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When we think of Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and other high-end VR devices, we immediately draw a connection in our minds to the PC. Not just any PC, desktop-class rigs. It’s true that the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have been largely advertised as requiring desktop PCs, and all existing VR bundles include desktop PCs. The desktop bundles on the market right now run from $600 and up, but buying a desktop can be burdensome and limits where you can use the VR headsets.
We all know when you buy a new piece of bleeding edge technology, especially something as game and media-centric as VR, part of the appeal is sharing your experience with others. Unfortunately, desktop PCs mean the only people who you’ll be sharing the experience with are the people you invite into your home, or if you’re willing to pack up the desktop tower, with a screen, mouse and keyboard, and not to mention the headsets.
This is where a high-end gaming laptop comes in. Yes, there are laptops out there that are capable of handling VR without skipping a beat. While high-end gaming laptops are vastly more expensive than similarly spec’d desktop PCs, they give you the ability to move your VR setup much more easily. This not only applies to bringing your VR setup to a friend’s house, but even if you need to move around your own home from a garage for those times when you need more space, or to the living room – when space isn’t as much of a factor and you just want to watch some VR movies.
So what are the best notebook computers for pairing with your VR headset? Let’s find out!
Table of Contents
Alienware 17
Price Starts at $1,499.99
Alienware gaming laptops have become some of the more well-known gaming laptops thanks to Dell’s marketing and continued development of the band. The Alienware 17 is a powerhouse of a device, with upgrades comparable to a desktop gaming PC. You can upgrade the 17.3-inch FHD to a 4K UHD display to watch beautiful 4K videos or see your games on a crystal clear screen. The GTX 1060 can be bumped up to a GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5. While the starting price is only $1,500, the fully specced out version is a hefty $2,649 but not the most expensive on the list.
The TLDR of the Alienware 17 is if you want a true gaming laptop with a gaming design the laptop is a perfect fit. There are beautiful LED strips along the sides of the notebook, and the cooling system on the laptop will keep the device cool no matter how much you throw at the laptop.
KEY SPECS
- 17.3 inch FHD IPS-Panel Anti-Glare Display
- Intel Skylake i7-6700HQ
- Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5
- 8GB Dual Channel DDR4 (up to 32GB)
- 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s
- A variety of ports including USB 3.1 Type C support, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here.
Alienware 13
Prices start at $15499.99
If you still want a VR-capable laptop from Dell’s Alienware division, but don’t want something as large as the Alienware 17, then the Alienware 13 is perfect for you. The 13.3-inch notebook comes by default with a LCD screen, but you can also upgrade to an QHD OLED that offers more vibrant colors with its 100,000:1 contrast ratio. The Alienware 13 can have Intel’s seventh generation “Skylake” Core i5 or i7 processors and comes with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6 GB of GDDR5 video RAM.
While the Alienware 13 can handle any VR game, it also supports the company’s optional Graphics Amplifier, which allows owners to put in a desktop GPU card inside, in order to boost the graphics of the Alienware 13 even more.
Key Specs
- 13.3-inch LCD or OLED display
- Intel Skylake Core i5 or i7 processors
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6 GB of video RAM
- Up to 32 GB of RAM
- Up to 1 TB of storage
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here
Key Specs
- 17.3-inch IGZO display
- Intel Skylake Core i7-7820HK
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPU with 8 GB of video RAM
- 32 GB of RAM
- Up to 2 TB of storage
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here
Razer Blade
Key Specs
- 14-inch Full HD or 4K display
- Intel Skylake Core i7-7700HQ
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GPU with 6 GB of video RAM
- 16 GB of RAM
- Up to 1 TB of storage
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here
ASUS ROG Zephyrus
Key Specs
- 15.6-inch Full HD display
- Intel Skylake Core i5 or i7 processor
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPU with 8 GB of video RAM
- Up to 24 GB of RAM
- Up to 1 TB of storage
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here
Acer Predator 21 X
Key Specs
- 21-inch curved display
- Intel Skylake Core i7-7820HK
- Two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 GPUs with 16 GB of video RAM
- Up to 64 GB of RAM
- Up to 2 TB of storage
- Take a detailed look at all the specs here
Overview
Overall if you want to use a laptop with your Oculus Rift or HTC Vive there are options. They’ll run more than the desktops bundles but to have portability, while still getting the same desktop class performance, the prices are well worth it. What do you think of our choices? Know any other good ones? Tell us in the comments!
Next – Best VR desktops