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Gaming Laptop for Airplanes?

Twisted77Twisted77 Member UncommonPosts: 89
edited February 2017 in Hardware
Hi all,
I'm going to be on business trips that have about 6 hours of flight time (4-5 hours of gameplay).  I'm looking for a laptop that I can game on in the limited space, battery life (are there like plug in batteries to extend life? also if the airplane has usb plug in, can the laptop stay charged that way?), and not too expensive.  I don't have a hard budget, but was hoping to get something around $1500.  Also, can it plug in at home to my monitors and keypad with good performance.

Finally, can I play mmorpgs over airplane wifi, or is it an exercise in futility?
Post edited by Twisted77 on

Comments

  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584
    depends on what you want to play
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • Twisted77Twisted77 Member UncommonPosts: 89
    alkarionlog said:
    depends on what you want to play
    I'm currently playing GW2, but am discouraged because I'm so far behind the curve (level 29 lol).  I am really interested in playing the upcoming Camelot game when it comes out.  Also, a rig that can handle FPS games would be great.  I use a G13 gamepad + mouse (if there are other suggestions I'm open to them, how do you play more twitch games on an airplane?), so that doesn't leave much space on the food tray.  I don't want a monster size rig, something reasonably compact (but I don't care about weight).
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    edited February 2017
    Online gaming on an airplane would be excruciating via their onboard WiFi service. I seem to recall that they have a latency on the order of 3000 ms, in addition to limited bandwidth. It's fine for checking email and looking up stuff on the web (sans video), because you don't notice the latency so much. But try to do anything real time and it becomes nearly impossible.

    My best advice: get a tablet, play soothing music in the background, maybe watch a movie of your own choosing (that you have downloaded to the tablet before the flight) and just vegetate for 6 hours.

    There are some surprisingly decent games that don't require online play on tablets if you are just trying to kill time on a plane. It isn't all Candy Crush (although most of it is).

    Second, playing any sort of graphically intensive game, even with an integrated GPU, is going to drop your battery life to around an hour, maybe 2, tops. Yes, some laptops come with replaceable batteries, but your limited to how many you can carry on with you (I believe the FAA limit is 2). 

    Unless your flying charter or first class, I doubt your going to have room for a mouse, let alone gamepad. You ~might~ be able to get away with a console controller, but even that would be iffy. 

    Third - GW2 level curve is an amazing thing, just go have fun while your low level. Once you hit max level, the game plateaued pretty quickly for me, because when I went back to explore all those areas I had missed leveling up, it downlevels you for the content anyway. So may as well enjoy it on the way up.
  • filmoretfilmoret Member EpicPosts: 4,906
    An i5 with onboard graphics can handle what you are suggesting.  Just be aware that you will turn down settings to medium or low depending on the game.  IDK about the airplane internet service.
    Are you onto something or just on something?
  • RidelynnRidelynn Member EpicPosts: 7,383
    Now, if you adjust your criteria to playing in a hotel room (or maybe even the airport terminal), where you have decent networking and an outlet to plug into, that changes things quite a bit, and then you can make a case for a gaming laptop (arguably).

    Yes, they can plug into external monitors, keyboards, mice, whatever, just like a desktop when your back at home. It will ~probably~ run a lot hotter and louder than a similar gaming desktop, but it's not in your lap so it's just a longevity concern moreso than anything.

    You just aren't going to get much gaming done while in flight is all I'm trying to say.
  • frostymugfrostymug Member RarePosts: 645
    I would completely forget about using wifi on the plane. If you've ever tried to game over satellite based internet... it is worse. It is also pretty spendy.

    Also, the usb plug is not going to pass enough juice to charge the laptop even if it is off. They usually can't even keep a decent tablet charged if the screen is on without doing anything.

    Offline gaming would work with a 13-15 inch laptop. 17 would be pushing it. I have a 17 and I can fit the bag under the seat in front of me, but I always feel like an asshole if I pull it out to do anything on it. For gaming, I usually use a tablet. Check out the Nvidia Shield tablet if you want to play more involved games than you can find on most tablets.

    Your best bet for getting any extended online gaming on these trips is to get to the airport early, find a good seat near a power outlet, and connect to their (hopefully free) wifi then accidentally miss your flight.
  • alkarionlogalkarionlog Member EpicPosts: 3,584
    I would, if I was you, find a good single player to play during this time not a online game, try some oldies you never did play, I would go for a turn based rpg game to play that would more then likely keep me up for at least more then 12 hours if the game is good. and since the game being old you can put everything on mimimum to save most of the batery, also would be nice to see if there is any way to recharge your things or at least make it not waste so much energy, you can also go for a gameboy and find a good game to play, I belive that thing would survive that travel without a problem too.
    FOR HONOR, FOR FREEDOM.... and for some money.
  • cormachcormach Member UncommonPosts: 106
    I would not play ANY online game while airborne. The latency will be high, and you will be subject to disconnects, depending on the location of the aircraft and what kind of wifi they have (some is satellite and some is ground based). You will be sharing that connection with everyone else onboard that aircraft.

    Also, depending on the airline and your seat location, there are some power outlets that may be available for you to plug the power brick in to while using it. 


  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,521
    I wouldn't try online gaming.  Single player games using a low-power AMD APU is probably your best bet.  An FX-9800P is the chip to look for today, and get as big of a battery as you can and make sure it's replaceable.  For example, get something like this:

    https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/model/NX.GMTAA.001

    Disable the discrete video card so that you're using the integrated graphics only.  That might get you a couple of hours of battery life under gaming loads.  Get a couple of replacement batteries and it can last six hours.

    Don't expect miracles, as it's hardly a high performance gaming laptop.  But nearly any single player game should be playable at suitable settings, which would mean medium settings for a lot of games and low for some more demanding ones.
  • filmoretfilmoret Member EpicPosts: 4,906
    Or for 1500$ buy a good hooker the night before and sleep during the flight.
    Are you onto something or just on something?
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