Thinking About A Laptop...

My current PC is over 8 years old, has random issues. Looking at replacing it. Using this case, getting a PSU, motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, OS, and RAM... Maybe get a laptop instead.

I am working 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, so a laptop would be portable. Eyeballing that HP Omen. I play a little Diablo 4, so not a serious gamer. Mainly internet, some gaming, streaming shows. Any better ideas?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/search...rue&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&keys=keys

 

Ehh, ordered this one https://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-g...w-black-thermal-shelf/6576920.p?skuId=6576920

 

The problem with laptops and gaming is not the hardware's horsepower. The problem is cooling. Laptop makers can easily pack the power in those tiny cases, but not the necessary cooling. If you consider even a decent tower case, with its many case and CPU cooling options is challenged to keep the components inside properly cooled to prevent throttling when heavily tasked, it is no wonder the severely restricted laptop case would be too. Of course that is why laptops routine activate thermal protection measures to reduce heat generation and buildup and prevent possible damage from overheating.

Fortunately, game developers fully understand most users don't have $4,000 budgets for a gaming rig so they code their games to provide immersive game play even on lessor systems.

Also of course, whether suitable or not depends entirely on how the individual user uses the laptop, and their expectations.

A little late now - since you already placed your order - however: Diablo 4 system requirements | Can I Run Diablo 4. It looks like that Dell will have no problem there.

 

Liking the laptop so far. Got it today. I admit I am a little lost in Win 11, but figuring it out. I realize a laptop is a compromise, but trying to take my tower, monitor, keyboard and all vs a cooling pad and a laptop seems like a no brainer. This little dude does run hot, hope a chiller pad cools it down some.

 

It really is too bad way WAY back in the day when these mobile computers first came out, someone came up with the word "laptop" because these should never sit in our laps (or on carpeted floors, or beds). They should always go on hard flat surfaces that allow some air to circulate underneath. Even when there are no vents on the bottom, having some air movement helps with cooling. They should have stuck with "notebook" or "mobile" or anything that did not suggest the lap. Oh well

As far as a cooling pad, a couple things to consider. One is to ensure the pad's fans align with the lapt... err... notebook's vents. The other is to make sure the pad has its own power source/supply. Most get power via USB but it make little sense to task the notebook's power and thus cooling circuits with another demand if the system is already being taxed. So try to find one with its own power supply. Alternatively, get a wall to USB adapter for the cooler and use that.

While I recommend being patient and take the time to get used to W11, if you find you just don't like its UI, Explorer Patcher along with Start11 will let you configure the W11 desktop to look and feel like W10.

 

Thanks for the info Digerati. Certainly agree about the laptop name. lol, my wife has hers on a blanket in her lap, mine is on my desk.

long day today (dentist) so going to check out chiller pads. I have tons of ac adapters and such to power one. Good pointer, I had not thought about the pad using pc power.

 

Well, one or two fans won't require a lot of extra power, but as I noted, if the system is already hot enough to require a cooling pad, adding even more demands that create more heat makes little sense.

As for the wife, I sure would try to get her to stop putting the notebook on a blanket. I suspect she would not want to mess with a cooling pad because they are not the most convenient options to lug around. But any hard, rigid and flat surface would be better. IDK, maybe a thin, plastic cutting board or a clipboard. I think it would be easy to cut one of those clipboards down to size, if desired. Or maybe the cable (cables if she uses a real mouse too) could be routed through the clip to keep it out of the way (just avoid pinching the cable). Something that thin and light could just stay with the notebook full time.

Just a thought.

And if any kids or grandkids are in the house, they could paint/decorate it then you could use the kids to guilt her into using it! LOL

 

Bumped the RAM up to 32G. Laptop would not boot. Google told me to do a 'hard reset' (unplug power, hold power button down for 10 seconds). The keyboard lit up, after a few mins it booted in to BIOS telling me the memory had changed. Clicked OK on that, and it is working great. Was disconcerting to think for a while I had bricked it with a simple RAM upgrade...

Overall still liking it. I did see it has an extra slot for another NVME drive. Maybe after taxes are paid I will put something in there.

 

Did you remove the laptop battery before inserting the new RAM? If not, that might have been the problem - there was still voltage keeping settings alive. For "some" laptops (not PCs), holding the power button for a few seconds bleeds off any holding voltages and those settings revert back to their default.

Then, when you booted again, "chksum" values changed, telling the system what was, no longer is. Now you have a new chksum value indicating the correct amount of RAM.

 

The battery is internal and the plug did not want to come off. So I just winged it. I don't care for internal only batteries, but Dell must have forgot to consult me on this one. I suspect you are correct on the issue.

 

It's a laptop, a mobile/portable device - they all have "internal" batteries so not sure what you mean there. If you meant the batteries are not user accessible/replaceable, then I fully agree with you.

 

The laptops I used to have had batteries that were removable very easily. This one has the battery inside the case. It can be replaced, but takes tools and some time, vs just swapping out the battery on the other laptops.

 

I think I understand you - but even with laptops that had easily removable batteries, those batteries were still located "inside the case". And every one I worked on required a screwdriver to remove the battery compartment cover. Yes, then the battery was easy to remove and replace, but it was still "inside the case".

I do realize more and more devices these days use batteries that are NOT considered user-replaceable. This is for many reasons. Back in the day, battery runtimes were much shorter so it was not uncommon for "road warriors" to carry around a spare battery. Today's laptops are more efficient and today's batteries provide much longer run times.

But as often happens, it boils down to money and profits. It is cheaper to build a laptop where the battery is soldered in, and not user replaceable. Soldered in batteries (and surface mounted devices) take up less space and weigh less. This results in thinner and lighter laptops - something consumers keep demanding. So batteries that are not user replaceable may be our own fault.