suggestions? New Laptop Choices

[Cyberwolf33]

Recently, I've been looking for a new laptop to replace my current one (ASUS Zenbook Pro N501VW). There are some increasingly large issues which seem to be hardware side and I am not in a position RMA at this time. I will ask about those on a separate thread.

First, the 2020 XPS 15: It's the same form factor as my current laptop (so it would fit my cases and such), and as I have a full desktop for gaming, the 1650 Ti version + UHD Touch display are the only upgrades I would want, as I can take my current DDR4 and SSD to bring the specs to my preferred rating for way cheaper than Dell wants to do it. The downside here is basically the cost and IO: Even split (as I share my laptop with my SO), ~2033 is no small price. Additionally, it would be REALLY nice to have better IO than just some USB C. I can always get a hub like in the review, but since I'll be traveling to school and back somewhat regularly, this seems like another thing to tediously carry around, or yet another dongle anytime I need to copy something minuscule to a flash drive.

Second, the ASUS TUF A15 (specifically, TUF506IV-AS76). Overall, this laptop is a big positive for my use case. When compared to my current laptop, pretty much noticeably better across the board with the small exception that I've gotten pretty used to having a 4K touch display. If the option existed, I'd GLADLY upgrade this to at least a 1440p touch, but sadly, it just isn't there. The same thing for the chassis: Much prefer metal chassis, but they chunk cost up a lot, so...yea. Not surprised. The IO and price are way better than the XPS 15, about on board with my current laptop.

Lastly, ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G14. While I like a lot about this, there are a few things that are borderline deal breakers when combined: It's petty, but no webcam is really annoying in the current short term. As before, touch display would be  nice, but I haven't found an option. The size is a little small, but not that big of a deal overall. Similarly, 8GB is a little low, but can be fixed the same way the XPS would be.


*I had been looking into the ASUS ZenBook Pro 15 UX550GE, because it's basically a better model of what I currently have and enjoy, but it seems to be sold out everywhere.

I'm open to any other suggestions/criticisms too! I will not be doing much (if any) gaming on this laptop, and I have 16GB of SODIMM DDR4 and a 512GB M.2, so if anything is 'perfect' aside from subpar memory or space but can be upgraded with some reasonable effort, that's no big issue. In terms of IO, I like what I have (3x USB Type A, HDMI, Thunderbolt, SD Reader, 3.5mm), but would be willing to even consider something like the XPS 15 as long as there are enough other benefits. As stated with the G14, I really want to have a webcam: It doesn't have to be great, I just have a lot of stuff already in my laptop case, and more adapters/additional stuff would be tedious.

[kelvinhall05]

If you aren't gonna game a lot on the go, don't get a gaming laptop.

 

I'd look into a Thinkpad, probably a T-series since you want a lot of IO.

[DrMacintosh]

If you have a gaming PC already, I would only consider a thin and light. The new 2020 XPS 15's are very nice machines and I could not recommend them more. The design and the speakers are just too good to pass up. 

 

Unless you plan on gaming on the go, I would just stick with the Iris Plus Graphics models. It'll boost your battery life significantly and save a lot of cash. 

[Cyberwolf33]

17 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

If you have a gaming PC already, I would only consider a thin and light. The new 2020 XPS 15's are very nice machines and I could not recommend them more. The design and the speakers are just too good to pass up. 

 

Unless you plan on gaming on the go, I would just stick with the Iris Plus Graphics models. It'll boost your battery life significantly and save a lot of cash. 

Glad to hear the XPS 15 props I've heard isn't just hot air, I definitely liked most of what I was reading.

I suppose the main reason I keep looking DGPUs is my like, ratbrain concern that I'll be at Uni and get bored during the day and play something non-intensive like Hades/Deadcells which tend to run fine on even my current very under spec for 4K laptop (fine by...some metrics). But that said, as I get further into grad school, I find myself with increasingly LESS free time during the workday, so it's not as much of a reality as ratbrain would lead me to believe.

Battery, on the other hand, is (almost) a non-issue as I'm generally working from my office and just far prefer my personal laptop to the 'Pentium 4 + 2GB ram' desktops we're provided for our offices. We all have individual in-wall power strips, so for the most part it's just a matter of plugging in.

Relating to KelvinHall's comment, I'll also look into Thinkpads. Lenovo was a no-go for me for a while after my SO's Yoga became increasingly poorly behaved (such as USB ports just dying and no software side fixes working) despite being just a bit over a year old, but at the same time, they have a lot of good products and I shouldn't ignore them forever.