Rant - Gaming Laptops

[Pickles von Brine]

Okay, so I work as a computer repair tech and I have to say I HATE gaming laptops for 3 reasons:

1) Parts can be/are expensive.
2) Parts can become practically unobtainium when past the maximum warranty period (looking at you Razer)
3) They are built in a dumb way that makes it not fun to work on (sometimes). Oh, wanna remove the display? Guess what? YOU ARE TAKING APART THEN ENTIRE COMPUTER! (thanks dell BTW). 

Anyways, seriously it sucks working on these damn things. I understand mobile power blah blah blah but seriously. For how expensive these damn things are, you would think you could at least get parts or find parts of them. Unless they are 2-4 years old most of the time you have to call the manufacturer and pray they have the part or someone is selling them. 

 

[minibois]

Sadly repairability is a very low priority to most companies, plus most customers just have the "I'll just get a new one" mentality, so advocating for right to repair is difficult

[Pickles von Brine]

2 minutes ago, minibois said:

Sadly repairability is a very low priority to most companies, plus most customers just have the "I'll just get a new one" mentality, so advocating for right to repair is difficult

I would beg to differ. Depending on the system a lot of customers prefer to repair their system. However, Right to Repair will take away a revenue stream for a lot of manufacturers and hold them accountable. 

[minibois]

6 minutes ago, Lord Xeb said:

I would beg to differ. Depending on the system a lot of customers prefer to repair their system. However, Right to Repair will take away a revenue stream for a lot of manufacturers and hold them accountable. 

Might be confirmation bias for sure on my part, but I from my experience I have had customers more often not even want to bother with a system repair, even if it would be an easy fix (e.g. I have often sold people a new laptop, when I could have just dropped a new SSD in their current laptop for a similar experience and a fifth of the price).

It will vary though, but I feel like the 'just get a new laptop' mentality is often the case.

[greenmax]

3 hours ago, Lord Xeb said:

a lot of customers prefer to repair their system.

Repairing a desktop pc and a laptop are two entirely different aspects.

 

Repairing laptops you need small, agile hands and fingers.

 

 

[Pickles von Brine]

52 minutes ago, greenmax said:

Repairing a desktop pc and a laptop are two entirely different aspects.

 

Repairing laptops you need small, agile hands and fingers.

 

 

You will be surprised how untrue that sentence is. 

[dalekphalm]

17 hours ago, Lord Xeb said:

Okay, so I work as a computer repair tech and I have to say I HATE gaming laptops for 3 reasons:

1) Parts can be/are expensive.
2) Parts can become practically unobtainium when past the maximum warranty period (looking at you Razer)
3) They are built in a dumb way that makes it not fun to work on (sometimes). Oh, wanna remove the display? Guess what? YOU ARE TAKING APART THEN ENTIRE COMPUTER! (thanks dell BTW). 

Anyways, seriously it sucks working on these damn things. I understand mobile power blah blah blah but seriously. For how expensive these damn things are, you would think you could at least get parts or find parts of them. Unless they are 2-4 years old most of the time you have to call the manufacturer and pray they have the part or someone is selling them. 

 

I'm an IT tech and SysAdmin. I also used to repair computers (desktops and laptops) regularly when I worked for Staples as a computer tech.

 

This complaint isn't really specific to gaming laptops. Some laptops are built better with repairability in mind, and others are not. Most are not.

 

Most manufacturers for laptops won't keep stock of spare parts for more than a year or two - and often, even if they do have spare parts, they're reserved for the warranty department so they won't sell them to anyone yet.

We just had an issue with a SAN (Enterprise grade storage device), where we couldn't buy a replacement part, but we could get it under warranty. Granted, the SAN is about 4 years old now, so it's not exactly the same.

[greenmax]

15 hours ago, Lord Xeb said:

You will be surprised

You will be surprised how many people don't get that joke.

[Pickles von Brine]

4 hours ago, dalekphalm said:

I'm an IT tech and SysAdmin. I also used to repair computers (desktops and laptops) regularly when I worked for Staples as a computer tech.

 

This complaint isn't really specific to gaming laptops. Some laptops are built better with repairability in mind, and others are not. Most are not.

 

Most manufacturers for laptops won't keep stock of spare parts for more than a year or two - and often, even if they do have spare parts, they're reserved for the warranty department so they won't sell them to anyone yet.

We just had an issue with a SAN (Enterprise grade storage device), where we couldn't buy a replacement part, but we could get it under warranty. Granted, the SAN is about 4 years old now, so it's not exactly the same.

One would think Enterprise would keep parts around. I know drives are dime a dozen, same for controller cards but other parts not so much. I think my parents had a similar issue with some netapp equipment when a head failed. 

either way it is rather frustrating. And I may not have been as clear. I generally don't go to manufacturers to get parts and can find them on other places. However, gaming laptops are singled out because they are sometimes neigh impossible to find parts for. 

[kelvinhall05]

I never recommend gaming laptops. They're probably the stupidest "class" of computers currently for sale (yes, I think Chromebooks have more of a reason to exist than gaming laptops).

 

1. They run hot and/or loud

2. They weigh a ton and are thicc as hell, unless you want it to be slightly less thicc and heavy but always run at 95C and throttle during heavy workloads

3. They're way overpriced compared to even a custom SFF desktop with similar performance

4. They generally aren't any more upgradeable than something like a Thinkpad

[Andreas Lilja]

Aren't the new Alienware ones upgradeable?

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I never recommend gaming laptops. They're probably the stupidest "class" of computers currently for sale (yes, I think Chromebooks have more of a reason to exist than gaming laptops).

 

1. They run hot and/or loud

2. They weigh a ton and are thicc as hell, unless you want it to be slightly less thicc and heavy but always run at 95C and throttle during heavy workloads

3. They're way overpriced compared to even a custom SFF desktop with similar performance

4. They generally aren't any more upgradeable than something like a Thinkpad

Huh.  I had previously thought crime-books to be the lowest known form of computing life outside smart devices.  That gaming laptops can even be classed with them is interesting.

[kelvinhall05]

5 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Huh.  I had previously thought crime-books to be the lowest known form of computing life outside smart devices.  That gaming laptops can even be classed with them is interesting.

People miss the whole point of Chromebooks. If all you have to do on a computer is things like social media, media consumption, emails, basic office stuff, etc, Chromebooks are the best option, especially if you want a cheap laptop with good battery life that's relatively thin and light.

[Bombastinator]

7 minutes ago, kelvinhall05 said:

People miss the whole point of Chromebooks. If all you have to do on a computer is things like social media, media consumption, emails, basic office stuff, etc, Chromebooks are the best option, especially if you want a cheap laptop with good battery life that's relatively thin and light.

The concept of an ultra book with a lightweight OS is fine.  Good even.  It’s the “Chrome”part that makes it awful.  Put an OS on it that doesn’t phone home and track your every move and they make a lot of sense.  A “chrome book” with lineage on it isn’t a chrome book though. That’s a “lightweight Linux ultrabook”. Different thing.  Same problem with “smart devices” the idea and often execution isn’t bad.  The problem is they’re too hackable and too data mining friendly.   It’s that point alone that drops them from “useful” to “active impediment”

[kelvinhall05]

4 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

The concept of an ultra book with a lightweight OS is fine.  Good even.  It’s the “Chrome”part that makes it awful.  Put an OS on it that doesn’t phone home and track your every move and they make a lot of sense.  A “chrome book” with lineage on it isn’t a chrome book though. That’s a “lightweight Linux ultrabook”. Different thing.

The only way to not have data collected by *someone* nowadays is to not use a computer or phone or anything. That's it. All we really get to choose is who collects the data.

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, kelvinhall05 said:

The only way to not have data collected by *someone* nowadays is to not use a computer or phone or anything. That's it. All we really get to choose is who collects the data.

So the “just give up.  There is no hope” argument.  No.  

[Pickles von Brine]

2 hours ago, Andreas Lilja said:

Aren't the new Alienware ones upgradeable?

Alienware are the worst to work on. Sometimes to remove the top case you have the gut the entire thing. Forget it if you need to remove the display. 

[Bombastinator]

2 minutes ago, Lord Xeb said:

Alienware are the worst to work on. Sometimes to remove the top case you have the gut the entire thing. Forget it if you need to remove the display. 

This happened more or less everywhere with the advent of CAD.  All of a sudden everything was evil.

[Mooshi]

4 hours ago, kelvinhall05 said:

I never recommend gaming laptops. They're probably the stupidest "class" of computers currently for sale (yes, I think Chromebooks have more of a reason to exist than gaming laptops).

 

1. They run hot and/or loud

2. They weigh a ton and are thicc as hell, unless you want it to be slightly less thicc and heavy but always run at 95C and throttle during heavy workloads

3. They're way overpriced compared to even a custom SFF desktop with similar performance

4. They generally aren't any more upgradeable than something like a Thinkpad

Rebuttal: It's my money, not yours. 

 

My desktop doesn't fit in a backpack. My desktop can't casually be placed on our bed then casually moved to the den. My laptop doesn't run at 100c -- I will give you loud, but headphones + a desktop graphics card can be just as loud.

 

Realistically when you have a certain class of hardware from the start, you're more likely to replace the system than upgrade it be it a laptop or a desktop. I mean who here tossed in an RTX 2080 with an i5 2500k?

[Bombastinator]

4 minutes ago, Mooshi said:

Rebuttal: It's my money, not yours. 

 

My desktop doesn't fit in a backpack. My desktop can't casually be placed on our bed then casually moved to the den. My laptop doesn't run at 100c -- I will give you loud, but headphones + a desktop graphics card can be just as loud.

 

Realistically when you have a certain class of hardware from the start, you're more likely to replace the system than upgrade it be it a laptop or a desktop. I mean who here tossed in an RTX 2080 with an i5 2500k?

Not a 2500k but close.  I had a 5700xt in my 4700k machine for a while.  I could still near bury the thing.  Before that it had a Gtx970, and before that a 7950.  There was also one previous one.  I forget what.