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For PC games should I just buy a Windows tablet?

Kaiw

Newbie
Aug 2, 2012
32
2
Hi, I'm considering buying a tablet to help me get through long flights. I'd like to have a couple games available, I've heard Civilization 4 is good for getting sucked into for long periods at a time. GTA San Andreas was my favorite game as a kid so I'll probably get that one too.

If my sole goal is to play PC games, is it just easier and better to get a Windows tablet? If not, which emulator would be good for these games?
 
Hi, I'm considering buying a tablet to help me get through long flights. I'd like to have a couple games available, I've heard Civilization 4 is good for getting sucked into for long periods at a time. GTA San Andreas was my favorite game as a kid so I'll probably get that one too.

If my sole goal is to play PC games, is it just easier and better to get a Windows tablet? If not, which emulator would be good for these games?

I you can get Civilization IV working on Windows 8.1 tablets but not for Android, you can even get Civilization V working on Surface Pro 3 but I would guess it will struggle in the later game.

San Andreas is available for Android as well as a few other turn based games you might enjoy. UFO Enemy Unknown is very good, telltale games like the walking dead as also very good.

It's up to you really, some of the high end Windows tablets are pretty powerful but they're not as portable, large displays and bulky in comparison.

Maybe a gaming laptop would be better for you?
 
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Thanks, my main concern is battery life, otherwise I would just use a laptop. In an ideal world I'd get 14 hours of battery life. 10 to 12 would suffice though.

If your playing games I doubt any Android tablet will last 6 hours in terms of on screen time, probably a lot less in most cases, just a thought as gaming drains the battery fast, unsure when the Surface 2/3 would hold up.

With a laptop maybe you could take a spare battery? there are also portable chargers you could use for tablets but they charge very slowly, USB charge speeds. :)
 
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Good idea, I'll go with the spare battery idea, thanks.

Probably for the best, if you enjoy PC games there is no subtritute for a PC or high end laptop. :p

For anyone else reading this who think's the high end PC/Laptop market is in decline, it's not. In fact, the PC gaming segment is twice the size of the console gaming market and still growing. :D
 
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I know this doesn't really answer your question since you want to play PC games locally from an android device but I think the Nvidia shield and Nexus 9 would be your best bets to have a PC game like experience on an Android tablet.

I have the Shield tablet and it's an excellent gaming tablet. I have GTA and it runs great on this it but it's the android port. However, I mainly use it for gamestreaming.

If you have, a gaming laptop or PC with a Nvidia card GTX 650 and above, you can stream PC games from your PC to the Nvidia tablet. It's similar to what the Limelight app does for PC streaming.

The Shield tablet also has something called the grid where you can stream PC games from Nvidia's servers. It's still in Beta but from what I've experienced it's works fairly well.

Of course, you have to have an excellent internet connection for both of these options so it doesn't really help you when you are on a flight.
 
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Thanks, my main concern is battery life, otherwise I would just use a laptop. In an ideal world I'd get 14 hours of battery life. 10 to 12 would suffice though.

If it's long flights, some airlines and planes have mains outlets by the seats now, so you can plug your laptop or tablet in. I know Malaysia Airlines and Cathay Pacific does. But you would have to check with the particular airline you're flying with to make sure.
 
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Honestly I think you would be better of with something like the Lenovo Y40 laptop. Still very portable and has good performance. A friend of mine got one so he can play games when on the go but didn't want to spend over $1000 on a dedicated gaming laptop. He got it for ~$750 or something like that.
 
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