Welcome to the World Of Gaming Notebook Computers

As notebook computers have gained in popularity, gamers have begun adapting them to their own needs. Gaming notebook computers are a totally separate entity from regular laptops and desktop computers.

Conventional notebook computers and those designed for gaming do have one big factor in common though. They're both designed with portability in mind. In the past, people who have wanted to attend a LAN (Local Area Network) party would have to unplug their desktop gaming computer and lug it to where the event was taking place. Now, it's just a matter of putting your dedicated laptop in a backpack and going.

Just as desktop gaming computers have their own special requirements, so do gaming laptops. For starters, consider a model that uses a desktop CPU instead of a mobile CPU. The desktop processor uses a faster FSB (Front Side Bus) than what's normally found in a laptop. The speed of the FSB is what establishes how responsive the computer will be because it's what communicates with the RAM and the motherboard. Another important consideration is the video card. Older type laptops have video cards that use the main system RAM. This slows down the computer. Normally you can't swap out the video card in a laptop. So it's important to get one that has enough power for your anticipated needs.

It's also important that any laptop that's going to be mainly used for gaming has a dedicated memory card. Some of the top models to look for are the Nvidia GeForce Go 6800 and GeForce FX Go 5700, the ATI Mobility Radeon 9800, ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 and the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600. Also carefully consider the hard drive. It's important to have enough capacity on your hard drive to hold your games. Most experts suggest a minumum of 60GB, although more is better.

An external USB mouse can make the gaming experience much more enjoyable. A laptops touch pad can be hard to work quickly enough in a high speed game. You might also consider an additional external battery since gaming places such large demands on available power. Many of the newer gaming laptops have hot-swappable bays that allow the player to switch out components like disk drives and batteries while the computer is running.

The manufacturer of gaming laptops used to be limited to just a few specialty builders. Now even major players like Dell, Sony and Hewlett-Packard have entries in the marketplace. With the addition of the big players, now's a great time for those looking at gaming notebook computers.