Downsides to a "gaming" laptop for business use?

[Velvis]

A client is interested in purchasing a Dell gaming laptop for business use. It will not be used for gaming at all.
Are there drawbacks over a normal "business" laptop?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Often less warranty, more difficult to service, lower SLA on warranty and replacement parts. Often just a 1 year warranty by default instead of 3 years
Often Windows "Home" instead of "Pro"
The "driver updater" and similar...often the home version which usually isn't supported by our RMM tools
I've had quirks and burned (wasted) a lot of time troubleshooting quirks of the lower grade wireless cards in them.
Often comes with bloatware/trial ware. Yes...someone can do a clean install of Windows...but unless you're volunteering your time...someone should pay for that.
With business grade models, they have the compatible docking stations and peripherals that are supported by those biz grade models. More of a "roll the dice" to see if they work with a consumer model. The driver update tool of a consumer model may not "see" the dock to keep drivers and firmware updated

If it won't be used for gaming at all, why does the client want it? They doing design software? The drivers for "gaming GPUs" don't always work well with certain graphics/design software. Best to look for the "ISV Certified" computers for that...with the professional graphics cards like nVidia Quadro or AMD Fire...etc......drivers specifically tested and compatible with mainstream professional graphics software.

 

[backwoodsman]

Most of the stuff I've seen marketed as "gaming" isn't very good quality and has a lot of useless (or worse) flashy bells & whistles that's what defines it as "gaming" and costs a lot of money. Whether he's a gamer or not, that's really not what he wants.

 

[Metanis]

I have a Dell G15 gaming laptop for my own personal use. It's an awesome -unmanaged- machine. However... it's heavy and so is the 330w power brick. I've had it since early May this year with zero issues. Not even a blue screen or spontaneous reboot. It runs cool and quiet unless you really load it up.

I would recommend it for any application where you want a stable, powerful work horse that doesn't have to be mobile most of the time.

I did however blow away the shipped image and did a fresh Windows 11 install. I hate all that Dell crapware they install.

 

[frase]

Size & noise, gaming laptops are larger and heavier not very convenient for mobility.

 

[fincoder]

Gaming laptops are built to a low price point to be affordable for teenagers and younger adults. Still not cheap due to high-performance GPUs and CPUs, but made cheaply. Corners are cut. Many gaming laptops only last a few years.

For laptops with higher performance and/or dedicated graphics, they should get a mobile business workstation such as HP ZBook, ThinkPad P-series, and whatever Dell calls them now (Pro Plus?). These are more expensive than gaming laptops but should be more reliable for longer (and with onsite warranty).

My home laptop is a HP ZBook 17" (mainly used as a desktop). I got it because it has 4 RAM slots, 2 M.2 slots, and a 2.5" SATA drive bay. Never used the dedicated GPU, got it on special and it only has 7th-gen i5 H-series CPU. Never had the slightest issue with it. (Note: I'm not sure whether the newer models have those RAM and storage options).

 

[lan101]

Gaming laptops are built to a low price point to be affordable for teenagers and younger adults. Still not cheap due to high-performance GPUs and CPUs, but made cheaply. Corners are cut. Many gaming laptops only last a few years.

For laptops with higher performance and/or dedicated graphics, they should get a mobile business workstation such as HP ZBook, ThinkPad P-series, and whatever Dell calls them now (Pro Plus?). These are more expensive than gaming laptops but should be more reliable for longer (and with onsite warranty).

My home laptop is a HP ZBook 17" (mainly used as a desktop). I got it because it has 4 RAM slots, 2 M.2 slots, and a 2.5" SATA drive bay. Never used the dedicated GPU, got it on special and it only has 7th-gen i5 H-series CPU. Never had the slightest issue with it. (Note: I'm not sure whether the newer models have those RAM and storage options).

In my area it's not a super high end living area by any means so most won't spend on a new business laptop but I've almost never been disappointed with a refurb business model whether it be a Lenevo T or P series. I would be much more confident in these over some gaming laptop as far as longevity and reliability. It just sucks now because most of the newer stuff in the past 5 or 6 years has soldered ram and all that other throw away garbage so the future isn't looking promising for refurb either IMO. Time will tell I guess.

 

[HCHTech]

If it won't be used for gaming at all, why does the client want it?

This is the missing info. Maybe they are just enamoured with the flashy appearance of one model in particular (gaming laptops all seem to have a certain "vibe"), and are just looking for a reason to justify it. I would warn them of the potential downsides, but it's their money to waste as they see fit - haha.

 

[Blues]

Only thing you get out of a gaming laptop is often some better GPU & CPU w/ more RAM and you can find plenty of non gaming models with equal CPU & RAM so if there is no need for the GPU, which you can still find some decent GPUs in non-gaming models, then really it sounds like they will be spending more for less. So really if the equipment isn't on hand the question isn't "Can this work" the question is "For task example A what will be best" so let us know what the client needs or go find that out and let us know.

 

[timeshifter]

It will not be used for gaming at all.
Are there drawbacks over a normal "business" laptop?

Yes, one more component (GPU) to generate heat, driver problems and possible hardware failure.

ThinkPad T14 or T16 are my favorite business grade laptops.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Yes, one more component (GPU) to generate heat, driver problems and possible hardware failure.

ThinkPad T14 or T16 are my favorite business grade laptops.

Or...typing from my X1 Carbon Extreme.....nVidia graphics.

 

[Diggs]

one more component (GPU) to generate heat

^ This and shortens battery charge (if that is an issue). My daily driver is a Asus V16 (Core i7 and RTX3050) budget gaming laptop as mentioned here before. It has twin fans that really scream when it's working hard (gaming). Not something I would want in my office environment but don't think regular office apps would ever get it that worked up. Even full screen Youtube videos get it breathing hard.

 

[sapphirescales]

There are TONS of downsides:

Loud/noisy
Lower quality compared to business class laptops
Worse warranty
Less repairable
Overheats more easily
Another thing to go wrong (dedicated GPU)
Heavier (unless you're comparing it to something like an HP ZBook or Dell Precision)
Parts availability is absolutely terrible with very few exceptions
Battery life

I'm sure there's more but I would never recommend a gaming laptop under any circumstances. Who really needs to game on the bus or whatever anyway? I guess if you're in a dorm with limited space or something, or if you want to kill two birds with one stone (only have to buy one laptop for school and for gaming) but even then you're making a LOT of sacrifices for very little gain.

 

[HCHTech]

driver problems

We had one in the Windows 11 upgrade rush that didn't have a Win11video d river. The only one we could get to work left an entire inch of unusable space across the bottom of the screen - different ratio or something. They weren't happy but there just weren't any other options.