Playing FPSes on a laptop

[Marek]

Out of curiosity, does anyone have experience with playing FPSes on, say, a MacBook Pro? You obviously use an external mouse, but is the WASD on a small laptop keyboard comfortable at all?

Reason I'm asking: I love how TF2 / Ep 2 / Portal are shaping up, but I might hold out on them for like a year until I have a powerful new machine that can play them. My current PC is getting sadder by the day.

[elmuerte]

it's doable (with an external mouse)

[ysbreker]

Why not plug in an external keyboard as well? This means you can place your laptop further away and a bit higher so you don't have to look down into your screen. This also gives you a more comfortable sitting position as an added bonus! (These things are very useful but a bit pricey)

[SiN]

Yeah, I played HL2 and Doom 3 on my laptop. It's perfectly doable with an external mouse.

Big tip though! If you're using a Windows-based laptop, remember to disable the touchpad mouse when playing ... I cannot count the number of times my hand brushed over the pad which made me stare right AT THE FLOOR!!! This should be fine for a Mac since (as I recall) they only support one mouse at a time, so when you hook up your external mouse, the pad will be disabled automatically.

SiN

[Oath]

This should be fine for a Mac since (as I recall) they only support one mouse at a time, so when you hook up your external mouse, the pad will be disabled automatically.

By default they accept both pad and external input simultaneously, but you can set it to turn the touchpad off automatically, in the system settings.

I've been pretty tempted to install Windows just to see how well Half-Life 2 runs, but since the MacBook just sits next to the PC when I'm at home I never feel like I have enough energy to start fooling around with it. It's bound to happen though.

[Wrestlevania]

I've been PC gaming on a laptop solidly for the last 2.5 years. But I have big hands, so your average laptop keyboard is crippling after prolonged sessions. It's the lack of depression in the keys and the fact your wrist is resting on a large flat surface that makes it uncomfortable.

My advice would be, unfortunately, to plug in a decent external 'board and use that instead. Alternatively, you could try buying a gel-filled wrist rest and placing that along the leading edge of the machine for more comfort (when using the built-in keyboard).

[n0wak]

Yeah, I'd suggest getting a second board. It's not needed -- I think playing on a laptop is perfectly fine -- but it has its benefits.

The worst thing I found about playing on a laptop is that games tend to push laptops quite a bit and they get a little bit warm, and since the keyboard is on the system it warms up too. Playing a game on a laptop on a warm day tends to create some sweaty palms. That's not so pleasant.