Would you recommend a Netbook (10.1") or a full-size Laptop for gaming?
Running Windows 7 Starter with HeroLab 3.6 with 1.26 GB PDFs - gaming location has no internet access.
I'd run it on a small laptop (they come in all sizes, it's hard to say "full size" because different brands top out at different sizes).
And me, I'm not much for netbooks.
On the other hand I do believe they've improved the Herolab display to be more usable on small screens--I mean I think I read that somewhere in the updates.
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I'd run it on a small laptop (they come in all sizes, it's hard to say "full size" because different brands top out at different sizes).
And me, I'm not much for netbooks.
On the other hand I do believe they've improved the Herolab display to be more usable on small screens--I mean I think I read that somewhere in the updates.
This is supposed to happen in the next update, sometime in the next couple of weeks, I believe.
There you go. One thing for sure, Hero Lab is awesome.
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I run a weekly game using a laptop. One of the players lives 3 hours away and joins us via webcam. I use the laptop to run Hero Lab, a PDF of the adventure I'm running (usually along with a hardcopy of the adventure as well), the webcam and appropriate software, and the occasional visit to the web to look something up during the game...
I use a "full size" laptop with a 17-inch monitor however...
-That One Digitalelf Fellow-
I use an HP TX2 Touchsmart Tablet Notebook. It's bigger and more powerful than a Netbook, but I can rotate the screen and fold it down to work as a tablet, so I don't necessarily have the 'screen-blocking' effect of a regular laptop.
RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16, RPG Superstar 2013 Top 16
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Check the screen resolution before you buy a netbook. My Dell Foggy Night (10 inch flip screen) runs at 1366x768 and does Herolab fine. My wife's netbook (also 10 inch) runs at a lower resolution that cuts off most of the vertical bars on the main page of Herolab. It's still usable, but there's a lot you can't see on the main screen.
So I went out and got a Asus Eee PC Netbook ($259) running Windows 7 Starter and HeroLab 3.6 - the game session went great.
Here's the setup from my Point of View.
Bless, Bardic abilities, ability damage, journal entries, and leveling at the table was easy to manage. The smaller size of the netbook was nice. The speed of the Netbook in the PDFs was just fine.
I did get a Wireless mouse though. I disabled the trackpad because everytime I typed my thumb would be too close to the space bar and move my cursor.
The battery says 10.5 hours, but really was about 7 hours.
Programs running simultaneously:
- HeroLab 3.6
- Acrobat Reader with Core Book
- Acrobat Reader from various other sources (as needed)
Unfortunately we do not have WiFi at our gaming spot. I'll start another thread about how to hook them up because we just send notes to the GM with Text Messages on our phones.
The battery says 10.5 hours, but really was about 7 hours.
Bear in mind that battery life for netbooks/laptops are typically calculated on low-power-consumption settings. If you have your wireless adapter disabled and your screen on a low brightness setting, you should get battery life near to what is advertised. Make the screen brighter, turn on your wireless adapter, have music playing, or run anything that is demanding (a movie or video game, for instance) and your battery life will drop.
Also, with that much hardware there I find it hard to believe no one has a cell phone capable of serving as a mobile hot spot. You might look into using a phone to provide the group with internet access.