Surfing places like Yahoo answers, talking to people, reading forums and what not, there is a question that comes up time and time again specifically related to gaming, and it’s this:

WHAT LAPTOP CAN I USE TO PLAY THIS GAME?

Or variations of. Laptops are becoming more popular, because not only are manufacturers able to cram more and better gear into them, but they are getting cheaper too. But like any computer used for gaming, these are the questions you need to ask about the laptop:

1. How fast/good is the processor?
2. How fast and how much ram does it have?
3. How good is the video card?

The better those three things are, the more likely you are to be able to enjoy an award winning gaming experience. With that in mind, I have listed out three gaming laptops out there, good, better, best, depending on what game you play.

GOOD:

The ASUS A52F-XE5. It comes with the venerable Intel i3 series dual core processor, 4 gigs of DDR 3 Ram, and the Intel HD integrated graphics chipset.  It has an HD 760P display (not a 1080P but on the 15.6″ screen your movies will still look great), and will be good at multitasking several things at once. As for gaming, expect to be playing some older games, or online games such as Combat Arms no problem. You won’t be playing the latest and greatest graphically intense games but if that’s not your bag, this is a great multitasking/gaming machine for only a tad over $500. Plus, it’s an Asus, a manufacturer known for quality computer parts.

BETTER:

The Asus K52JT-A1 is a much more capable gaming laptop than the one featured above. This is because it has an Intel i5 quad core processor, just as much DDR3 ram, and an ATI 6370 dedicated graphics card with 1 gig of it’s own DDR3 ram. If you want to play newer games with decent graphics settings, this machine will do it for you. This is because it has a quad core processor but it’s mostly because of the video card. The ATI 6370 is a much higher end GPU than the Intel HD, and it has it’s own dedicated ram and THIS is a big factor. If you want to be able to keep up with the newest games for a few years, always ALWAYS get something with a dedicated video card. As well, it’s still an Asus with the Asus reputation for quality, and at a bit over $800 it’s still pretty affordable, for a laptop.

Best:

You can see a trend here, but I do LOVE Asus machines. The ASUS G53JW Republic of Gamers is THE.ULTIMATE.GAMING.LAPTOP. At least one prices so a normal human being can afford one, if you can justify it to yourself. This bad boy comes with the 8 core Intel i7 processor, 6 gigs of DDR 3 Ram, and the blindingly fast NVIDIA GTX 460M graphics card with 1.5 gigs of independent dedicated RAM (and the ability to borrow up to 1 more gig from the rest of the machine if it needs it). I have a previous generation of this laptop, similar except the video card is the GTX 360M. Let me tell you, this laptop is AMAZING. Full HD 1080P and the ability to crank the settings even in modern games. If you are a serious gamer, want a laptop, and have around $1,300 burning a hole in your pocket, you get this machine NOW!

Check out my awesome site, Computer Choice – I’ll find your perfect computer to fit your needs, free.

Certain parents groups say violence in video games is affecting their lives, making them more violent.  For men’s sake everywhere, I hope not.

Check out my awesome site, Computer Choice – I’ll find your perfect computer to fit your needs, free.

With all of my various gaming past, there was one thing that was very scarce among the gaming circles I ran in – namely, females.  Sure, I’ve seen significant others of friends play ‘games’ on a regular basis, if you can call them games.  Stupid flash games like bedazzeled and word scrambles and the like.  That is NOT gaming ok? We all know what gaming is and it involves things like well, graphics, brains, guts, gore, high end computers (or consoles to keep you console weenies happy), that kind of thing.

So, just to see if there ARE girls who play games that this site would consider games, I posed the following question to the good people at blog catalog:

Girl gamers, I need to know something.  You, as females, if you enjoy gaming, what sort of games do you play? And what are your favorite games?

I immediatly got an answer. A gentleman by the moniker of lonewolfrepose said: There are girl gamers?

Yea, I know dood. I was wondering the same thing.  Not to worry friends, my curiosity was  satisfied by TJlubrano, who not only is a girl, but is a GOOD LOOKING girl.  Yes, I’ll wait while you all go visit her blog profile to confirm. Done? Happy? Yes, she’s pretty. Moving on.

Ms. TJlubrano gave a comprehensive list of COOL games that she likes playing:

• Call of Duty
• The Sims (I’ll let that one go because she likes Call of Duty)
• Final Fantasy
• Tomb Raider

TJlubrano wasn’t the only female response I got, however. The BooReport likes Oblivion and Plants Vs. Zombies.  AquilusDomini is MAD (I’ll take it she meant mad as in mad about and not mad at) Grand Theft Auto and God of War (which gets her almost as many points here as TJlubrano for liking Call of Duty).

Now, my question put out to the people of Blog Catalog got only a few responses compared to just about every other site wide broadcast there is there, which makes me think two things.

1. Yes. Female gamers are a very rare comodity
2. So if you find one hold on to her – she’s a rare catch and just about the coolest female friend you’re going to have!

So thank you to the few that answered my question, and basically confirmed what us nerds already know. Girly gamers are a rare and precious commodity, so let’s all do our best to keep them happy, hmmm?

Check out my awesome site, Computer Choice – I’ll find your perfect computer to fit your needs, free.