<p>Did your gamer take a desktop in addition to a laptop to college, or just a gaming laptop (which is appreciably heavier)? (Obviously air travel is not involved here.)</p>
<p>My daughter hangs around with the gamers at college - they all brought laptops (plus many game consoles - wii, gameboys, xboxes, etc.)</p>
<p>The casual and semi-obsessed gamers took gamer laptops to college. </p>
<p>The hardcore gamers took desktops along with gaming consoles with their laptops. </p>
<p>I tend to be a bit sketchy of encouraging this hobby during college unless the student is very independent and proven record of having his/her priorities straight. Saw far too many college classmates/undergrads getting academically suspended/expelled due to spending too much time gaming at the expense of academics.</p>
<p>Mine also took a desktop.</p>
<p>My game design major took a desktop PC, as well as an alienware laptop and an Xbox.</p>
<p>Thanks. Both his laptop and his desktop are old at this point. He’s pricing an alienware laptop, but wondering whether bringing an older gaming desktop is worth it.</p>
<p>Cobrat, I take your point, but in this case, it’s unlikely to be a problem. And, as the saying goes, the leopard can’t change its spots.</p>
<p>Alienware is way overpriced and overhyped. Moreover, from what gamer friends have been telling me, their quality control isn’t what it was years ago. </p>
<p>He’d be much better off financially building a custom gaming desktop and bringing an older laptop strictly for schoolwork. </p>
<p>Not only will he get a machine that will be great for gaming at a nice price-point, he also wouldn’t be paying a premium for a gaming laptop that won’t have the same high tech specs and deal with serious problems endemic with such laptops…such as overheating from high-powered CPUs, cramped spaces, and inadequately designed cooling system.</p>
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<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>Building a strong desktop and buying a cheap laptop is a win-win scenario: It’s cheaper than buying an expensive laptop. You get two things instead of one. The best gaming desktops are better than the best gaming laptops. Gaming laptops chronically overheat and heat is death for computers.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t build the desktop yourself, it probably still works out to be cheaper but I highly recommend building. It’s much easier than it sounds. With no prior experience I watched a Youtube video and built my first computer and saved myself hundreds of dollars. Building it enables you to pick good parts that pre-made models tend to scrimp on, like power supplies and hard drives.</p>
<p>The first year my son took his desk top, the next three he seemed to think the gaming lap top was enough. It may be because he hung out at the computer clusters at Carnegie Mellon.</p>
<p>I think he goes through lap tops fairly frequently, but since he paid for them out of his own money it was his problem not ours. (Do like those paying CS internships!)</p>
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<p>My son got an expensive Alienware desktop about 6 years ago. Turned out to be a piece of junk. He didn’t even take it to college. Too heavy, large and rarely worked well. I would never buy from them again.</p>
<p>My son took a laptop. We wouldn’t allow him to take gaming consoles.</p>
<p>Look at the Lenovo Y500. Best gaming laptop in the price range. For the really hard core gamer, you can SLI with dual graphics cards. If you buy from their website, you will get the latest GT750m card.</p>