TechRoar

The world of gaming is expanding to include all aspects of the realm of technology, conquering first desktop computers, arcade game machines and televisions to name a few, and now proving its edurance as an entertainment phenomenon with laptops as well. Gaming laptops or notebooks are now the most convenient way for an avid gamer to win intergalactic wars on Starcraft or build empires, wherever they may be! No more is gaming constricted to the house and the arcade – gaming laptops allow us to take it out into the streets at our convenience. Now isn’t that a novel idea.

For first-time gaming laptop buyers, there are a few factors that are essential in making the product truly worthwhile. These are a good graphics chip, processor speed and type and the amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) available for users to make the most of their interfaces. These can all determine the standard of one’s gaming experience. The first of these ensures that the display does not freeze or get interrupted in any other way during the game, while the second allows the laptop to deal with the high power that is needed to facilitate the game. Intel core 2 Duo is a good pick for a high-quality dual processor. The last is also needed for the program to run smoothly on your computer, as the amount of memory available for running tasks is very important, though the use of higher values can often be limited by the operating system in use. At least a 2GB RAM should be used to avoid glitches.

Besides the laptop there is a number of gaming accessories that will make your gaming experience more worthwhile. These include gadgets such as a steering wheel, special gaming keyboards and other devices. Besides hardware, there are also several software packages that will improve your gaming laptop and increase its performance. Game accelerators, for example, are game optimization tools that allow your laptop to run smoothly by eliminating processes that hamper the progress and speed of your game. These can often be downloaded online, and several versions are available. VGA cards are also useful for enhancing your display; the Anno 1404 VGA graphics card is a good choice for this reason.

Below are details of some of the best gaming laptops out there:

	Alienware m17x Reviewed by many to be the fastest gaming laptop in the world, this model comes with a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad QX9300, a whopping 8GB RAM; two 500GB drives and a 17-inch display. It has a Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M (2GB) graphics chip and works with Windows Vista Home Premium. The price is almost equally mind-blowing at just below $4500.
	Alienware Area-51 m15x Again one of the fastest in the world, this laptop has a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000, a 4GB RAM, two hard drives worth 200GB and 320GB, and a 15.4-inch display. A Nvidia GeForce 8800M GTX (512MB) is present; as well as Windows Vista Home Premium.
	Sony VAIO NW180JS This model has a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350, 4GB RAM, 400GB hard drive and 15.5-inch display. It also has ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 (512MB). It has a great display and has Blu-ray playback capabilities, and comes at the reasonable price of about $800.
	HP Pavilion zd8000 This comes with an Intel Pentium 4 540 (3.20GHz) processor, 2 GB RAM, 100GB hard drive and 17-inch display. It also has an ATI Mobility Radeon X600 graphics card and is known for its great sound and graphics, though it has a relatively short battery life.

A great percentage of future gadgets will depend on OLEDS so it’s time we provided a little insight into this technology. Organic Light Emitting Diodes were truly born in 1990, when years of research produced a highly efficient polymer that emitted green light. Layers of organic semi conductors are sprayed onto a screen (or polymer).
An applied voltage causes electrons to move into the emissive layer, leaving the conductive layer full of ‘electron holes.’ The electrons and their holes recombine in the emissive layer and this causes light to be given out. The emitting layer contains different compounds which give out red, blue and green light.
Combined, these three compounds can give out around 16 millions different colours. That’s pretty impressive, to say the least.

Do you remember how much fun rubber pencils were when they were all the rage? OLED screens are just as flexible since the technology can be printed onto almost anything so we can even have ultra-thin or transparent displays too. (This makes the screen very lightweight; another advantage.)
The best part is that these futuristic screens are environmentally friendly. The OLED components are green. The screens are very bright but their power consumption is so low that this technology is the future of lighting too. Imagine pairing OLED devices with photovoltaic technology (solar power). The anticipation to see how Green technology really gets is spine-tingling.
So without further delay, let’s see what the century has dished up so far.

(i) Google Vision
The retractable, transparent screen is only the portal of all the information Google plans to bring you. Advanced image recognition will tag whatever you aim the device at. When on vacation, you’ll no longer be the ignorant tourist since Google Vision will identify any landmarks you happen to point at too. The global positioning system will let you use this device to navigate as well.


(ii) OLED lighting
There really isn’t much to say here. They’re environmentally friendly and we can look forward to a whole range of creative OLED lights since the technology can be printed onto a vast number of surfaces. There’s almost nothing out on the market now but Philips lets you order while OLED panels to use or play about with.

(iii) Samsung Notebook
Feast your eyes on the world’s first OLED laptop.
The 12-inch display is razor thin and the whole laptop only weighs a kilogram.
The prototype does have people wondering about the mouse pad, strange keypad feel and battery space but perhaps by the time this is commercialised Samsung’s end product will be something that is completely satisfactory.

The consumerism of nations today is the driving force behind the slaughter of the environment. Resources die away and industrial smog pours into our atmosphere so that by the end of the day, we get what we want – and what a lot of people want are computers. The average desktop PC uses ten times its weight in materials, fossil fuels and chemicals to manufacture. What if you could make a difference by buying something a little less destructive? The following innovations aren’t 100% perfect, but they’re leading the way to a greener future for sure.

(i) Asus U6 Bamboo Laptop
320 GB • 4GB • Intel Core 2 Duo • GeForce 9300M GS

Asus hasn’t just laid strips of wood over a plastic cover. Its new Ecobook is an honest attempt to become better friends with the environment. They’ve fashioned bamboo into an attractive casing. Any plastic used comes from recyclable raw materials and the components of this laptop have not been sprayed, painted or electroplated. Stiffened card (recycled paper) forms the Ecobook’s protective cover. Tree-huggers: eat your hearts out. Don’t worry about acres of destroyed forest because bamboo is as renewable as it gets: it grows a couple of feet each day.
The ExpressGate application allows this laptop to start up in seconds and save battery life. There is also a LED indicator which switches between green and red to alert as to what energy consumption mode you are in.
The bamboo Ecobook was announced in 2007 but today it still stands as a top contender in green computing. Asus is still exploiting reusable resources so maybe it will outdo itself in the future.


(ii) Dell Bamboo Eco-computer
Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)

As the first computer company to join the Climate Group we anticipated Dell to coming up with something like this. Its Ecomputer is 81% smaller than your average CPU and it requires 70% less power. Its bamboo shell is filled mostly with recycled garbage and together they’re priced at around $500. Like Asus, Dell sees more bamboo in its future. Its studio hybrid might even evolve metaphorically to become the first computer you grow a plant inside.

There are manufactures that provide matching computer accessories but if buying bamboo is your effort to reduce your carbon footprint, do a little research first. A lot of companies just place strips of wood over a perfectly normal, environment-hating computer to make it look nicer. We need green substitutes to make a real difference, and not superficial coatings.