which is better a laptop or desktop for gaming?

Hi,

The answer to your original question is undoubtedly a desktop, you will get a much faster system at the same price but you will lack portability.

But honestly for your situation, a laptop may have to do.

The best modest gaming notebook for your price range is here:

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx...

Choose the 'best' model which has the 8600M GT video card, and your price should end up to be around 1600 w/ tax and free 3-5 day shipping.

Alienware provides a similar system at a substantially higher price!

May I suggest a micro case system? They offer the same benefits as a desktop but without the expandability.

Here is a complete shuttle system I built on newegg.com (a place where you purchase your own parts and build the system yourself).

The system is designed around this case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...

Which itself is actually a case + motherboard + power supply.

Here are the actual parts for your reference:

Shuttle SX38P2-Pro Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel Core 2 Extreme / Quad / Core 2 Duo Intel X38 Barebone

Shuttle SX38P2-Pro Intel Socket T(LGA775) Intel Core 2 Extreme / Quad / Core 2 Duo Intel X38 Barebone - Retail

Item #: N82E16856101058

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

$429.99

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T

ASUS 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model DRW-2014L1T - Retail

Item #: N82E16827135156

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$38.99

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3500320NS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Item #: N82E16822148294

Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy

-$5.00 Instant

$149.99

$144.99

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor

SAMSUNG 226BW Black 22" 2 ms (GTG) Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Item #: N82E16824001096

Return Policy: [LCD] Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy

-$10.00 Instant

$40.00 Mail-in Rebate

$319.99

$309.99

XFX PVT88GYDF4 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

XFX PVT88GYDF4 GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Item #: N82E16814150261

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

-$10.00 Instant

$20.00 Mail-in Rebate

$329.99

$319.99

Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB(4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC24G6400LLQK

Patriot Extreme Performance 4GB(4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model PDC24G6400LLQK - Retail

Item #: N82E16820220267

Return Policy: Standard Return Policy

$103.99

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600 - Retail

Item #: N82E16819115017

Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy

$254.99

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD

Microsoft Windows Vista 32-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

Item #: N82E16832116213

Return Policy: Software Return Policy

-$20.00 Instant

$189.99

$169.99

The total is 1772.92 not including shipping. The bonus is that you will only have to lug a very small case and decently light lcd monitor + keyboard + mouse!

I don't know how much you like Tech but if you really like computers and want to save money you might be better off building your own system. for about 1500 you can get a very good system (this would be desktop because constructing a laptop is hard) and still have money left over for whatever. I would recommend newegg.com as a good site for looking at components to a system. Maybe buy only some decent stuff at Dell and then upgrade it with newegg.com anyway have fun.

Disclaimer: Not all of Neweggs stuff is good and I don't work for them.

a desktop is definetly better for any type of gaming. laptops come with internal graphics cards, impossible to upgrade. with a destop you could buy a nice one that you can afford now, and get a better graphics card later on. plus there is the benifit of having a bigger, brighter screen, which is a commen problem in most laptops

depends if u wnat to able to move around or not, pros witha desktop more and easily customizable as well as easier to add thigns to it later wen tech improves, bad is mobility. Lap tops are good for mobilitybut have battery's and if ur not enar a socket your screwed but soa re both so that doesn't count but u can use lap top

A desktop will give better performance, but if you are going to need portability, you can get a screaming laptop for $2k

The laptop is not going to be good for gaming, for that you should get the desktop.

I recommend laptop though playing games is easier in desktop. But you can't carry desktop. Check if your military institutions allow computers in barracks/billets. many don't.

if u want a dell and ur going away get a dell XPS there really good for gaming here is the link for it is is built for games and u would have a few 100 bucks left if u can give 2,000 for one heres the link http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx...

you cant take a computer anywhere it has too many wires definitely get a laptop if your changing places.