| Best regards | | | | kg) and underan inch thick (1.94 cm) so it truly is a |
| Titus Hoskins | | | | portable laptopwith 5 hours of battery life. This is a long |
| Extreme Gaming Laptops: When Is A Laptop Not A | | | | way removedfrom the XSL8's massive credentials |
| Laptop? | | | | and massive weight, butso too is the distance |
| Extreme gaming laptops are reaching new | | | | between the performances offered bythe respective |
| benchmarks to giveyou the ultimate gaming | | | | laptops. |
| experience. These ever increasing,powerful machines | | | | These two mobile computers were designed for two |
| are offering you better performances fromever | | | | completelydifferent purposes, one for raw gaming |
| decreasing packages. Gaming laptops are now | | | | power and the otherfor the ultimate in portability. Each |
| reachingstandards usually associated with high end | | | | has their respectivecustomers but can both of them |
| Desktop PCs. | | | | be called a laptop? |
| But at some point even the most dedicated gamer | | | | Perhaps, but the Xtreme SL8 is more or less a |
| has to ask:when is a laptop not a laptop? | | | | neatlytrimmed down packaged desktop. Not that there |
| If you take the literal meaning of the word, you should | | | | is anythingwrong with that as long as you understand |
| beable to fit or sit a laptop comfortably on your lap for | | | | what you'regetting when you're buying one; you won't |
| anextended period of time. Portability should also be | | | | be sitting withthis baby on your lap for long periods or |
| anotherdefining feature; you should be able to easily | | | | lugging it aroundover long distances. |
| carry yourlaptop around with you wherever you go. | | | | For those of us studying laptop designs (there are |
| Otherwise, why notjust buy a Desktop PC instead of | | | | suchcreatures in the world unfortunately) over a long |
| a laptop? | | | | period oftime, you can't help but notice how much |
| The long-standing argument has been power or | | | | power andperformance can now be crammed into an |
| performance;you can get higher performance out of a | | | | ever-shrinkingpackage. Nor can you ignore the trend |
| Desktop PC than youcan get from any laptop. Maybe | | | | that Desktop PCs arelooking more and more like |
| so, but the gap is narrowingquickly. | | | | laptops, especially the monitors. |
| Recent extreme gaming laptops are offering some | | | | Even the trademark Desktop Tower is getting slimmer |
| veryimpressive specs. Just take, for example, the new | | | | andmore streamlined. There will probably come a time |
| Xtreme | | | | when allthe tower components will evolve into such |
| SL8 from Rock (a UK laptop manufacturer), and you | | | | small compactentities, calling it a tower will be a gross |
| will seethat stacking has taken on a whole new | | | | exaggeration. |
| meaning. | | | | One can plainly see, the Desktop PC days are |
| The Xtreme SL8 is one heck of a mean-machine with | | | | numbered,especially when you consider we have an |
| ultimateraw stacking power with four Intel Core 2 | | | | inherent need tomake everything smaller and more |
| processor cores,two NVIDIA 8800M GTX SLi graphics | | | | compact. Besides, why takeup all that space when |
| cards and three 7200rpm | | | | you can get the same performance ina smaller |
| SATA hard drives. This gaming machine can crunch | | | | package. This is another example where big maynot |
| numbersand offer top mobile performance | | | | necessarily be better. |
| benchmarks. It might evengive the old PC some | | | | The line between what is a laptop and what is a |
| serious laptop envy! | | | | desktopcomputer will continue to be blurred as |
| This machine supports up to 4GB DDR2 RAM | | | | computer makerskeep offering up what the consumer |
| (available up to | | | | wants. At some point inthe not too distance future the |
| 800MHz) with DX10 graphics. Plus, you have all the | | | | two products will probablyconverge into a light, portable |
| high endfeatures such as HD-DVD Writer combo | | | | package that can be carriedanywhere. Why not just |
| drive, TV Tuner, | | | | call everything a Mobile Computerand be done with it. |
| Hi-res 17" WUXGA X-Glass (1920x1200) Display, | | | | But for now, gaming enthusiasts will still have a |
| Webcam, 7.1 | | | | choicewhen buying their ultimate gaming machine - a |
| Surround Sound Output with 4 speakers... | | | | Desktop PC ora laptop such as the Xtreme SL8. |
| However, all this stacking power and fully loaded | | | | However, calling the lastone a laptop is still stretching |
| featurestakes up a lot of space. The Xtreme SL8 | | | | the imagination to itslimits, no matter how you define it. |
| weighs in at alittle under 12 pounds (5.3 kg) and around | | | | The author runs an online Laptop Guide featuring the |
| 15.5 inches | | | | latesttop gaming laptops: |
| (394) mm by 12 inches (299 mm). At two and a half | | | | For Timely Special Savings/Deals/Coupons on |
| inchesthick this is not your Apple Air. | | | | Toshiba, Dell, |
| Nor is it trying to be, but some comparisons have to | | | | Apple, Sony, Alienware... try here: |
| bemade if we're classifying both of these computing | | | | 2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely |
| machinesas laptops. The Apple Air is 3 pounds (1.36 | | | | distributedif this resource box stays attached. |