Looking for a $1000 laptop to (mostly) replace my desktop.

[seriouschiz]

Hello,

 

I'm a college student approaching graduation and I'm looking to finally replace my gaming PC. Between school and gaining different interests, I find myself not gaming much anymore, and when I do, it's usually less intensive games like Rocket League or Dota 2. I'm finding it harder and harder to justify keeping my PC when I could have something much more portable and power efficient that will do what I need it to do.

 

Budget

Based on some quick research, I think I could get $800-$1000 by selling my PC, monitor, and current (cheap) laptop. (Side note: would it be better to sell my PC in parts or as a pre-built?) I'm willing to pay around $200 out of pocket to supplement this but would prefer to keep that to a minimum. So, that's the price range I'm working in.

 

What I Need

• Good Keyboard: I'm not completely sure what I'll be doing for a living, but there's a good chance it will involve a lot of writing, so I want a good keyboard that I can use for long periods of time without trouble. I have a mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Browns right now, which I don't really like that much. I find myself regularly hitting multiple keys and it's a little tricky to feel where the key actually activates.
• Photo Editing: I do some graphic work right now, so I want to be able to use Photoshop and Illustrator without much trouble. It doesn't have to be lightning fast, but I need it to work.
• Longevity: I would like to be able to use this laptop for at least 5 years if not longer to justify the cost. I'm not the kind of person that needs the newest technology all the time.

What I Would Like

• Upgradeability: To help with the longevity, being able to upgrade some components myself would be nice. If the laptop is good enough, this might not be necessary.
• Some Gaming Capability: The built-in GPU should be able to handle some games. Specifically Rocket League, Dota 2, Overwatch, Fortnite, etc. Medium settings is fine as long as the FPS is good enough.
  • This could also be fulfilled by being compatible with an external GPU that I could purchase at a later date.
• Portability: I would want to be able to take this with me so I can do work on the go. A thin-and-light would be nice, but as long as it's not really chunky I'm okay.

What I have so far

The strongest contender for me right now is the LG Gram. I've heard great things about the keyboard as well as its upgradeability. It is on the high end of my price range, but I think it might be worth it. I was also looking at the Surface lineup, mostly because of the keyboard. I am worried I wouldn't be able to afford a model that would have the specs I want. I have also read some good reviews of the Dell XPS 13, but don't know much about them.

 

Any advice on what to buy, how to sell my gaming PC, or if I should wait for new computers to be released is appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[Super Spartan]

Firstly, selling your PC in parts might give you a bit more money but it's a hassle trying to find many buyers as opposed to one and can be hectic. I would sell it as one whole unit and be done with it.

 

Right now, HIDevolution who is an excellent system builder that I've bought 4 laptops from have the following laptops on sale which are a great bang for the buck, meaning, they have high specs but a price that's a steal!!

 

See the various models here: http://www.hidevolution.com/specials-1/msi

 

 

my pick would be the GP63 as it's small and light yet packs a lot of power.

 

If you email donald@hidevolution.com you might be able to get a small discount on top of that.

 

 

[TheNaitsyrk]

I'd wait for RTX 2060 laptops. I am doing that myself.

[seriouschiz]

7 minutes ago, TheNaitsyrk said:

I'd wait for RTX 2060 laptops. I am doing that myself.

I don't think I need an RTX 2060, but would prices of other laptops drop by that point? I'm probably going to wait until at least the spring or summer to do this anyways.

[seriouschiz]

21 minutes ago, Ultra Male said:

Firstly, selling your PC in parts might give you a bit more money but it's a hassle trying to find many buyers as opposed to one and can be hectic. I would sell it as one whole unit and be done with it.

 

Right now, HIDevolution who is an excellent system builder that I've bought 4 laptops from have the following laptops on sale which are a great bang for the buck, meaning, they have high specs but a price that's a steal!!

 

See the various models here: http://www.hidevolution.com/specials-1/msi

 

 

my pick would be the GP63 as it's small and light yet packs a lot of power.

 

If you email donald@hidevolution.com you might be able to get a small discount on top of that.

 

 

Awesome! Thanks for the link. I'm probably not going to buy in time for this sale, but do they have sales like this often?

[Super Spartan]

10 minutes ago, seriouschiz said:

Awesome! Thanks for the link. I'm probably not going to buy in time for this sale, but do they have sales like this often?

Not sure bro, just shoot donald@hidevolution.com an email I'm sure they always might have specials. The reason I don't know is because I usually buy the higher end models which at the time I am buying them are always at retail price.

[genexis_x]

7 hours ago, seriouschiz said:

Longevity

Performance or reliability?

7 hours ago, seriouschiz said:

Portability: I would want to be able to take this with me so I can do work on the go. A thin-and-light would be nice, but as long as it's not really chunky I'm okay.

Preferred max weight in kg/lbs?

 

Where are you from? Any preference in battery life?

[ahuckphin]

A laptop with a Nvidia MX150 and Intel U series processor should be sufficient for your needs. 

[markr54632]

I think overall you will be disappointed by going with a thin and light as your only system. I did this for a while and it was horrible. They really dont do anything well. If you expect to do any gaming I would go no lower than a 1050, and at that point your battery life will top out at 4-5 hours real world use. 

 

For photo editing you aren't going to find a "good" display in your price range.

 

For upgradeability at best you can hope for non soldered memory and ssd.

 

For longevity 5 years is an extremely long service interval anymore. I would hope for 5 years, but realistically with today's qc in the market expect more like 2-3 before something dies or the battery life is no longer serviceable.

 

 

[seriouschiz]

On 1/23/2019 at 12:28 AM, GeneXiS_X said:

Performance or reliability?

Preferred max weight in kg/lbs?

 

Where are you from? Any preference in battery life?

I'm more concerned about reliability than performance. Like I said, as long as it can run photoshop, illustrator, and basic games, I'm pretty happy with it.

In terms of max weight, I would prefer something lighter, but if I need to I can go heavier. I just don't want something that will look obnoxious in a professional setting.

I'm from the U.S. Battery life doesn't have to be huge. I don't have a problem carrying a charging cable with me.

[seriouschiz]

On 1/23/2019 at 2:57 PM, markr54632 said:

I think overall you will be disappointed by going with a thin and light as your only system. I did this for a while and it was horrible. They really dont do anything well. If you expect to do any gaming I would go no lower than a 1050, and at that point your battery life will top out at 4-5 hours real world use. 

 

For photo editing you aren't going to find a "good" display in your price range.

 

For upgradeability at best you can hope for non soldered memory and ssd.

 

For longevity 5 years is an extremely long service interval anymore. I would hope for 5 years, but realistically with today's qc in the market expect more like 2-3 before something dies or the battery life is no longer serviceable.

 

 

Yeah, I'm beginning to realize that unless I go way over my budget, a thin and light probably won't work. On my desktop, I'm currently running an RX 480 for graphics, which is usually more than enough for the kind of games I play. 

Display I'm not as concerned about because I can always get a monitor if it becomes that big of a problem.

[seriouschiz]

While I'm here, what are people's thoughts on the HP Spectre x360? Linus gave the 2017 version a pretty stellar review, and he's usually kind of picky when it comes to laptops. Seems to be right around my price range, and really good value.

[genexis_x]

24 minutes ago, seriouschiz said:

I would prefer something lighter

Give a range as stated above

24 minutes ago, seriouschiz said:

Battery life doesn't have to be huge

So you don't mind poor battery life?

[seriouschiz]

2 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Give a range as stated above

So you don't mind poor battery life?

I guess let's say up to 6 lbs? I'm not very picky. I just want something that doesn't look like a "gaming laptop" and won't break my back.

And no, I don't mind poor battery life. As long as it can last a couple hours by itself that's fine.

[genexis_x]

14 hours ago, seriouschiz said:

I guess let's say up to 6 lbs? I'm not very picky. I just want something that doesn't look like a "gaming laptop" and won't break my back.

And no, I don't mind poor battery life. As long as it can last a couple hours by itself that's fine.

You can actually go for gaming/performance laptop...which one do you prefer, this or regular laptop/Ultrabook?

[seriouschiz]

I think I would prefer a regular laptop/ultrabook, but if you have good examples of gaming laptops that don't obviously look like gaming laptops then I'm all ears.

[markr54632]

The y7000 looks nice if you turn the rgb cancer off.

 

The acer aspire a515-52g is way below your budget (save it for books, you will need it) has an mx150 for very basic games.

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, markr54632 said:

rgb cancer

Y7000 doesn't have RGB, only Y730 (or Y740)

2 hours ago, seriouschiz said:

I think I would prefer a regular laptop/ultrabook, but if you have good examples of gaming laptops that don't obviously look like gaming laptops then I'm all ears.

If you want the best reliability, premium business laptops / mobile workstations are good choices. Unfortunately they also cost more

 

Dell Precision 7530 (i5-8300H iGPU, 72% NTSC IPS, TB3) is a decent choice, however you need to upgrade RAM/storage by your own and your budget doesn't allow dGPU config (need to use eGPU)

[markr54632]

12 hours ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Y7000 doesn't have RGB, only Y730 (or Y740)

If you want the best reliability, premium business laptops / mobile workstations are good choices. Unfortunately they also cost more

 

Dell Precision 7530 (i5-8300H iGPU, 72% NTSC IPS, TB3) is a decent choice, however you need to upgrade RAM/storage by your own and your budget doesn't allow dGPU config (need to use eGPU)

Well I was mistaken. I was thinking the y730.

 

You're right the y7000 is white backlit.