If you simply MUST have a laptop to run T:ANE

Yep - desktops are usually better for gaming - but not for everyone, especially road warriors.
So, consider this:

http://techreport.com/news/31600/asus-rog-strix-gl502vs-and-gl702vs-game-without-compromises

Hard to go wrong I'd say, if you can afford it.

It is a shame that there are only a "choice few" undeveloped external video card plug in modules on the market, that enable any low end PC to play with high framerates, on an external full size monitor

I have heard that very few, if any, high end laptops (nor any other extremely high end desktops) will run T:ANE on full maximum settings

Nice, but I would use the 16 Mg minimum and absolutely without a doubt, SSD no SATA, after upgrading to SSD I would never go back except with the External Storage use only. And if the memory was cheap enough and I was going to keep the Laptop for a while, then I would use 24 Gig option.......the 1699 base price, you pay for what get, and I sorely learned this point with my current laptop 1000$ and having to add SSD conversion from SATA, day to night difference, going from 12-16meg, marginal difference, but acceptable.

So PC ACE I applaud your recommendation....definitely fits the bill.

The machine is in the same league as the just as pricy Alienware machines, which also weigh about the same.

I have the Alienware 15 with 32GB RAM, 2x storage 1x512GB SSD and 1x1GB hard disk. The machine comes with the slightly older GTX980 and Intel 6800-series i7, but machine was built last year in May so the parts are as good as I could get at the time.

The machine came in at $2800, but I got two big discounts from Dell plus my trade-in for my old Alienware. In the end, after all discounts, I paid around $2000 for it. The machine is made well and I've had no problems with it so far.

I agree you get what you pay for, for most things, and these are no different. A laptop will always cost more than a desktop, and the biggest thing IS the cooling, which I agree is probably what's making the machines so heavy. Without the cooling, the machines will melt, and I'm not exaggerating as that has happened before due to inadequate cooling.

Yup, cooling is the crucial consideration all right.
I have melted more than one of my desktop-equivalent laptops in the past through injudicious gaming (or running SETI @ Home) on a platform not properly designed for it.
Fortunately, the latest, more efficient GPUs and CPUs produce much less heat per watt in performance output terms, so can run well in well-designed gaming laptop configurations.

Hi everybody.
Big problem with this machine is the weight. Six and a half pounds may not sound very much but for anyone with that amount of weight hanging around their neck while traveling through the London underground it would be a no-go after one trip. The recent introduction of convertible tablets/laptops have been a "gift from the gods" for buissness people on the move. Their weight at around three pounds or even less if you leave the keyboard behind is just what you want on the move.

The above machine may be alright in country's where the car is still the main transport for commuting but here in the UK and many countries in Europe where rail is now the predominant way of commuting it's far to bulky by present standards.

The laptop would fit the needs of an avid gamer who does not have the room for a full PC gaming rig.
Bill

wholbr said:

Hi everybody.
Big problem with this machine is the weight. Six and a half pounds may not sound very much but for anyone with that amount of weight hanging around their neck while traveling through the London underground it would be a no-go after one trip. The recent introduction of convertible tablets/laptops have been a "gift from the gods" for buissness people on the move. Their weight at around three pounds or even less if you leave the keyboard behind is just what you want on the move.

The above machine may be alright in country's where the car is still the main transport for commuting but here in the UK and many countries in Europe where rail is now the predominant way of commuting it's far to bulky by present standards.

The laptop would fit the needs of an avid gamer who does not have the room for a full PC gaming rig.
Bill

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I agree! Though 6.5 lbs. is a small price to pay to prevent the machine from melting. The most of the new tablets are okay, but still not powerful enough for games due to their reduced GPU and CPUs unless you go for a Wacom desktop replacement tablet, which will cost around $1800 and weighs quite a bit more anyway.

Hefting heavy machines through airports and train stations, metro, and buses does get to be a bit much though. I once carried my Visual Commuter Computer (V1083) portable on a trip to Taiwan. The machine weighs in at around 16-20 lbs., depending upon the options. On another trip, via Amtrak, Boston's MBTA subway, trolley, and commuter rail, I thought my arm was going to complete rip off at the shoulder by the time I made it to my destination between the weight of the computer plus my luggage.

http://www.ricomputermuseum.org/Home/small-systems-at-ricm/visual-technology-commuter-1083-computer

Last year I traveled with my 6.5 lb. Alienware, and it was heavy, but not as heavy as the old Commuter Computer. Maybe because I'm older now, but my shoulder too felt like it was about to be left behind a few times.

The Commuter Computer's closest competitor was the Data General DG1 and DG2 as far as portability goes. What had the Commuter one leg up over the DG1 was compatibility. The other truly compatible machines was the Kapyro II transportable computers with the integrated CRT, and what made these portables truly IBM compatible was their ability to run Microsoft Flight Simulator and other programs. Yes, being able to run this game, which made use of the BIOS and direct calls to the hardware exactly as the IBM spec stated. The other competitors, such as the Data General, Brother, and others, could not run these programs. The Commuter ran vanilla MS-DOS 2.0 and was fully upgradable to DOS 5.0, which I still have on 5-1/4" floppy disks for the machine. There were other options too such as dock to hold IBM ISA cards, additional serial ports, and display ports to support CGA and EGA graphics.

How times have changed.

And if the Asus ROG Strix GL502VS and GL702VS are inadequate for your gaming laptop needs, you could perhaps check out the EVGA SC17 1070 laptop instead:

http://techreport.com/news/31606/evga-sc17-1070-laptop-orders-up-4k-and-g-sync-to-go

My son recently bought a Gigabyte gaming laptop - also with a GTX 1070 GPU - and is delighted with his purchase.
From my own experience, the GTX 1070 runs T:ANE exceptionally smoothly at high to ultra performance settings levels.

Once they start cramming its newer, bigger brother, the GTX-1080Ti into gaming laptops, then truly smooth 4k gaming at 60FPS on a laptop may be achievable even in T:ANE!
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I got a Dell i7 laptop 16 gig, 512 ssd, 4k display, last fall, seems to do everything Trainz at top notch, my wife is upset because I tell her its only for Trainz and I have to use my other PC's/laptops for business and personal stuff (email)... but I love it.

If Trianz goes VR with headsets then I guess I will have to get the latest hardware to run it, then my wife will threaten divorce again... it's never ending, new version of Trainz, new laptop, next level of threats of divorce... LOL ... just saying.

I would not spend under $2700 for a laptop ... and under $1800 for a desktop PC ... I would not buy a MAC (Apple product) ... and I would not buy a DELL

Well if you really want to blow some major moolah on a laptop look into Falcon Northwest. I suspect you could easily pop $5000 or more into one of theirs. 64Gb RAM, GTX1080, 2 TB SSD, and so on.

As for their desktops - Think 5 digits and the first digit doesn't have to be a 1 (and possibly not a 2).

Ben