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Gaming laptops are larger in size than the regular one. Also, these laptops are heavier and have high-performance hardware. As a result, they drain off battery quicker than other types of laptops. These features certainly make the laptop perfect for gaming, but are gaming laptops good for everyday use?
Gaming laptops are technically fully fit to pull off everyday office chores. Not only that, they are faster than other types of laptops. Besides, these high-end laptops can handle sophisticated tasks like video editing and graphics design as well. Nevertheless, when it comes to everyday usage, gaming laptops have their cons.
Understanding gaming laptops and how they differ from the regular laptops may help you in this case. So, let’s find out if gaming laptops are fit for everyday use.
Gaming Laptops: What Benefits Do They Offer?
Gaming Laptops features high configured system processor since they are designed for special purpose. These include improved battery performance, benchmark, response rate, processing time, and more.
If you are a gamer and you need to run heavy softwares that needs high configured programs, then gaming laptop is for you.
On the other hand, if you need a laptop for your regular use and you play game that don’t require higher frame rate, you should avoid gaming laptops. After all, you don’t want to break a butterfly upon a wheel, right?
The point is, it depends on your demands. Anyway, let’s go over the specs where gaming laptops excel:
Powerful Processor
Most gaming laptops feature core i5 processors or higher. The more upgraded processor you have the faster your laptop is. For example, if you buy a laptop with an Intel i3 7th generation processor, it will surely work slower than a laptop with an Intel i7 10th generation processor. But core i3 will suffice your regular task.
Now, since a gaming laptop is made for handling heavy computer games, if you buy a gaming laptop, you will get a top-notch processor with very high clock speed. As a result, you will be able to complete heavy tasks in no time besides playing graphically demanding games on your PC.
Storage And RAM
Nowadays, computer games tend to be hungry for storage and RAM. That’s why the vendors of laptops provide fast SSD storage in gaming laptops.
Also, manufacturers around the globe try their best to put in as much RAM in gaming laptops as possible. Not only that, gaming laptops tend to have RAMs with higher bus speeds as well.
Therefore, a gaming laptop will always have an upper hand in performance. Furthermore, thanks to the huge chunk of RAM provided by the manufacturer, gaming laptops are able to multitask better than other types of laptops.
Rich Media And Sound Payback
Because games tend to have high-definition sound effects and high-definition graphics, gaming laptops are equipped with high-resolution screens and top-notch speakers.
That’s why gaming laptops can provide a much better media payback and sound payback.
On the other hand, a work laptop or office laptop may not have the same top-notch hardware as gaming laptops for playing media content.
As a result, they lack the ability to play media content as up to the mark as gaming laptops.
Efficient Cooling
Like all mechanical machines, laptops also get heated over extended hours of usage. That’s why they need efficient cooling systems to cool off. In turn, they can retain a constant high performance for many hours.
If a laptop doesn’t have effective cooling, it will get superheated and go to thermal throttling (thermal cycling is the process of the CPU slowing down due to extreme heat).
Now, because games are power-hungry, and they employ the hardware to their full extent, playing games create a lot of heat in a laptop. That’s why, in gaming laptops, manufacturers provide top-notch and industry-standard cooling systems.
That’s also why a gaming laptop will be better able to handle long tasks that take 10+ hours to complete.
Attractive Appearance
In terms of appearance, gaming laptops have an upper hand over work laptops. It’s because gaming laptops are generally decorated with RGB-colored LED lights on keyboards and on the body.
As a result, they tend to be a bit flashy in design. It’s also why gaming laptops look visually more appealing than other work laptops.
Gaming Laptops: What Are The Disadvantages?
Although gaming laptops have their advantages over work laptops, they have some disadvantages as well. While some cons are easy to ignore, some are quite prominent.
So, let’s see what the negative sides of having a gaming laptop are:
Less Battery Life
As gaming laptops have heavy hardware modules, they consume more power than normal laptops when they run. Also, more juice is required for the additional lighting and cooling system to run. That’s why gaming laptops provide less battery backup than other work laptops.
Therefore, if you need a laptop that can provide a huge battery backup, gaming laptops are not a suitable option for you.
Size And Weight
Because gaming laptops have more efficient cooling systems and high-performance hardware, they tend to be a bit too heavy to carry. On the other hand, normal work laptops don’t have as powerful hardware as gaming laptops.
That’s why work laptops are smaller and slimmer. Furthermore, work laptops are very lightweight as well.
Therefore, if you want portability, gaming laptops are not the best option for you. Even if a gaming laptop is slim in shape, it will most likely be very heavy due to its extra hardware. So, buying a gaming laptop will never give you an ultra-portable experience.
Extreme Pricing
One of the most prominent disadvantages of a gaming laptop is its high price. Because gaming laptops have high-end hardware, the vendors of gaming laptops keep the pricing very high.
On average, you’ll need to pay around $800 to $1600 for a decent gaming laptop. On the other hand, regular work laptops cost around 500 bucks. The prices of course vary depending on the specs.
Therefore, if you only need to do office work, buying a gaming laptop for it will not be an economic choice.
Noise And Fan Sound
Another disadvantage worth mentioning about gaming laptops is that they cause a lot of fan noise when turned ON for extended hours. It’s because when a gaming laptop runs for a long time, it creates a lot of internal heat.
As a result, its cooling system starts overworking as well. That, in turn, might cause a lot of fan noise.
Now, if you work in an office environment where it’s pretty much noiseless all the time, the noise of the fan might be a bit irritating to hear. That’s why I recommend not taking a gaming laptop to your workstation.
Are Gaming Laptops Good For Everyday Use?
A gaming laptop can be useful for everyday use depending on what you want to do with it.To be honest, the answer to this question is a 50/50 probability. On the other hand, buying a gaming laptop can be a bad choice for you as well.
If you are a graphics designer or a video editor, you will likely need a laptop that has high-performance graphics cards and fast storage. Furthermore, you might need a faster processor to assist you in your work. In this regard, buying a gaming laptop will be the best choice for everyday use.
It’s because the top-notch hardware of a gaming laptop has the capability to boost your work efficiency as a video editor. Besides, you don’t want your work laptop freezing every ten minutes, now would you?
Now, on the flip side, if you are someone who only uses the laptop for office work, checking emails, creating documents, browsing websites, etc, you will not probably need a gaming laptop.
Rather, it’ll be better for you if you opt for a lightweight laptop that has the right amount of resources to facilitate office work.
So, as you can see, a gaming laptop can be a suitable choice for you if you want to do jobs that require high-performance hardware. But, buying a gaming laptop can also be a mistake for you if you only want to do lightweight office chores.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Gaming Laptops Have A Long Lifetime?
Compared to work laptops, gaming laptops have a shorter lifespan. It’s because gaming laptops are built to provide extreme performance. As a result, their hardware wears down relatively quickly.
Can I Play Games On A Work Laptop?
Yes, you can play some lightweight games on your work laptop too. But, remember to not put too much pressure on your work laptop to play games. It’s because work laptops do not have the right hardware to support gaming. So, putting extreme stress on them can actually damage them permanently.
Can Gaming Laptops Provide The Same Performance As Gaming Desktops?
Actually, there are some gaming laptops that provide even more performance than a gaming desktop. Now, it doesn’t mean that a gaming laptop will always give better performance than desktops.
In most cases, gaming desktops will have an upper-handed performance than gaming laptops. However, new generation gaming laptops are equipped with heavy hardware that is fully on par with gaming desktops.
Bottom Line
Gaming laptops can be suitable for everyday use. But, whether gaming laptops are the right tool for everyday use fully depends on what you want to do with the laptop.
As we have mentioned above, if you want heavy work performance, gaming laptops are your best choice. On the flip side, if you only want to do lightweight chores with your laptop, buying a gaming laptop will be a waste of money.
However, no matter which laptop you buy, you can get the longest lifespan out of a laptop only by using the laptop according to the manufacturer’s instructions. So, we hope you are able to glean the most out of your laptop.
I am a professional laptop and computer troubleshooter, tech editor who loves to talk about technology and software. My passion is electronics devices. Follow me on social media.
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