Half-Life 2 with a laptop: does it run smooth?

[AaronAsGordon]

Half-Life has always been my favourite game. Now I am planning to buy Half-Life 2 (yes, not until now!) but I am also in the middle of deciding which computer to buy. I am going with a laptop. Now I know laptops are not ideal for games but what are you going to do when you really need a laptop and you can't afford to buy a second computer as well.

Here's the question part: My number one option for a laptop right now is HP-Compaq NX8220 (also known as NC8230). It has the 2. generation Centrino technology, Pentium-M 2 GHz processor, 1 GB of RAM and an Ati Mobility Radeon X600 graphics card. Is Half-Life 2 going to run acceptably with it. I'm not talking about the highest resolution with all the AA effects on. I mean can I play it with this HP's laptop with above average resolution and with some of the effects on.

Btw, I know that there are laptops like Dell's XPS 2 or Alienware Area-51m 7700, but they are just not to my liking (17" screen is too big, they are bulky and they have very poor battery life).

Run Gordon, run!

 

[Slainchild]

Yes, it should run ok on those specs.

 

[MetalliMyers]

If you want to play games on this computer, I would go with a 10lb desktop replacement.

By the way, what are you paying for this laptop?

 

[AaronAsGordon]

Yes, that is definately good news. It is a shame that you have to get an exotic notebook like Alienware to get X700 or X800. All the major manufactures are going with an X600 which is middle-end, or so people have said. I think Acer has one Aspire-model wihich has an X700, but I don't like Acer's quality.

For the NX8220 (NC8230)? It has not been released yet but I think it was something around 2400 euros, maybe more. It is not cheap; it is actually a business laptop, but I like HP's quality and this model is the only one with a widescreen and a new (though middle-end) graphics card, X600.

I know some would suggest Dell to me, but while I like their new design (white laptops), the keyboard isn't that good.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a hardcore gamer. I would use this laptop as follows: 60 % surfing the net and writing documents, 30 % managing (semi-pro) digital pics and audio files/music and 10 % games. I think I might only play HL2 on this computer since the whole HL experience was so big for me.

 

[.ñµkËz]

Should be fine

 

[PvtRyan]

Runs smooth on my Acer (AMD64 3000+ 512 MB RAM and a 64 MB GoFX5700) with everything on medium and stuff like shadows on high. But as laptops have slower harddisks (usually) it loads a bit slower.

 

[Hazar]

looks like it'll run great on it, but remember to bring along a mouse

 

[Shodan]

Smooth like ice, cold to the touch and it isn't very nice.


Or, I was playing it at work the other day with a friends laptop, that was pretty similar, but ony 512MB of RAM, and it was fine, all the water and shiny stuff looked good.

 

[Lanthanide]

My friend recently got a laptop with a 9700 pro in it, and it ran HL2 perfectly fine at native resolution for the laptop (1280x1024) with all the details turned up. Only problems were:
1) slower load times as noticed above, due to the slower HDs. But once it's cached the neccesary data for each level, it's ok.
2) god-aweful keyboard for playing games
3) need to keep the laptop plugged in, it'll eat up the battery in about 2 hours if it isn't.

 

[beraiviodk]

My old Inspiron 8000 (Pentium 3 900 Mhz, 512 ram, GeForce 2 Go 32mb) runs HL2 fine in 800x600 with all settings medium. Of course, DX 7.0.

 

[Alix Mcdean]

Runnin' on a Dell Inspiron 9100.
3.2Pent 4
1 gig DDR ram.
Radeon 9700
and 1280x1024.

EVERYTHING turned max.

No slow downs at all

-Alix

 

[dru]

i have a computer

 

[HadouKen24]

My roommate for next semester has a gaming laptop. It runs HL2 just fine. Almost as good as my desktop, in fact.

 

[dru]

he has a computer too, then.

 

[Dan]

Hl2 ran fine on my TC1100 tablet pc. 32mb gforce 4, had to turn the graphics down a bit, but it was still very pretty at 1034x768 on a 10 inch screen. Of course it has an attachable keyboard too. I managed to beat about half of a chapter using just the foldout keyboard and the built in pointer nub while I was travelling or waiting in the airport between flights.

 

[15357]

i have a computer

do you have a point?

 

[RaBiD WeAzEL]

he has a computer too, then.

And so do I...

But to be on topic, Yeah, sounds like it'll run plenty fine.

 

[aFireInside0016]

dude an ibuypower, not an hp. www.ibuypower.com cheaper, and much better parts. I have one and its rocks! A64 3400+, 1gb kingston ram, 9700m, 60gb 7200 rpm hdd. Flawless fps!

 

[AaronAsGordon]

Okay, I'm glad to hear that all of you guys think it will run smooth. I've heard horror stories of playing Doom 3 with a laptop and how everything was the opposite of smooth. I have understood that Half-Life 2 doesn't demand half as much from the graphics card as Doom 3 does. This is good considering the Mobility Radeon X600 is just mid-end, with X700 and X800 being high-end.

Yeah, I think it will help a lot if I will take 1GB of RAM to my laptop. It ought to speed things up. Someone mentioned battery life. Fortunately the new Centrinos have almost double the battery life when compared to the 1st generation of Centrinos.

Yes, I wouldn't dream of playing HL2 without a decent mouse. That is why I'm getting Logitech's MX1000 laser mouse. Of course there are such mice as Razor, but I think Logitech's models are more versatile. And if the laptop's keyboard feels funny, I do have Microsoft's great Natural Multimedia keyboard which is, in my opinion, really the best keyboard out there. You could say the same about Logitech's diNOVO -combo keyboard, but I like the Natural style better.

Could you describe to me what's so special about the AA effects in HL2? I bought my current computer right when HL was realeased and just before the first nVIDIA cards with AA came, so I have never experienced what AA does to a game. As the HP laptop is brand new containing new technology I am hoping that the power of the laptop is sufficient enough to turn at least some AA effects on.