Best 14" Laptop For This Price?

crakddx · October 27, 2021

Editor bugged halfway through and I lost all my post, so going to make this one short.

So I was looking at the Lenovo Legion series, specifically the 5i. But, my Dad said because it is for school, I need a 14" instead of a 15.6". This laptop is going to be for work at school, and then play at home (Valorant). I'm in academic achievers, so we might be doing Blender or others.

Needs:

14"
Dedicated Graphics
-$1500 AUD ($1127 USD)
Not super heavy, something a bit over or under 2 kg.

Nice to haves:

RGB!!!!
Raytracing/Tensor cores

If anyone can recommend something for me that would be greatly appreciated! Also, some laptops have totally out of whack prices in my region, so it might not be available for me. I'm willing to buy off trusted vendors (newegg, amazon e.t.c), as well as off the manufacturers. Cheers to anyone who gives me a good choice!

RONOTHAN## · October 27, 2021

23 minutes ago, Mr-G-Man said:

my Dad said because it is for school, I need a 14" instead of a 15.6"

I disagree, but OK. I prefer 14" laptops for being able to throw them in a backpack really quickly, but I've also daily driven 15.6" machines for most of my life (mostly because they were cheaper), and they really aren't that bad to quick throw in a bag, and they're more manageable in a lap if you're on a bench or something..

That said, the first thing that comes to mind for this price range and requirements is the ROG Zephyrus G14, but given that you're in Australia, the pricing doesn't translate from over here in the US and it costs like $2.5k AUD (I've seen them for $1100 USD for some of the lower spec models, pricing really does suck over there).

Since you really should go for a Ryzen system (4000 at least, 5000 preferred) for the battery life and great multicore performance. Problem is, the only one I can find with a good GPU and a Ryzen CPU is a bit above your price range (Acer Swift X, $1833). You could go for the thin and light route and use integrated graphics (Intel's Xe graphics is really good, same with Radeon) and that would get you everything well within your price range, but it's not a route for everyone.

I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but most of the 14" laptops aer designed to be thin and light first, gaming second, so you will be paying a premium for that form factor, and getting one within your price range might not be possible. What I'd do is just daily drive the 15", it's really not bad, or if you really want 14" try to look for something used.

maplepants · October 28, 2021

Dedicated graphics in a 14" form factor is going to be harder to find. Especially at that price. You can get good CPU performance with excellent integrated graphics with a Macbook Air (though the gaming story on macOS isn't amazing). For a Windows laptop, you can stretch your budget further by getting a Framework laptop. It's integrated graphics, but the CPU performance is very good for the price. The Razor Blade 14 would give you want you want, but it's nowhere near the budget you've outlined here.

You have to keep in mind that in a 14" body cooling and heat dissipation are your main problems. A big hot GPU is going to make that a lot harder, and you're not going to get the same level of performance that the same money would get you in a 15.6" size.

Think about what parts of your list you can compromise on. You're a student, so I'm guessing there's not much flexibility in the budget. Therefore, I'd consider getting something with integrated graphics, at least one thunderbolt port and good battery life, the playing games like Dead Cells, Terraria, Civilization, or other GPU friendly titles. Then once you've got a bit of cash saved up, buy yourself an external GPU + monitor for home. This will give you battery life in the streets, gaming performance in the sheets.

The other option, is to see if the Macbook Air fits your needs. Especially if you're thinking about doing GPU tasks beyond gaming (like blender), it's worth considering because the M1 Macbook Air is the best GPU you can get within your size and budget, and it's got battery life that puts any Windows laptop to shame.