Laptop or a PC?

[Zhaxye]

So, I've been thinking about getting a computer after awhile, and I face 2 choices. Build a PC, or buy a laptop.

 

I'm a student, and my school does give me some —not tons, but some— work that requires a computer, the tasks aren't exactly hard nor difficult, simple tasks like making a powerpoint, word, checking few documents related to school, and probably researching would be easier on a computer than on a phone.

 

I also game. BUT, I don't game as intensively as an average gamer do. If other gamers are very critical about their 60fps minimum, high-setting minimum, or GTX1660 as a must, I'm not that part of demographic. I game casually, I play CS:GO, OW, R6 Siege, DirtRally, and maybe a bit of Tomb Raider. I'm not very critical about 60, 90, 120fps, I think a playable 50+ fps is fine. As for graphic (as I suspect from Rise Of Tomb Raider), a 1080 medium setting is more than fine to me. I don't need 60fps at high setting, 50+ fps at medium setting in 1080p is more than what it takes to make me happy. No, I don't game for 6 hours straight, maybe 2-3 hours at most. Also, I play for fun, I don't care about 1ms difference, nor 300fps in csgo. I play casually because 1) I play in my downtime and just for fun, 2) I'm not good at games in the first place, so I never play them very seriously. I'm just one of those guy  in cs:go who rank nova at most, and play only on 4 days in a week, for less than 6 hours of online time in 7 days.

 

Okay, I've explain about my school work and gaming, now, into some other circumstance.

 

First, I travel quite a lot, almost every week I would have to go outside the city, and stay for a couple of days or more. But, my school work isn't very intensive that I need to have access to a computer 24/7. I can do work from a PC, but it would be much more convinient to be able to get work done via laptop. It would also be nice to be able to play games at a decent setting with a playable frame rate. I know a PC would offer crazy performance that is nice but I won't need (just want a little) because my skill is less than what a gaming PC could give. Having a gaming laptop is ok, but it would weight my backpack a little bit, and the battery life won't be enough for a full-day use off the charge.

 

My budget is about $1,000-$1,200 and I don't have the luxury to buy a $300 laptop and build a $700 PC. I just need one device, and just that. Also keep in mind, that the prices of laptops and PC components here in my place is quite unstable, so something might be more expensive here, than in US or EU.

 

Just in case if you want to know what I want in a PC/Laptop, here are a couple of them:

1) Decent screen. Whether it's a computer monitor or a laptop display, I would like to have something that can display around 300 nits minimum, and covers 75% sRGB (70% sRGB absolute minimum). 120Hz I don't need, and I don't need a very fast response time.

 

2) Peripherals:

If it's a laptop, it should have a decent keyboard, trackpad, and a decent speaker. If it's a PC I would like to invest on cheaper mechanical keyboard, entry-level gaming mouse, and a pair of decent speakers that will do just fine to watch movie and Youtube.

 

That's all I have to say, if you want more specific requitement, just ask in the comment, if you have any suggestion, let me hear it. Thanks for passing by

 

*this is a repost in different sub-topics, pleass don't kill me

[SupaKomputa]

$1000 laptop would be better for you i assume.

At that price you can get a entry gaming laptop.

[Devryd]

I saw some builds of PCs in suitcases, if you have some time and want to give it a try, you would have something unique that suits exactly your purpose

 

[rbrowne11]

I also agree that a higher end laptop seems to be the solution for your specific case. I was wondering something similar as I have a MacBook Pro right now for school which has been everything I need and met all the requirements for working while traveling. Recently, I am starting to lean toward a PC as the convenience of having more computing power at home is outweighing the need for portability. Ideally for me I would have a PC and tablet or Chromebook but since you are looking for one or the other I would go with a top range of your budget laptop. LTT did a video last July... 

 

[rbrowne11]

4 hours ago, Zhaxye said:

I don't have the luxury to buy a $300 laptop and build a $700 PC

What do you mean you don't have the luxury? In my eyes, having to budget on both machines wouldn't be a luxury but more of a sacrifice for convenience and functionality. 

[Falkentyne]

4 hours ago, Zhaxye said:

So, I've been thinking about getting a computer after awhile, and I face 2 choices. Build a PC, or buy a laptop.

 

I'm a student, and my school does give me some —not tons, but some— work that requires a computer, the tasks aren't exactly hard nor difficult, simple tasks like making a powerpoint, word, checking few documents related to school, and probably researching would be easier on a computer than on a phone.

 

I also game. BUT, I don't game as intensively as an average gamer do. If other gamers are very critical about their 60fps minimum, high-setting minimum, or GTX1660 as a must, I'm not that part of demographic. I game casually, I play CS:GO, OW, R6 Siege, DirtRally, and maybe a bit of Tomb Raider. I'm not very critical about 60, 90, 120fps, I think a playable 50+ fps is fine. As for graphic (as I suspect from Rise Of Tomb Raider), a 1080 medium setting is more than fine to me. I don't need 60fps at high setting, 50+ fps at medium setting in 1080p is more than what it takes to make me happy. No, I don't game for 6 hours straight, maybe 2-3 hours at most. Also, I play for fun, I don't care about 1ms difference, nor 300fps in csgo. I play casually because 1) I play in my downtime and just for fun, 2) I'm not good at games in the first place, so I never play them very seriously. I'm just one of those guy  in cs:go who rank nova at most, and play only on 4 days in a week, for less than 6 hours of online time in 7 days.

 

Okay, I've explain about my school work and gaming, now, into some other circumstance.

 

First, I travel quite a lot, almost every week I would have to go outside the city, and stay for a couple of days or more. But, my school work isn't very intensive that I need to have access to a computer 24/7. I can do work from a PC, but it would be much more convinient to be able to get work done via laptop. It would also be nice to be able to play games at a decent setting with a playable frame rate. I know a PC would offer crazy performance that is nice but I won't need (just want a little) because my skill is less than what a gaming PC could give. Having a gaming laptop is ok, but it would weight my backpack a little bit, and the battery life won't be enough for a full-day use off the charge.

 

My budget is about $1,000-$1,200 and I don't have the luxury to buy a $300 laptop and build a $700 PC. I just need one device, and just that. Also keep in mind, that the prices of laptops and PC components here in my place is quite unstable, so something might be more expensive here, than in US or EU.

 

Just in case if you want to know what I want in a PC/Laptop, here are a couple of them:

1) Decent screen. Whether it's a computer monitor or a laptop display, I would like to have something that can display around 300 nits minimum, and covers 75% sRGB (70% sRGB absolute minimum). 120Hz I don't need, and I don't need a very fast response time.

 

2) Peripherals:

If it's a laptop, it should have a decent keyboard, trackpad, and a decent speaker. If it's a PC I would like to invest on cheaper mechanical keyboard, entry-level gaming mouse, and a pair of decent speakers that will do just fine to watch movie and Youtube.

 

That's all I have to say, if you want more specific requitement, just ask in the comment, if you have any suggestion, let me hear it. Thanks for passing by

 

*this is a repost in different sub-topics, pleass don't kill me

If you travel a lot, or need a computer with you on the go, definitely a laptop.

 

Just don't waste your money on those heat trap power throttled cancer contraptions called Desktop Replacement gaming laptops.  A $1,000 Tongfang 8750H CPU equipped laptop with a GTX 1060 or 1070 will do just fine.  The only actual "DTR's" worth even considering now are the Clevo P775 Tm1 with RTX, from HIDevolution or Xotic PC, for that nice Prema Bios, or the P870 TM-R (only from HIDEvolution) with the Prema bios, as they are the only non-throttled systems out there.  These are the only non power throttled DTR's that can run a 9900k at 99% of a mainstream mainboard's speed (2200 CB on R15 on a 9900k).  But you could literally build -two- equivalent spec'd desktops for the price of one of these.

 

If you don't travel, better to just build a desktop then buy a tablet or surface pro or other throttlebook for the go.

 

If you have the money, of course, you can do both!

[Bombastinator]

The traditional deal with portable computers which has been true as long as there have been portable computers is you trade the ability to pick it up and move it for power, modularity, and cost.

 

So some questions:

-how much will you need to be able to pick that particular device up and move it?  I really can’t speculate much on this one.  I haven’t been to college since the 80’s.  Things have changed.  My phone is acres more powerful than my desktop was back in the day.  You’ll likely need to be able to pick up and move something though.  Multiple devices?

 

-how tight is the budget?  You can get more than you need gaming wise in a high end thin-and-light these days.  They aren’t cheap though and the lack of modularity means it’s going to become useless eventually.  Absolute minimum dollars would probably be a Nintendo switch and a cheapo thin and light with a decent keyboard.  The keyboard is important. You will be writing a lot.  More than you ever have in your life.  This may be more important than you think.  I’ve got coder friends who had done bad nerve and tendon damage to their hands by the time they got out of college.  This is kind of an argument for a desktop.  They have swappable keyboards and variety of typing is what avoids damage.

One last thing.  My dad was a college professor in the 50’s.  He said automobile ownership generally cost a student between .5 and 1.0 worth of GPA.  Losing the switch entirely might not be the worst idea.

 

-will you need at-home non-gaming horsepower?  This is entirely dependent on what exactly you wind up doing IN college and how the facilities of a given college are set up.  English major, probably not so much.

 

 

[Jimjamesjimothy8]

With 1,000 dollars (usd) you can buy a pretty decent gaming laptop.