Extreme Gaming Laptops - When Is A Laptop Not A Laptop?

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.