WoW on a Netbook. No, Really
Posted by 
iTZKooPA on Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 23 Comments Tags: asus, asus eee pc, e3 2009, gaming on a 1000he, gaming on a laptop, laptop, netbook, optimization, system requirements, the grinder, wow on 1000he
iTZKooPA on Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 23 Comments Tags: asus, asus eee pc, e3 2009, gaming on a 1000he, gaming on a laptop, laptop, netbook, optimization, system requirements, the grinder, wow on 1000he 
It's Possible, But Not FunIn mid-May I finally broke down. With E3 approaching, BlizzCon tickets in hand and PAX just two weeks after that, I realized that I couldn't delay a new laptop any longer. After scrutinizing numerous netbook or netbook-style PCs I went with my gut and purchased the Asus EEE PC 1000HE.
From a basic user's standpoint, the machine is a glorious meld of metal, wiring and plastic. Sure, the thing attracts smudges like stink on a monkey, but the battery lasts an eternity. I was able to fly from Philadelphia, land in Denver for a layover, and then continue on to Los Angeles without being tethered to the archaic power grid. The 1000he's impressive wireless capabilities comes from Intel's Atom architecture, Asus' Super Hybrid Engine that allows throttling of the processor, and a low power profile in Windows XP. Of course, there's power, and then there is power.
My bit of QQ over Netbooks revolved around their lack of GPU power. Just because my hand was forced into the purchase of a lackluster model, for me, doesn't mean that I wouldn't try to push it. After spending a few hours downloading WoW, TBC, WotLK and patches (there's no CD/DVD-ROM drive) to the slow harddrive, I fired up the MMORPG and waited. To my surprise,
the game got to load screen in a fashionable time. Of course that's just the load screen, not a big accomplishment.
An excruciatingly long wait later (Tommy Tallarico suggested I upgrade the machine with a solid state drive. A good suggestion, but that would make the machine seep an extra 50% from my moth-ridden pockets.), and I am loaded into Icecrown. With everything at the bare minimum (shadows, textures, color depth, no add-ons) the game is playable in only the loosest sense of the term. With framerates that fail to count with toes I won't be making a habit of entering Azeroth from Asus's slim gateway, but it is suitable for housekeeping activities and certain daily quests.
The little machine is impressive visually and technologically, but it falls flat when it comes to pushing polygons. All things considered the purchase was a good one. That doesn't mean I won't be watching for the second generation of Netbooks to make non- raiding and PvPing a possibility. Come on ION.
In E3 news, The Grinder (shown behind closed doors) looks and plays as described, Left 4 Dead on the Wii. Batman Arkham Asylum is the dark Batman I have been looking for, but I can see the seemingly awesome combat system becoming repetitive. The scale of Just Cause 2's (closed doors again, aren't I special!) open world and the amount of ways to dispatch enemies are a pair of features to get excited about.
Reader Comments (23)
first
boring
LOL. Netbook != laptop. Of COURSE it doesn't perform well with a game like WoW. It was never designed to.
I have to admit, a netbook is more than adequate enough for basic WoW stuff, some daily's, checking/playing the AH, etc. I have done so on many occasions on my MSI Wind.
In a low populated zone, I'll get around 15-17FPS. In IF, I'll get 10-12FPS. So, all in all, not bad. Of course, this should go without saying, don't bother with Dalaran (2-4FPS) and I haven't even tried PVP and raiding.
@the best stuff
Move on. Why comment?
@elfennau
Laptop = A laptop (also known as a notebook) is a personal computer designed for mobile use small enough to sit on one's lap.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't a Netbook fall into that description?
Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or better
From my experience PC laptops have been able to handle WOW much better than Mac ones, but they are all inferior to playing on a good desktop with some decent processing power and graphics.
I rather enjoyed this blog as I happen to have the 1000HE, but now has eeebuntu on it ;)
@elfennau
I fail to see how a netbook is not a laptop... Portable, fully functional OS (came with XP), usb, keyboard, touchpad, open and shuts clam style, bluetooth, built-in wireless... should I keep going?
My LAPTOP can out perform most of my guildies desktops. Alienware Area 51 with only 2RAM. Only problem I ever have with it is some cooling issues.
Still running on a *very* slightly upgraded G4 powerbook (soon enough I'll be getting a new laptop) I'm still able to perform fine in raids. Sure framerate is down a bit, but not really to the point where it will be a downfall to a group. I haven't had any experiences with netbooks, but if it seems good enough to do some solo stuff when you're on the go then I say go for it.
@elfennau
Wow, you tried to look smart and got thoroughly owned...
a netbook is basically a crappy laptop
While a netbook is a laptop, no arguing that. It is usually smaller, less expensive (I have seen on sale for $200), and under powered compared to larger laptops/notebooks that can be powerful enough to replace a desktop. While not meant for any major gaming, they are excellent for ease of surfing the internet, email, usually wi-fi built in, word proccessing and portablilty.
and yes, I do sell them.... give me a ring :)
As for letting your children play WoW, that is a parents choice and I have no right to make any judgment in that regard (I can barely raise myself lol). I would say as in all things, moderation is key. Have a nice day.
Disregard that last paragragh, I was answering another post LOL
I might be stuck with a laptop without a proper graphics card thru out my university life, might as well get use to 11fps max and 5 fps on average T.T
LF Donations!
I've been using a laptop since i started playing WoW just over 2 years ago. But I also spent some doah on a decent 1. it's not the best like alienware but it works for Wow without having to reduce the graphics down to minimum and no addons and such. I use like 68 MB worth of addons and have most of the graphics settings for the game set to the max level and the game runs fine at 55 to 60 fps. sure in very heavy populated areas with alot of creatures slows the fps a bit like 48 to 55 fps but it still allows me to enjoy the game. so to those who dis laptops or in their opinions (craptops) spend the money and get yourself a good 1 to start and you'll free yourself from being tied down to a desk and chair to play. and if you waste your time not getting the 1 with the extended keyboard layout you're wasting your money...
@Shamtastik - as iTZKooPA mentioned, once some Netbooks with Ion become available, it'll be more likely that you can play WoW on a netbook (Ion is based on a Geforce 9400 GPU.) I probably still wouldn't want to Raid with it, since a lot of processing for WoW is done on the CPU, and the Atom is relatively weak in that regard, but it'll still be usable for solo content. While, unfortunately no Ion hardware is purchasable at this moment, there should be some devices available in 2009, and at least 2 (a desktop and a netbook) have been announced.
Heck, if Nvidia's Tegra platform is decent, you might even be able to run WoW on a Mobile Phone in the near future. I think Acer is coming out with a model based on Tegra for 2009, as well as some other devices.
I'm basically waiting for a Dual Core Atom and Ion device (netbook would be preferable) to become available with HDMI to use as a TV PC for streaming media, from sites that currently aren't easily playable (read: supported by default) on my Xbox 360 and PS3 like Hulu and YouTube as well as surf the web.
My buddy has a laptop that runs wow damn near perfectly, with an average of 60fps in Dal. But he did build it piece by piece.
buy a macbook silly
as far as i have seen laptops lag on wow. you need to buy a specilized one to get a non-laggy experiance.
You should have bought an ASUS N10J. Runs WoW really well for a notebook. Discrete GPU 9300m, switchable graphics, and great battery life.
a netbook is not a laptop
a netbook is a notebook with maximum specs. Like it can't have more then single core processor running at maximum 2ghz, hd can't be bigger then 250gig, screen can't be bigger then 10.2" and it may not have more then 1gig of ram.
Anything more and it is a laptop
So to all you people pimping your laptop specs, you are dumb and totally miss the point of this blog.
I tried - it was very laggy.
ummm... ok... i have an acer aspire one with a 11.6 inch screen, intel atom processor, hd, 160 gb ram, and 1 gig mem. but as of wut knoxtown said, with my screen coulld i consider it a laptop? lol