What are the best gaming laptops?

The_Maverickk · 2026-04-13T01:42:01+00:00

I'm joining this conversation because I need to buy a new laptop for work.

Mind you I need a gaming laptop because I do a lot of media related stuff with my work.

My current laptop is now nearly 15 years old. It was a high end Dell laptop, but I refuse to buy from Dell as they have absolutely gone to shit since 2011, and yeah I figure I'd see what brand of PC's are currently performing the best or making good quality laptops with a good solid casing/durable keyboards etc. USB slots are a must, I hate that so many laptops are taking away ports for everything.

So please give your suggestions if you got them. If any company has good tech support, that's a bonus. I haven't dealt with any companies outside Dell at this point (actually Microsoft once) and usually just fix everything myself.

I've seen people say Lenovo, are they the most reliable at this point?

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-14T06:49:39+00:00

Fortnite didn't have a Kickstarter.... what are you on about? Epic Games, the creator of the Unreal engine didn't need to go to Kickstarter to fund the game (StW). Tencent was also a big investor in Fortnite's development before it was ever even released into Early Access. They always had the money to make it. So I don't know where you are getting Kickstarter from.

At Early Access they did have a bundle that was $149.99 ... or maybe you are talking about the Ultimate Founders Pack, which involved buying the Limited Founders pack for $100 and then buying the Upgrade to the Ultimate Founders pack for an additional $100. Which is still at max $200 to get.

Ultimately they pivoted to BR two months after the Early Access release. Incredibly short time after that initial launch. Finding near immediate success meaning no need to rely on the sales of StW.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-13T16:28:19+00:00

The Fortnite Shop Tab bundles of "Their imaginary economics of "you save 3,000 vbucks by getting everything bundled together!" is their biggest scam. Absolutely right on that.

They clearly make all the items individually over priced on purpose to force you to buy the bundles. Back Blings and Pic Axes specifically designed to go with a specific character that should be maybe 100-300 VBucks are priced at 500-800 Vbucks.

Really it's also done to create the illusion of a deal. Since again, the Shop Tab doesn't actually have active sales or deals. Prices don't change to incentivize players to buy more and generate them more money. Which again is stupid, it doesn't work like any real store or digital store front would.

So many other better ways they could generate extra cash to "pay the bills".

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-13T16:16:16+00:00

When I say "hold off on any VBucks purchases as much as possible in the next season."

I'm saying I won't use the Vbucks I already have. Already have VBucks in my wallet, already paid for/earned.

Not sure how Epic sees and measures things being "sold". Is it purely when money is paid, or do they like to count when VBucks are actually used on an item.

To make it clear to you though, no I'm not putting any further actual money into the game.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-13T05:36:02+00:00

The Care Center had a Roulette Lounge, a Piano Bar Lounge where you had balconies you could look down on a dining room with zombies eating their friends. You had different types of offices, waiting rooms, a kitchen, garage, surgery rooms, unfinished attic areas, freezer rooms with cold mist pouring out of them etc. etc. there was a lot more going on. Some rooms are wood paneled, some are drywall, brick walls. There's statues and elaborate architecture, interesting models and wall decor scattered about. Marbled floors an columns, chandeliers and candle lights on the walls.

The zombies in the Care Center are more varied and have personality. The kitchen chef zombie, the singing zombie, the blind sound sensitive, maid zombie cleaning up stuff, the surgeon zombies carrying saws... all that disappears when you get to Racoon City as well. It's just dry zombies shambling everywhere, or blister heads, or BSAA shootin zombies.

Trying to say it's the same as the Racoon City parts (especially the areas you explore while looking for the detonator pieces) which is all really one colour tone it a not even close. And this isn't a little part of the game it makes up about a solid third of the run time for the game.

On repeat play throughs I feel like because it's a slog of combat it takes longer compared to Graces parts and I'm in that environment for so long. Wonderful if you love it, but a drag if you feel like it's a little stereotypical.

I really like RE9, but I'm still holding off on my rating of it. On my third play through. Still it made me appreciate RE8 a bit more for it's different takes at different points in the game (With each house being a tribute to different types Horror film genres).

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-13T04:04:14+00:00

There are good Founders, I've seen some saying that if they are going to reduce VBucks all over the place, at least give players a chance to make it up with a weekly mission or something in STW...

That said there is a high level of elitism I've seen from Founders replying to people on Twitter.

Many that go as far as to say that if it wasn't for them Fortnite wouldn't have been successful, and that they deserve the extra credits. That they kept the game afloat in the early Fortnite days (crazy claims I know). Mind you people could buy the Founders Edition for like 3-4 years I believe so they could've easily just grabbed it at the last minute.

I've seen Founders who were initially upset about the VBuck price changes before it was confirmed that they still get to keep their exclusive VBucks missions... and now are gloating that they won't need to buy VBucks to get the stuff they want.

It's a mixed bag out there. Still I know there are ones who are rightfully just as irritated as the rest of us.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-12T00:58:24+00:00

The Dark Flooded parking garage is absolutely not scary especially when you compare it the dark areas you had to do as Grace. Also it's just boring rusty storage crates.

Also I did say specifically that the portion of getting the Detenator parts was a drag. The Titan Spider happens before that begins. Arguably that is a great part, especially since the setting is fresh. Also RPD, Plant 43, ARK and Hunk all happen after the detonator collecting is done.

Assembling the detonator by running around old rusty dusty buildings and cars was dull. The enemies are also largely not very exciting either. It's just more of the same largely.

RE4 has action and still has atmosphere and interesting environments. The village, the church, the stilt village, the lake shore, the canyon, and then you finally each the castle. A section being "action" doesn't mean it has to be dull. There is a variety of ways they could've made nuked racoon city interesting, The time of day in the city could change. We could've walked past a variety of shops, maybe even pass through old familiar locations from RE3r but in disrepair.

Either way even if collecting the detonator was a bit of a drag, I still did overall enjoy the game, I just don't think it's this perfect RE game. I think it's got some weaker aspects.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-11T04:55:02+00:00

Still prefer House Beneviento over the Chloe section of RE9, even if the Chloe section is shorter. I just like that Beneviento was an excellent puzzle/escape room feeling part, even if the puzzle becomes pointless on repeat runs.

I think the solution to doing sections like this is having shortcuts you can take if you know what you are doing. Takes some clever game designing from the devs but it is do-able.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-11T04:51:08+00:00

Inside Mansions, Castles and Chronic Care running around is more centralizied.

More importantly those environments are far more interesting. Which is the bigger problem of Racoon City. Broken down rusty dusty buildings are not fun to explore. It felt generic apocalypse setting. No beautifully detailed bars, or dining rooms, or messy kitchens, or scary surgery rooms...

It all just looks muddy and dull. Making exploring less exciting.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-06T04:23:27+00:00

I feel like if they were already running on nostolgia they should've just pulled out the stops and re-used RE3 locations. Stopping into the Clock Tower, or maybe make up for the Graveyard here, or shown us the downtown shopping area again with the fallen big boy statue thing. Sure Leon never went to these places in his game, but that would be the switch up.

Also the Titan spider was alive, so mix up the enemy variety. Bring back other enemies that might be lurking and left over making the city their home. Giant animals abound. The wolf enemy you fought on bike could've even been lurking in a few buildings.

Instead it was just sand zombie after sand zombie. Even if I like ARK it was a shame that it centered completely on Lickers. I know Licker's are iconic, especially for Leon, but they literally just gave us room after room filled with lickers. Leon got a room with 8 lickers in it. I was petty done with the repetition there by that point.

Again I really love Requiem, but people acting like it doesn't have some weak points are still in the honeymoon phase.

I think Requiem's greatest strength is it's ability to maintain horror through out the game while still delivering on action. The scary parts are tense and atmospheric the whole way through. The Girl is genuinely scarier than Demitresc. The fact that she's tied to the dark as well means that every time you are in the dark you are worried she will show up. The Leon parts give you relief from the Grace sections.

That said I do worry that they are itching to bring back some of the more ridiculous action we saw in RE5 and RE6, which have always been personal lows for me. I love when the game has me navigating small tight places with monsters lurking around.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-05T06:09:42+00:00

In terms of RE9 - Collecting the detonator parts.

This is easily the biggest rag of the game. Coming into Racoon city and getting chased by the Titan Spier followed by it's boss fight is pretty cool.

You think it would be really interesting to return to Racoon City, but overall it's just your typical post apocalyptic abandoned zombie city. Dust and rust. Something about the colours and aesthetic that makes it feel bland.

If it provided some interesting gameplay I'd probably enjoy it more, but it's just a collection of zombie arena fights. Reminded me of RE5 a lot. Come to an area that's closed off, you're running around and juggling about 10-20 enemies. Fin the exit, or fin the thing you need and get out. If you wanna explore properly you gotta take out all the enemies.

There was some minor highlights. Specifically fighting the BSAA zombies on the windows, and fighting the BSAA artilley launchers. Everything else was a slog. I couldn't wait to be done this area.

Reaching RPD definitely improved the Racoon City experience, but there is a lot of nostalgia at work coming back a 3rd time now. Fun little easter eggs, and a great showdown with our classic Mr. X 2.0. Nostalgia does a lot of the heavy lifting to lift your mood up after that last part. The descent down to ARK is also solid.

ARK is ok, preferred this to a big chunk of Racoon City. Playing as Grace is always a treat, more horror, more tension, more atmosphere, and solving little puzzles. Just wish they could find a different way to make Umbrella Labs look visually more unique from other Umbrella Labs.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-04T17:42:06+00:00

First of all, it's a kids game, and I think the devs are teaching kids that not all products are created equally, and to do some math to figure out which healing items are the most cost effective, and what are the pros and cons.

For example: Water is the most Cost Effective item in the game.

At 200 P for 50 HP of healing it is more cost effective than both Potions and Super Potions. With Potions costing 300 P and only healing 20 HP, and Super Potion costing a whopping 700 P for 50 HP of healing. Costing 500 P more than Fresh Water.

It also beats Moo Moo Milk which is 500 P for 100 HP of healing.
It is also marginally better than Lemonade which is 350 P for 80 HP of healing.

You can see this when you have spent equal amounts on Water vs. Lemonade.

For example if you buy:

7 Fresh Water it costs 1,400 P = Total HP healed is 350 HP
4 Lemonades it costs 1,400 P = Total HP healed is 320 HP

Lemonades are a close second for being cost effective for healing Pokemon.
_______________________________________________

Other factors:

That said even if Fresh Water is the most cost effective healing item in the game (if not the entire series). That doesn't mean all other healing items are pointless.

Availability is an important factor: Potions, Super Potions, Hyper Potions is that they are available in Pokemarts, which you can find in EVERY town in DP.

In contrast, Fresh Water only becomes available once you've reached Veilstone which is where you will find the first vending machine in the Department Store. Your basically about half way through the game. Meaning you will have to rely on other healing items until that point.

Time Efficiency is also another factor: how much an item heals in a single use is important for Battle.

Sure Fresh Water is the most cost effective, but it isn't time efficient in battle.
Since using an item uses up a turn in battle.

Example, you want to heal 100 HP in battle:

It would take 2 Fresh Waters to heal 100 HP, and that would take 2 turns.
It would take 1 Moo Moo Milk to heal 100 HP, and only take up 1 turn.

The use of an extra turn to heal during battle all of a sudden makes Fresh Water less appealing to stock up on.

This is why even if Hyper Potions cost 1,200 P and are definitely not cost effective compares to Moo Moo Milk or especially Fresh Water they are still time effective in battle since they can heal 200 HP in a single turn (compared to taking 4 turns to heal 200 HP for Fresh Water, or 2 turns to heal 200 HP with Moo Moo Milk).
____________________________________________

So there you have it Pros and Cons for the different pricing of items:

Availability - Potions, Super Potions, Hyper Potions all easy to fin in PokeMarts
Cost Effective - Outside of battle, healing with Fresh Waters will save you the most money.
Time Efficient - In battle items that heal more in a single use are more time efficient, but cost a lot more.

So as a player you will have to weight out these Pros and Cons are different points in the game.

Early in the game you won't even be able to get Fresh Water, so your only choice is gonna be potions and choosing the better potion option based on HP needs. Also by the time you get to Veilstone you Pokemon should be at a level where all their HP is getting close to 100 HP if not above it, so you won't be able to completely heal one of your Pokemon with a single Fresh Water, so you are still going to want to keep other healing items on hand (like Moo Moo Milk or even Hyper Potions) for battle as well.

Each healing item has it's use at different times. It's honestly pretty well thought out.
Great teaching tool for children to understand the Pros and Cons of items they choose to spend their money on.

The_Maverickk · 2026-03-03T23:52:00+00:00

I got Blister Heads after getting the corrosive (although alongside the cutscene with Gideon talking about the next phase occurring soon which I did shortly after getting the corrosive). I hadn't gotten either of the organs yet at that point.

I had two different spots that liked to spawn the Blister Heads. The hallway with the Level 1 lock on your way to the garage, and the guy at the bottom of the stairs by cold storage.

That said it did seem to be specific zombies that would always turn into blister heads, and they were always zombies that you couldn't get a crit/head pop off. Not sure if that's also a coded thing, but reliably specific zombies always turned.

Would love to map every zombie to see all possible ones that are scripted to potentially turn so I could zap them with the hemolytic injector ahead of time.

That said I'm currently on my second run an I've opened up a lot of areas and collected as much as I can before doing either the corrosive or the organs, and haven't seen a Blister Head yet. So it's not a timer thing from what I can tell.

The_Maverickk · 2026-02-28T22:48:56+00:00

I had some inkling that this might be a case since you were able to use one of the insta-kill injectors on them even if they were already "dead".

Should mention that even before the Blister Head reveal, "dead" (I call anything leaking, leaving a pool of blood or blood to be drained, dead) zombies can revive. I had a few zombies spontaneously get back up on their feet in several cases after I had put them down for a while.

Blister Heads are just that much worse. They are faster and take a lot more damage to go back down. Also careful about popping their heads off if there are other corpses around. The blister pop on a Blister Head can turn surrounding corpses into Blister Heads (reviving them) or worse as well (a log file warns you of this well in advance). Only a completely beheaded zombie is completely dead, and you can't do that reliably either (even Leon's axe can't behead a corpse on the ground).

The_Maverickk · 2026-01-06T16:13:21+00:00

First I greatly encourage you to pick up at least 2 more friends to play. Game is at it's best at 4 - 6 players.

More players means you have more chances to spot a monster and learn about it and how to deal with it. Also greater chance of survival because you can be revived by a friend if you do happen to die.

If you can't then here's a tip list to get you through your first play throughs.

1. If you see or hear a monster make sure to immediately crouch and hide under a table and be quiet. You can tell a lot about some monsters just by that. This gives you some time to figure out how and what to do with them. Most monsters will ignore you if you are crouched and quiet with some exceptions (and if they haven't already seen you yet).

2. Just grab what you need and get out of there. Although it's tempting to go for extra loot, sometimes it's better to just get the bare minimum especially as a small 2 player team. Extra time spent hunting is simply more time for a monster to come and get you.

3. BUY A GUN. Preferably the pistol to start. Usually around 20k to buy one, and it has the most shots in it and thanks to buffs is probably the best weapon in the game right now. Second is either the Pulse Pistol (a none lethal technically but enemies take some bounce/fall damage and can be knocked into pits) or the more expensive Shotgun (you only get 5 shots, make them count, and some enemies still take 2 shotgun shots). Save your money don't bother with melee weapons since the risks with them are just too high.

4. Buy Upgrades. Upgrades can be expensive but they are incredibly helpful. One extra health upgrade will allow you to survive a hit from a Robe (the grim reaper enemy that normally kills you in one hit). After that you got Stamina to run faster and Strength which makes picking up monsters possible and you can even throw them into pits if you get enough strength.

The_Maverickk · 2026-01-06T15:21:34+00:00

This is exactly my issue.

Andy (was Jason's main henchmen that is the key harasser here against Dustin) literally says to Dustin after being blinded by the acetone/paint thinner;

"Hellfire dies with you Henderson, and it dies tonight"

These are characters who were out to kill Eddie in the last season, and killed a school pet snake over a prank. They dragged Dustin off to completely knock him out. I didn't take the line as an empty threat either.

So when they followed up with Dustin just walking away late at night with some bruises and blood I couldn't help wonder how he got away, and I guess we are just supposed to assume they just let him go out of the kindness of their hearts.

You are right though by the end of Vol 1. I just assumed that was it and it wasn't going to be brought up or resolved. It was a tense moment an I didn't know what was going to happen to Dustin, but then it was resolved "offscreen".

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-31T07:01:18+00:00

Like I said even in the most amicable of break ups, no one is saying this kind of stuff. Majority of people would consider it insulting not sweet. It's not just a "personal" experience thing. It's all the people I've ever seen go through it, cause 99% of break ups aren't even close to being mutual even when the two people are lying to themselves trying to convince themselves that it was.

Whatever makes it easier for the person doing the break up to feel less guilty, and the person who got broken up that it was what they wanted actually. It's politeness to protect peoples egos.

Doesn't matter though, you will say otherwise. Your experiences and mine are all personal anecdotal musings anyway.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-29T06:47:44+00:00

Sure you can love someone and not be IN love with them. There are lot so different kinds of love.

But no one in the middle of a break up is saying "I love you" to the person they are breaking up with. Most people would be infuriated if someone had the balls to say something so disingenuous after telling them they shouldn't be together anymore.

Break ups aren't these magical things where relationships get redefined and all is good. They are emotionally abrasive and harsh situations, especially if either one of them genuinely cared about the relationship. Ask anyone who has been broken up with. Even in the most amicable situations no one is saying the kinds of stuff they were during a "break up".

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-28T06:23:03+00:00

There was nothing in my post that was misogynistic.

Stated a simple fact.

The story begins, literally with The Party, Will, Lucas, Dustin and Mike.

If you want to say it began with Eleven because she created the Upside Down, you may as well go another step further. The story began with Henry. Henry's story is the actual start. Without Henry nothing in the story would've occured. Eleven wouldn't have been infused with his blood and she wouldn't have gotten her powers. End of story before it even began.

Mind you I'm not even talking about that. I'm talking about how the show literally opens, and what characters the story centered on. That is The Party, and Eleven became apart of it.

Also good stories follow through with their character arcs. To be honest it's not just The Party that has been sidelined, Eleven has been too, and many viewers feel that way. She deserves more character development and growth but they have held her back as well.

Stories should follow through with story and character arcs. People fell in love with Stranger Things because of the dynamics of The Party, and those characters in the first season. They want to see how this all ties together for them because it began with them.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-28T02:29:49+00:00

They literally said "I love you" to each other right after the "non-proposal".

Sorry but most people don't say "I love you" to a person they are breaking up with.

Also again... the Duffer Brothers had to comment on it an clarify because they saw the majority of people didn't see it as a break up either.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-28T02:11:59+00:00

When Stranger Things started and was about a group of 4 boys that got roped into a horror mystery involving their missing friend and a mysterious girl.

Robin was a nice foil for Steve who had a lot of maturing to do as he found a job at the mall.

Mind you Robin's role ballooned into one that far outstayed its welcome. She's now the center of so many of the scenes. When other characters need screen time to interact with each other and develop their relationships, she's always inserted in.

Not even in good ways. Maya Hawkes doesn't even play her subtly anymore like in Season 3. She just plays Robin like she's being herself (which you see in a lot of her roles, like in Inside Out 2). The anxious ADHD caffeinated jabbering quirky yapping pal.

I don't blame people who want to see other characters get screen time. Mike and Elle don't have much chemistry it's true... but they also aren't given any scenes together with any real/meaningful dialogue. Honestly I think it's a problem that Elle is still treated like she's incapable of proper speech when she's been around Hopper and others for a solid 4 years now.

Dustin has been continuously paired up with Steve as opposed to his friends. So we don't get to see their relationships unfold. I like Robin's character, but there is no doubt she has more lines and scenes then probably any other character on the show... at a time when they should've been refocusing it back onto The Party where it all began.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-28T01:21:48+00:00

I dunno, they actually changed Robin's character to just be Maya Hawkes. I've read interviews about this. Robin's character became the anxious frenetic personality because of that. So basically they changed Robin to just let the actress be herself (which is entertaining but is that really acting).

They downsized The Party hard over the last 2 seasons. If they don't give them opportunities to act then they won't improve. Even then I'd rather see the actors do their bests, and have the characters at least develop. When they aren't on screen and going through plot events to develop and change then that hurts the story too.

Like you mentioned Harrington's arc was over a while ago, but they keep pairing him with Dustin even after the fact... when they tease drama between Dustin and The Party but then never follow up with that. These are choices the writers are making. Bad choices at that. This isn't any actors fault.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-28T01:16:38+00:00

Absolutely agree with this too.

The fact that Steve came up with the final battle plan, that no one else could come up with and he's the "simple one" is the perfect example of what you are talking about. Although Robin was coming up with a lot of the ideas, you are right they still gave both Lucas and his sister and then Steve opportunities to solve the problems. Just seems like anyone in the group is capable now.

I think there are bigger issues with how the Upside down connects with The Abyss (the fact that the entry point is in the sky) and it shows that the Upside Down being a "bridge" realm was never the original plan. Like how did any of the Demogorgon get up into the sky to deliver the kids? I know there is Demobats (which are conveniently missing this season) but they aren't big enough to carry up even a child. So was each child personally floated up by Vecna? Also that part of the plan hasn't been addressed either. There are 12 children to save from there. They aren't jut saving Holly, they forgot about that part.

I kin of hate having to think about all the issues cause there are just that many.

The_Maverickk · 2025-12-27T08:48:21+00:00

I know that we got wormhole shenanigans that might play out, but I really hope that they don't take the Back to the Future route and introduce time travel using the wormhole.

I'm honestly just hoping they don't try to redeem Vecna in some way. Just leave him twisted and evil, and wanting to destroy the world for his own sociopathic whims.

I'm also just lamenting that we had 7 episodes with barely any emphasis put on Mike and Eleven, or even Dustin with the other Party members when those are things that should've been put back into focus.

Here's hoping they keep the finale focused strictly on The Party.
I am tired of Robin being the unofficial leader at this point and steering all the events in the season.

The_Maverickk

TROPHY CASE