Gaming is all the rage nowadays. What used to be niche group of game players is now mainstream. This means that the gaming laptop has really come into its own. Gamers have a lot of options now in the area of laptops.

Gamers demand a lot out of their laptops. They tend to know a lot about computers and they know what they want. They like to order their gaming laptops with their own specs and configurations, essentially creating their own “Dream Machines.” If you are a gamer, here are some of the factors you should consider when choosing the best gaming laptop out there:

1.) Graphics
Well, this is a given. Of course you want awesome graphics. Your game-playing enjoyment practically depends on it. This should be your first area of consideration when choosing a laptop computer. Graphics make your laptop capable of many things, such as wide-screen HDTV, mobile video editing studio, and 3D games. Look for a laptop that includes integrated graphics and a large amount of video RAM. Some Graphic Chipsets that are highly rated include:
Intel’s Graphics Media Accelerator 900
Mobility Radeon 9700
ATIs Mobility FireGL V3200

2). Speed, Baby, Speed!
The speed of processors is known as clock speed, and is measured in megahertz (MHz) or in gigahertz (GHz). The higher the clock speed, the faster your laptop will work.

Get the fastest computer you can afford in order to receive the maximum performance from your gaming laptop. It’s that simple. Your laptop must be able to process the latest 3D games easily, or expect the worst to happen—freeze up. Our suggestion is to go with a SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Architecture) processor. SATA processors are advanced and use less power. They are perfect for laptops. Or, when in doubt, you are always safe with a Pentium.

And, always be aware of your hard drive speed. A 7,200rpm hard drive is faster than a 4,200rpm or 5,400rpm. The faster the hard drive, the better the performance, as well.

Loads of RAM
A lot of RAM (Random-Access Memory) is good. LOADS of RAM is better. In other words, get as much RAM as possible. This will determine how much graphics your laptop can handle. You need at least 246MB for Windows XP and Mac OS X.

Also check out DDR2-SDRAM. This is a new standard that can boost SDRAM memory up to speeds over 200MHz! And Video RAM or VRAM, is special memory that is used by video adaptors on your laptop. This specifically handles the graphic and is helpful when you play the latest 3D games on your laptop.

Display
Don’t forget, you need the brightest, sharpest display screen around to fully appreciate the utter coolness of modern gaming. What you need to keep in mind is this: SVA Resolution. In other words, images are made up of pixels or dots. The more pixels you have, the better the image. SVGA Resolution is made up of 800 x 600 pixels, which is very good.

So, in conclusion:
High Graphics + Speed + RAM + Display = Awesome Gaming Laptop Bliss. Enough said.

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Laptop screen shows strange colors. What could be wrong?:
Laptop screen started showing strange or wrong colors. What could be wrong? I’ve been asked this question many times and today I’m addressing the issue.

In this post I explain some basic troubleshooting techniques in case if your laptop screen started showing strange or incorrect colors.

You have to know how to disassemble the laptop in order to use following troubleshooting techniques.

TEST LAPTOP WITH EXTERNAL MONITOR.

The main step is testing how laptop outputs video on an external monitor (or TV).

You can connect your laptop to an external monitor using VGA cable, DVI cable, HDMI cable or S-Video cable, it depends on a type of connector you have on the laptop. Most laptops have VGA connector, so it would be the most common way to connect.
In my example I’m connecting to an external monitor via VGA connector.

Some laptops detect external monitor automatically and start showing image on both screens right from startup.

Other laptops can detect the monitor but display image only on one screen (internal or external). In this case you’ll have to switch video between internal and external using the Fn key and one of the F* keys in the top row of the keyboard. This combination varies for different laptop brands, for example it’s Fn+F5 for Toshiba, Fn+F4 for HP, Fn+F8 for Dell, Fn+F7 Lenovo etc…

WHAT VIDEO ON EXTERNAL MONITOR CAN TELL?

If both, the internal screen and external monitor (or TV) show strange or incorrect colors or any other image distortion, this is the graphics card failure.

If only the laptop screen shows strange colors or any other distortion but external image appears to be normal (as in my example), the problem is somewhere inside the laptop display. It could be bad connection, bad LCD cable or bad LCD screen.
Let’s narrow down the problem one by one.

TRY RESEATING LCD CABLE CONNECTOR ON MOTHERBOARD.

The laptop screen receives data signal from the motherboard via LCD cable. If the LCD cable not making good connection with the motherboard, it might cause image or color distortion on the screen. Try reseating the LCD cable connector and see if it fixes the problem. Make sure the LCD cable connector plugged correctly.
In most laptops the LCD cable connector located under the keyboard bezel (aka keyboard cover). If it’s not there, most likely you’ll find it somewhere under the keyboard.

WIGGLE THE LCD CABLE.

The LCD cable runs inside the laptop display, under the LCD screen. For this test it’s necessary to disassemble the display, so you can access the cable.

A pinched or damaged wire inside the LCD cable also can cause color distortion.

Try wiggling the LCD cable while the laptop is running. If wiggling the LCD cable affects image on the screen in any way (it starts shown different colors, lines, or image clears to normal, etc…) most likely the LCD cable is defective and has to be replaced. Try replacing the cable.

On the other hand, if wiggling the cable doesn’t affect image on the screen at all, most likely the cable is good and your problem related to the LCD screen failure. In this case you’ll have to replace the LCD screen.

APPLY SOME PRESSURE TO THE DISPLAY.

Try applying some reasonable pressure to the top part of the display assembly. Squeeze it with your fingers.

If the screen starts showing different colors, lines, or clears to normal when you squeeze the top part of the display panel, most likely this is LCD screen failure. In this case you’ll have to replace the LCD screen.

Also, you might be interested in the following posts:

Troubleshooting laptop with backlight failure.

How to test LCD screen inverter in a laptop.

Laptop has bad video on the LCD screen. What is wrong?

How to troubleshoot and fix laptop video problems.

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