Looking for new Laptop

[kedemwinevinter]

Budget (including currency): 500-1000usd

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Virtual Machines (up to 4 simultaneously), maybe Da Vinci Resolve, maybe GIMP (I have an interest in these things but never used them intensely), retro console emulators

Other details Currently using a Dell Inspiron 7567 - 7th gen i5, 16gb RAM (upgraded after purchase) 256gb m2 ssd, 512 ssd second drive (old ssd I added to machine), gtx 1050ti

 

I'm in the market for a new laptop as I'm in a course to get into the field of cyber security.  My instructor said we need a laptop of at least gen 9 intel, Ryzen 3500 or better, 16gb ram, 512 gb hard drive.

I've been browsing laptops the last couple days, mainly Dell and Lenovo, as I love my current Dell greatly and know Lenovo has a good reputation. I'm open to suggestions beyond these brands.

I don't really game much anymore and when I do, it's been an SNES emulator and introducing my kids to games from my childhood.  I hardly play anything graphic intensive on my steam library and maybe, occasionally, open up Fallout NV.
 

I have a friend who is a little more computer savvy than me and keeps insisting that whatever laptop I get, it should have a dedicated gpu. While I'd like that, I'm not convinced I need that, but he keeps insisting. I know I'm not going to game intensely any time soon, let alone buy anything new or AAA where a RTX 40X0 is needed. Despite my interest in wanting to play with GIMP and Da Vinci, I've rarely used those programs over the last few years and if I ever had the desire to make a video of some sort and render it, I doubt there'll be a noticeable difference in rendering time from an integrated Intel or AMD gpu vs a gaming card.

I'm currently looking at this: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/thinkpad-l14-gen-3-(14-inch-amd)/21c5s07r00 and https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p14s-gen-3-(14-inch-amd)/21j5s06t00

I'm aware the RAM and storage are small on the first one, but I am ok upgrading them myself.

And that's where I could use the community's help.

First off, do I need a dedicated GPU?

Secondly, am I better off getting a new laptop with weaker specs and adding RAM and storage afterwards or buying it with a reasonable amount of RAM and storage out of the box?  At the end of the day, I'm happy with 1TB storage and at least 32gb RAM. I imagine 64 would be way better, and would honestly love to go as high as I could on RAM, keeping all this stuff to about a $1000 USD budget.

Also, weight of the laptop isn't super important to me. I've almost always had laptops that weighed ~5 lbs. I know a lappy without a dedicated gpu will be lighter, but weight is the driving factor there. I do carry the machine between two apartments fairly regularly but I have a laptop backpack for that.

Thank you in advanced for your suggestions.

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

dpus draw alot of power so unless you know youll use or need one id skip dgpus cause rip battery life

 

1 hour ago, kedemwinevinter said:

I'm currently looking at this: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadl/thinkpad-l14-gen-3-(14-inch-amd)/21c5s07r00 and https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpadp/thinkpad-p14s-gen-3-(14-inch-amd)/21j5s06t00

id take the latter as the igpu is much better and ram should be more than enough

 

are there any ryzen 7040/8040 laptops though? as those have even faster igpus and much faster cpus, no not the 7030 ones those are the same as the latter just different name

 

might also be worth looking at i7 155h laptops as they have more cores so if you need lots of vms and theyre fine with being run on ecores (not particularly intensive) then this might be a better option though do keep in mind that the power draw is higher so less battery life

[kedemwinevinter]

1 hour ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

dpus draw alot of power so unless you know youll use or need one id skip dgpus cause rip battery life

 

id take the latter as the igpu is much better and ram should be more than enough

 

are there any ryzen 7040/8040 laptops though? as those have even faster igpus and much faster cpus, no not the 7030 ones those are the same as the latter just different name

 

might also be worth looking at i7 155h laptops as they have more cores so if you need lots of vms and theyre fine with being run on ecores (not particularly intensive) then this might be a better option though do keep in mind that the power draw is higher so less battery life

Thanks.  I don't see 7040/8040 laptops in this price range. Is it a significant difference.  Also seems like the i125 is what's in this price range when i switch to intel chips.