Laptop for student (programming/gaming) (US)

[CatoSicarius]

Hello everyone! I want to buy a laptop (from US), to use it for programming and gaming. I also need it to be portable and have decent battery life since i will use it in college too.

The CPU should have at least 4 cores (I plan to run VMs on it and also have open multiple IDEs / Terminals for programming).

The GPU should be able to run games at medium at least (at about 60 fps) for the next few years (a gtx 1660 ti or rtx 2060 would be perfect).

The screen should be ok, not something too wow, but not something bad either.

The battery should last me about 6 hours while doing very light programming / stuff (reading emails, writing docs, watching youtube videos).

As for portability, I will carry the laptop with me a lot, so if it is thin its a plus and also if the whole unit is the same size as a normal bezels 14" that would be perfect.

The keyboard is another factor which should be good, preferably to not have a numpad on it.

 

Is it possible to achieve that in a budget of 1500$ (USD) (+ ~200$ if there is something really worth of getting)?

Thanks

[Super Spartan]

Here you go:

Custom Built MSI GP65 Leopard 9SE-225 15.6" FHD IPS-Level 144Hz - i7-9750H - RTX 2060

 

HIDevolution has great quality control and customer service. Also I recommend you choose the thermal paste upgrade to "Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut + Fujipoly Extreme Thermal pads", that would reduce temps by 15C so you ensure the laptop doesn't overheat or thermal throttle.

[CatoSicarius]

Thanks for the suggestion, but at almost the same price i found the

 https://www.amazon.com/MSI-GS65-Stealth-THIN-051-i7-8750H/dp/B07PHNZBDV?th=1

which has the same specs. Any suggestion on this laptop or on another one?

(Also, i want the laptop to look non-gamery)

[panzersharkcat]

If you go for the GS65, it's much more of a headache to repaste to keep temps under control, as the motherboard is upside down. You have to remove the whole thing to repaste. If I remember correctly, the i7-8750H models have only one stick of RAM. The GS65 also has had issues with the fans rattling after a while. There were issues with chassis flex  as well, but I heard they were largely fixed. The 1660 Ti version I saw at Best Buy felt reasonably sturdy, at least. If you are dead set on a GS65, then I would suggest going with GentechPC since they do repastes and swaps to dual channel RAM for free (if you have a model that has only one 16 GB RAM stick).

 

If you don't mind only a GTX 1650 or the Quadro equivalent, I would recommend something like the 2nd gen versions of the ThinkPad X1 Extreme or the ThinkPad P1. They're pretty light and very sturdy and reliable. They also have the ThinkPad keyboard, which is renown for being the best among laptops. I'm typing this post on a ThinkPad and I can attest this is the best feeling laptop keyboard I've used. My only complaint is that it's a fingerprint magnet. If you're in the US, I would use the Tickets at Work link (password TXTATWORK) to get a really good discount. I just wouldn't recommend custom ordering unless you're willing to wait four to six weeks, as some people on r/ThinkPad and r/Lenovo have reported. With that link, an X1 Extreme is $1470 for Windows 10 Home, an i7-9750H, a 500 nit FHD display, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. You can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro later. The one with Windows 10 Pro is $1748 but also has a 4K display, which may be overkill for you. For $1409, however, you can get a P1 with an i7-9850H, Windows 10 Pro, a 500 nit FHD display, a Quadro T2000 GPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. That's probably your best bet.

[CatoSicarius]

What do you think about the Aero 15 series?

Saw this model, and the specs look really good for the price:

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-AERO-15-Classic-SA-F74ADW-i7-9750H/dp/B07QS8T7HM/ref=pd_cp_147_1?pd_rd_w=QlPhs&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=F89XWRVRFS45Z20P8E4V&pd_rd_r=eb659539-5b26-4bfa-bd60-34537af469f5&pd_rd_wg=0WXTz&pd_rd_i=B07QS8T7HM&psc=1&refRID=F89XWRVRFS45Z20P8E4V

Also the UHD @60hz variant:

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-AERO-15-Classic-SA-F74ADW-i7-9750H/dp/B07T53H776/ref=pd_cp_147_1?pd_rd_w=QlPhs&pf_rd_p=ef4dc990-a9ca-4945-ae0b-f8d549198ed6&pf_rd_r=F89XWRVRFS45Z20P8E4V&pd_rd_r=eb659539-5b26-4bfa-bd60-34537af469f5&pd_rd_wg=0WXTz&pd_rd_i=B07QS8T7HM&refRID=F89XWRVRFS45Z20P8E4V&th=1

[panzersharkcat]

It’s not bad. Not going to have the same durability as a business grade laptop but not bad. The webcam placement drives me nuts but if I didn’t have to do video calls for work, that’d be one under consideration. It also runs kind of hot but Kryonaut and undervolting should help. Screen’s a little dim too. Mostly basing off this review. I do like that it doesn’t scream “GAMER.” I prefer the MSI but that’s because I think it looks cooler.

[CatoSicarius]

The Aero has the advantage to be easily upgradable, compared to the msi one which seems a pain.

Another question tho, is there any rog who can compete with those 2 (battery life and dimensions compared too) ?