Trying to Find the Right Laptop for Me

[MidNate]

So I'm looking into eventually buying myself a new laptop, but I'm not really sure which one I should get. I'm becoming a video editor, filmmaker, and all that jazz. And from my experience plus with what I was told, getting a MacBook Pro would be the way to go. However, I'm looking into other options in terms of a Windows machine. Plus see if I can save a few hundred dollars since I know the model i'm looking at in terms of the MacBook Pro costs pretty much $3000 USD. 

 

I also am a gamer if that is a factor that I should consider, but if I have to sacrifice gaming if I get a MacBook Pro, that’s okay with me. 

•  

[genexis_x]

Do you really need macOS? Max budget? Any preference on weight and battery life? Any other requirements?

[MidNate]

I don't need macOS, but if I have to, I will use it. It doesn't matter to me. I work on my dad's iMac on occasion, but I mainly use Windows as my OS. In terms of weight, I want to keep it on the light side as much as possible and also have good battery life. A graphics card in the system, an i7, 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD would be preferred. In terms of a budget, I'm willing to go between $1000-$2000.

[Super Spartan]

3 hours ago, MidnightScore said:

I don't need macOS, but if I have to, I will use it. It doesn't matter to me. I work on my dad's iMac on occasion, but I mainly use Windows as my OS. In terms of weight, I want to keep it on the light side as much as possible and also have good battery life. A graphics card in the system, an i7, 16 GB of RAM, and an SSD would be preferred. In terms of a budget, I'm willing to go between $1000-$2000.

I recommend this: MSI GS65

 

or this:

 

Dell XPS 15

 

For the XPS 15, stay away from the models with the 56 WHr battery, get the 97WHr battery models which will give you insane battery life

[markr54632]

2 hours ago, Ultra Male said:

I recommend this: MSI GS65

 

or this:

 

Dell XPS 15

 

For the XPS 15, stay away from the models with the 56 WHr battery, get the 97WHr battery models which will give you insane battery life

I genuinely do not understand how anyone could reccomend either of those models with the amount of qc and thermal complaints from both.

[MidNate]

1 hour ago, markr54632 said:

I genuinely do not understand how anyone could reccomend either of those models with the amount of qc and thermal complaints from both.

Is there anything you recommend?

[markr54632]

15 minutes ago, MidnightScore said:

Is there anything you recommend?

What software do you use?

 

Are you still in school? If so does your program recommend mac over windows?

 

Any weight or size requirements? If you say thin and light I will refrain from recommendations as i feel that thin and light with dgpu is just stupid. They all thermal throttle.

[MidNate]

2 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

What software do you use?

 

Are you still in school? If so does your program recommend mac over windows?

 

Any weight or size requirements? If you say thin and light I will refrain from recommendations as i feel that thin and light with dgpu is just stupid. They all thermal throttle.

Currently, I'm on Windows and the software I use for editing and stuff is all Adobe (Premiere, After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc.). I don't currently go to school, but I do plan on going back eventually and from what I've been able to determine from where I'm at, it doesn't matter if it's Mac or Windows. I don't want to say thin and light because I know that those tend to thermal throttle. Though I will say that in terms of screen size, at least a 15" and in terms of weight, I don't want to carry something that's big and bulky, but also not thin and light. So a nice middle ground with that if it's possible

[Super Spartan]

4 hours ago, markr54632 said:

I genuinely do not understand how anyone could reccomend either of those models with the amount of qc and thermal complaints from both.

Not when you buy it from a reputed reseller! That's exactly why I recommended HIDevolution rather than just point him to the main MSI or Dell site!! They do extensive QC, synthetic benchmarks, and actual gaming sessions to ensure the laptop works 100% and doesn't overheat. They never use garbage thermal paste that comes with the laptop from the factory and use either Thermal Grizzly conductonaut for those who want liquid metal and no it won't spill over and burn any components as they know how to seal it with their proprietary methods so it doesn't spill OR they use Gelid Extreme Thermal Compound or IC diamond.

 

So enough you quoting me every where about my recommendations! You recommend what you think is best and I will do the same!

 

Those laptops if setup and built correctly, are some of the best 15 inch laptops out there with superb battery life, screens, and keyboards.

[genexis_x]

14 hours ago, MidnightScore said:

I want to keep it on the light side as much as possible and also have good battery life

Give a range - min battery life in hours and max weight in kg/lbs

[markr54632]

9 hours ago, Ultra Male said:

Not when you buy it from a reputed reseller! That's exactly why I recommended HIDevolution rather than just point him to the main MSI or Dell site!! They do extensive QC, synthetic benchmarks, and actual gaming sessions to ensure the laptop works 100% and doesn't overheat. They never use garbage thermal paste that comes with the laptop from the factory and use either Thermal Grizzly conductonaut for those who want liquid metal and no it won't spill over and burn any components as they know how to seal it with their proprietary methods so it doesn't spill OR they use Gelid Extreme Thermal Compound or IC diamond.

 

So enough you quoting me every where about my recommendations! You recommend what you think is best and I will do the same!

 

Those laptops if setup and built correctly, are some of the best 15 inch laptops out there with superb battery life, screens, and keyboards.

Honestly me quoting poor recommendations is about as annoying to you as you spamming hidevolution is to me.

 

They are a fine reseller and builder. They are not however capable of magic. On both the 2018 xps and gs65 thermal interface material is not the limiting factor in their piss poor cooling solution.

[Super Spartan]

21 minutes ago, markr54632 said:

Honestly me quoting poor recommendations is about as annoying to you as you spamming hidevolution is to me.

 

They are a fine reseller and builder. They are not however capable of magic. On both the 2018 xps and gs65 thermal interface material is not the limiting factor in their piss poor cooling solution.

I understand, so what do you recommend then as a better option?

[AqHu]

Check out the Asus Zenbook Pro 15 UX550GE.

I need a laptop for similar purposes to yours and ended up going with this one.

- Less than $1700

- 512GB PCIe SSD

- Intel i7-8750H processor (hexa-core with Turbo Boost and 9MB cache)

- 16GB DDR4 RAM

- Nvidia 1050 Ti (4GB GDDR5 VRAM)

- 15.6" 4K touch screen

[markr54632]

1 minute ago, Ultra Male said:

I understand, so what do you recommend then as a better option?

Honestly since the OP said they are considering school that makes it tough to recommend anything. Personally I think it is unacceptable for the new macbooks to not be repairable, they thermal throttle heavily, the new keyboards are garbage. However in a college program that favors mac, they make it super hard to be a windows user. Pretty much if the teacher uses a mac, make your life easy and get a mac.

 

If the OP intends on continuing with windows

 

If at all possible I would get a decent desktop workstation, and a lower end laptop.

 

Unfortunately I haven't actually gotten to play with any of the rtx laptops and reviews are kind of scarce.

 

The gm501 is attractive and under budget. Notebookchecks example was very loud, but thermals and clocks stayed in check.

 

The 2018 omen series had vastly improved over the older omens and are quite attractive at their price point. Notebookcheck had some throttling on the i7 1070 model. I've messed with a few of these and they are quite impressive for the money.

 

However the OP is going to need a more color accurate screen, and that is something that although I am getting more into researching panels I still dont have a great understanding of.