Something like Acer A515-55-56VK or HP 15-dk1035nr but with larger battery for not much more?

2K6Ejmt6IV72L8fwHZ5sPhtP6L · November 25, 2020

I need a new laptop with a recent (preferably 7/10nm) 4c/8t i5/Ryzen 5 CPU or better (Ryzen preferred, but for some reason it seems to be harder to find and cost more, not less), 8GB of RAM that can be upgraded to 16GB later, a 256GB SSD (which must be easily replaceable) and preferably a 2.5in bay as well, 13-15.6in FHD display (14in is ideal), decent battery life (3 hours bare minimum, 8 hours target), and no issues with GNU/Linux. I also would like USB-C with USB-PD and MFDP support (though not at the expense of USB-A and full size HDMI) and a 2 in 1 form factor with stylus support (though no need for tilt/pressure sensing, even a resistive touchscreen is OK), but don't need them enough to justify the absurdly huge price difference between those devices and more traditional ones, so I won't disqualify a device for lacking them.

One of the closest things I could find on my own is the Acer A515-55-56VK (https://www.amazon.com/Acer-A515-55-56VK-i5-1035G1-Fingerprint-Keyboard/dp/B087RTV311). However, its battery is only 48WHr (only marginally bigger than the battery in my 11.6in school chromebook), so I'm really skeptical of that thing lasting the 8 hours I'm aiming for. I think it's a 4-6 hour machine. It also has a ton of empty space inside (not counting the 2.5in bay and dead space around it), so I see no reason why they couldn't put a 60WHr battery in there. Plus, I'm already spending about $150 more than I originally wanted to and batteries really aren't that expensive, so I would like to not spend even more money. (I'm already aware of Staples selling a similar one (A515-44-R4M5) with a Ryzen 5 4500U and 512GB SSD for $20 less, but the 1366x768 screen is a deal breaker.)

I also found Target selling a Pavilion 15 gaming laptop (HP 15-dk1035nr) for $549.99 (same price as the Acer) that supposedly has USB-PD and MFDP as well as a marginally larger 52.5 WHr battery, but I'm worried that the 14nm 45W processor (i5-10300H) and GTX 1050 will harm the battery life more than the marginally larger battery will help it. I'm also concerned about reduced GNU/Linux (particularly Wayland) compatibility from the GTX 1050. Plus, my last laptop had an nvidia gpu that failed after only 10 years (which is why I need a new one), so I don't know how reliable this one will be, and I heard nvidia stops supporting their drivers after 5 years.

Right now, I'm leaning towards the gaming computer despite my reservations because it has more computing power, better IO, and what looks like a better build for the same price, under the expectation that I can fall back on Intel integrated (which is more than enough for me) in case of GPU trouble and can throttle it on battery and/or buy a USB-C power bank if it doesn't last long enough on a charge. Are there similar options to either computer with larger batteries for not much more? Will I have to settle for one of these? Or are there even better options that I missed?