Lightest laptop with dgpu for around $1000

m3gtr · June 8, 2019

Hello!

What are the lightest laptops available (less than 2kg/4.5 lbs) with low/mid tier gpu such as mx150/250/gtx1050/ti/1650/1660 etc. Gaming is certainly not the priority and decent battery life (5h+ without gaming) is expected along with subtle design. (no accent colors/gamer-ish chassis)

So far I've considered 2 options;

MSI PS42 Modern 8RA (1.2kg)

pros: 8565u/mx250/16gb/512nvme/1080@60/white backlit kb/fingerprint/full sized arrow keys! great port selection and 50wh battery

cons: questionable build quality/kb flex/thermals(?)

Asus ROG Zephyrus G GA502DU (2.1kg)

pros: 120hz/much better specs. prolly better cooling as well and 76wh battery!

cons: not exactly light/crappy wifi/soldered ram/no biometrics

Honestly I don't need this much firepower as this machine will be mainly used for web-browsing, video streaming and occasional gaming (nfs mw 2005). Something with ulv cpu and mx chip with 8/16gb ram would do. Slim bezels and fingerprint reader are welcome additions.

*EDIT* Also not into any color sensitive work nor high refresh rate gaming. Weight/Battery life and sleek design is what I am after.

Thoughts on the given 2 models are welcome. Other recommendations are also appreciated. Thank you.

Edited June 8, 2019 by m3gtr
Added some more info

Chronified · June 8, 2019

Since gaming isn't a huge concern, have you considered getting a laptop with thunderbolt and getting an external GPU for your laptop? You could easily get something along the lines of an LG Gram (but obv not because of pricepoint) and save for a mid-teir GPU and an external dock in the future.

Especially because the $1000 pricepoint is an iffy one for midteir gaming laptops, you're either sacrificing build quality, screen quality or performance. Going with an IGP laptop w/ thunderbolt you wouldn't need to compromise on build, screen or performance and just wait out until you can save $200-$300 for an eGPU.

genexis_x · June 8, 2019

9 minutes ago, m3gtr said:

What are the lightest laptops available (less than 2kg/4.5 lbs) with low/mid tier gpu such as mx150/250/gtx1050/ti/1650/1660 etc

There are tons of them

Where are you from? Budget? Any other requirements?

Chronified · June 8, 2019

20 minutes ago, Chronified said:

Since gaming isn't a huge concern, have you considered getting a laptop with thunderbolt and getting an external GPU for your laptop? You could easily get something along the lines of an LG Gram (but obv not because of pricepoint) and save for a mid-teir GPU and an external dock in the future.

Especially because the $1000 pricepoint is an iffy one for midteir gaming laptops, you're either sacrificing build quality, screen quality or performance. Going with an IGP laptop w/ thunderbolt you wouldn't need to compromise on build, screen or performance and just wait out until you can save $200-$300 for an eGPU.

Forgot to mention that since laptop GPUs aren't upgradable for the most part, going the eGPU route would be a really good option since you're going midteir graphics, it'd make it easy to upgrade in the future instead of getting a whole new system. Just make sure you get something current/last gen with at least 4c/8t, upgradable ram/storage and the rest of the specs you're looking for.