The whole setup makes no sense with Linux in mind and screams of a rebadged Windows notebook. Just go with an AMD-exclusive system, perhaps with an Intel WiFi module.
Agreed with Linux gaming AMD all the way. For laptops if you don’t wanna go dedicated GPU they make some wonderful budget friendly performance APUs (CPU plus GPU like Intel integrated graphics but more capable for light gaming :) IMO of course
As far as I can tell, there isn’t a single Linux laptop with an AMD GPU. Admittedly, even in the Windows world AMD laptops are a lot rarer than Nvidia ones, but there are still a few. None of them come with Linux out-of-the-box, though.
Well, then those Linux notebook makers do a crappy job. Radeon is the best supported gaming GPU on Linux as of now. That’s just fact. Any notebook manufacturer would look which vendors Valve uses for Steam Deck and pick whatever is the latest component from that vendor because all the driver improvements made by Valve also benefit the newer, more powerful GPU.
Taking an obvious Windows notebook and just rebadging it isn’t a real Linux notebook anyway. If I were to buy a new notebook, it would be the Framework 16. Sure, there is no option for it to ship with Linux but the DIY edition ships without Windows.
Yeah but consider the following: CUDA. I don’t even game that much (and I was okay with older games that can be played on a Ryzen APU) but I had to get a laptop with a 3050 for GPGPU shenanigans. It is definitely a downgrade in terms of Linux compatibility compared to my older laptop (the machine doesn’t go to sleep properly unless you are running Ubuntu 20.04, which I discovered accidentally)
Not doing a great job running basic modern desktop environments with Wayland, though, where workarounds are required everywhere to make shoddy Nvidia drivers work. Very recently (I think is was just last week) I’ve read that the developers need to give Nvidia special treatment just to make the cursor work. That’s just fucked up.
A house build on shortcuts and workarounds is not on a strong foundation. It’ll break down on the user at some point.
I disagree with it, but the premise is that they cant be upgraded so they are stuck at a set spec, they struggle with heating and dust issues, they make a lot of sacrifices due to needing to fit into a laptop size, and they basically need to be plugged in 24/7 which bites at the portability.
All valid points, but also all acceptable trade offs if you need a portable and flexible machine.
Upgrading or cleaning a laptop means opening up the laptop. Anyone who has opened a tower and a laptop will attest, the laptop is a nightmare to deal with and the tower is much simpler.
Depends on the laptop. For some it’s just unscrewing the bottom. Gaming notebooks aren’t the super slim ones. They tend to be easier to open than their ultrabook cousins.
Even on a lot of non-gaming laptops. I can’t say that I’ve loved the dells I’ve had, but I can’t fault them for their repairability. Cleaning out the fans, swapping memory, storage, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth cards, all just a dozen screws to remove the bottom panel and access all of that.
But you can’t upgrade the two most important components: CPU and GPU. So if your gaming laptop isn’t cutting it, you need to buy a new one, you can’t just upgrade the component that’s causing bottlenecks.
So a gaming laptop is likely to be much more expensive than a non-gaming laptop. My E-series Lenovo ThinkPad cost $400-500, which is about half the cost compared to entry gaming laptops. I haven’t once cleaned the fan, and it’s still doing well a few years later (my kids play Lego games and Minecraft on it).
So for my money, I go with a Steam Deck for games and an inexpensive laptop with integrated graphics for everything else. Total cost is ~$1k.
I have both a steam deck and a slim gaming laptop like the ones that company sells. It’s different, while I mostly game on my deck some games just aren’t good with a controller, and since I’ll be taking a laptop with me anyways why not take one that can also play games?
Mostly because battery life tends to suck. I can still play games like Minecraft and most indie games on my iGPU (esp if you go AMD), so it’s not like there aren’t options, I just won’t be playing larger AAA games on it.
I haven’t shopped too much either, but in the past, gaming laptops were significantly more expensive and often had quality issues vs business-style laptops. I quickly checked prices online, and “inexpensive” gaming laptops seem to start around $1k for a 4060 tier GPU. That’s the price of a decent business laptop (should last 5+ years) and a Steam Deck. You’ll probably want to upgrade the Steam Deck way before the business laptop, so it should help with costs longer term (and by then you’ll probably want a desktop PC anyway).
Anyway, that’s my take. I personally don’t see a point to gaming laptops, for the game money, I’d rather have two dedicated devices.
Actually battery life of gaming laptops is really good, because it’s made to hold a discrete GPU which can usually be turned off, I used to get around 6h of battery for day-to-day stuff in my gaming laptop when I recently bought it, I haven’t used it outside of a plug for a while so I assume the battery would be in a bad state today.
I get the point of having to upgrade the whole system every few years, and that they’re more expensive, but if you need portability a desktop is not viable, e.g. I moved countries a few years ago and I’ll move again in a short while, a desktop is just not practical for me. Plus I’ve had my laptop for 4 years, which is much longer than my deck.
So if I want to play games that I have issues with playing on my deck, like Doom or Cities Skylines I play them on the laptop. Granted, I could plug a keyboard and mouse to my deck, but like I mentioned I already had the laptop for years when the deck came out.
It’s only good if you have a massive battery, which means increased weight and size. I can get that same 6+ hours in a much smaller, cheaper package.
portability
I can see that.
That said, if the concern is only moving, a SFFPC can be very easy to pack. Monitors can be a pain, so if I knew I was going to move, I’d just sell those and buy new wherever I was moving. It’s just not worth the hassle unless they’re really nice.
It used to be more interesting back when LAN parties were a common thing, but AFAIK, most kids have moved to online. When I was younger, LAN parties had already switched to retro games w/o servers like OG Doom and Quake with mods, and those can run on a potato.
But honestly, my go-to is a highly portable laptop and a handheld gaming system, either a Switch or Steam Deck. That combo should be cheaper than a gaming laptop and more ergonomic. If you want to play games those systems can’t handle, a desktop PC + portable laptop should be competitive in price (like $1500-2000 combined), and should be cheaper long term.
That said, use what you have. I’m just saying that a Linux gaming laptop is kind of silly since it’s not going to handle many different games than a Steam Deck, and it’s going to be less comfortable to use than a more portable laptop and a handheld PC.
Obviously get what you want, I just don’t see much of a point these days when we have more options.
Yeah, but they’re sometimes the best option anyway. I wouldn’t use one for any length of time for gaming, but I have the luxury of not having to leave home much, and almost never for extended time. Back when I was still able to work, a laptop for gaming would have made sense on the long overnight shifts (the job has lots of downtime, and limited limitations on how it was filled).
Folks that travel a lot are in a similar boat.
Folks that can only have one PC and need it to be portable are reliant on laptops totally.
Yeah, even the best of them aren’t ideal, but they’re sensible for various use cases.
I’m pretty sure an inexpensive laptop + Steam Deck would be about the same price (or less!) as a gaming laptop.
I got my E-series ThinkPad a few years ago for $400-500 (E495, first AMD ThinkPad E series), and my Steam Deck for $530. So I paid about $1k for the pair. Gaming laptops start around $1k and go up from there.
It works well for me, but then I don’t need a GPU for my non-gaming laptop use, so I can get away with it. YMMV depending on what you need the laptop to do.
Lol, funny you mention that, because that’s pretty much my setup: A steamdeck and an XPS 15 that I got used like 5 years ago. The only problem is that I don’t really like single player games, so between steam-Xbox cross play and anticheat it’s hard to find things to play with my Xbox friends. But yeah the steamdeck is an insane bang for your buck
It absolutely makes sense. For us who want to game but also need a computer to do day to day work and meetings. I’m not buying two computers, so what I buy for work is what I have to game with.
Cuz they’re crazy expensive, not very powerful, power through batteries in a matter of minutes, and they require you to carry GIANT power supplies, which makes them poor for portability anyway.
How was your experience, technically and gameplay wise?
If Prophecy decides not to enable Linux compatibility of the anticheat (this is a togglable option on their end), I’ll be sure to contact them to try to convince them otherwise.
Didn't have any Problems playing (the one round that I did play). If one has played Tribes before one will feel right at home. Pretty sure they switched the default keybindings up a bit. Shift for sliding and Space for the jetpack.
If the current state it’s in is the final state of the game at release, I’d have a couple weeks of good fun then get bored of it. But the core feel of Tribes is there, with enough TLC put in then I could imagine it being a fun mainstay and worthy successor to the series.
I left feedback suggestions for the devs to allow custom third-party servers and a custom mode creator (Halo Forge-like; I remember there being something like that in Ascend) for the best chance at longevity of this game.
Definitely threw me back to the days I played Ascend. Having to lead your shots and stuff.
Awesome to see it. At first I had some reservations about infusions of capital with investors expecting to see returns at the cost of Godot, but considering W4 and OSS have leading Godot developers in their ranks I’m quite relieved.
I do think that commercial free (as in freedom) open source software can exist, it levels the playing field and makes creating value available to anyone, not just those with access to proprietary software tools. Blender has a healthy ecosystem of free and paid assets and toolchains.
Agreed. In this case too it’s good to know that W4 Games and their Godot work is primarily related to porting Godot to consoles, since the open nature of Godot prohibits them from integrating proprietary SDKs without a third party like W4.
It’s really nice to see that the result of certain other companies shooting themselves in the foot has been a realization that there ARE alternatives out there and to increase the support of such
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