Purphoros

If you want something small i would take a look at the smsl ad18, it also has a built in dac and sub pre out. https://www.amazon.com/SMSL-AD18-Amplifier-Bluetooth-Subwoofer/dp/B071JN7GXN/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ad18&qid=1559994116&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Your M.2 drive is designed to be a bit warm, it doesn't cool super efficiently on purpose.

You don't really need Ethernet unless the WiFi card sucks.  I have a 2x2 WiFi card in a Lenovo IdeaPad720s and I can get my full internet speed wirelessly.  As long as you are not competing for bandwidth with a wired connection you should have no issues.  That being said Ethernet is always a good idea if you need a 100% stable connection but you don't need a port for that an Ethernet to USB would do the trick too.

I use an msi GV62 7RC laptop which has an MX150 and i5 7300HQ, took it to Scotland with me for a week recently and got on very well with it. I tinkered with settings to get 60+ FPS from games like GTA V on it and can game completely fine on it.
 
Not really able to compare it with anything else but I can say as someone who has an i7 desktop machine with a 1050Ti in it, I am very satisfied with this laptop - will recommend similar specs to anyone. Obviously, if better stuff is available for the same price to you and the weight/battery life isn't a concern, I'd say to get the better specified stuff.

To make money.

I chose it because I wanted to change laptops quickly and so was using a store I have a large credit rating with - this was £700 which was cheaper than Amazon at the time and I liked the fact that it is simple to work on - other laptops I fancied only had easy access to 1 ram slot/storage bay, etc.
 
It made a lot of sense for me. Real life battery life is way more than I require (4 hours when I am browsing), the build quality isn't flimsy like I was expecting after reading reviews, the keyboard is fantastic, the screen is adequate, quick enough to run all the software and games I want, etc. If I was paying with cash obviously I'd be looking at other places, but since it arrived, I can't fault the laptop and am glad I didn't dismiss it when I was looking at the Asus GL503 Hero with a 1060 6GB etc in it.
 
I was more using it as a reference point to say that the MX150 is a capable GPU rather than recommending the laptop itself.

Just to remind you: 7300HQ is generally slower than 8250U. Also the 1050TI in 720s 15 is Max-Q variant which has performance between 1050 mobile and 1050TI mobile.

Iris graphics are plenty fine for most things, and even a fair bit of gaming, so long as settings are kept moderate or lower.
 
Integrated graphics, while certainly a lower performance solution, are not the stinking pile of poo they used to be a decade ago. *looks at GMA 950*

@Zodiark1593
 
Please, don't remind me.  One of my earliest builds was an AMD K6 with SiS 315 integrated graphics, completely useless for 3D graphics with a resolution above 320x240.

Yeah but premiere pro is way better. And macbook pro is so expensive. Close to $2000 for the base model https://www.apple.com/au/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro

Exactly what I would do

You can get sd cards that are smaller size so they sit flush even in a small slot

I think they used Windows 10N before S was available.

The Ryzen 7 mobile chips are not going to be worth the price increase, both are 4 cores 8 threads, R7 just .2ghz faster turbo and 2 more CUs.

Really The Ryzen 5 laptops need to be $499 with fast RAM and bigger batteries and they'd be perfect.

Thinkpad's in general have this great reputation of not dying, ever.  I have two from my uncle who used them when he lived in Switzerland running Linux but they still work and stay relatively cool and quiet despite being around for most of my life.  My brother has a Thinkpad T460p which he loves, my mom has a Thinkpad T470 for work and my dad has some other Thinkpad from his job too.  They're just ubiquitous with business and quality.
 
Lenovo took over the top spot in consumer favor from Apple in a Laptop Magazine poll and they hold 4 of the top battery life spots on Laptop Magazine's top battery life list.  Thinkpad's specifically have a unique and nice keyboard with a modern trackpad and some of the best chargers I've ever used.  Hell most have hot-swappable batteries because they hold a 24WHr in the front of the laptop so you don't have to plug-in or shutdown to replace the back one.  They're just convenient.
 
Thinkpad's have one issue though: they're fucking expensive. For basically every Thinkpad there is a different laptop which is faster or cheaper. My dad made an excellent point though; when it came to the cost of a Thinkpad, on the spectrum of balls-to-the-wall performance to break-the-floor when dropped, they tend towards the latter.  Unfortunately that means you deal with last gen hardware or hefty premiums for current stuff all wrapped in a plastic shell, albeit a really nice plastic shell.
 
Buying a laptop is an interesting experience and balancing battery, performance, portability, and durability is one of the most frustrating challenges I've faced.  I love the Thinkpad's but I can't bring myself to buy one because I know there are laptops with better performance or are cheaper.
 
I spent waaaaay too much time writing this.

I have the Lenovo Thinkpad T570  and I'm comletly fine with it. You can't play everything on high settings but smaler or older games like Binding of Isaac will work just fine on the integrated graphics unit of the CPU. I recomend you don't play with the graphic card on battery, if you do your battery will be down in lik a hour and a half or so depending on the game you play and how broght your screen is set. I bought it for univerity and for this purpose it's ideal and if you want to casually game on it or play competetive games like CS or Overwatch it shoud be fine, but don't espect too much, expecally in that price range.
 

P51s and T570 are outdated. Avoid Pavilion Power, bad exhaust design. Go for XPS 15 refurbished or Ideapad 720s 15. Yoga 720 15 also a good choice.

My uncle's work laptop is a ThinkPad P50(not P51s, but very similar) and he's said really good things about it. I myself plan on getting one when I need a mobile workstation/gaming machine.
 
Just an absolute beast of a laptop.

Just get whatever has a GTX 1050 or better and a quad core i7

Or grab a Ryzen 5 2500U machine, just double check that is has dual channel memory
 

This one's $800 for an i7 7700HQ and GTX 1050
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA9SK62T9086

Depends on the applications. If you're in a situation where you'll mostly be using you're desktop then it makes no sense to get something high end for that and just have something light weight and cheap for your laptop.
 
Also as a side note, you can always hull your desktop to lan parties... I've done that before

From what I understand and have seen at the parties I've hosted, people try to bring their desktops if they have the space to transport them.

And don't forget to mark as solved.

Yes but you will have watermarks and notes to activate Windows. You can activate Windows at a later date.

Yes.  You are limited from doing customization of desktop backgrounds, and a few other features are disabled, but it is mostly usable.

@GoodBytes @leadeater and others can back me up.