Your ideal gaming notebook design

[Brian 1975]

So what would be your ideal gaming notebook design? Mine would be an Alienware with the following design specs:

17" gaming notebook

• 17" form factor but thin as a macbook pro but better looking design.
  
• Made of aluminum or carbon fiber, no plastic anywhere.
  
• e-GPU proprietary connection capable of feeding dual mobile GPUs. This can be accomplished if the manufacturer cooperates with AMD/NVIDIA on the design.
  
• Display panel that is made of AMOLED so its super light + thin and power efficient. If not AMOLED, then at the very least IPS (although IPS is not as good as TN for gaming).
  
• Custom razer switchblade type of touchpad.
  

13" gaming notebook/tablet

• Same e-GPU support as above so it can basically mirror the performance of its bigger sibling in a smaller form factor.
  
• A detachable IPS/AMOLED display that is powered wirelessly by the base unit for maximum performance. Put an ATOM CPU in the display itself. Have the display support WACOM digitizer as well.
  
• Deal with Microsoft to support their Xbox 360 program using the tablet display.
  
• Custom razer switchblade type of touchpad.
  

IMO the above two notebooks would be awesome and sell like crazy. So what's your take on the ideal AND realistic gaming notebook?

[Clyde 121]

Hi,

I am a fan of 15.6 ". IMO this is the the most convenient size.

AMOLED is perfect in terms of image reproduction, but this technology is not without flaws. In the future, I put more on Graphene. Now, a good TN display, such as AUO B156HW01 V.4 is sufficient, consumes less power than the IPS and has comparable image parameters. I suggest to see.

Important features of ideal gaming notebook:

- Total modularity, customization, ease of maintenance, repair, replacement or upgrade of electrical and mechanical components;

By modularity, I mean physically and electrically independent modules PnP (integrated in case but modular multi-phase power supply, motherboard without external connectors, external ports and connectors on independent boards, displays, keyboards). All in separate interchangeable modules.

- Rugged construction and enclosure (titanium, brushed acidproof steel, carbon, kevlar, PET ...) with 25 year warranty (as Leatherman MultiTOOLS ). One for life;

- The modular cooling system based on the vapor-chamber or heat-plate alloys;

And less important:

- Intuitive and ergonomic layout of ports and connectors (like P150xM);

- Matt display and housing;

- DP with Thunderbolt;

- WiDi;

Regards

[unreal25 786]

If the idea is to use e-GPU why not just use a desktop GPU? I'm thinking something similar to what Sony offers on (I think) VAIO Z, a separate dock with a GPU (except that they have a mobile GPU). With the modern 3D games, I'm not sure how much would gaming on the go (on battery) would be useful? That's why I am thinking if you want to game then you dock the laptop, but if you want to do other stuff you can use it like a regular laptop with integrated graphics.

I like the idea for 13" laptop (will be 13.37" for factor ofc). Atom-based detachment would also probably work wonders for the battery life.

[Clevorr 61]

@Brian, Have uz seen the Razer blade Laptop made by "razer" lol I was looking the other day and come across it. Good performer in an ultra thin and portable laptop form factor and looks pretty cool. Anyone got one ?

But anyways, i wouldn't have anything but my AW now and wouldn't change a thing i love it! It is huge and heavy but that doesn't really bother me. Will see when i take it on my travels to Europe!

[kid_maximus 12]

@Clevorr, i've seen the razer blade, seems to be getting solid reviews on the net. but i'm also in the same boat as you, got my m18x for the same price as that blade is selling. wouldnt buy a 17" over an 18"

[Michael 1315]

@Clevorr i personally wouldn't trust >3K$ with a company like Razer. In my opinion they do shiny products with mediocre insides. The three mice of theirs (2x mamba + orochi) gave me that feeling - all three had a "showstopper" defect within a year of purchase.

[LeafyVegetable 10]

What I would really like to see is a 4xHD sterio 3d alienware. 20 inch, or even 22.

Then, give us desktop CPUs with quite possibly desktop graphics to go with it, though cpu more important (origin is already doing that).

Judging by how think Razer's laptop is, I know they *can* make everything fit for the size of the m17x if they wanted to. Therefore a 22 inch shouldn't be a problem. Huge I know, but that's the point. A screen that actually goes to the edge, not an inch of casing around the actual screen. Wouldn't actually be much bigger, considering they could already put a 19" in a m18x.

[lawtq 12]

A cross between alienware and clevos top laptops. Alienware is too flash while clevo look too dull. Saying that I still like my clevo p570wn and x7200

Water cooled, 21 inch display

5 hdd bays

[slash-boom 10]

Alienware is the best for gaming i think but MSI and Asus are great too and cheap

[smellons 12]

I really like the increased interest in e-GPUs. In the future, I'd like a super-efficient and power-saving CPU that can handle daily tasks with an integrated gpu, but then come home to some kind of desktop gpu inside an externally powered case with fans. Maybe the back of the laptop has a bay that plugs directly into the card enclosure like an external PCI slot? I think the problem is just finding a connecting medium that can support the huge bandwidth a desktop GPU would require (I don't see why you can't use a direct PCI slot like the old days with video game cartridges).

Personally, I'm a huge fan of Sager and even Asus, Lenovo, and the new Sony laptops. I like the understated look as opposed to the flashy Alienware/MSI looks. Though I admit I'm definitely a sucker for case LED's.

[Nofew 49]

I'm one of those people who only buys a new laptop every ten years and always go all-out with it. I treat them like how some people treat sports cars; always out in public with them and always have them out even when I'm not really using them. How they look is a big thing. I'd like to see "true flagship" laptops. I mean, let's face it, if you're paying $4,000 for a laptop, an extra $500-$1,000 to make it truly yours isn't going to deter you.

If it were possible to put my own graphics on the case, select the location of some of the ports (I really need the ethernet port on the right side of the case. It drives me nuts when it's on the left.), choose the location of the touchpad (I like it slightly off-center to the left, but some people put it too far over), choose the font for the keyboard's keys (and replace that annoying windows flag with something OS-independent. Fun fact, the official name for the key is "meta".), decide which keys have bumps on them (I don't use homerow. My typing style's weird and it'd help a lot if the "w", "p", "s", "f", "j", "l" and "enter" keys all had bumps) and decide on what kind of keys it has (mechanical, "normal", "short iMac", etc), I'd easily pay an extra $500. I'd go higher if I could specify the color (exactly as I want it, not from a list of 4-16 different choices) or upload concept pictures.

On the hardware side of things, it'd be nice if laptops had two battery bays that worked like dual PSU's. That way, you can take one battery out when it gets low and put a new one in without having to power the system down first, plus you could run faster without as much risk of exploding. (It's pretty dangerous to pull more than 100 watts or so from most laptop batteries; that's why your GPU underclocks its self (or even turns off) when you're not plugged in.).

While on the topic of batteries, I'd love one that takes up the entire underside of a laptop even if that meant almost doubling its thickness and weight. Most of the time I don't have a laptop on my lap in the first place. Rather than just extending the lifetime, it could be split up multiple batteries (but in the same "battery case") to keep the laptop running at full speed as if it were plugged in.

A battery level indicator somewhere easily visible so I don't have to minimize my full-screen programs to check on it would be great, too.

Dual-screens would be nice. I wouldn't mind doubling the screen's thickness. My thoughts are to either have the second screen just stuck to the back of the first, and automatically switch the "normal" one to the "back" one when the screen is closed (and enable some touch features so it works like a tablet), or to have the second screen "pull out" of the side of the normal screen, then slide the entire assembly over so you're still centered (but the laptop still closes and fits into a reasonably-sized space like they do today).

Heck, why not make the entire thing detachable? Have the display "dock" to the laptop. When docked, it communicates via regular HDMI plus anything else it needs (charging, fancy lights, etc). When you pull it out, the laptop automatically switches over to transmitting to it wirelessely. Suddenly you have a tablet with the power and compatibility of a gaming rig.. Plus, laptops just look awesome with their screens off. Seriously, try to visualize yours without it.

Ambient lighting is a big thing for me. I once played a game that changed my keyboard's color to match the action on-screen and it made the experience a /lot/ more immersive. If there was a way to change the bezel's color to match the screen edge's content (like some TV's do with the walls behind them) it'd help me get deeper into my games.

GPIO's (general purpose input/output) would be great to have too. I have a few motherboards with GPIO headers that are easy to reach. I work with embedded electronics as a hobby and it's fun using these headers for some novelty projects. It'd be great if I could stick them on a laptop too.

Perhaps an entire PCIe slot on the side of the case would be fun. There's some people who don't care about an optical drive and most of the other "holes" on the side of their laptops, so they could be replaced by a desktop GPU. Just stick it in like normal and attach a second PSU to run it. Considering how thick some laptops are, it might end up looking like the laptop was just build with it already attached!

A larger camera would be great, too. Why do we have big laptops, some with gigantic bezel areas, and we still use this tiny pinhole-sized webcam? On my laptop (M17x) there's easily enough room for a decently sized lens like you'd find in a point-and-shoot camera.

Oddly, a CD changer-type thing might be good for some people too. Think about it for a minute; there are people out there who prefer older games to newer ones, and some older games only work if the CD is in the drive. There's programs meant to copy an .ISO to your hard drive and emulate it, but they don't always work. Plus, the whir of the CD is part of the experience. It brings back nostalgic memories for me. It'd be nice if I could insert multiple discs like some a car stereo and switch between them without having to take them out.

On most larger laptops, there's this big awkward area on the bottom right that's just empty. Put something there; a screen that appears to the OS as a second display, a second trackpad (I have actually used two mice at once before. There's times it helps.), macro keys, something. Heck, why not just put a touchscreen there and do something like the Razer Blade does? Maybe have a switch nearby that changes it from acting as a screen (and thus relying on the OS to carry out requests) and emulating a second keyboard directly or something. If it could be built to detect when non-conductive objects are placed on it (such as plastic cups), it could display fancy animations when I set a drink down on it. It might be a useless gimmick to some people, but it'd probably run about $200. Compared to $4,000+ that's pretty much nothing.

Fans that run both directions so they can clean themselves. Seriously, why doesn't anyone do this? It seems like common sense! Every day or so the fans should stop spinning and change direction for a few seconds to knock off some dust that's built up. There should be some safety lock to prevent them from doing this if the system's under high load so it doesn't overheat in the time it takes to stop them and reverse their direction.

Windspeed or pressure detectors at the exit of the vents. There's been times I sat my laptop down on a table over paper, didn't realize it, and when the fan kicked on high it just sucked the paper up against its self and couldn't breathe anymore. Some indication this is happening besides my computer overheating would be nice.

Bring infrared ports back and mount them on the back of the screen. Use it to control your TV. Think about it. You want this. You /need/ this.

Lights that are angled down and mounted above each connector port. Sometimes I move the laptop and start pulling wires out part way without realizing it. It'd be nice if the added strain could be detected somehow and a warning light could flash and make the table change color.

Second headphone jack, with the ability to choose the audio source (independent left/right outputs, cloned outputs, specific program goes to each output (combines well with the dual-screen thing), etc).

Vibration. Provided the laptop has SSD's in it, this is relatively safe. It doesn't have to be very strong; if you've played with vibration long enough it's mostly the sound that makes it register with your brain anyway. It does more than people give it credit for.

[Jimbo 696]

@Nofew, mate, I love some of your ideas! Some I definitely think are pie in the sky (Nobody is going to invest that much in optical drives at this point), but some have genuine merit. An IR emitter is an obvious one that should be there, while the idea of a colour shifting bezel and subtle vibration feedback is really interesting.

Just wanted to add also, I've seen some posts around the forums that aren't technically spam, but are one line on something that doesn't really contribute much to the discussion, trying to hit the 5 post minimum to download whatever it is they're obsessing over. Our mods do a great job with this generally, but it clearly won't be needed in this case! Rarely have I seen such an epic post from a new member. You are truly welcome, especially if your posts continue in this vein.

PS: Putting a drink down? On a $4000 laptop? Con-fi-dence.....

[Nofew 49]

Actually, I would pay a few hundred for an optical drive like that. I slept on it, remembered I'm going to be on a somewhat long flight soon, and think it'd be awesome if I could stick 2-3 3D movies in there. I'm not sure if there's enough room in coach to change the optical medium out of a 17 inch laptop.

Which ones did you think were weird? These are all features I've been dying for. I know some of them have limited uses (such as having that screen I'd like to add detect things besides fingers), but even that was legitimately researched. (Google "Microsoft Table" -- They were seriously making tables that used infrared to detect when objects were placed on it, and their shape, and then play little animations around them. You put a glass down and little shapes shoot out from it, put a picture frame down and it puts a picture inside, etc.

Just woke up and thought of a few more. Liquid-proof keyboards *and trackpads*. I know liquid-proof keyboards exist already, but trackpads, as far as I know, don't. After liquid-proofing, some way to easily remove the keys/trackpad/buttons/etc would be important in case you spilled something smelly. I don't wanna get stuck there removing one key at a time, then washing them all individually, then putting them back one at a time; there should be some tab you can pull that just lifts all the keys up and out together, possibly with the laptop still running.

A small device embedded in a hard-to-reach spot that has a GPS, cellular link and separate speaker. I really don't understand how this happened, but once I lost a laptop. A 17 inch laptop. I had it closed up and I was trying to underclock it and see how long I could get the battery to last. I left it somewhere and somehow it got covered with a lot of stuff to the point I couldn't find it without digging around. I actually spent the entire day looking for it since it wasn't making any sounds. Even the fans were off since it was running so cool. It'd be nice if I could send a text from a phone and have it beep, and show me about where it is on a map. Of course this helps if it's stolen too (no matter what it's going to be trackable), but I'm weird.

The few times I've had a laptop on my lap, it's gotten hot. Usually this isn't because I have a hot component in direct contact with me, but that the component is hovering a few millimeters above the case and warming it up. If there were a fan dedicated to cooling the inside of the case, rather than the radiators, it'd help prevent the laptop from scorching people. It might not do much to help the components, but that's not the point; it's just to keep it from burning people's legs.

Thanks for the complement, by the way! To tell the truth, the only reason I made five posts was to download something. I do OCD over quality, though. Even if you didn't have that rule asking for "quality" posts I'd still write this long. It's pretty much unavoidable. The only drawback is how rare I post, but yeah.

That's actually a fairly safe spot for a drink. I know, it sounds nutty, but the only time I've ever spilt a drink was when I was reaching around my screen to grab it and it clipped the edge of the bezel. Went all over my trackpad, seeped right in, shorted out my audio card. It survived just fine, apparently it was smart enough to cut power to its self when it picked up the short. It works fine today and I'm posting with that system right now. When the drink's resting on the right, there's a decently large area for it to sit that's far away from my wrists. The only time it's dangerous is when I'm using Blender (and thus need to use the numberpad a lot). I've been doing this for years now and never once had an accident when it was resting on the laptop. Ironically, it's even safer if there's a glossy coating on it. I've nudged the drink on a laptop with that finish before and it just slid around a little. Something with more friction would've caused it to tip over.

[sgogeta4 41]

I really liked the concept of the Dell Latitude Z600.

My ideal yet realistic notebook would be similar to the Z600 but in a 15.4" (16:10 aspect ratio) form factor that could turn into a tablet PC. Hardware wise, I'd want:

- regular Intel quad core CPU with their small form factor chipset

- 4 SODIMM slots (4x8GB)

- 2 mSATA RAID0 SSDs (2x 512GB)

- Thunderbolt connection to a switchable nVidia GTX Titan eGPU enclosure

- 8-bit IPS panel with capacitive multitouch and adaptive transflective screen on a thin bezel

- 2 slim removable batteries (similar to above, needs intelligent switch so that it alternates which battery drains)

- slice battery for long trips, every battery should have a LED indicator with battery level

- thin high wattage power brick

[Khenglish 1154]

I really liked the concept of the Dell Latitude Z600.

My ideal yet realistic notebook would be similar to the Z600 but in a 15.4" (16:10 aspect ratio) form factor that could turn into a tablet PC. Hardware wise, I'd want:

- regular Intel quad core CPU with their small form factor chipset

- 4 SODIMM slots (4x8GB)

- 2 mSATA RAID0 SSDs (2x 512GB)

- Thunderbolt connection to a switchable nVidia GTX Titan eGPU enclosure

- 8-bit IPS panel with capacitive multitouch and adaptive transflective screen on a thin bezel

- 2 slim removable batteries (similar to above, needs intelligent switch so that it alternates which battery drains)

- slice battery for long trips, every battery should have a LED indicator with battery level

- thin high wattage power brick

Why alternate batteries? The batteries will last longer if they are both drained at the same time instead of one at a time since internal resistance will be cut in half.

[sgogeta4 41]

Fair enough. I was just thinking of my (really) old Dell Inspiron laptop and how it used a modular bay battery. The problem was it only started draining after the main one was done and when you swapped in the new main battery, it stopped draining the modular bay one. I'd have preferred that it would keep drain the modular battery then when I took out the modular battery, it would switch back to the main battery.

Alternatively, maybe just have a small built in battery that is used when switching out the one main battery?

[Nofew 49]

Short-life internal battery, I didn't think of that.. Great, now I don't know what I want more. That, or dual-batteries so I can run my GPU at full speed without being plugged in.

Sometimes I wish I could just lug a car battery around with me everywhere I go. I mean, like, one that isn't busy powering the engine of a car.

EDIT: Duuuuh, we can just put extra cells in the single battery the laptop will mainly use, thus having it act like there's two batteries powering it at the same time but halving it's life, provided that that smaller 5-minute battery is there. I mean, obviously we're gunna have extra batteries.. And then bam! More space!

EDIT 2: The Samsung Galaxy S4 also functions as a TV remote. Maybe somebody read this and stole my idea..