Best fsx laptop?

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n421nj
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Best fsx laptop?

Post by n421nj »

What is the best laptop on the market for flight simming? Don't care about price, looking for the best and why.
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CodyValkyrie
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by CodyValkyrie »

None! Seriously though, I never recommend laptops for any type of gaming. Awesome for work and school, but they are always severely limited for gaming in size, heat, and power. Wish I could give you a recommendation, but maybe someone will come along who can help you better. I'm pretty biased, but that's after years of seeing people spend thousands on gaming laptops and being disappointed.
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LZ-WIL
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by LZ-WIL »

Hi,

Asus ROG series, I suppose. Half of my friends have such models and they are pretty brutal editions. They are most pleased by the cooling efficiency the ROG series have. I am more desktop user, my main board and gpu are Asus. (decently aged, but that's another topic) :wink:
I am thinking of an upgrade soon and most probably will turn to the same brand for mother board and gpu.

Happy New Year!
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RodSully
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by RodSully »

My laptop is used only for travel when I am out for an extended time. The desktop at home may be the best way to go unless space is really limited.
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Gypsy Baron
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by Gypsy Baron »

I have a GigaByte system that I had built with my options that I use for flying FSX when I am traveling.

https://www.xoticpc.com/

The system gives me good performance but I haven't loaded it down with 'extras' such as all the FTX/OrbX stuff
I have on my desktop at home. I use this laptop primarily to fly missions with the 91st Bombardment Group when
I am off on my many trips to various parts of the world.

I have another high performance laptop that I had ordered several months prior to this one but it turned
out to be too large and heavy for lugging around Europe in my backpack as I moved from city to city.

This GigaByte system fiits nicely in my backpack and only weights about 6 pounds, It is a bit larger than the
10" netbook that I use to travel with and was not capable of running FSX. This laptop is only a pound heavier
than the netbook and the 14" display works fine for my purposes.

Here are the specs of the system:
  • Order Information Shipments

    Order Date: February 18, 2015

    Items Ordered | Track your order
    Product SKU Price Qty Subtotal
    Subtotal $1,883.00
    Shipping & Handling $28.00
    Grand Total $1,911.00

    GIGABYTE P34Gv2-CF4
    Display
    14.0” FHD 16:9 LED IPS Backlit Wide screen (1920x1080) ...
    Processor
    4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4710HQ (2.5GHz - ...
    Graphics Video Card
    NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 860M (4.0GB) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX1 ...
    Ram
    16GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-824 ...
    mSATA SSD Drive - Configuration Option
    mSATA Option: Operating System Installed [Default] w/ m ...
    mSATA SSD Drive ( Slot 1 )
    500GB Samsung 840 EVO Series Solid State mSATA (Read 54 ...
    Primary Hard Drive
    1TB 7200RPM (SATA III - 6GB/s) ...
    Bluetooth
    Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (S ...
    Wireless Network
    Intel® Dual Band AC 7260 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N 2.4/5.0GHz + ...
    Memory Card Reader
    Internal SD Only Card Reader(+ 0)
    Camera
    Built in 1.3Megapixel Camera(+ 0) )
    Sound Card
    Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included(+ 0)
    Battery
    Smart Li-ion Battery (4-Cell)(+ 0)
    AC Adapter - European/UK Power Cord
    Standard US Power Cord(+ 0)
    Windows 7 Professional - 64-Bit (Disk Included)(+ 134)
    Operating System - Clean Installation Option
    Keep factory installed operating system(+ 0)
    System Recovery Manufacturer Backup Disks
    No thanks, do not create backup recovery DVD's(+ 0)
    Warranty
    2 Year GIGABYTE Warranty ...
    The XOTIC PC Difference
    * 24/7 LIFETIME U.S. based technical support
I use TrackIR with this and a Logitech G13 'keyboard' as my contoller. Those items go into my checked bag
while the backpack holds the laptop, cell phone/batteries/charger, my travel docs, prescription meds, etc.
Thus when traveling by train in Europe I only have those 2 items to keep track of although I often have
a tote bag for reading material, water bottle and snacks :)
Paul
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Aerodil
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by Aerodil »

Well what you want is a high-performance gaming laptop. And if the price is really not an issue, you really only have two options;

- Alienware
or
- Digital Storm

And since you asked "why?":

Digital Storm's main thing is desktop machines which can easily cost upwards of $15000 (I once went crazy and customized a PC that cost $40k), but their top-of-the-line gaming laptop, the 17.3" Banshee at Level 4 customisation (that is, the "ultimate"), which uses desktop graphics & cpu hardware (which means it's bulkier than the already relatively bulky gaming laptops) costs just under $3500. You can obviously customise it further if you wish (which may bring the price higher or lower depending on your final configuration).
Digital Storm hand builds every single system and makes them to order. Every single system then goes through a thorough stress test to make sure that you won't encounter any performance issues.

Their desktops are beasts that I think are the best looking ones out there.

If you need further information you can check their website (http://www.digitalstorm.com) and their credentials under "about" section.

Alienware is a rather well known brand (owned by Dell Computers) so I won't go into detail here.
They make quality products and most people prefer their gaming laptops for their gaming needs (http://www.alienware.com/)

5-6 years ago it may have been that the desktops had a clear advantage over laptops for gaming purposes and their easy upgradability, but almost every major brand has started making purpose-designed gaming laptops a couple years ago and today gaming laptops are just as good, if not better, as/than any other gaming desktop out there.

If you're into building and/or upgrading your own system and think that desktops are better suited to that, again not anymore. Laptops are just as upgradable/over-clockable as anything out there (but you already knew that).

And if you're not that sort of person, then it doesn't really matter since you're going to be buying a whole new system in a few years anyway, be it a laptop or a desktop.

It's really a lifestyle choice rather than a performance issue nowadays.

Hope that was helpful.

EDIT: It should go without saying that the brands I mentioned above also have lower budget selections as well. I particularly like the Digital Storm because it lets me custom build my own computer without me having to worry about compatibility issues.
Last edited by Aerodil on 01 Jan 2016, 06:24, edited 1 time in total.

kiwikat
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by kiwikat »

It entirely depends on how much you want to spend, how portable you want it to be, and what your expectations are.

I ran FSX when it first came out on a rather unique ASUS laptop that utilized a desktop Core 2 Duo processor. Since then I switched to simming on desktops, but just recently I installed FSX:SE on Bootcamped Windows 10 on my 2015 Macbook Pro 15" w/ discrete graphics and was able to run the A2A Comanche at 30 FPS locked with mostly "high" graphics settings selected. I wouldn't want to throw something like the PMDG 777 at it, but it worked surprisingly well with GA planes.

If you can provide some guidance on how much you want to spend and what features are a priority for you, we'd be able to make some better suggestions.

n421nj
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by n421nj »

I have to get a laptop for business but figure if I'm getting a laptop may as well have the option to play fsx, xplane, ts2016, starcraft, etc. Since it will be a tax write off I'm not too worried about price. I'm liking the alien ware laptops.
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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by Lewis - A2A »

If cost is no issue go big because unlike desktops it's not something you can easily upgrade. So the bitter you get the longer it'll last you.

Remember the important parts for simming imo are;

Plenty of USB ports
Nvidia graphics
Intel i7 chipset
More RAM the better

That should see you with a good laptop that'll last you a while tech wise. Of course something to be weary off and that you will have to setup is that many gamer laptops have pretty poor battery compared to normal laptops due to the juice they draw. So you will want to setup in Windows some good power schemes to get the most of her when not in gamer mode.

Cheers,
Lewis


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CodyValkyrie
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by CodyValkyrie »

Lewis nailed it here. I'd listen to what he has to say. I've known him for years and he always has a very practical approach to dealing with these kinds of things.
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taildraggin68
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by taildraggin68 »

Just my two pennies..I run an Alienware laptop...solid performance and cooling, runs FSX-SE, P3Dv2 and V3, X-plane all on very high settings while also running Plan-G and Simplates and a second monitor (32 inch) and all the peripherals (Saitek panels, TPM, GoFlight yoke and TQ6 throttle, external F1 GPS530) without any issue at all. It can be disconnected from "the pit" and taken with me if needed, but you will need to, as Lewis stated, set up some profiles for battery management. :D

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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by MarcE »

Lewis - A2A wrote:
Remember the important parts for simming imo are;

Plenty of USB ports

This disqualifies any laptops!!

I have 12 USB ports on my PC and every single one is used! external hubs did never work for me, one disconnect and problem followed by the next.

Just sum up what I need for FSX.. 4 USB for controls (yoke, pedals, throttle, joystick for the stick planes), 1 for TrackIR, 1 for Headset (My girlfried would kill me if I had those those jet and radial engines volumed up lol), 1 for keyboard, one for mouse. 8 USB ports for me just to fly :roll:

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Lewis - A2A
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by Lewis - A2A »

MarcE wrote:
Lewis - A2A wrote:
Remember the important parts for simming imo are;

Plenty of USB ports

This disqualifies any laptops!!

I have 12 USB ports on my PC and every single one is used! external hubs did never work for me, one disconnect and problem followed by the next.

Just sum up what I need for FSX.. 4 USB for controls (yoke, pedals, throttle, joystick for the stick planes), 1 for TrackIR, 1 for Headset (My girlfried would kill me if I had those those jet and radial engines volumed up lol), 1 for keyboard, one for mouse. 8 USB ports for me just to fly :roll:
Did you try standard hubs or the powered types?

Standard ones are crap so where ever possible always get a good powered hub, I wouldn't be without mine!
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dvm
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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by dvm »

n421nj wrote:What is the best laptop on the market for flight simming? Don't care about price, looking for the best and why.
Probably going to piss some people off but if you are serious about flight simming and money is not an issue why would you want a laptop. In my opinion you want a big monitor a comfortable seat and your input devices in the most realistic configuration possible. It is also cheaper to build or buy a PC of equivalent performance. I do realize that a permanent place to set up your flight sim equipment may be a problem. My own rig is an evolution but I always had a desk , a decent seat with my input devices mounted in as realistic a position as possible.

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Re: Best fsx laptop?

Post by Gypsy Baron »

dvm wrote:
n421nj wrote:What is the best laptop on the market for flight simming? Don't care about price, looking for the best and why.
Probably going to piss some people off but if you are serious about flight simming and money is not an issue why would you want a laptop.-SNIP-
Have you ever tried traveling with a desktop and all the extra stuff...stick, throttles, rudder pedals, etc? :)

I bought my 'traveling laptop' so that I can fly Multiplayer when I'm sitting in a hotel room wherever I happen to be, as I travel somewhere pretty much every month. (I'm retired and go at the drop of a hat)

As for USB ports, I get by with 1 for the mouse, 1 for TrackIR, and 1 for the Logitech G13. My headset & mike plug into the ports that are dedicated to those inputs.

The G13 is programmed with multiple 'modes', beyond the 3 default modes so that I have essentially a 'push-button' configuration similar to what my dual Saitek throttle quads provide me with at home. I use FSUIPC4 and the conditional programming capability such that any given switch, or in the case of the G13 key, has multiple selectible fuctions.

Since I pretty much only fly my A2A B-17G online while traveling, the '10 modes per switch' mapping of my Saitek equipment is duplicated on the G13. The tiny joystick on the G13 IS a challenge buy it doesn't take up any additional space or USB ports.

For me it was a matter of adapting something to allow me to fly FSX while traveling and not take up too much more room that my previous 'non-FSX capable' netbook.

At home I have my desktop and various peripherals and I wouldn't consider using a laptop there other than in parallel with my desktop to run Plan-G and other non-flight-related stuff.
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