While very many PC gamers still hold the desktop supreme, sometimes a more portable device is something you just need. Gaming laptops are devices that have the power and the ability to let you play the games you want to play in a portable size you can carry with you literally anywhere. However, when you’re considering buying a gaming laptop system for yourself, it’s not only the specifications you need to be looking at. You need to be taking a look at the overall computer in general as well, including the display and the built-in keyboard.

But hey, don’t break into a panic sweat just yet. This is exactly why we the Gadget Gang is here for you. Let’s show you a few things you need to really look at before you go buy yourself a fresh new gaming laptop. Let’s go!

Portability

Concerning gaming laptop systems, there’re several different levels of portability. It ranges from your “regular laptop” to “lifting with your knees” type systems. In general, the more power that particular laptop has, the less portable it normally is. If you intend to use your laptop at home, moving it between rooms or leaving it on your desk then a 17 or 18-inch screen display, for example, the Alienware 17 system, should do just fine. Those laptops that range between these sizes are normally the most powerful. This is because these devices usually offer a lot of space for heat-generating components.

A 13-15-inch laptop is an ideal size for those of you that intend to use the device on the go a lot. If you’re often going to be carrying it with you wherever you go and predominantly using it on your laps then a 15-inch notebook is what you should seriously be considering. If over 80 percent of your time with it will be on the move then the Razer Blade, which is around 13-14-inches in size, is really what you need to be looking at. This laptop is one of the most portable of them alone of which still performs pretty well.

Display

Okay, what is the point of you having beautiful graphics and excellent frame rates if your device’s display screen looks like total crap? There isn’t one is there? Anyway, don’t worry. There’s a way you can prevent yourself from having to undergo this unfortunate event. The first one is you have to carefully scrutinize the system’s resolution capability. Any gaming laptop should have a minimum resolution capacity of 1080×1920. Anything less than that is you basically asking for muddy graphics.

As we all know by now, the future of screen displays is OLED, yes? Okay, for those of you that might not have come across that before, it’s an Organic Light-Emitting Diode panel. It’s made up of a series of organic compounds that have the ability to produce light whenever they sense an electric current present. This tech allows more power-efficient and thinner panels that still deliver extremely rich contrast and color.

Oh, and we can’t forget the question of whether to FreeSync or G-Sync. Most gaming laptops come supported with either AMD’s FreeSync or Nvidia’s G-Sync tech. These are designed to annihilate unsightly graphical tears.

Keyboards and Touchpads

Remember earlier when we told you can’t decide on how to buy a gaming laptop looking based on specs alone, yes? Well, it was for these scenarios. Keyboard and touchpad quality is very important when you’re deciding what type of system you want to buy. Those keys will take a lot of pounding from you so you’ll probably want them not only to look great but have a comfortable feel to them as well. Key travel is what most people look into first. Ideally, you want firm feedback delivery from your keys without them being uncomfortable.

Oh, and of course we had to mention customization. Is it truly a gaming keyboard without customizable backlighting really? Yeah, we know it isn’t really a necessity, but hey, it makes the system look pretty awesome. However, even with that built-in light-show, the software underneath should allow you the ability to create macros as well as link your lighting profile to them. Anti-ghosting is a pretty important feature as well. Especially for those that need to push many buttons simultaneously.

Graphics

The GPU or graphics card is basically the cornerstone of every good gaming laptop. It’s what delivers the image content on your display via processing the data and then eventually transmitting that signal to your screen. Because running these games can be a really stressful process, you’ll likely need a GPU that’s discreetly accompanied by its very own dedicated memory known as VRAM or video memory. Although there’s a popular more-is-better mantra going on in the gaming PC world, 4GB of VRAM should do just fine for those of you that maybe average gaming enthusiasts.

In the popular Nvidia Max-Q Design, the team at Nvidia decided to team up with laptop manufacturers to develop Max-Q. This is a new design spec that focuses more on efficiency and not performance. This is actually why this particular product is so unique. Downclocking Nvidia GPUs can essentially place an immensely powerful 1080GPU inside and Asus ROG Zephyrus that’s 0.5-inches thick. With the consumption of less power, the system ends up producing much less heat, which means no need for fans that much.

Storage: HDD Or SSD?

Faster is always better when gaming laptops are concerned. This is exactly why most gaming enthusiasts love using SSD. Particularly when it comes to the brand new PCIe cards. These cards have blistering file-transfer speeds. That boost of extra speed is what translates into quicker game load times. It also helps in reducing excessive hitching. If you can’t afford an SSD then you might want to consider investing in a 1TB hard-drive that has a speed of 7200rpm.

And that concludes our topic on how to choose a good gaming laptop. It really isn’t that hard, especially if you know exactly what you’re looking for in the unit you’re considering. We hope with this article we’ve given you some much-needed insight. As always, we’re here for you.