Disadvantages of Buying A Gaming Laptop For School?

[z123killer]

I've been searching for a reliable, future-proof laptop that I could use for my undergrad and I'm stuck between a business focused laptop such as the (ThinkPad P-series, 4750U, 16GB Ram, 512SSD) or gaming laptops such as the (HP Omen, 4800H, 16GB Ram, 512SSD, Graphics card). The prices are very similar, what would you recommend going with that would last at least 4 years of school?

[Slottr]

Do not buy a gaming laptop for school

 

You'll have a mediocre battery, a heavier than normal system, and one that will (most likely) be too big for most desks

 

What type of work are you doing?

[z123killer]

8 minutes ago, Slottr said:

Do not buy a gaming laptop for school

 

You'll have a mediocre battery, a heavier than normal system, and one that will (most likely) be too big for most desks

 

What type of work are you doing?

Yea the terrible battery life is pushing me away, they also seem to not have the best build quality. 

 

I am a freshman in computer engineering so I haven't really been exposed to what work we'll be doing, but there is going to be a lot of coding and I know that we will eventually get into some CAD work for simulations and such. 

[RAM555789]

The ThinkPad is a much better option if your going to have a lot of back to back classes or commute to school and need to be able to have more than 6 hours without charging. I also wouldn't expect to be able to anything graphically demanding in terms of gaming. With the HP Omen you have nice graphics cards options, but your going to have a much heavier laptop and can't expect more than 6 hours of battery life (according ot the site it like 6 hours and 15mins or so on battery saver mode) If your confident you have plenty of time to charge your laptop between classes, and you'll be able to haul it around campus without damaging it I would go with the HP Omen, however if your gonna need a longer battery life the ThinkPad is the better option, its also lighter, and is more focused towards certain productivity features rather than pure gaming that make it appealing for college.

[Letgomyleghoe]

10 minutes ago, z123killer said:

Yea the terrible battery life is pushing me away, they also seem to not have the best build quality. 

build quality yes, some of them like the asus A15 have a bigger (90Wh) battery, then you can disable the dGPU and use the iGPU if you want it to last longer.

[dizmo]

Don't get a gaming laptop for school work. No one wants to be partnered with the kid who's laptop dies in the middle of a project or study session.

Lenovo is a good choice, some of Dell's laptops also have excellent battery life.

[Coolmaster]

The only gaming laptop that I would get for school would be the Zephyrus G14, or a Razer Blade. I'd recommend a laptop that you can use for coding and web browsing, and a powerful desktop PC. 

[emosun]

They run hot

Theyre overpriced

Have crap battery life

Terrible cooling

The shortest lifespan of any device next to cellphones

Proprietary hardware and software that becomes unsuppored less than a year leaving you witha mess of a device manager.

 

 

Dont buy a gaming laptop even for gaming, theyre all junk

[Slottr]

16 minutes ago, z123killer said:

Yea the terrible battery life is pushing me away, they also seem to not have the best build quality. 

 

I am a freshman in computer engineering so I haven't really been exposed to what work we'll be doing, but there is going to be a lot of coding and I know that we will eventually get into some CAD work for simulations and such. 

As others have said, the thinkpad is a great option. Seeing your work though, I'd make sure you have enough space to dual boot with linux/windows or make sure you have enough memory to run VMs of linux.

[z123killer]

9 minutes ago, Slottr said:

As others have said, the thinkpad is a great option. Seeing your work though, I'd make sure you have enough space to dual boot with linux/windows or make sure you have enough memory to run VMs of linux.

Thank you, I am thinking about getting the 512GB SSD incase I need to dual boot, and 16GB of RAM, would that be enough? With the Thinkpad I could always upgrade the specs later on if needed as well.

 

 

Also what's your opinion on warranties? upgrading the warranty to 3 years is only $90.

[Slottr]

Just now, z123killer said:

Thank you, I am thinking about getting the 512GB SSD incase I need to dual boot, and 16GB of RAM, would that be enough? With the Thinkpad I could always upgrade the specs later on if needed as well.

Yes, at 16 you'll be more than fine.

 

If your classes require more out of a machine for some CAD stuff, there will probably be a workstation or two on campus.

[Shadowkeep757]

Just get a g14, its great value, and basically perfect except there is no webcam. If not then razer blade 13 or 15

[z123killer]

Just now, Shadowkeep757 said:

Just get a g14, its great value, and basically perfect except there is no webcam. If not then razer blade 13 or 15

Don't the g14s have a lot of issues right now? 

[VeganJoy]

@emosun is on the dot, i wouldnt expect any "gaming" sorta laptop to last 4 years of college, running around and doing stuff. i used one for my first year of college and ended up keeping it in my dorm 24/7 cause it was heavy as fuck, ran really hot and loud with just a 1050ti and an i5, and had maybe 4 hours of battery life without even gaming or doing any sort of work. and despite keeping it in my dorm 24/7 it still died and i had to rma it, leaving me without a pc for a month right before midterms. so yeah, get a thinkpad or xps, something that is fully field-serviceable and not laden down with a shit ton of bloatware and crap. my mom's old thinkpad (wooo ibm) that she got for college 15 years ago is still chugging along, if they still made the batteries for the damn thing it'd be totally usable even today. 

[SupaKomputa]

Gaming laptop is heavy and loud, not ideal to carry on your back. Not to mention the short battery life.

What you need is an ultrabook. I think the thinkpad is good enough.

The Macbook M1 looks promising, if you're into apple products.

[panzersharkcat]

I'd say get the AMD T14. There's only one non-soldered RAM slot but that's better than nothing. Wasn't this way before the T490 and hoping they reverse that.

[z123killer]

6 minutes ago, panzersharkcat said:

I'd say get the AMD T14. There's only one non-soldered RAM slot but that's better than nothing. Wasn't this way before the T490 and hoping they reverse that.

Yes the one I'm looking at is the P14s, exact same as the T14, the P14s is just slightly cheaper for some reason.

[KingHanoj]

Yes, short battery life will not be fun for school. I recently sold my gaming laptop I bought for school because the battery life was horrible. I bought a simple Dell Inspiron instead, should give me around 7-9 hours of battery. 

[genexis_x]

The main problem for gaming laptops in general is still weight. Battery life isn't an issue anymore since there are some models that has decent battery life

 

If you don't game often, better stick with non gaming options. As a student myself I would advice you to get a lighter laptop if you often carry the laptop around (not sure how often it will be now due to covid). You will appreciate the lower weight

[genexis_x]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:32 AM, emosun said:

They run hot

Theyre overpriced

Have crap battery life

Terrible cooling

The shortest lifespan of any device next to cellphones

Proprietary hardware and software that becomes unsuppored less than a year leaving you witha mess of a device manager.

 

 

Dont buy a gaming laptop even for gaming, theyre all junk

I disagree here. Not all laptops are like that.

 

People buy gaming laptops because they have no choice. In my case I need a portable PC but I also game often. So stop saying gaming laptops are junk.

[pilot35]

On 11/21/2020 at 11:58 AM, panzersharkcat said:

I'd say get the AMD T14. There's only one non-soldered RAM slot but that's better than nothing. Wasn't this way before the T490 and hoping they reverse that.

That's the main thing that's putting me off from buying it. Lenovo's trying to make more money, so they force people to buy their overpriced soldered RAM, while also adding planned obsolescence at the same time.

 

People buy Thinkpads because they want a reliable, durable machine that lasts. If I wanted a crappy throwaway disposable laptop, I'd get a damn Macbook.