I don’t exactly have time for a new hobby but I decided it might be fun to get back into video games (something not on my iPhone). It might be because everyone around me is getting a PS4 or Xbox One. Or maybe it’s because I can’t eat while I play. And possibly it’s because I need some kind of stress outlet now that I have given up binge eating (I will miss you…). I don’t know- but it’s fun.
I kept hearing about Steam so I decided to check it out. Essentially it’s the iTunes of the video game world. I went out and bought a corded Xbox controller and downloaded Flashback and Ducktales Remastered. What a blast! Since I was using a laptop I tried out Flashback in my theater- too big to really keep track of everything, but cool.
My current Sony Vaio laptop is a few years old and not really built for gaming (for reference it scores about 30,000 on the new 3D mark… which is bad). Since I want to play games I decided to get something better suited to the task. Initially I looked at the Razor Blade, but reviews said the screen was really bad and for me 1080p resolution was a must-have. Eventually I came across the Pulse 17 from Maingear. I have a Maingear PC at work and really like it. The Pulse 17 is billed as a super slim gaming laptop and really pushed my buttons (visually and spec-wise). Since I wanted a laptop just for games I decided a 17″ screen couldn’t hurt and jumped in head first. I’m hoping to get it in the next couple of weeks and I’ll post a review.
Dimensions & Weight: 11.3″ x 16.5″ x .85″ & 6 lbs.
Screen: 17.3″ Full HD Matte Anti-Reflective 1920 x 1080 (16:9)
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7 4700HQ 2.4GHz/3.4GHz Turbo 8MB L3 Cache HD 4600 [47W]
Memory: 16GB DDR3-1600 1.5V (2x8GB, SODIMMs)
Graphics and GPGPU Accelerator: NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5 with Optimus Technology
Hard Drive Bay One: 512GB SuperRAID -Dual 256GB Plextorl® M5M mSATA] w/ TRIM [1080MB/s Reads]
Hard Drive Bay Two: 1TB 5400rpm 2.5″ HDD
Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Cinema with 2.1 Premium Speakers
Ethernet Adapter: On-board Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless Network Adapter: Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 802.11ac + Bluetooth [Up to 867Mbps]
CPU: Ingenic JZ4770 1 GHz MIPS processor
GPU: Vivante GC860, capable of OpenGL ES 2.0
Display: 3.5 inch LCD w/ 320×240 pixels; 4:3 aspect ratio
Operating system: Linux 3.x (OpenDingux)
Memory: 512 MB DDR2
Internal storage: 16 GB, most of which is available for applications and data
External storage: micro SDHC up to 32 GB or micro SDXC of 64 GB
Connectivity: Mini USB 2.0 OTG & Mini HDMI 1.3 out
Audio: Stereo speakers, mono microphone, 3.5mm mini jack
Other: Accelerometer (g-sensor) and vibration motors
Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz
Dimensions & Weight: 5.6″ x 2.8″ x .7″ & 8 oz