The Lingering Conundrum

My computer began breaking back in January. It wasn’t until February that I was willing to admit it. By then the problem had become so bad that no more than 2 or 3 minutes would go by in any game before the GPU would fail and reset. There was no denying it, no installing new drivers, no turning down the settings to reduce the load, no getting around the issue. I was asking the technological equivalent of a terminal patient to run a daily marathon. And so I sent my 1 year and 3 month old Sager laptop—with only the physical damage extended coverage—back to its maker for a look.

A couple of weeks, and unexpected/hidden fees later, the wholly unsurprising answer came back: My Nvidia GTX280M was catastrophically failing and needed to be replaced to the galling price of $710 (+shipping). For those not experienced in the sadistic realms of laptop repair, this is not like changing out your video card in a desktop, and for all practical purposes I was at the mercy of my retailer.

It would all be easy enough to simply chalk the whole thing up to a learning experience about the hazards of gaming laptops, but I’ve become very accustomed to the laptop lifestyle. I find myself facing a surprisingly difficult decision, not only about where and when I play games, but how gaming impacts my life.

OK, yes, I should have coughed up the $300 or whatever for the extended coverage for parts. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. I Told You So. The core of the error is probably my own. This whole thing would certainly be a lot simpler if I just accepted early in the process that laptops are basically fickle, unreliable malcontents. But, that’s not the world I live in right now.

It is strange to me then, that I have not easily embraced the idea of just abandoning my laptop and returning to the safer, cheaper world of desktop gaming. For less than the price of my gut-wrenching repair bill, I could kick my easily modifiable desktop machine up to snuff. Seems like an easy answer.

But, it’s not, and the reason why has nothing to do with technology. The laptop, in a way that no desktop has been able to do for me before, has allowed me flexibility that I’m not sure I can live without anymore. Sitting on the couch, chatting with my wife while sleepily polishing off a WoW quest, or getting in a quick five minutes in Dragon Age as the kids play happily, has really redefined the way I approach gaming. The desktop is locked away in the next room, glowing forlornly in an office we almost never use. I’ve begun to think of it as an isolating place—somewhere that makes an occasionally desirable retreat but too quickly becomes a place of exile.

It’s a nice place to visit, but I’m not sure I want to live there anymore.

And I did live there for a very long time. It was in that room that games like BioShock, Rise of Nations, Civilization IV and others were devoured. I would put on my headphones, lean in toward the glow of the monitor and close down the shades both literally and metaphorically. It is a habit I know, without question, that my wife does not wish to see revived.

Less expensive, to be sure, but to give up on the laptop experiment feels like it would represent a step backward, either from my availability to my family or more likely from my time to jump into these worlds that still attract me. Putting aside the question of money and repairs for a second, it’s a choice that perplexes me.

Spend less to get a better machine at the expense of flexibility, or spend more with the very real risk that next month something else will break—but gain back the familiar comforts of a truly “living” room. Because I am melodramatic and more than a little maudlin by my very nature, I can’t help but feel like the decision I make says something important.

Of course I realize that the desktop lifestyle can be done in moderation, that a balance can be struck. And, of course, I realize that a person can be just as isolated with their nose stuck in a laptop regardless of what room they are in. I think that’s common sense and are facts I take for granted, but I don’t think that escapes the main issue which is that, all things being equal, they are two very different PC-gamer lifestyles.

It is the choice I believe ultimately many console gamers have long-since made. There is something meaningful about being in a shared space, even if everyone in that space is doing something slightly different. I just need to decide how much that meaningful difference is worth.

Comments

You can do wonderful things with long HDMI cables and wireless.

I'm obviously not in your position, we're currently Dinkies. (Double Income No Kids) and my computer desk and desktop take pride of place in the living room set off to the side but still facing the television. I can see how this will become untenable when we plan to introduce children into the mix but as it is most evenings comprise of me sitting at my desktop and the Missus on her laptop while we watch television or talk together. We both have that form of ADD that seems endemic in this day and age and we're both unable to Just watch television. While I'm playing games with the sound off she's happily immersed in facebook and her various other social media.

While this is ideal for us now, with the wedding in two months time I'm starting to think along the lines of a gaming laptop for when we move to a house larger than the shoebox we currently live in. so I can join her on the couch in front of the TV and the desktop can take pride of place in the man cave I'll retreat to for the weekends for the times I can play with Goodjers.

I love reading the articles from the seasoned veterans like Rabbit and yourself as I plan out my gaming future.

A little over a year ago, I set aside a pile of money to buy a desktop gaming PC but ultimately decided to spend that money on other things. I didn't have enough money for a laptop and thought it would be better to give up on the idea of PC gaming entirely than to voluntarily exile myself to a back room of my home in order to play games. You're right about the importance of shared spaces, especially when you have a family.

If you can't find a laptop for $700 with comparable specs to what you have now, then get your laptop repaired and move on. Why crawl back into a cave when you know it'll cut you off from your family and upset your wife? A desktop might cost fewer dollars, but it carries costs that aren't monetized.

I've used a laptop as my primary computer since Apple released the G3/500 (Pismo) with integrated wifi over 10 years ago. I can't imagine going back to using a desktop at home.

Being able to game in any room or on the road is worth much more than extra frame rate to me...

I fall into the "using moderation" camp of desktop/cave dwellers. But I'm happy with my choice. When I'm using the computer, I'm using it. I can't really play with my kids and interact with my wife and watch TV while playing games (or doing, gasp, work). No, when I spend time with the kids, I spend time with them and not with the computer.

(Ok, so occasionally we all retire to the office so that the kids can play minecraft along side me, or at least shout suggestions and orders while "Steve" runs around the block-o-verse.)

But when I'm out in the living room, I'm there to be an active part of the family. That's just my way -- how I roll sans ADD or the ability to really multitask well. I do think others' approaches are legit though. Just sayin'

I am facing a similar issue. My Sager laptop is getting long in the tooth and I need a new laptop soon. One that is not as heavy or as hot. I will not be going back to a desktop for the very reasons Elysium so eloquently described above.

The question that I am struggling with is -- do I go to a Mac and use bootcamp to get my game on? Or am I stuck with a Dell/Alienware XPS or the like? I frankly hate HP and Dell. My Sager has been very good to me, but I need something lighter and cooler (temp-wise).

I haven't purchased a Mac since the early 1990s.

I don't know what to do. So I stare at my Sager's slowing graphics as the first and second layers of the skin on my thighs gets crispy.

The desktop is locked away in the next room, glowing forlornly in an office we almost never use. I’ve begun to think of it as an isolating place—somewhere that makes an occasionally desirable retreat but too quickly becomes a place of exile.

When I sold my laptop and bought a desktop in 2009, I was excited to get back to some PC gaming: I installed Boot Camp, bought a copy of XP, spent a little too much on Steam and GOG... and then everything just sort of sat there. I certainly use my computer a lot, but to spend as much time as I do playing games, hidden away in the den? Even though my wife would only be one room away, it felt like I was cutting myself off, since...

It is the choice I believe ultimately many console gamers have long-since made. There is something meaningful about being in a shared space, even if everyone in that space is doing something slightly different. I just need to decide how much that meaningful difference is worth.

And that pretty much nails it. My wife doesn't mind me playing games while she does her own thing, so I just gravitate to the 360 since it's just much nicer to at least be on the couch together (incidentally, she's usually on her, yes, laptop).

So in summary: great article. Also: sorry, Deus Ex.

Gravey wrote:
It is the choice I believe ultimately many console gamers have long-since made. There is something meaningful about being in a shared space, even if everyone in that space is doing something slightly different. I just need to decide how much that meaningful difference is worth.

And that pretty much nails it. My wife doesn't mind me playing games while she does her own thing, so I just gravitate to the 360 since it's just much nicer to at least be on the couch together (incidentally, she's usually on her, yes, laptop).

You both just totally nailed it for me. I like being next to my wife while I play xbox, and the PC in the office is away from everyone and everything. My wife sits there and reads or watches me play a cinematic experience. My gaming becomes something we can share. I think PC is great, good for PC gamers, but with the console I get to experience more than just gaming - I get to experience community.

Look, I'm just going to point out that your instincts have already made this decision for you. You are balking at a desktop because, deep down, you don't want that. You've been there, and you've done that. You've lived your PC gaming isolationist lifestyle before. But, now that you've recognized that you can enjoy a PC gaming lifestyle whilst still being in the middle of your family, you don't want to give that up. Now, maybe that means you have to go without PC gaming for a period of time while the money is saved up for you to get a better laptop replacement. Or, maybe that means that you just bite the bullet now and pay the money for your graphics card repair. Either way, you know you don't want to go back to the desktop PC, banished to the office, away from your family. Bottom line, there's nothing wrong with that choice, and I applaud you for it.

SallyNasty wrote:
Gravey wrote:
It is the choice I believe ultimately many console gamers have long-since made. There is something meaningful about being in a shared space, even if everyone in that space is doing something slightly different. I just need to decide how much that meaningful difference is worth.

And that pretty much nails it. My wife doesn't mind me playing games while she does her own thing, so I just gravitate to the 360 since it's just much nicer to at least be on the couch together (incidentally, she's usually on her, yes, laptop).

You both just totally nailed it for me. I like being next to my wife while I play xbox, and the PC in the office is away from everyone and everything. My wife sits there and reads or watches me play a cinematic experience. My gaming becomes something we can share. I think PC is great, good for PC gamers, but with the console I get to experience more than just gaming - I get to experience community.

And this is why I love having a PC at my entertainment centre with a TV-out on the video card. It's an older PC pretty much just for watching videos/DVDs (and checking GameFAQs while I'm playing the Xbox, natch) and I still game pretty much exclusively on my consoles, but if I did decide to get back into PC gaming and get a monster rig, I would definitely utilize the massive "monitor" and shared space I have with the TV.

Been there, done that. Boy do I miss that screen in my Dell XPS Gen 2.

My answer to the same problem is to build a "mobile desktop", some would say a LAN gaming machine. With a small 1080p monitor, bluetooth keyboard and "use anywhere" logitech mouse. When I want to PC game on the couch I just put the monitor on a bar stool and game away. Try to keep the cords and fan noise to a minimum.

Have you tried baking your GPU? No, really, it's not as bat-sh*t crazy as it sounds. I regularly bake my 8800GTX-SLI cards from my Dell XPS 1730. Basically it liquifies the solder just enough to repair the cracks in it that are causing the fault, and the re-cooling fuses it back together.

I also did this many times with my previous XPS 1710 and the 7950GTX. I was skeptical at first, but it really does work like a charm. The hard part will be making sure all the screws make it back in when you put it back together

I used this guide. The same temperature and time should work for your GPU as well.

I bought a gaming laptop last summer and I don't think I'll be going back to desktop gaming any time soon. I still have a pretty decent desktop, but it's mostly used for Quicken and downloading podcasts now. It is so nice to sit on the couch with my wife as she reads or knits and do some gaming.

Edgar_Newt wrote:

The question that I am struggling with is -- do I go to a Mac and use bootcamp to get my game on? Or am I stuck with a Dell/Alienware XPS or the like? I frankly hate HP and Dell. My Sager has been very good to me, but I need something lighter and cooler (temp-wise). .

I can´t comment on the qaulity of live in bootcamp as I've never used it. Generally speaking dual booting isn't that bad. I bought a HP and switched to Ubuntu as my old laptop after 6 years started to physically break down. Aside from the startup troubles of getting everything to work properly there was verry little fuss about it.

I still use windows to play my games. Two things that make it bearable are Firefox Sync which allows me to sync bookmarks, passwords and history between different locations and Ubuntus abbility to read NTFS file systems so I can store my music on the windows partition. I understand that MacFuse does something similair for MacOS but again I can't comment on the qaullity.

Assuming the power of the hardware is about the same for HP and Apple, I think the most important thing to ask yourself is if you have the time and abbility to get windows working under boot camp and if you're willing to pay a little extra for the asthetics.

---

Having a 30 second delay before I can start a game also increased my productivity. It's hard to just give in.

Scratched wrote:

You can do wonderful things with long HDMI cables and wireless.

You know, $80 on a retractable monitor arm mount and a keyboard/mouse tray and you're there, my friend. Computer is just on the other side of the wall from that Lazy Boy.

I feel your pain too. My gaming desktop lives in the office also, but I don't have gaming laptop. When I do play pc games it feels like I'm ducking out of the family for a bit - and it also feels like I have to schedule it for longer sessions.

I NEVER played "casual" or mobile games before I got my iPad. Now I use it all the time on silly little games for 10 minutes at a time while I'm sitting on the couch next to my wife.

Ecarus wrote:

My answer to the same problem is to build a "mobile desktop", some would say a LAN gaming machine. With a small 1080p monitor, bluetooth keyboard and "use anywhere" logitech mouse. When I want to PC game on the couch I just put the monitor on a bar stool and game away. Try to keep the cords and fan noise to a minimum.

I was very interested in building a gaming/home theater pc back in the day. Kinda around the time the Phantom Lapboard was supposedly coming out. (Did that ever ship?)

Curious if anyone out there actually has a good one that plays pc games on their televsions and what they use for input.

I've been thinking about replacing my Dell laptop for a while now. It's basically been the equivalent of a Honda Accord EX. Well built, all the bells and whistles without being a hotrod Alienware or XPS. Nothing flashy, and pretty damn reliable for 5 years now. But it's time.

In the next 3 months, I plan to pick up a new laptop. Since I also use my gaming laptop for work and often need to bring it to conferences/business meetings, I need a Dr. Jekyll (work) and Mr. Hyde (gaming monster) combo. 17 inch screen, doesn't look like a candy bar, looks like a nice girl, but is a slut in the bedroom.

I'm thinking about this one: Asus. Not bad for the price, looks professional, plays dirty. Great specs for ~$1500.

Anyone have comments on this, or any experience with Asus as a gaming/work laptop?

After about a decade of only having laptops, I built a gaming desktop last fall. Then, about a month ago, I replaced my 2006-vintage 15" MacBook Pro (dual-booting OS X and XP -- Boot Camp is what got me back into PC gaming) with a 11" MacBook Air, and so far, the combination is working really well for me.

The big difference between my situation and Elysium's, though, is that my laptop gaming pretty much all happened with the laptop anchored to a desk anyway, with mouse, speakers, and power all plugged into it. So my gaming still happens at the same desk it always did, and I have a work computer that's significantly easier to carry around than its predecessor.

Don't take a lesson from this that you should have bought the extended warrenty - they're pure profit for the companies. I'm sorry your laptop broke, but you're in the minority. If you buy one on the next 10 laptops you buy you probably won't use it.

Prozac wrote:

I'm obviously not in your position, we're currently Dinkies. (Double Income No Kids) and my computer desk and desktop take pride of place in the living room set off to the side but still facing the television. I can see how this will become untenable when we plan to introduce children into the mix but as it is most evenings comprise of me sitting at my desktop and the Missus on her laptop while we watch television or talk together. We both have that form of ADD that seems endemic in this day and age and we're both unable to Just watch television. While I'm playing games with the sound off she's happily immersed in facebook and her various other social media.

Same setup here with me and the wife. Works well enough for now.

Budo wrote:

Anyone have comments on this, or any experience with Asus as a gaming/work laptop?

I used a Thinkpad T61p as my "gaming" notebook for a long time. It wore ties for clients and... well, a tie for shooting cartoon baddies.

If I were to pick a business/game notebook today, it would probably be built off the Clevo P151HM or P150HM. (Under 7 lbs!) They make 17" analogs as well. It's business boring, without the Asus' odd caboose, but its guts are monstrous.

Elysium wrote:

This whole thing would certainly be a lot simpler if I just accepted early in the process that laptops are basically fickle, unreliable malcontents. But, that’s not the world I live in right now.

I'm not sure this is any more true for laptops/desktops/pieces of technology than you're giving credit here. However, the big thing is to always research your purchases fully. Would you, in good conscience, go out and buy a car of the same make and model as one of those just featured in a product recall without first checking that the car is free from the same error or types of problems that caused the original faults? Similarly, NVidia has had a bad reputation over the last few years for some decisions they made on solder quality (similar to MS with the 360) and so, anyone who bought an NVidia card from around that time period from the same product line should have expected problems like this. There were even threads in the tech forum here commenting on the issue.

Here[/url]]If we assume for a moment that high-lead is the cause, then there is this question: Which chips are affected and are only notebook GPUs affected? According to our sources, both desktop chips and notebook chips are affected, but the issue is most likely to pop up in notebook chips due to the increased material constraints amplified by the turning on-and-off procedures. We heard that G84, G86 and G92 GPUs could show failures, but we were not able to confirm G94s. Technically, Nvidia would have to replace all those GPUs and the total number is somewhere north of 70 million. But since the issue tends to show up only in notebooks, it is unlikely that there will be any desktop replacements and therefore we are looking at a number closer to 15 million (notebook) GPUs. Take into account that the repair of such a notebook will cost Nvidia at least $150-$250 and you have a damage that could easily be in the billions of dollars.

Here[/url]]GeForce GTX 280M March 3, 2009 G92b

I think that sets up a false premise for the tone of the article. Neither of my ancient laptops have yet to fail (one bought in 2003 and the other in 2008) though they both suffer from some arthritis

Elysium wrote:

It is strange to me then, that I have not easily embraced the idea of just abandoning my laptop and returning to the safer, cheaper world of desktop gaming.

Which i'd argue there's no strangeness involved and no more risk than a desktop (well, except maybe spillages with the kids around!).

With the above information in mind, i'd be calling on the manufacturer to fix a known issue with their equipment for free - as with any product recall.

OK, yes, I should have coughed up the $300 or whatever for the extended coverage for parts. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. I Told You So.

Ummm, that was me wasn't it? Sorry, I made the same mistake myself, so I'm a bit evangelical about it.

I'm convinced that if you own a decent (expensive) laptop that you move regularly the warranty is worthwhile. I had a laptop die on me just out of the 1 year warranty where a friend of mine had his screen, GPU and other components all replaced, some multiple times, under an extended warranty.

If the laptop doesn't move, or is cheap, then it's not worth it.

To the topic. As much as I'm a single male, PC desktop geek I can understand the appeal of playing while surrounded by the family. Maybe a cheaper laptop that can play WoW and a few other games would be worthwhile, while hitting the beefier stuff on one of your range of consoles or the desktop?

Elysium, I went through the exact same problem with my Dell XPS laptop. My solution was move back to a desktop, with a huge friggin' monitor (28"). I can sit back in my leather chair, next to my wife, keyboard on my lap, mouse on the flat arm of the chair, and do my thing. It's worked great so far.

Stele wrote:
Prozac wrote:

I'm obviously not in your position, we're currently Dinkies. (Double Income No Kids) and my computer desk and desktop take pride of place in the living room set off to the side but still facing the television. I can see how this will become untenable when we plan to introduce children into the mix but as it is most evenings comprise of me sitting at my desktop and the Missus on her laptop while we watch television or talk together. We both have that form of ADD that seems endemic in this day and age and we're both unable to Just watch television. While I'm playing games with the sound off she's happily immersed in facebook and her various other social media.

Same setup here with me and the wife. Works well enough for now.

Oh ****, I'm just like Prozac. IMAGE(http://rps.net/QS/Images/Smilies/no.gif)

Well, my gaming desktop sits in the living room so I would theoretically spend time with my family while gaming but the truth of the matter is that the room could burn down around me while I play an engrossing game and I would not notice it.
If you found a way to pry your eyes away from the screen to make eye contact with you family once in a while then that gaming laptop is the perfect solution for you. Cough up the money to replace the GPU and don't look back.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Oh ****, I'm just like Prozac. IMAGE(http://rps.net/QS/Images/Smilies/no.gif)

One of us... One of us...

I used to have all my gear in a cave in the basement, but after my daughter was born I rarely wanted to be down there. Since my wife already keeps her giant gaming laptop in the living room, I annexed the useless dining area for my stuff. A laptop is definitely easier, but I really really like my giant display.

Eh, the benefit of living and dying alone means it's UBER DESKTOP ALL THE WAY.

What about a good desktop PC in the corner of your living room (or whatever room is considered the "family room")? You can still be among your family and have a good PC gaming experience.