Looking for a Laptop

[AlexYZ]

Looking for a Laptop that is good for programming , developing & have a decenet battery life too.

I need to use it for some gaming too.

My budget is $1000

Suggestions will be really appreciated!

 

[Bombastinator]

54 minutes ago, AlexYZ said:

Looking for a Laptop that is good for programming , developing & have a decenet battery life too.

I need to use it for some gaming too.

My budget is $1000

Suggestions will be really appreciated!

 

Programming is potato. If the gaming wasn’t involved the answer would likely be some thin and light.  It used to be that the only machine that would run all the OSes need for developing was a Mac (because they were the only machines that would run everything) but that has changed.  What kind of development?  The longest battery life is probably going to be something too slow to game.  The issue is the FAA effectively put a maximum on laptop battery size so efficient wins, and efficient means slow.  Probably something with a 1080p monitor and new but low end processor… or a Mac laptop if that will game well enough for you.  Apple silicon has a massive efficiency advantage being arm based.  If it really is programming and developing with the odd game then a Mac air might be the thing.  Good keyboard good screen good battery life.  The only place it falls down is gaming.

Edited January 27, 2023 by Bombastinator

[AlexYZ]

1 hour ago, Bombastinator said:

Programming is potato. If the gaming wasn’t involved the answer would likely be some thin and light.  It used to be that the only machine that would run all the OSes need for developing was a Mac (because they were the only machines that would run everything) but that has changed.  What kind of development?  The longest battery life is probably going to be something too slow to game.  The issue is the FAA effectively put a maximum on laptop battery size so efficient wins, and efficient means slow.  Probably something with a 1080p monitor and new but low end processor… or a Mac laptop if that will game well enough for you.  Apple silicon has a massive efficiency advantage being arm based.  If it really is programming and developing with the odd game then a Mac air might be the thing.  Good keyboard good screen good battery life.  The only place it falls down is gaming.

Yup, i was interested in M1 2020 Air But the thing is i only need a bit gaming not too heavy thats why i didnt go with it. I think for that the MX will be great the problem is which brand should i go with?

 

[Bombastinator]

12 minutes ago, AlexYZ said:

Yup, i was interested in M1 2020 Air But the thing is i only need a bit gaming not too heavy thats why i didnt go with it. I think for that the MX will be great the problem is which brand should i go with?

 

So m1 would work but you need more games compatibility. 
As far as brand names go I’m pretty brand agnostic.  There can be a good model and a bad model by the same company. Companies that got bad names from OEM desktops got them back again with laptops because all laptops are OEM by definition. Whatever happens to be on sale?  AMD has a rep for better cpu efficiency.  I’m tempted to look hard at AMD systems with lower end dGPU or highest end iGP.  Dual channel ram of at least 16 gb most likely. Most laptops these days have batteries just under the FAA limit, and a 1080p screen will be both easy on power and require less gpu.  As far as specific models though I don’t have any advice.  There are lots of reviews around.  

[AlexYZ]

10 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

So m1 would work but you need more games compatibility. 
As far as brand names go I’m pretty brand agnostic.  There can be a good model and a bad model by the same company. Companies that got bad names from OEM desktops got them back again with laptops because all laptops are OEM by definition. Whatever happens to be on sale?  AMD has a rep for better cpu efficiency.  I’m tempted to look hard at AMD systems with lower end dGPU or highest end iGP.  Dual channel ram of at least 16 gb most likely. Most laptops these days have batteries just under the FAA limit, and a 1080p screen will be both easy on power and require less gpu.  As far as specific models though I don’t have any advice.  There are lots of reviews around.  

Cool thanks for the reply though appreciate it!

 

[E-waste]

Strongly recommend buying a used laptop, of at least four years on the market or more.  Think about it:

 

How much worse is a laptop from 2018 vs a laptop from 2022?  Seriously, how much better is the battery life per charge and performance?  I bet there's very little change.

 

Save your money and reduce e-waste by reducing demand for newer hardware and getting more use from equipment that might otherwise be sent to the dump or overseas for "recycling".

About batteries:

Maybe you already know this, but to make a lithium-ion battery hold charge capacity, try to keep the charge level anywhere from 40 to 60 percent charge.

 

iPhones won't let you boot--not even in some emergency, until you have a minimum of 15% charge, and recently added an option to stop charging at 80% tp reduce battery wear.

 

I don't know if it's the battery management in the battery, if it is allowing higher voltage or what but that's just the way it is until we have new battery tech, seems soon.  Li-Ion has been around since the 70s and there's now quite a lot of work and reseach for new battery designs.

 

On Windows, you can set the

 

low

 

critical

 

battery levels to sleep / hibernate the system to prevent the system from draining too low.. I recommend setting low to 40, and do nothing (just a nice hint to remind you to charge) and set the critical charge to 30% (no I'm not at all joking) and set it to sleep.

 

Also regarding sleep settings, be SURE to set hibernate mode (sends ram sleep mode to permanent storage and shuts down) to a short, very short timeout like 30 minutes.

 

This way, if your laptop is not used, goes to sleep, it won't drain the battery to zero.

 

I have no idea what the reserve level does but I set it near the 40 60 range anyway.

 

The "plugged in" settings for these levels seem to do nothing, I guess because it's charging.  I wanted to set a "low" or "critical" charge level like 75% when plugged in, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

 

I'd be interested in a way to stop charging at a certain level when plugged in.

[Bombastinator]

52 minutes ago, E-waste said:

Strongly recommend buying a used laptop, of at least four years on the market or more.  Think about it:

 

How much worse is a laptop from 2018 vs a laptop from 2022?  Seriously, how much better is the battery life per charge and performance?  I bet there's very little change.

 

Save your money and reduce e-waste by reducing demand for newer hardware and getting more use from equipment that might otherwise be sent to the dump or overseas for "recycling".

About batteries:

Maybe you already know this, but to make a lithium-ion battery hold charge capacity, try to keep the charge level anywhere from 40 to 60 percent charge.

 

iPhones won't let you boot--not even in some emergency, until you have a minimum of 15% charge, and recently added an option to stop charging at 80% tp reduce battery wear.

 

I don't know if it's the battery management in the battery, if it is allowing higher voltage or what but that's just the way it is until we have new battery tech, seems soon.  Li-Ion has been around since the 70s and there's now quite a lot of work and reseach for new battery designs.

 

On Windows, you can set the

 

low

 

critical

 

battery levels to sleep / hibernate the system to prevent the system from draining too low.. I recommend setting low to 40, and do nothing (just a nice hint to remind you to charge) and set the critical charge to 30% (no I'm not at all joking) and set it to sleep.

 

Also regarding sleep settings, be SURE to set hibernate mode (sends ram sleep mode to permanent storage and shuts down) to a short, very short timeout like 30 minutes.

 

This way, if your laptop is not used, goes to sleep, it won't drain the battery to zero.

 

I have no idea what the reserve level does but I set it near the 40 60 range anyway.

 

The "plugged in" settings for these levels seem to do nothing, I guess because it's charging.  I wanted to set a "low" or "critical" charge level like 75% when plugged in, but it doesn't seem to have any effect.

 

I'd be interested in a way to stop charging at a certain level when plugged in.

There is some point here.  The requirement for programming is there basically isn’t one.  You can program with a pencil and paper.  It’s Text editing.  So use cas goes to keyboard quality and panel quality.  Gaming is NOT potato, but aside from a 6 or 8 core chip and a minimum single thread speed, cpu isn’t that important.  It’s gpu that matters.  So you want a high end gaming machine without a lot of unnuecessary power.  —an older device. Not really really old, but something that would have sold in the 1500-2000 range new, but are a few years old. The deal is keyboard and monitor readability haven’t changed all that much.

Edited January 29, 2023 by Bombastinator