Reasonable laptop for programming and work

[PJur]

Hi guys. I'm looking for a laptop for programming and work. I will probably not play on it very often.

 

Must haves:

- 15/16 inch display QHD 400+ nits

- relatively good battery life that would be enough for larger chunk of the work day (preferably +8h but 6 would be enough i think)

- USB c that can handle reasonable PD (+65W?) 60hz 4k and USB HUB (i want it to connect at home and office with just a single cable to a monitor)

- any camera (looking at you Asus)

- 6/8 core CPU 

 

Nice to haves:

- 120hz+

- above average microphones and camera

- lightweight

- no dedicated GPU for battery life

- upgradable SSD, ram and wifi

#edit#

- up to ~2000USD

 

I'm currently looking at ThinkBook 16p AMD and Legion 5 pro 16 AMD. It's hard for me to decide which one would be better for me. The ThinkBook is targeted for office work, but the Legion seems like it has better IO, display (brighter and higher refresh rate) it's cheaper and I've heard that it has hybrid mode that turns off the dedicated GPU allowing for better battery life. Is there something else that I'm missing? Because the Legion looks like it's too good to be true. Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks a lot for your time and help!

[Commodus]

18 minutes ago, PJur said:

Hi guys. I'm looking for a laptop for programming and work. I will probably not play on it very often.

 

Must haves:

- 15/16 inch display QHD 400+ nits

- relatively good battery life that would be enough for larger chunk of the work day (preferably +8h but 6 would be enough i think)

- USB c that can handle reasonable PD (+65W?) 60hz 4k and USB HUB (i want it to connect at home and office with just a single cable to a monitor)

- any camera (looking at you Asus)

- 6/8 core CPU 

 

Nice to haves:

- 120hz+

- above average microphones and camera

- lightweight

- no dedicated GPU for battery life

- upgradable SSD, ram and wifi

 

I'm currently looking at ThinkBook 16p AMD and Legion 5 pro 16 AMD. It's hard for me to decide which one would be better for me. The ThinkBook is targeted for office work, but the Legion seems like it has better IO, display (brighter and higher refresh rate) it's cheaper and I've heard that it has hybrid mode that turns off the dedicated GPU allowing for better battery life. Is there something else that I'm missing? Because the Legion looks like it's too good to be true. Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks a lot for your time and help!

What software do you need to run? That might dictate your options. Lenovo's latest Legion 5 and ThinkBook models would be solid choices if you need to use Windows. I'd also consider Dell's XPS 15, although I know it had issues for a while.

 

If you're free to use a Mac... well, I'd put a 16-inch MacBook Pro on the short list. Bright 120Hz display, should easily meet your battery requirements, Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C 4, as fast or faster in some tasks than equivalent Windows machines, a webcam you'd actually like to use and some very well-reviewed mics and speakers. The main catch, of course, is that you need programming/work tools that are Mac-native and will produce the content you want. I'd leap on a MacBook Pro if I were a web developer; I wouldn't if I was predominantly writing Windows apps.

[GhostRoadieBL]

I'd be looking at Macbook air and macbook pro, for the camera, battery life and screen noone is really competing with them.

 

Xps15 would be a good option but that's getting into macbookpro money.

[PJur]

Yeah, MacBook and XPS are the no compromise choices. But being 2x as expensive as the ThinkBook and 3x as expensive as the Legion they would be my last choice when something cheaper wouldn't satisfy my (or if my company would be willing to get one for me).  I should have added in the nice to have a price of up to 2000 USD.