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13" or 15" for school and programming

Makzi
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I am looking to buy a new laptop as a replacement for my 15" MSI gamer laptop. (i7 7700hq, 16gb, 1060 3gb). 

I never game on my laptop anymore, since I have a better desktop at home. My issues with this computer are primarily the weight of both computer and power brick, and the heat it produces annoys me as well. It gets really hot, even when writing text documents and surfing the web.  

I really like the 15" size, and the included numpad for math, science reports, and spreadsheets.

 

For replacement I am looking for something, light and handy, that I can have with me pretty much anywhere I go. 2 in 1, could be a great feature, for the possibility to take notes by hand.

As said I need it for schoolwork, and programming. I'm nowhere near a hardcore programmer but I'm not a beginner neither.

It should be able to handle photoshop and programs of that caliber as well.

 

I have been looking at computers like:

Lenovo Thinkpad t480s, Lenovo Thinkpad X380 Yoga, and the Thinkpad T580 because of the build quality, great keyboard, lightweight, and slim design.

All of these above with an i5 8250U, 8gb ram, 250-500gb ssd. I can maybe push it to the i7 8550U, and 16gb version.

 

What are you guys recommendations in terms of 15" vs 13" screens for this use case? This includes the fact that the numpad comes with the 15" version.

Can you recommend other computers than the ones I listed?

And how will these computers handle in terms of heat, when writing basic text documents and surfing the web?

 

My max budget will be 1500 USD. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

 

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Posted
3 minutes ago, Makzi said:

What are you guys recommendations in terms of 15" vs 13" screens for this use case?

Screen size (and resolution) is the one property of any computer, portable or not, which is in the shortest supply.  My advice is to go as large and high as you can afford and carry around.  More information on the screen equals less scrolling and window switching, and that means higher productivity.

 

All computer screens are too small.  Even the 65" ones, if you ask me...?

 

-z-

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Posted

So you wanted 15 inch 2 in 1 with numpad?

Desktop specs:

Spoiler

AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Gigabyte B550M DS3H mATX

Asrock Challenger Pro OC Radeon RX 6700 XT Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8Gx2) 3600MHz CL18 Kingston NV2 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

Montech Century 850W Gold Tecware Nexus Air (Black) ATX Mid Tower

Laptop: Lenovo Ideapad 5 Pro 16ACH6

Phone: Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 8+128

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Posted

4k?

Touchscreen?

Gaming laptop for editing and photoshop or non gaming laptop for editing and photoshop? 

QUOTE ME  FOR ANSWER.

 

Main PC:

Spoiler

|Ryzen 7 3700x, OC to 4.2ghz @1.3V, 67C, or 4.4ghz @1.456V, 87C || Asus strix 5700 XT, +50 core, +50 memory, +50 power (not a great overclocker) || Asus Strix b550-A || G.skill trident Z Neo rgb 32gb 3600mhz cl16-19-19-19-39, oc to 3733mhz with the same timings || Cooler Master ml360 RGB AIO || Phanteks P500A Digital || Thermaltake ToughPower grand RGB750w 80+gold || Samsung 850 250gb and Adata SX 6000 Lite 500gb || Toshiba 5400rpm 1tb || Asus Rog Theta 7.1 || Asus Rog claymore || Asus Gladius 2 origin gaming mouse || Monitor 1 Asus 1080p 144hz || Monitor 2 AOC 1080p 75hz || 

Test Rig.

Spoiler

| Ryzen 5 3400G || Gigabyte b450 S2H || Hyper X fury 2x4gb 2666mhz cl 16 ||Stock cooler || Antec NX100 || Silverstone essential 400w || Transgend SSD 220s 480gb ||

Just Sold

Spoiler

| i3 9100F || Msi Gaming X gtx 1050 TI || MSI Z390 A-Pro || Kingston 1x16gb 2400mhz cl17 || Stock cooler || Kolink Horizon RGB || Corsair CV 550w || Pny CS900 120gb ||

 

Tier lists for building a PC.

 

Motherboard tier list. Tier A for overclocking 5950x. Tier B for overclocking 5900x, Tier C for overclocking 5800X. Tier D for overclocking 5600X. Tier F for 4/6 core Cpus at stock. Tier E avoid.

(Also case airflow matter or if you are using Downcraft air cooler)

Spoiler

 

Gpu tier list. Rtx 3000 and RX 6000 not included since not so many reviews. Tier S for Water cooling. Tier A and B for overcloking. Tier C stock and Tier D avoid.

( You can overclock Tier C just fine, but it can get very loud, that is why it is not recommended for overclocking, same with tier D)

Spoiler

 

Psu tier List. Tier A for Rtx 3000, Vega and RX 6000. Tier B For anything else. Tier C cheap/IGPU. Tier D and E avoid.

(RTX 3000/ RX 6000 Might run just fine with higher wattage tier B unit, Rtx 3070 runs fine with tier B units)

Spoiler

 

Cpu cooler tier list. Tier 1&2 for power hungry Cpus with Overclock. Tier 3&4 for overclocking Ryzen 3,5,7 or lower power Intel Cpus. Tier 5 for overclocking low end Cpus or 4/6 core Ryzen. Tier 6&7 for stock. Tier 8&9 Ryzen stock cooler performance. Do not waste your money!

Spoiler

 

Storage tier List. Tier A for Moving files/  OS. Tier B for OS/Games. Tier C for games. Tier D budget Pcs. Tier E if on sale not the worst but not good.

(With a grain of salt, I use tier C for OS myself)

Spoiler

 

Case Tier List. Work In Progress. Most Phanteks airflow series cases already done!

Ask me anything :)

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Posted
On 6/4/2019 at 8:19 PM, Makzi said:

I am looking to buy a new laptop as a replacement for my 15" MSI gamer laptop. (i7 7700hq, 16gb, 1060 3gb). 

I never game on my laptop anymore, since I have a better desktop at home. My issues with this computer are primarily the weight of both computer and power brick, and the heat it produces annoys me as well. It gets really hot, even when writing text documents and surfing the web.  

I really like the 15" size, and the included numpad for math, science reports, and spreadsheets.

 

For replacement I am looking for something, light and handy, that I can have with me pretty much anywhere I go. 2 in 1, could be a great feature, for the possibility to take notes by hand.

As said I need it for schoolwork, and programming. I'm nowhere near a hardcore programmer but I'm not a beginner neither.

It should be able to handle photoshop and programs of that caliber as well.

 

I have been looking at computers like:

Lenovo Thinkpad t480s, Lenovo Thinkpad X380 Yoga, and the Thinkpad T580 because of the build quality, great keyboard, lightweight, and slim design.

All of these above with an i5 8250U, 8gb ram, 250-500gb ssd. I can maybe push it to the i7 8550U, and 16gb version.

 

What are you guys recommendations in terms of 15" vs 13" screens for this use case? This includes the fact that the numpad comes with the 15" version.

Can you recommend other computers than the ones I listed?

And how will these computers handle in terms of heat, when writing basic text documents and surfing the web?

 

My max budget will be 1500 USD. 

 

Thanks in advance

 

 

 

Most 13 inch laptops have u processors. Most 15 inch laptops have H processors. There are many 15 inch laptops with u processors. if you can do with a U processor then get a 15 inch laptop with a U processor. The 15 inch laptop has more space which leads to better cooling, less fans needed so it wouldn't get bulky, extra space for battery, better track pad and keyboard. Don't forget that extra screen real estate you have to yourself.

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