I Want to Use a Laptop for Gaming... Any Recommendations?

[Broken Fang]

I don't think anyone mentioned this yet...but make sure all your cords are out of the way! I used to do this till we started having to many of the guys kids coming over to play with ours and kids + laptop cords = disaster!

 

[Azure Trance]

If you haven't bought a laptop, I searched for one a few weeks ago and hoping it would be cheap (only a few hundred) to get since performance wasn't a priority. But damn, they still get expensive quickly as you scale them up.

I found something called a DeskNote - essentially a desktop portable computer. The only difference I can find is that it's cheap as a desktop but still retains it's capabilities, eg, $500 for a 700MHZ 13" with 10GB HD and DVDROM. Only downside thats apparent to me is that the battery is not internal, and sold seperately. When I can afford to change my financial priorities I'm getting one.

 

[John Crichton]

I've only used it for about 4 months (been GM-ing for 10 years) so I'm still playing with different uses. Whoever said to make sure it is faster than the books is dead-on.

Honestly, I mainly use it for music (iTunes, best mp3 app in the universe) because music is a great mood-maker. I hate having to stop to change CD's because it slows things down and I have a fairly large collection of soundtracks and the like. Having it all on the HD makes things run smoother for me and helps not break the mood.

Since it's a Mac, many of the specialized utilities won't function on it so I primarily use acrobat, offline web pages, excel and word to get the job done. I have quicker access to all my campaign notes (which there are many), special monsters and a quick overview of the PC's stats with the laptop as well. And as a final bonus, it saves me a bunch of space on the table.

 

[RodneyThompson]

I have been using a laptop since about June, and I think it's a great tool.

As for software, I use the following:

• DM Screen for easy combat tracking and some good table lookups.
• Random Name Generator
• 10,000 Wild Magic Effects Generator
• Campaign Calendar to keep track of the passage of time and the weather in their climate.
• Deck of Many Things (never know when it'll come in handy)
• UltraEdit32 to keep my game notes on.
• Acrobat for my web enhancements and the SRD
• Winamp for background music
• AD&D Core Rules 2.0 for mapping utilities
• Forgotten Realms Interactive Atlas
• Dragon Magazine Electronic Archives
• Wireless internet for quick access to web resources.

And then I have a set of Star Wars RPG utilities that I make frequent use of as well.

However, I'm a total preparation junkie. I have all kinds of toys I bring to the table besides my laptop, including:

• Chessex BattleMat
• 2 boxes of MageKnight figures (for heroes and important villains in combat)
• 100 numbered Poker chips (for enemies and NPCs in combat)
• A 1-minute hourglass and a 2-minute hourglass (to speed up the game when it's time to make a decision)
• MasterScreen customizeable GM Screen

It's been really useful, but one problem I run into is that it can distract me sometimes when I get to a slow spot in the game where the players are discussing things amongst themselves. The perils of a Wireless LAN, I guess!

 

[Aluvial]

I have a number of utilities to use. I just need to get ORGANIZED! There are so many d20 books that we now use that I get overwhelmed in making decisions... I've even scaled down and it is all still over my head...

I'm sure you all realize how many printouts you can have for this version of the game... I must have 50 or 60 references to poisons, skill synergies, feats, spell lists, etc, etc, etc!

I really wish that someone would put out an exhaustive program that works correctly. I know that they try but right now I have 5 or 6 DM programs and at least 20 different character generators, none of which do what I want them to do!

This leads me down the road of trying to figure out scripting and programming instead of doing fun things like figuring out an exhaustive plot and campaign setting.

I would gladly pay up to $300 or $400 dollars for a program that worked, that made my DMing easier and handled character generation for all of my d20 favorites....

I know that it is possible, it just isn't being done right for me!

Frustration is setting in my friends...

Aluvial

 

[Aluvial]

Where did you get DM's Screen?

 

[Clefton Twain]

Laptops

I use my wife's laptop (when she lets me) to DM but I only use it for a couple of things:

1) The game is in Word format
2) Internet access (in case I need it)
3) Most importantly--HTML pages of anything and everything I'm going to need for the session, locally stored.

I usually have anywhere from 3-5 browser windows open as well as 2 Word windows and a dice roller.

--CT

 

[Aluvial]

I'm with the other fellows... I will always have to roll my own dice. It's faster....

Aluvial

 

[Aluvial]

How do you save web pages for use at a later point? I'd like to get that spell list over at Daggerford.com, but can't seem to get all of the spells... Do I have to save them one by one?

Aluvial

 

[Lizard]

Simply put, I want to use a laptop for gaming...

I'm looking for any insights that people might have on file structures, programs, or other items that will lead to ease of use during play...

I suppose I should add that I'm not looking for a debate on the best DM aid software there is... I see enough of that on other threads... just what is out there I suppose...

This is already a vague request...

Aluvial

I recently bought a Sony Vaio RX-99 (or something like that, can't remember the exact code), and, man, is it niiiiice. ~2.5 lbs, 4-6 hour battery life, sharp little screen, usable keyboard, 850mhz processor, wireless networking, external CD-RW/DVD-ROM included...

I am running Roleplaying Master and Campaign Cartographer on it for gaming.