writer combo drive, TV Tuner,
Hi-res 17" WUXGA X-Glass (1920x1200) Display, Webcam, 7.1
Surround Sound Output with 4 speakers...
However all this stacking power and fully loaded features
takes up a lot of space. The Xtreme SL8 weights in at a
little under 12 pounds (5.3 kg) and around 15.5 inches
(394) mm by 12 inches (299 mm). At 2 and half inches thick
this is not your Apple Air.
Nor is it trying to be, but some comparisons has to be made
if we're classifying both of these computing machines as
laptops. The Apple Air is 3 pounds (1.36 kg) and under an
inch thick (1.94 cm) so it truly is a portable laptop with
5 hours of battery life. This is a long way removed from
the XSL8's massive credentials and massive weight, but so
too is the distance between the performances offered by the
respective laptops.
These two mobile computers were designed for two completely
different purposes; one for raw gaming power and the other
for the ultimate in portability. Each has their respective
customers but can both of them be called a laptop?
Perhaps, but the Xtreme SL8 is more or less a neatly
trimmed down packaged Desktop. Not that there is anything
wrong with that as long as you understand what you're
getting when you're buying one; you won't be sitting with
this baby on your lap for long periods or lugging it around
over long distances.
For those of us studying laptop designs (there are such
creatures in the world unfortunately) over a long period
of time, you can't help but notice how much power and
performance can now be crammed into an ever shrinking
package. Nor can you ignore the trend that Desktop PCs
are looking more and more like laptops, especially the
monitors.
Even the trademark Desktop Tower is getting slimmer and
more streamlined; there will probably come a time with
all the tower components will evolve into such small
compact entities, calling it a tower will be a gross
exaggeration.
One can plainly see, the Desktop PC days are numbered,
especially when you consider we have an inherent need
to make everything smaller and more compact. Besides
why take up all that space when you can get the same
performance in a smaller package. This is another
example where big may not necessarily be better.
The line between what is a Laptop and what is a Desktop
computer will continue to be blurred as computer makers
keep offering up what the consumer wants. At some point
in the not too distance future the two products will
probably converge into a light portable package that
can be carried anywhere. Why not just call everything
a Mobile Computer and be done with it.
But for now, gaming enthusiasts will still have a choice
when buying their ultimate gaming machine: a Desktop
PC or a Laptop such as the Xtreme SL8. However, calling
the last one a laptop is still stretching the imagination
to its limits, no matter how you define it.
