Mayhems tangled mess of controler cords

[Steevy Maximus]

genuine question: do you need a laptop?

cause, and i am speaking someone who prefers gaming laptops because she needs the portability VS a desktop, a gaming laptop is always going to be weaker compared to an equivalently priced gaming desktop

The reality is that there is a legit question to the need of another device at all. I made a big purchase on my M1 Pro 16” MacBook a couple years ago, that’s my ”primary” device. But, I don’t have anything to play online games with anyone else (who run Windows machines), and there are actually people willing to play games with me now, so…

I’m well aware at the relative weakness of a laptop vs desktop, but a laptop is going to take up FAR less space and be “good enough” for a good while. The only element I have any concerns with is the storage, but I have external devices to mitigate that. I was always going to get another Windows device to play games with people, and I set my budget to around $700 (I also had a coupon at Best Buy for $50, so I could push the price a little higher).

But when I saw Best Buy selling that above RTX 4070 Victus for $999, I was intrigued. But then they kicked another $100 off? I was looking at stuff just as expensive with lesser specs. I’m trading build quality and screen quality for the sheer horsepower.

But still…That’s a bigger purchase than I had really wanted to make. But I’ve long learned that “sucking it up” and compromising less will alleviate future frustrations.

 

[unluckiness]

Depends on the types of games you'd want to play but wouldn't a Steam Deck or something be a better value for money?

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Depends on the types of games you'd want to play but wouldn't a Steam Deck or something be a better value for money?

Eh, not really. The Steam Deck is nice, but it’s kind of like buying a Switch when you know a new one is due in the next year, y’know? All the handhelds have limited I/O, and are all low powered APUs. They’re pretty good for NOW, but at their pricing, spending that extra $200-300 netted me an upper tier Ryzen 7 8000 series and an RTX 4070 which WILL run about everything for the next several years.

I was eyeing the Asus RoG Flow x13 (the base model with just the Ryzen 9 APU), but it never did get back down to the $700 price point I saw it several months ago. Again, I’ve compromised in the past and regretted it, so I figure I should just commit to the extra cash to get something sufficiently powerful NOW. And again, finding an RTX 4070 laptop at a sub-$1000 price point was just too tempting, much less one that isn’t thermal/power throttled to hell.

 

[MEDdMI]

When debating purchases, I like to think about how many hours of work/paychecks it's worth. Eg, "I will have to work around 10hrs to cover that $100+ anime figure. Do I really want to spend that much time working for it?"
Sometimes the answer is Yes, most of the time I keep an eye to see if it goes on sale. But, it sounds like you already got it!

 

[Steevy Maximus]

When debating purchases, I like to think about how many hours of work/paychecks it's worth. Eg, "I will have to work around 10hrs to cover that $100+ anime figure. Do I really want to spend that much time working for it?"
Sometimes the answer is Yes, most of the time I keep an eye to see if it goes on sale. But, it sounds like you already got it!

Well, the laptop WAS on sale. $899, down from 1399. No way in hell I’m paying full price for an HP Victus! My issue has been I’ve “wavered“ on earlier deals (like the aforementioned Flow X13) and missed out. As is, I’m surprised there hasn’t been any coverage from the tech sites about it. Mobile card or not, an RTX 4070 device for under $1000 is pretty notable.

As is, I’m partially chalking up the purchase to “helping my mental health”, by having a device I can use to game with most other people

 

[Princess Viola]

Eh, not really. The Steam Deck is nice, but it’s kind of like buying a Switch when you know a new one is due in the next year, y’know? All the handhelds have limited I/O, and are all low powered APUs. They’re pretty good for NOW, but at their pricing, spending that extra $200-300 netted me an upper tier Ryzen 7 8000 series and an RTX 4070 which WILL run about everything for the next several years.

I was eyeing the Asus RoG Flow x13 (the base model with just the Ryzen 9 APU), but it never did get back down to the $700 price point I saw it several months ago. Again, I’ve compromised in the past and regretted it, so I figure I should just commit to the extra cash to get something sufficiently powerful NOW. And again, finding an RTX 4070 laptop at a sub-$1000 price point was just too tempting, much less one that isn’t thermal/power throttled to hell.

Counterpoint: buying a Steam Deck means you'll be free of the Hell that is Windows

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Counterpoint: buying a Steam Deck means you'll be free of the Hell that is Windows

Why do you think I daily drive a Mac?

Besides, Counter-counterpoint, I feel sufficiently competent to fiddle with Linux if Windows continues to get worse, so….

 

[Princess Viola]

Using a Mac is just as bad !

/s

 

[unluckiness]

Not quite until they get caught taking screenshots of whatever you're doing.

Operative word being “caught.”

 

[Steevy Maximus]

At least my Mac will wake from sleep when it‘s supposed to!

 

[Princess Viola]

cant right click tho aaaaaaaaaaaaaaay jokes from decades ago

 

[Steevy Maximus]

cant right click tho aaaaaaaaaaaaaaay jokes from decades ago

Yuh huh! I sure can!
…
And technically, if you use a trackpad, most don’t have dedicated buttons anymore so “left click” and “right click” are now universal one finger or two finger trackpad presses anyway, so most windows laptops don’t have right click anymore


Also, my sister keeps telling me how BAD ”Crapples” are…but I’ve had to replace my Macs FAR more rarely than she has her assortment windows machines. I think she’s had over half a dozen Windows machines that have crapped out since I started getting Macs, and I’ve had a whopping THREE Macs over the past 20 years. Two of which ended up being replaced due to aging out of the software, not any technical failures.

 

[Princess Viola]

I hate Apple because I think they're an awful company who think they're above the law and regulation and love to spread FUD about things that are common and exist without issue on other platforms - including some of their own other platforms !

And don't think of this as any love for Microsoft either, there's a reason I use Linux nowadays.

 

[unluckiness]

I use WIndows only because of a deep seated grudge I have against Macs since a Mac at our school computer room crashed so hard it lost high school me a day's worth of progress.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

I'm mostly using Windows out of inertia at this point. I'm fine with Linux now that I stopped trying to obey tutorials. I just want to use my computer my way, and Linux doesn't tell me no.

 

[Princess Viola]

me: can i please uninstall edge
windows: NO

me: can i uninstall the bootloader
linux: i mean ur system will break but ok lol

 

[CoffeeHorse]

Actually, I can't find Edge on my computer. I might have managed to uninstall it.

 

[Steevy Maximus]

Actually, I can't find Edge on my computer. I might have managed to uninstall it.

It’s still there…watching…WAITING…

 

[CoffeeHorse]

One thing that keeps me coming back to Windows is that I know it well enough to break it. If something my own computer tries to tell me no, I will stop what I'm doing and work on nothing else until whatever allowed it to tell me no has been removed and killed.

I will not ask my computer for permission. My computer will ask me for permission.

 

[unluckiness]

Picked up Unicorn Overlord. Silly name, decent gameplay but goddamn is it slow. Have to put a horse class into each team to make it bearable.

The squad-based autobattle strategy gameplay loop reminds me of a game I played in the PS1 or PS2 era. Can't remember the name but I also remember a random Yu-Gi-Oh game that didn't use cards and had actual monsters fighting that cribbed the gameplay.