Help buying laptop for college

[Vexsim]

Hello all on LinusTechTips

 

I will be going to college next year and I was going to buy a new laptop. That said, I am looking for a light and portable computer that I can bring to school will good battery life. I have been looking into the new Dell XPS 13 and the ASUS 303LN. I do play some games, and want the machine I get to be able to run some games. Mostly, I play League of Legends and Civ 5. 

I know the 303LN can, as it has the discrete GTX 840M in it, but can the XPS 13 run them? Not on high, obviously, but if it can on playable settings, I will be happy. The only downside that is stopping me from buying the LN 303 is the larger and heavier form factor, more outdated CPU, and the supposed heat and noise when running a higher load. 

Can anyone offer some advice?

 

Thanks for help guys!

Vexsim

[Guest]

What's your price range?

 

Also, the 840M is barely better than the Iris Pro GPU (which is a part of most newer CPUs in laptops), and it really only adds price and reduces battery life.

[Vexsim]

I'm not sure, as my parents will be paying. That said, I do believe they would be rather open since they would let me purchase a Macbook Pro if I wanted.

 

However, doesn't the XPS 13 have the Intel HD 5500 GPU and not the Iris Pro GPU? It is still similar performance wise to the 840M?

[manikyath]

i've been looking around at laptops for school, as i'm currently using a samsung rc530.

 

and it seems like theres not much in the 15inch range that can actually compete with it at a similar price...

 

a quick look on my favourite website gave me this:

 

Acer Asp. VN7-571G-53ML i5-5200u 

 

intel core i5 5200u

8GB DDR3

GTX850M

128GB SSD

500GB HDD

AC wifi

1080p screen

~tons of juicy bloatware~

[TheDev]

if your going to collage next year you should wait, tech moves too quick. but if you do need one now then i wold say look at ones with 900 series gpu's in because when your not playing games and your just on word, email or on the LTT forum the gpu is turned off so it consumes little power.

[AnnoyedShelf]

Hello all on LinusTechTips

 

I will be going to college next year and I was going to buy a new laptop. That said, I am looking for a light and portable computer that I can bring to school will good battery life. I have been looking into the new Dell XPS 13 and the ASUS 303LN. I do play some games, and want the machine I get to be able to run some games. Mostly, I play League of Legends and Civ 5. 

I know the 303LN can, as it has the discrete GTX 840M in it, but can the XPS 13 run them? Not on high, obviously, but if it can on playable settings, I will be happy. The only downside that is stopping me from buying the LN 303 is the larger and heavier form factor, more outdated CPU, and the supposed heat and noise when running a higher load. 

Can anyone offer some advice?

 

Thanks for help guys!

Vexsim

Honestly the XPS 13 should have no problems with those games.  Source: my mom has one, league runs just fine.  Haven't bothered to try Civ on that machine though, mainly because I have my own laptop. By the way, have you checked out the Lenovo Y40? It's what I use for school, and I can run both of those games maxed out.

[handymanshandle]

I'm not sure, as my parents will be paying. That said, I do believe they would be rather open since they would let me purchase a Macbook Pro if I wanted.

 

However, doesn't the XPS 13 have the Intel HD 5500 GPU and not the Iris Pro GPU? It is still similar performance wise to the 840M?

In the Early 2015 RMBP 13" it has an Iris Pro 6100 which better than a GTX 860M. Not to mention better battery life.

It's about on par with the R5 found on some Kaveri mobile APUs, and when playing WoW on an AMD A8-6410 yields a pretty good 25ish FPS on Fair to Good settings.

[DelusionalSyko]

You don't need a dedicated graphics card to run games like Civ 5 and LoL, the XPS 13 is a good laptop and should fit your requirements perfectly.

 

Just remember, if you need a copy of Office, laptops don't come with it (Most times it's preloaded, but you'll have to spend the extra $180+ to get a license key)

 

I'd also suggest taking a look at the Lenovo Y40, I keep seeing good deals on them and they seem pretty decent (Even though I'm not a huge lenovo fan, but every company has good products as well as bad)

[Vexsim]

While the Acer Aspire does have really nice specs, the only gripe with it that I have is the relatively low battery life. Although I'm not in college yet, I would imagine that I would need a computer to have a pretty long battery life, as I may not have the chance to leave it plugged in. I could be wrong though, anyone who is in college can clarify maybe?

 

Also, the Y40 does look appealing, now that I'm looking at it. I may have to look more into it.

[Vexsim]

Also, thanks for the feedback on the gaming aspects.

Can anyone provide from FPS and graphic settings on LoL and Civ V from the XPS 13?

[Whorax]

if your going to collage next year you should wait, tech moves too quick.

^This, absolutely.

 

Buy whatever you want right before school starts, so you can have the best shit. That's what I tried to do with my MacBook Air.

[Vexsim]

^This, absolutely.

 

Buy whatever you want right before school starts, so you can have the best shit. That's what I tried to do with my MacBook Air.

Oh, when I said college next year I was referring to the next semester (i.e., August 2015) 

I was only looking at them now. My plan was to research now, and buy the newest generation of what I decided on previously. (Assuming its an upgrade)

[PaulKolby]

Hello all on LinusTechTips

 

I will be going to college next year and I was going to buy a new laptop. That said, I am looking for a light and portable computer that I can bring to school will good battery life. I have been looking into the new Dell XPS 13 and the ASUS 303LN. I do play some games, and want the machine I get to be able to run some games. Mostly, I play League of Legends and Civ 5. 

I know the 303LN can, as it has the discrete GTX 840M in it, but can the XPS 13 run them? Not on high, obviously, but if it can on playable settings, I will be happy. The only downside that is stopping me from buying the LN 303 is the larger and heavier form factor, more outdated CPU, and the supposed heat and noise when running a higher load. 

Can anyone offer some advice?

 

Thanks for help guys!

Vexsim

The lenovo y40 is pretty good, it has decent discrete graphics, it is cheap, and you can get a 5th gen intel processor.

 

http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/lenovo/y-series/y40-80/

[Vexsim]

Can someone tell me about the heat, fan noise, and battery life about the Y40?

[Vexsim]

Just another question about the XPS 13...

If I were to get the QHD one, would it still be able to run LoL and Civ V? I heard that the battery life decreases to about 7 hours with the QHD, which I'm fine with, but now I'm worried about those games.

[vembutech]

Y40 is decent choice.

[inkrededibles]

I'm not sure, as my parents will be paying. That said, I do believe they would be rather open since they would let me purchase a Macbook Pro if I wanted.

 

However, doesn't the XPS 13 have the Intel HD 5500 GPU and not the Iris Pro GPU? It is still similar performance wise to the 840M?

If you're already in Macbook range, I'd personally just drop for a Razer Blade. More or less the same design, but Windows and some nice hardware. Definitely pricey, but you only go to college once!