Considering a Laptop Upgrade

[Leif VII]

Hey all! I'm looking to upgrade my laptop some time in the near-ish future. I'm looking for something around $1500 or under since I already have a beefy gaming rig. I'd like an 8th-gen i7 for speed (preferably the 6-core but I can settle for a 4-core), dedicated graphics for light gaming and Blender modeling (GTX 1050-ish is probably good, 1060 at most), and 16GB of RAM so I can have an IDE and multiple instances of a networking program open at the same time. I currently have 3 laptops that I am considering based on pricing at Newegg. Do y'all have any suggestions for which one would work best or any that you would add for consideration (either currently released or planned releases)?

 

Current machine - Dell Inspiron 15-5559 from 2016 (~$800):

- i5-6200U

- 12GB RAM

- 120GB SSD, 1TB 5400 HDD

- 40Wh battery

 

Option 1 - Asus ZenBook 15 UX533FD-DH74 ($1400):

- i7-8565U

- 16GB RAM

- 512GB PCIe SSD

- GTX 1050 Max-Q

- 73Wh battery

 

Option 2 - Dell XPS 15 9570 ($1550):

- i7-8750H

- 16GB RAM

- 512GB PCIe SSD

- GTX 1050 Ti

- 97Wh battery

- Bonus: Thunderbolt 3 with 4 PCIe lanes

 

Option 3 - Gigabyte Aero 15W v8-BK4 ($1600):

- i7-8750H

- 16GB RAM

- 512GB SATA SSD

- GTX 1060

- 94.24 Wh battery

- Bonus: Thunderbolt 3 and 144Hz screen

[genexis_x]

May I know where are you from? Budget? Any preference on weight and battery life?

[Shiv78]

Either the XPS or Aero 15.

 

XPS

Pros: better overall build quality, battery life, less 'gamery', slightly cheaper.

Cons: Worse performance and thermals

[Leif VII]

GeneXiS_X, I'm from the US, budget is around $1500, and I'd prefer something around or less than 5lbs (current laptop weight) with 5+ hours of battery life if possible.

 

Shiv78, thanks for the suggestion!

[Shiv78]

53 minutes ago, Leif VII said:

GeneXiS_X, I'm from the US, budget is around $1500, and I'd prefer something around or less than 5lbs (current laptop weight) with 5+ hours of battery life if possible.

 

Shiv78, thanks for the suggestion!

Just FYI, use the @ to tag people so they are notified of replies, or quote them with the arrow icon under their posts.

 

Like this @Leif VII

[genexis_x]

9 hours ago, Leif VII said:

around $1500

around or less than 5lbs 2.27

5+ hours of battery life

Lenovo Legion Y730 15 customize - a bit expensive, with TB3

MSI GP63 8RE

Alienware m15 with 60Wh battery - be aware of potential CPU overheating issue

Lenovo Legion Y530 customize - slightly heavier than 5 lbs

Lenovo Legion Y7000 - slightly heavier than 5 lbs

HP Omen 15 dc with 52Wh battery - slightly heavier than 5 lbs

 

There are a few tweaks to increase battery life

 

Try to avoid thin and lights due to worse thermals

 

Might also want to consider 'true' mobile workstations like Thinkpad P52

12 hours ago, Shiv78 said:

XPS

Pros: better overall build quality

Only exterior build quality. QC is still bad

[Leif VII]

Thanks for the tip @Shiv78! Didn't know that was a thing.

 

@GeneXiS_X thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely have to look into those models. I'm not too concerned about thermals since gaming is, at max, going to be Overwatch on medium settings for maybe an hour or two at a time. I'm mostly looking for a mobile coding machine with decent battery life that can game, rather than an all-out gaming machine. Anything extra at the price point is just a bonus! :D

[Shiv78]

1 hour ago, Leif VII said:

Thanks for the tip @Shiv78! Didn't know that was a thing.

 

@GeneXiS_X thanks for the suggestions! I'll definitely have to look into those models. I'm not too concerned about thermals since gaming is, at max, going to be Overwatch on medium settings for maybe an hour or two at a time. I'm mostly looking for a mobile coding machine with decent battery life that can game, rather than an all-out gaming machine. Anything extra at the price point is just a bonus! :D

I'd go for the XPS then.