For a college student: Gaming vs thin & light laptop

[Abhinavp]

i am a first year cse student. have to get a laptop for college under 63,000 Indian Rupees. 
this is my use case-

Programming in C++, C, python, css, html, js rn. Will learn and try out more things as I am an 1st year cse student (ml/ai). I use vs code, pycharm and codeblocks may use diff. Editors in future...

i am worried if dual channel 8gb soldered would be enough for at least 5 years for me.... 
ideapad slim 5 4700u has soldered dual channel 8gb ram and ideapad gaming 4600h has upgradable memory.
i have selected 2 laptops plz recommend which one to get under these use cases- 

 

 

btw these amazon.in and flipkart.com are some indian shopping websites

[SupaKomputa]

For programming 8gb is enough, especially if you use linux.

In general, VS Code don't take much memory, well depend on how many tabs and plugin you install that is.

I suggest getting the upgradable memory if you're looking to use it for a longest time.

Dual channel wont mean much unless you're gaming.

[WkdPaul]

* thread moved to the Laptops and Pre-Built Systems section *

[Abhinavp]

17 minutes ago, SupaKomputa said:

For programming 8gb is enough, especially if you use linux.

In general, VS Code don't take much memory, well depend on how many tabs and plugin you install that is.

I suggest getting the upgradable memory if you're looking to use it for a longest time.

Dual channel wont mean much unless you're gaming.

hmm i wanna use it for like 5 yrs... i really love the slim 5 but don't know about ram...

[Aereldor]

8 minutes ago, Abhinavp said:

hmm i wanna use it for like 5 yrs... i really love the slim 5 but don't know about ram...

If you care about it being ultra portable and you don't play games, get the slim. But if you're going to game at all, the laptop with the discrete GPU will serve you way better.

 

That said, I think this last-gen LG Gram is a better deal in that case. It's not super fast, but it's one of the thinnest, lightest, most portable laptops out there, and it comes with a massive 72Wh battery, rated up to 18.5 hours of battery life. These laptops also always have amazing displays, and I can tell you from personal experience, you're gonna watch a good deal of Netflix in college haha.

 

https://www.amazon.in/LG-i5-1035G7-14-inch-1920X1080-Windows/dp/B08J42VSL6/

[AnirbanG007]

38 minutes ago, Abhinavp said:

i am a first year cse student. have to get a laptop for college under 63,000 Indian Rupees. 
this is my use case-

Programming in C++, C, python, css, html, js rn. Will learn and try out more things as I am an 1st year cse student (ml/ai). I use vs code, pycharm and codeblocks may use diff. Editors in future...

i am worried if dual channel 8gb soldered would be enough for at least 5 years for me.... 
ideapad slim 5 4700u has soldered dual channel 8gb ram and ideapad gaming 4600h has upgradable memory.
i have selected 2 laptops plz recommend which one to get under these use cases- 

 

 

btw these amazon.in and flipkart.com are some indian shopping websites

From a pure horsepower perspective, the Gaming 4600H has much more to offer. Although I'm not sure about the differences in build quality or screen quality and how much they would impact your decision. Also the ideapad gaming is thicker and heavier, so if you plan on carrying it to your college, you will be better off with the other lighter model.

 

I've spent four years of ECE never needing more than 8 gigs of ram and an i5 6200u, and yes I did C, C++, Python, HTML, JS, CSS etc etc... Machine Learning is a different story. The ideapad gaming has a beefier gpu and cpu which would come in handy if you run your ML or AI models on your laptop. If, however you use something like google colab then it's perfectly okay to buy the other laptop. My friend completed his data science internship on a 4 gb i3 6006u model using nothing but google colab for ML.

 

In a nutshell, apart from ML, even though I'm not a 100% familiar with CSE syllabus, but having gotten a job in IT, I can tell, up till your 4th year, you will probably be okay with the 4700u, even though RAM is not upgradable. It is both lighter, and probably has a better screen and build quality.

 

If however, you wish to pursue ML, not only as a hobby but also as a career choice, and absolutely need to run light models on your laptop along with light gaming, and also plan on using the same laptop after 4 years when you get a job, which IMO many Indians do, including myself, I think the ideapad gaming would be a better choice, simply because of the pure horsepower it has. And also because you might need more RAM after you get a job if you're doing office tasks on your laptop, which i have no exp of, cause I haven't started working.

 

At the end of the day, I'd probably pick the one with the 4700U, as it lighter, and thinner, and will comfortably meet my daily IT/ECE/CSE needs. And (I'm not sure of this, but) the 4700u probably has a better screen and better build quality, and is also smaller so that I could carry it to my college during fests, without breaking my back. For me, it's just not the pure horsepower, but about the overall feel. But that's just my opinion.

[Abhinavp]

38 minutes ago, AnirbanG007 said:

From a pure horsepower perspective, the Gaming 4600H has much more to offer. Although I'm not sure about the differences in build quality or screen quality and how much they would impact your decision. Also the ideapad gaming is thicker and heavier, so if you plan on carrying it to your college, you will be better off with the other lighter model.

 

I've spent four years of ECE never needing more than 8 gigs of ram and an i5 6200u, and yes I did C, C++, Python, HTML, JS, CSS etc etc... Machine Learning is a different story. The ideapad gaming has a beefier gpu and cpu which would come in handy if you run your ML or AI models on your laptop. If, however you use something like google colab then it's perfectly okay to buy the other laptop. My friend completed his data science internship on a 4 gb i3 6006u model using nothing but google colab for ML.

 

In a nutshell, apart from ML, even though I'm not a 100% familiar with CSE syllabus, but having gotten a job in IT, I can tell, up till your 4th year, you will probably be okay with the 4700u, even though RAM is not upgradable. It is both lighter, and probably has a better screen and build quality.

 

If however, you wish to pursue ML, not only as a hobby but also as a career choice, and absolutely need to run light models on your laptop along with light gaming, and also plan on using the same laptop after 4 years when you get a job, which IMO many Indians do, including myself, I think the ideapad gaming would be a better choice, simply because of the pure horsepower it has. And also because you might need more RAM after you get a job if you're doing office tasks on your laptop, which i have no exp of, cause I haven't started working.

 

At the end of the day, I'd probably pick the one with the 4700U, as it lighter, and thinner, and will comfortably meet my daily IT/ECE/CSE needs. And (I'm not sure of this, but) the 4700u probably has a better screen and better build quality, and is also smaller so that I could carry it to my college during fests, without breaking my back. For me, it's just not the pure horsepower, but about the overall feel. But that's just my opinion.

Thank you so much for spending so much time on my question! Yes, the 4700u has a 300 nits (compared to 250 nits on gaming 3) display, fingerprint scanner, usb c charging (no barrel plug connector), and metal top lid.

 

I am also thinking that 4700u is my jam too now!

[AnirbanG007]

10 hours ago, Abhinavp said:

Thank you so much for spending so much time on my question! Yes, the 4700u has a 300 nits (compared to 250 nits on gaming 3) display, fingerprint scanner, usb c charging (no barrel plug connector), and metal top lid.

 

I am also thinking that 4700u is my jam too now!

You're welcome. However I think if your budget allows, you could very well consider the last gen LG Gram as pointed out by @Aereldor, it is a fantastic device, and has a much superior battery, 72 Wh as opposed to 56 on the Lenovo although you'd be losing 250 gigs of storage(which probably is upgradable) if you go for it... So you could weigh your options here, according to your needs.

 

PS: Have a happy college life from a 4th year guy. 

[SupaKomputa]

 

[Abhinavp]

2 hours ago, AnirbanG007 said:

You're welcome. However I think if your budget allows, you could very well consider the last gen LG Gram as pointed out by @Aereldor, it is a fantastic device, and has a much superior battery, 72 Wh as opposed to 56 on the Lenovo although you'd be losing 250 gigs of storage(which probably is upgradable) if you go for it... So you could weigh your options here, according to your needs.

 

PS: Have a happy college life from a 4th year guy. 

thanks again ! the thing is, now the slim 5 4700u is not available at the physical stores... so i am proceeding with the gaming 3. i mean, if i can get the best performance at the same price, why not. i handled my 2.5 kg dell inspiron for 5 yrs now, so 2.2kg won't be that big of a deal. and the ram is upgradable too. 

yeah about the lg gram, 250 gigs is not enough for me. i even find 512 gigs a bit less lol as rn i have used up 600 gigs in my old 1tb hdd laptop... but i would love 512 gigs with the speed of a ssd.

[AnirbanG007]

46 minutes ago, Abhinavp said:

thanks again ! the thing is, now the slim 5 4700u is not available at the physical stores... so i am proceeding with the gaming 3. i mean, if i can get the best performance at the same price, why not. i handled my 2.5 kg dell inspiron for 5 yrs now, so 2.2kg won't be that big of a deal. and the ram is upgradable too. 

yeah about the lg gram, 250 gigs is not enough for me. i even find 512 gigs a bit less lol as rn i have used up 600 gigs in my old 1tb hdd laptop... but i would love 512 gigs with the speed of a ssd.

Okay, well both laptops were good to begin with. Have fun!! You could upgrade your SSD to something like an SN550, those don't cost much, when you need more storage. When the time comes, check for additional m.2 slots, if there aren't any, you can always buy an SSD enclosure which will adapt an internal ssd from m.2 to usb.

[Abhinavp]

38 minutes ago, AnirbanG007 said:

Okay, well both laptops were good to begin with. Have fun!! You could upgrade your SSD to something like an SN550, those don't cost much, when you need more storage. When the time comes, check for additional m.2 slots, if there aren't any, you can always buy an SSD enclosure which will adapt an internal ssd from m.2 to usb.

yup it has 2 empty m.2 slots and a empty 2.5 inch bay(as i am getting only 512gb ssd). thank you!!

[Aereldor]

6 hours ago, Abhinavp said:

yeah about the lg gram, 250 gigs is not enough for me. i even find 512 gigs a bit less lol as rn i have used up 600 gigs in my old 1tb hdd laptop... but i would love 512 gigs with the speed of a ssd.

It doesn't matter, you can upgrade the storage. You can't, however, upgrade the battery, body, screen, keyboard, trackpad, webcam, and build quality.