Best Laptop for under $1800?

[Nate21601]

I'm looking for a laptop for college. It will be used for light gaming and college activities.

 

I was thinking about getting the Msi GS65 Stealth 1060 version but I'm not sure.

[Dedayog]

Do you need touchscreen or foldable tablet type?

 

If not, I like MSI laptops for their keyboards.  Have the 1050Ti version as well as the Lenovo Ideapad 720S in 1050Ti.

[GoldenLag]

Get a 800$ desktop and a 600-1000$ laptop.

 

You dont want to drag around a Gaming laptop

[Nate21601]

1 minute ago, jstudrawa said:

Do you need touchscreen or foldable tablet type?

 

If not, I like MSI laptops for their keyboards.  Have the 1050Ti version as well as the Lenovo Ideapad 720S in 1050Ti.

I don't need a touchscreen or foldable tablet. Just a normal laptop.

[Nate21601]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

Get a 800$ desktop and a 600-1000$ laptop.

 

You dont want to drag around a Gaming laptop

I already have a gaming desktop. It has a i7-7700k and a 2070. I'm just looking for a laptop for college

[Findiculous]

If light gaming is your goal then drop your budget significantly. With that you can get the Acer Nitro 5 for much much cheaper and will tick the light gaming box as well as college activities. With the savings you can invest in a desktop later on or something else.

 

Edit: Just saw your response above about having a gaming desktop. But same point stands. You can save money for something better down the line (like desktop upgrades/new monitor etc) if light gaming is the only intention. No need to break bank as you have a budget thats too large there.

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Nate21601 said:

I already have a gaming desktop. It has a i7-7700k and a 2070. I'm just looking for a laptop for college

What is "light gaming" for you then?

[Dedayog]

Really, that MSI you list is sleek and light and powerful.   Perfect.  Yeah, it's pricey.  

 

Acer Nitro with it's ugly and crappy keyboard?  No way.

 

If you have the scratch, get the MSI.

[Nate21601]

Just now, GoldenLag said:

What is "light gaming" for you then?

I'll mostly just be playing CS:GO 

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Nate21601 said:

I'll mostly just be playing CS:GO 

Something like a Huawei Matebook X Pro is more or less the best you can get.

 

 

If you want something a tad cheaper, the Matebook 13 and Matebook 14 is a good option

 

Note: these are ultrabooks

[Findiculous]

2 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Really, that MSI you list is sleek and light and powerful.   Perfect.  Yeah, it's pricey.  

 

Acer Nitro with it's ugly and crappy keyboard?  No way.

 

If you have the scratch, get the MSI.

Going cheaper will demand sacrifices. The point is, for light gaming, hitting that budget mark is real overkill and just a waste of money which could go towards much better things.

 

Acer Nitro 5 was a point that you can get a gaming laptop which more than meets the needs of the OP without having to meet the full budget.

[Dedayog]

4 minutes ago, Findiculous said:

Going cheaper will demand sacrifices. The point is, for light gaming, hitting that budget mark is real overkill and just a waste of money which could go towards much better things.

 

Acer Nitro 5 was a point that you can get a gaming laptop which more than meets the needs of the OP without having to meet the full budget.

Right but it's a laptop.  it's an all in one travelling gaming and working machine. 

 

Maybe he doesn't want to sacrifice?  If you have the money, why not?  You're paying a premium but you're getting real things.  Maybe incremental, but only he can determine.

 

You say the word sacrifice.  Maybe he doesn't have to.  Or want to.

 

Besdes, Borderlands 3 is coming out.  You NEED something to play that in class!

 

It's $1675 currently... not the cheapest, but there's more to a laptop than just specs.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/MSI-GS65-Stealth-THIN-051-i7-8750H/dp/B07BB7XN8C/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=msi+laptop&qid=1555605645&s=digital-text&sr=8-4

[GoldenLag]

1 minute ago, Findiculous said:

Going cheaper will demand sacrifices. The point is, for light gaming, hitting that budget mark is real overkill and just a waste of money which could go towards much better things.

 

Acer Nitro 5 was a point that you can get a gaming laptop which more than meets the needs of the OP without having to meet the full budget.

He/she isnt doing heavy gaming. Its CS:GO. Just get something with an mx150/mx250 and you are good to go. Something the Matebook 13/14/X Pro offers in a very good package

 

And if you want to go cheaper you can grab an HP Envy x360 with a Ryzen 2500u or 2700u for quite a good deal these days. And that itself is a very good package aswell

[GoldenLag]

2 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

$1675 currently... not the cheapest, but there's more to a laptop than just specs.

 

https://smile.amazon.com/MSI-GS65-Stealth-THIN-051-i7-8750H/dp/B07BB7XN8C/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=msi+laptop&qid=1555605645&s=digital-text&sr=8-4

Would never pick a gaming laptop for his purposes. A ultrabook with a Ryzen CPU or a mx150/250 is good enough

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

Would never pick a gaming laptop for his purposes. A ultrabook with a Ryzen CPU or a mx150/250 is good enough

Again, good enough isn't what this is about really.

 

If it was, Emma wouldn't exist either I guess.  

 

Maybe I'm defending his decision from a sense of having bought a couple similar to it, but you need to leave open the option of AAA gaming.  Sure, he plays CS:GO but he may play other things.

 

College is still a social scene.  He'll pull chicks with the MSI, guaranteed.  Maybe 2 at once, it's a nice laptop.

[Nate21601]

Just now, jstudrawa said:

Again, good enough isn't what this is about really.

 

If it was, Emma wouldn't exist either I guess.  

 

Maybe I'm defending his decision from a sense of having bought a couple similar to it, but you need to leave open the open of AAA gaming.  Sure, he plays CS:GO but he may play other things.

 

College is still a social scene.  He'll pull chicks with the MSI, guaranteed.  Maybe 2 at once, it's a nice laptop.

Damn. Two at once? I think I'm sold

[Nate21601]

10 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

He/she isnt doing heavy gaming. Its CS:GO. Just get something with an mx150/mx250 and you are good to go. Something the Matebook 13/14/X Pro offers in a very good package

 

And if you want to go cheaper you can grab an HP Envy x360 with a Ryzen 2500u or 2700u for quite a good deal these days. And that itself is a very good package aswell

I'll look into these. But I'm most likely going to buy a higher end laptop just in case I want to play other games in the future. I only said CS:GO because they are giving me a scholarship to play so I'll mainly be playing that for the first couple of months/years.

[Dedayog]

The MSI P65 is cheaper as well...for that non gaming aluminum look...

 

https://smile.amazon.com/MSI-P65-Creator-8RE-020-Productivity/dp/B07HS6PBLD/ref=sr_1_13?keywords=msi+laptop&qid=1555606686&s=digital-text&sr=8-13

 

Or the GP73 is similar and cheaper...

 

https://smile.amazon.com/GP73-Leopard-i7-8750H-Notebook-Computer/dp/B07BY8C3R2/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=msi+laptop&qid=1555606686&s=digital-text&sr=8-14

 

[GoldenLag]

3 minutes ago, Nate21601 said:

I'll look into these. But I'm most likely going to buy a higher end laptop just in case I want to play other games in the future. I only said CS:GO because they are giving me a scholarship to play so that is going to be the main game I'll be playing. 

The laptops i linked arebt for playing heavy games. You will have to relly on the desktop to play those.

6 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

College is still a social scene.  He'll pull chicks with the MSI, guaranteed.  Maybe 2 at once, it's a nice laptop.

I think youll find the laptops i linked quite the eyecatchers. 

 

7 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

Again, good enough isn't what this is about really

Its about not breaking hos back over the laptop he will be carrying

[genexis_x]

49 minutes ago, Nate21601 said:

I'm looking for a laptop for college. It will be used for light gaming and college activities

Where are you from? Budget? Preferred max weight and min battery life?

[Nate21601]

12 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Where are you from? Budget? Preferred max weight and min battery life?

Ohio. $1800. I'm looking for a decently powerful laptop that has a good battery life. I don't really care about weight as long as it's not crazy heavy.

[Tarun10]

2 minutes ago, Nate21601 said:

Ohio. $1800. I'm looking for a decently powerful laptop that has a good battery life. I don't really care about weight as long as it's not crazy heavy.

Any other specific needs like a high refresh rate screen?

[Nate21601]

1 minute ago, Tarun10 said:

Any other specific needs like a high refresh rate screen?

I would prefer if it had a refresh rate over 120hz.

[Tarun10]

You could get a lsightly thicker and heavier laptop for slightly less money like the Omen series or Lenovo Legion but if you can afford the price go for the MSI, you will have to use it wisely to get 5+ hours of battery on light workloads, and its a thin chassis, so the fans will ramp up and it will be warm but thats typical of most laptops in this form factor.

[genexis_x]

18 hours ago, Nate21601 said:

good battery life

Min how many hours?