PetekW

I edited the initial list to include links. Here it is again to save you some scrolling: 1. Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14API 81NH0019US [Ryzen 7 3700U, Vega 10, 12gb RAM] $799 2. Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15" 81YK00CGUS [Intel i5-1035G1, UHD Graphics, 16gb RAM] $799 3. Lenovo Flex 14 81XG0005US [Intel i7-10510U, UHD Graphics, 16gb RAM] $769 Does USB-C 3.1(Gen 2) include support for outboard video cards? That might be a an option down the road. Sorry I got lost in the different flavors of USB-3, USB-C, Thunderbolt, etc.

OK... after looking at the Microsoft Store I have 3 options: 1. Lenovo IdeaPad S540-14API 81NH0019US [Ryzen 7 3700U, Vega 10, 12gb RAM] $799 2. Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15" 81YK00CGUS [Intel i5-1035G1, UHD Graphics, 16gb RAM] $799 3. Lenovo Flex 14 81XG0005US [Intel i7-10510U, UHD Graphics, 16gb RAM] $769 Thoughts?

I may be missing something on Lenovo's site for the Flex 5, but all of the AMD models are 8GB and the sole Intel model is 4GB. That seems like a really stupid product design decision to me. It looks like the older Flex models had a few 16gb options.

The Ideapad Flex 5 14(AMD) looked like a promising solution... but soldered 8GB ram without any upgrade options? 8GB is the minimum barely passable amount of ram right now. Not to mention the 14" Intel variant is locked at 4GB ram... What the hell???

You're most likely correct. He was talking to me about Minecraft RTX and a new Minecraft update he just downloaded at the same time. Plus I was just talking to my coworker who specializes in Solidworks about RTX .... So, yeah... RTX was a misnomer. Regular Minecraft, Racing Games, and Arc are his favorites right now.

EDIT: Narrowed down to 3 options in the following post: Disclaimer: I'm a Mac user, but also rely on a lot of Windows software through virtualization. I'm a developer, product owner, and digital strategy manager. I also laugh at all of my coworkers who curse their X1 Carbons daily. It's fun to be the only approved Mac user in the company. My wife and son share a computer for his school work and her side job. It's a POS Dell Inspiron 13 that is a couple years old. It's on it's 2nd Dell power supply, charges about 60% of time, powers up about 70% of the time, and has been constant headaches for me. However, they insist they NEED a touchscreen and refuse to use the spare MacBook Pro. So.... what is a good, solid, reliable, touchscreen enabled, 13-15" (14" is the preferred screen size) laptop available? I'm out of touch with PCs, but I've heard Ryzen is the way to go and is far preferable over current Intel mobile chips. Unfortunately, there are very few Ryzen Touch Screen laptops out there, so maybe Intel is ok? The top of my budget is $1,000 but a few percent over for a much better machine is doable. The laptop needs to provide glitchless Zoom & Teams calls, intermediate gaming (my son is 11 years old and just getting into games; mainly ARC and Minecraft RTX at this point), and it needs to have a reliable charging system. Bonus points if it supports USB-C charging and DisplayPort over USB-C for the Dell U3419W monitor I use when I work from home. Oh... and no 4-8gb of soldered RAM BS... how is that still a thing in 2020? Thanks! Pete

Raspberry 3 or 4. ESP32 variant If solely for network security and routing/firewalling you could look at Mikrotik. RouterOS is exceptionally flexible, powerful, and the hardware is really inexpensive. It's still a pretty vague description.

I could go either way. I like curved, but it's not a requirement.

I am hoping to get some help finding a new monitor for when I go back to the office. I am looking for a 34" ultra wide with 1440 or greater vertical resolution. I have a Dell U3419W at home and want something similar for work. I am hoping to keep the price close to $500. 60hz refresh is fine. The part I get confused about is USB-C vs Thunderbolt. I use a 2018 MacBook Pro and love just having a single cable to plug into the Dell monitor (I'm ignoring the broken firmware and endless wakeup loop for this post). When searching for work monitors I see some that have USB3, some that have Thunderbolt, and very few that have USBC. Final requirements: Approx. $500 Approx 34" Ultrawide 1440 or greater vertical resolution USB-C with Charging for a MacBook Pro Thanks!