Netbook gaming: Yay or Nay? (laptops, desktop, hard drive, games)

[GameHog9]

Im getting a *laptop* (yeah right, the thing weighs 8 pounds and has 30 minutes of battery life!!!) but Im considering getting a truly portable netbook, so I can actually have something thats portable.

Get one now or wait a year until they have better specs? (more RAM, bigger HDD, a graphx card?!?)

[motoman]

That's always been the dilemma with technology - buy today or wait for the next generation of goodies. And today it is even more the case because technology advances so quickly.

I bit the bullet and bought a Samsung NC-10. My old laptop had seen better days and I wanted to replace it, but I more than anything wanted something more portable, just as you do. I knew when I was looking at netbooks that next year there would be an even better machine, with longer battery life, a faster processor, more RAM, a larger hard drive (likely solid state), and for less money.

But unless you know that the next latest and greatest is just a couple of months away and you are willing to wait for it, there really isn't any reason to wait. Otherwise you'll spend the rest of your life waiting for the next best thing.

As far as specs go, I don't think netbooks should ever be considered a desktop or serious laptop replacement. That being said, there are many directions these things can go.

The NC-10, and most other netbooks, since they are all using the same processor and have the same specs, are pretty damn capable machines. On mine, my major installed programs are Office 2003 Professional, Visual Studio 8 Professional, and CS4 Web Premium. And I have a bunch of other lesser demanding programs as well. All run without a problem.

What would really be cool is to have a netbook that could wirelessly sync up with a larger display. You can have the netbook as a stand-alone machine, but then when you get to a "permanent" location you could then wirelessly connect to a large desktop monitor.

At some point netbooks will be just as powerful as full-fledged desktops, or at the least as powerful as today's most powerful laptops. It will probably be only a few years before this happens. And fortunately ever other piece of technology associated with netbooks, laptops, and desktops will advance as well, opening new doors of possibility. It's very exciting.

By the way, I love my NC-10. You get used to the smaller screen size and you quickly forget about it. The keyboard is very nice. There are only a few minor things you have to get used to, such as some of your quick key actions require new techniques. But overall it's a great machine and I am very happy with my purchase.

I can't wait for the next generation of netbooks. I am guessing 10+ hours of battery life, 500+ GB solid state drives, 4+ GB RAM, much more powerful graphics capabilities, and much more powerful processors, all for the same or less money than today's machines. Maybe they could throw in a holographic screen for kicks.

[GameHog9]

Whoa whoa, those specs are a bit out of line for a netbook, even for a next gen. Isnt the cap SDD 128GB?

[motoman]

Originally Posted by GameHog9

Whoa whoa, those specs are a bit out of line for a netbook, even for a next gen. Isnt the cap SDD 128GB?

Apparently not. Here's a 250GB SSD.

[juggler]

Originally Posted by motoman

I can't wait for the next generation of netbooks. I am guessing 10+ hours of battery life, 500+ GB solid state drives, 4+ GB RAM, much more powerful graphics capabilities, and much more powerful processors, all for the same or less money than today's machines. Maybe they could throw in a holographic screen for kicks.

Yes, but will that be good enough? When netbooks reach this level, desktops and workstations will routinely have multi-terabyte drives, 10+ GB of DDR5 SDRAM, GPUs with 100,000 parallel processing pipelines, High Definition hologram capability with uber-surround sound, etc. Whose to say you'll be satisified with the "next generation" of netbooks? Remember, the grass is always greener...

[eevee]

Originally Posted by juggler

Yes, but will that be good enough? When netbooks reach this level, desktops and workstations will routinely have multi-terabyte drives, 10+ GB of DDR5 SDRAM, GPUs with 100,000 parallel processing pipelines, High Definition hologram capability with uber-surround sound, etc. Whose to say you'll be satisified with the "next generation" of netbooks? Remember, the grass is always greener...

I also think hi-end games will always outpace any new netbook development. how long before the hottest game needs a minimum of 4GB to run smoothly?

[jrice]

Originally Posted by eevee

I also think hi-end games will always outpace any new netbook development. how long before the hottest game needs a minimum of 4GB to run smoothly?

How long before the OS needs 4 gigs to run smoothly---well except for *nix machines