Help me pick a laptop - College computer engineer major

[JupiterMonky]

I will be attending college this upcoming fall of 2015. I will be majoring in computer engineering. I want a laptop that I could bring around easily and do all my tasks. I want to invest in the Dell XPS 13 but I'm not sure if that will be good for all four years as a computer engineer major. People also suggested me getting the MSI GE70 or GE62, or the Lenovo Y50. Please help me decide on a laptop.

 

These are models I've picked out:
Dell XPS 13:

http://www.amazon.com/Newest-Model-Dell-Ultrabook-Computer/dp/B00VWC2NBO/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436677315&sr=1-2&keywords=xps+13+2015

MSI GE70:
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GE70-Pro-681-17-3-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00TI6TASK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436670312&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+ge
MSI GE62:
http://www.amazon.com/MSI-15-6-Inch-GE62-APACHE-082-9S7-16J212-082/dp/B00YPEIFYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436677478&sr=8-1&keywords=msi+ge62&pebp=1436677487672&perid=1N1P75EFQ6CE85YFJBW9
Lenovo Y50:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Gaming-Windows/dp/B00K6ZIFFG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436678068&sr=1-1&keywords=y50&pebp=1436678074569&perid=1EKR2W7XN772695P7KB0

[Bussinateur]

Let me just say that it really doesn't matter. I am doing Computer Engineering in university too. Bigger screens do help tho

[coppertj]

MSI GE70 is a nice one.

[trag1c]

I will be attending college this upcoming fall of 2015. I will be majoring in computer engineering. I want a laptop that I could bring around easily and do all my tasks. I want to invest in the Dell XPS 13 but I'm not sure if that will be good for all four years as a computer engineer major. People also suggested me getting the MSI GE70 or GE62, or the Lenovo Y50. Please help me decide on a laptop.

 

These are models I've picked out:

Dell XPS 13:

http://www.amazon.com/Newest-Model-Dell-Ultrabook-Computer/dp/B00VWC2NBO/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436677315&sr=1-2&keywords=xps+13+2015

MSI GE70:

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GE70-Pro-681-17-3-Inch-Aluminum/dp/B00TI6TASK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436670312&sr=8-2&keywords=msi+ge

MSI GE62:

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-15-6-Inch-GE62-APACHE-082-9S7-16J212-082/dp/B00YPEIFYA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436677478&sr=8-1&keywords=msi+ge62&pebp=1436677487672&perid=1N1P75EFQ6CE85YFJBW9

Lenovo Y50:

http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-15-6-Inch-Touchscreen-Gaming-Windows/dp/B00K6ZIFFG/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436678068&sr=1-1&keywords=y50&pebp=1436678074569&perid=1EKR2W7XN772695P7KB0

I would stay away from dell systems since I have had nothing but trouble with them. MSI has very good quality systems and parts. I cant say anything on lenovo.

[adithyay328]

Actually, you could just use a cheap laptop for your classes, and then you could upload the data(notes, links, instructions, etc.) onto a desktop at home! I mean, the dells are $900, while you could just do a $200 acer and then a like $300 PC, which altogether is $500. Although, don't rely completely on me, cause' I still have 6 more years till' college. Yes, I'm going to 7th grade this coming year.

[JefferyD90]

I personally would go for the Lenovo if you're going to be typing a lot.  Also, invest in a second monitor.

[paprikman]

The most durable laptops I've dealt with - MSI.

But they are pricy tho.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Actually, you could just use a cheap laptop for your classes, and then you could upload the data(notes, links, instructions, etc.) onto a desktop at home! I mean, the dells are $900, while you could just do a $200 acer and then a like $300 PC, which altogether is $500. Although, don't rely completely on me, cause' I still have 6 more years till' college. Yes, I'm going to 7th grade this coming year.

Just letting you and the OP know, that it is one of the worst ideas ever from a productivity standpoint and from a long-term investment in today's current laptop market to purchase cheap mainstream laptops (like sub 500). Your flagship smartphone costs 600 dollars without a contract, don't expect anything even close to as good from a laptop cheaper than it.

 

The xps 13 is the only one of those options that is an ultrabook. While ultrabooks are cool and perfectly capable of being used to learn shit on, they are not designed in any way shape or form for power user use. From a performance to dollar ratio, I would vehemently suggest avoiding all ultrabooks (or ultra portable laptops in general). a 5 lb laptop is not going to be difficult or dangerous to transport.

 

That said Asus/msi from resellers seems to be the current best deal on the market. Of the massive laptop producers, lenovo does offer very strong value for the money, but is not particular efficient (cost wise) above the 1200 dollar range.

 

There were two amazing deals going on for laptops that I saw recently.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Asus-15-6-HD-Gaming-Notebook-i7-4720HQ-12GB-DDR3-750GB-HDD-Nvidia-GTX950M-GL551/121656115178?customid=b07aa15404f6457a8cbfdcb174887a03&pub=5574652453&afepn=5337259887&campid=5337259887&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c5344ffea&afepn=5337259887&rmvSB=true

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/GE62-15-6-inch-i7-5700HQ-7200rpm-Computer/dp/B00YFE5OCQ

 

The first one is on the low-mid end of what I would personally recommend for a power user, the second is on the high end. Both are pretty impressive deals compared to basically anything else I have seen, BUT subject to change without notice.

 

Differences between the two: (copy and pasted from helping someone else)

 

Advantages over the asus above: Better cpu (both are capable though), better gpu (again both work, but this model is about 20% stronger on both ends), includes significantly more storage (128 GB SSD+ 1TB HDD vs 750 HDD), more ram (16 GB vs 12 GB). Included 3/2 (3 year from reseller, two from manufacturer) warranty instead of the 1 year on the Asus above. Slightly better wifi. Similar weight, and in my personal opinion a better look/design (the keyboard can be set to any color, so don’t worry if the color their looks bad). Also with the newer CPU, it should have about a 90min longer battery.

[GoodBytes]

I don't see why you need a dedicated GPU, unless you plan to sleep in a dormitory, and want to play games.

There is nothing you'll do in your education studies that would require a performer out of a GPU, unless you take computer science / software engineer classes like OpenGL or Gaming, and can't live using the computer labs systems.

 

Most of your classes will be math, contain diagrams, and such, making a laptop useless in many of your classes.

 

My suggestion, if you want to be full digital, is to get the a Surface Pro. You have ultrabook performance in a slim, and small form factor, with a good keyboard for typing notes (assuming you have normal desks in all classes. So this depends on how crummy or good your university is), and the most important part: digitize pen.

The pen, is like a real pen. You palm rejection, thin point, good precision, pressure sensitivity. And  allows you to circle, highlight documents sent by your professor (pdf's), write math, diagram, and be all organized thanks to OneNote, which I bevel, is the best note-taking software available.

 

That is my advice. Personally, if you will start university for the first time, I would not buy anything. I would wait ans see for the first semester, and see what will be best option for you. Added benefits are:

 -> all models  of laptop ypu plan to buy is already 1 year old or more. Every manufactures are holding their new models once Windows 10 is released. They won't be releasing them in day 1.. They need to empty the stock of current models

 

 -> You'll get Windows 10 natively installed

 

 -> You'll have a system designed for Windows 10 with contiguous support by the manufacture for drivers ans its software for a while. Usually manufactures stop supports once a new model of the series is out.

 

 -> Surface Pro 4 will be released

 

 -> Skylake CPU

 

 

So waiting has a .of advantages.

[JupiterMonky]

I've read through all your replies several times and I'm still conflicted one whether to buy an ultrabook or a gaming laptop because of the trade offs. Buying an ultrabook would mean I would have a longer battery life and an easier time transporting it but it might not fulfill all 4 years of college. Buying a gaming laptop would be the opposite, I would have a shorter battery life and it will be harder to transport but I will have the peace of mind of it working for all 4 years of college. I can work around the gaming laptop by accepting it's size and weight, and solve the battery problem by plugging it into the wall rather than using it on battery for the whole day. However, if I know that an ultrabook can do all 4 years

Let me just say that it really doesn't matter. I am doing Computer Engineering in university too. Bigger screens do help tho

then I will be push over to buy one.

 

If I were to buy a gaming computer I would pick the brand MSI. I've heard only good reviews on it and a few bad one of the Lenovo.

 

I didn't state this on the original post before, sorry, but I have in mind to bring my desktop over to college. I have a 21" monitor so this would solve the small monitor issue of the XPS 13. I can adapt to a keyboard but if it were to happen that I can't, I could use my keyboard of 3 years to be more comfortable. And if I have any intensive work I could use my desktop, it has an Intel i5 3570K, Nvidia GTX 560, and 8GB of RAM. 

 

I would like to know if your opinions are still the same or have changed.

 

Also I wouldn't mind waiting for Windows 10 or Skylake CPU, but after reading of some of other people's opinions I think I should stick with a Windows 8.1 system. They said that we wouldn't know if Windows 10 would be better of worse, probably buggy so Windows 8.1 is safer. And if Skylake does come out would the performance be that much better, it would be more expensive so I think I would just stick with Broadwell. Overall I think the systems I buy now will be good for 4 years, there is no great need for the latest OS or CPU. However, I will try to hold off until buying a laptop until Windows 10 comes out to see if the price drops.

 

If you are still here reading this, THANK YOU ALL FOR LISTENING AND GIVING ME ADVICE.

[GoodBytes]

Like I said, I would try and do a semester without a computer. See how other students are doing. Are they struggling using their systems? Does your univeristy have power plugs everywhere? How about the library, can you go there and study with your laptop (does it have plugs everywhere, and does it have desk space). How are the class room desk? Do you need to get a 12-13inch laptop because they are small, or can you go 15-17inch gaming machine?

 

Can you bring your desktop computer (if you sleep in a dormitory) and have a laptop? (you can have both in sync).

 

That is what I did. I discovered that I needed a convertible tablet computer for my ideal setup. But that was in 2008. And back then the Surface Pro didn't exists, and the convertible tablet at the time could barely run XP fine, and they had Vista on it, and had god awful battery life (more like a capacitor instead of a battery), annoying fan noise even at idle, and cost 3000$. But that is me. I did my degree in Computer Science. So I went with a slim laptop (at the time, now it is considered, normal, lol). In my case, my university was downtown and a bus gets me to my place, so I had my PC for gaming and stuff. But my laptop has sufficient power for all my classes.

[Curufinwe_wins]

'Cept that like the ultrabooks, the surface pro is a terrible value investment. Not only is performance over time massively worse than legitimate laptops, but like ultrabooks, the premium you pay for portability (which I find to be insanely over valued as even a 15 inch laptop is very easy to take anywhere you can take a 13 inch ultrabook) is so insanely high.

I mean for shits sake the surface pro (like the xps 13) starts at a price higher than that of the Asus model I showed you and they don't even have a model that is as powerful as that Asus even if you pay $1600+.

Btw, for professionals who want to use it in a work environment or just don't give a shit about value added, it's a perfectly usable and great product (compared to ultrabooks).... But for a student... Especially one of the massive majority of students that have or plan to have some sort of financial constraints throughout college it is a truely terrible investment.

Since above shared his story here is mine. (Again it will depend on your exact situation. So take what I say with a grain of salt).

I started off with what was considered at the time to be a very thin laptop (although by the time college came around it was about 3 years old). I mean I could and did take it to some classes, but honestly, most of my classes were not super conductive towards digital note taking. 13 in/15 in didn't matter any time but power plugs were not always available.

Anyways after one semester, I picked up a "gaming laptop (I personally think that is an asinine label as it is more a 'power user' laptop) 15.6 inch, probably 15-20 pounds. For the first few weeks of proud ownership, I brought it to even more classes, but the weight was an issue between classes. In the end I brought it only exclusively for class presentations, and for working with friends in the library, of which it was light years better than the provided comps.

This was an undergrad in nuclear engineering.

Again this is just my opinion, but in most major universities, there is major ability to access meh computers anyways so getting one that is just ok, and isnt particularly useful for power environments doesn't make much sense to me.

[GoodBytes]

Portability costs a lot of money, especially if you want high performance and have no throttling under day to day general tasks, and quiet operation (unless pushed... then it will be noisy and throttle, obviously, although should be better with Skylake). But that is the limitation of ultrabooks, sadly.

 

Note: Not to say that you laptop you suggested sucks, by any means, no. I mean it is obvious that it isn't. The point I am making bellow is the price justification of more compact devices.

 

The laptop you suggested comes with an HDD. Ultrabooks, at least the good ones, have a high performance low power consuming SSD inside, which cost a lot more.

Then again, from power button "click" sound to desktop fully loaded, it takes 6 sec, which is great when you want to get started in a class.

 

I know 0 student from 2008 to 2015 (I was part time student, working at the same time), that was happy with their 15inch. Many ended up switching a tablet for most of the time, and that mean had day that they needed to carry their laptop and tablet. Or sold their laptop and opted for a smaller size system.

 

Also, the ASUS laptop suggested doesn't have digitize pen, which costs A LOT to have if you want a technology that you don't want to fight with it. All tablets that don't use N-Trig or Wacom high-end ranged digitize pen technology have a sub par experience. Most tablets uses Synaptic pen technology, and from reviews, it is only good using for navigating the OS, not actually writing, but costs much less. Good multi-touch screen is also costly. When you are buying a device where you primarily using touch, you want a good one. Already Apple users noticed the slight reduction of quality of touch screen when they try to save money.

 

So the price premium is fairly justified, in my opinion. Especially if you seek for good quality device.

It is true that the Surface line has this "Apple tax" like thing going which doesn't help, but when you have no competition because no one can do better (at the moment of this posting), they can charge what they want.

 

It is definitely a difficult decision for JupiterMonky to make. We are talking about a significant investment, and it doesn't help that he wants, ideally gaming.

[Curufinwe_wins]

I guess it may just be different logistics of the campuses we went to. The non-college of engineering was ripe with ultrabooks and tablets, while the COE was predominantly heavy use devices. I would say that full 15s were a good 10x more comon than tablets and ultrabooks in the COE, while the opposite was true outside of it.

You can buy and instal a ssd for 100 dollars. Or you can go with say the msi I linked which has one inside.

Not saying that digitized pens don't have a use... But it is 99% likely that typing would be faster (unless you can write 80+ Wpm).

I would argue that even if you limited yourself to multi-touch displays (although I don't particularly understand why you would) you can easily find massive value compared to ultrabooks. (I do agree as I stated that from a value perspective the surface is better than any ultrabook, but that's calling it better than shit, because outside of extreme mobile gaming, ultrabooks are the worst value available.)

I guess what our conversation is really saying is it definately is important to learn the logistics of your college and your classes. Ask advice from students in your department. Don't reflex buy and you will be ok either way.

[GoodBytes]

Just something I was thinking, for brainstorming views here, but I would like to hear people with more gaming laptop have to say:

 

I think gaming should not be a factor. Unless you go all in with a fancy gaming laptop GPU that is, like a 980M for example. Why? Because, if you can barely play games at 60fps at medium settings now, then ~2 years later, it will feel like an Intel integrated graphics. So you won't be able to play games well, and now you'll carry this big heavy laptop which you wont' be playing games on.

 

4 years (and that is assuming you don't fail any classes, and choose to not redo classes to get a better grade, AND that is considering you can personally take the work load of 5 classes per semester, and not 4 like most students, usually), is pushing a gaming laptop.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Just something I was thinking, for brainstorming views here, but I would like to hear people with more gaming laptop have to say:

I think gaming should not be a factor. Unless you go all in with a fancy gaming laptop GPU that is, like a 980M for example. Why? Because, if you can barely play games at 60fps at medium settings now, then ~2 years later, it will feel like an Intel integrated graphics. So you won't be able to play games well, and now you'll carry this big heavy laptop which you wont' be playing games on.

4 years (and that is assuming you don't fail any classes, and choose to not redo classes to get a better grade, AND that is considering you can personally take the work load of 5 classes per semester, and not 4 like most students, usually), is pushing a gaming laptop.

So as I've said I really don't like the market calling them gaming laptops. It's power user laptops. The only ones on the market. My laptop is a fairly decent example of what an entry level 'gaming laptop would be after 4 years. It's a 660m heavy as fuck (although modern 15s are only 5 pounds... Lighter than the regular laptops we used to have). It can play anything from its day fine. I can't really play 2015 titles well, but it's still massively better than the igpu it came with.

The 980m is actually a bit stronger than the 970. And it will be able to play 1080p games at high to ultra (1080p) for quite a long time. That said it isn't cheap.

The 970m is found on most 1200-1500 laptops is better than a 960 and will be playable for the foreseeable future.

The 960m is pretty entry level stuff. It will play current and past stuff like a champ, but future is not particularly likely.

All three are massively better than the op's current 560.

I mean it depends on the titles but all mmos and most Indies (not to mention classics like skyrim, mass effect, witcher 2) are very much playable for as long as the product goes.

If he were to actually be interested in more portable 'power user' laptops the 14 in range is about 3-4 lbs on average and can have almost as much power. Not many options exist for it, but on the exteme end the Razer blade 14 is like an uktrabook on steroids.

5 lbs. That's all a gaming 15in weighs now. That's nothing.

Also not saying it was easy, or that it is even an option or most people, but I did my undergrad in 3 years with only one summer course and that was because it was easier than taking it during the semester (3 week writing course lol) not because I had to.

[GoodBytes]

I guess it may just be different logistics of the campuses we went to. The non-college of engineering was ripe with ultrabooks and tablets, while the COE was predominantly heavy use devices. I would say that full 15s were a good 10x more comon than tablets and ultrabooks in the COE, while the opposite was true outside of it.

Do they get 15inch laptop because of the low price, or need the performance?

 

You can buy and instal a ssd for 100 dollars. Or you can go with say the msi I linked which has one inside.

Very true.

 

Not saying that digitized pens don't have a use... But it is 99% likely that typing would be faster (unless you can write 80+ Wpm).

You want to mix. You can't do math with a laptop fast. You can write down a mathematical formula fast on a laptop that appears on the board from your theory class. It is more difficult to highlight and circle things with a touchpad/mouse than with pen, if you import PDFs or documents and you want to complete them with notes. (this is, of course, all assuming we want to digitize everything). So with the pen, you can mix typing and writing. And now you get the best of both worlds.

 

I would argue that even if you limited yourself to multi-touch displays (although I don't particularly understand why you would) you can easily find massive value compared to ultrabooks. (I do agree as I stated that from a value perspective the surface is better than any ultrabook, but that's calling it better than shit, because outside of extreme mobile gaming, ultrabooks are the worst value available.)

I agree that multi-touch only is useless. Waste of money. Unless it is like a small 12inch ultrabook that convert into a tablet, and you want to scroll through document/images and such, like a normal tablet. 15inch laptops with touch... nha... don't see any value from it, unless you need performance for things and you are developing a touch enabled programs also, or something specific.

 

I guess what our conversation is really saying is it definately is important to learn the logistics of your college and your classes. Ask advice from students in your department. Don't reflex buy and you will be ok either way.

Yea fully agree. That is why I suggested the OP to do a semester with pen and paper, analyses the environment for power plugs, desk size, get feedback from people, see how they like using their laptop/tablet/convertible, and THEN take a decision. And as mentioned, by year end, he will get a nice selection of Windows 10 laptops from all manufactures to pick from, new models and not 1 year old ones, and have Intel latest CPU: Skylake, which I think is a must regardless if he goes gaming or ultrabook path, especially if you wants a solid smooth experience for 4-5 yeas ( I am assuming 5-6 years in my head, as you never know, in life shit, happens).

[Curufinwe_wins]

I have no idea if it was performance or low price. I did it because it was both.

[LaoJr]

I honestly think any of those above are great choices my preference is probably the XPS 13 or a 13" Retina MBP

[JupiterMonky]

To add more information on and maybe solve some questions:

 

• I will be dorming at Stony Brook University, which focuses a lot on math and sciences, so I'm going to assume there will be a lot of wall outlets to plug a laptop in.
• There is no policy for bringing a desktop so I don't see any trouble doing so.
• I shy away from the Surface Pro in general because I don't really need a touch screen or stylus. I don't need a touch screen in general because I don't find myself using it. I don't need a stylus in general because typing is faster for me and if I need to draw a diagram or something I will use pencil and paper because that is more practical. Yes the Surface Pro has a lot of features but no do I need them. If the prices were lower and the specs were better I would consider it, maybe the Surface Pro 4 could be my choice.
• I also shy away from Apple as I feel a Windows computer is better for Computer Engineering, and rather have a native Windows computer than a boot camped Apple computer.
• I don't see gaming as an issue because I play old games or non intensive games: League of Legends, Terraria, etc. If I were to play a graphic intense game I would be in my room, door closed, and on my desktop. The only real reason for a discrete graphics card for me is probably if I needed to design something using a program.

I'm going to research more on the first semester. If I don't really need a laptop for the first semester, then I will wait unless a sale comes. If I do need one then I will probably wait until Windows 10 comes out and see price drops.

[Bussinateur]

From my first year experience, you basically don't need a laptop. It is a convenience if you have to type up a document on the go, but realistically you will never need it for more than a few simple tasks. 

 

I would say that there are 2 important factors here:

 

1. Portability: Gaming laptops are insanely heavy to carry around in a backpack

 

2. Uses other than for school: If this is your only computer, then I would recommend getting a half-decent laptop with a dedicated GPU

[GoodBytes]

To add more information on and maybe solve some questions:

 

• I will be dorming at Stony Brook University, which focuses a lot on math and sciences, so I'm going to assume there will be a lot of wall outlets to plug a laptop in.
• There is no policy for bringing a desktop so I don't see any trouble doing so.
• I shy away from the Surface Pro in general because I don't really need a touch screen or stylus. I don't need a touch screen in general because I don't find myself using it. I don't need a stylus in general because typing is faster for me and if I need to draw a diagram or something I will use pencil and paper because that is more practical. Yes the Surface Pro has a lot of features but no do I need them. If the prices were lower and the specs were better I would consider it, maybe the Surface Pro 4 could be my choice.
• I also shy away from Apple as I feel a Windows computer is better for Computer Engineering, and rather have a native Windows computer than a boot camped Apple computer.
• I don't see gaming as an issue because I play old games or non intensive games: League of Legends, Terraria, etc. If I were to play a graphic intense game I would be in my room, door closed, and on my desktop. The only real reason for a discrete graphics card for me is probathe ti ebly if I needed to design something using a program.

I'm going to research more on the first semester. If I don't really need a laptop for the first semester, then I will wait unless a sale comes. If I do need one then I will probably wait until Windows 10 comes out and see price drops.

 

If you like pen and paper, and fine with limitation. And you can bring your desktop. Then I don't see the need for you to buy a laptop.

You can print your pdf in your dorm, and complete your note like this in class. If it is math focus, typing won't be faster. You'll be using pen and paper all the time.

If you need a PC for homework, then you can go to your dorm room and work there, or computer labs.

[JupiterMonky]

I can see what you mean GoodBytes that if I bring a desktop to college there is no need for a laptop. It is mostly a want for me. I don't want to be limited to my dorm rooms or computer labs. The laptop would allow me to work outside of these areas. I don't know if my courses will be heavily math focused but if they are then I understand why pen and paper have more freedom than just typing. All this supports you idea of taking my first semester before buying a laptop.

 

Cooljonathan, I'll take your experience and I'll ask others how they feel about their first year at college with a laptop.

[cardinaljawz]

I'm actually going into Computer Engineering myself this fall and am looking for a laptop as well!

 

I've looked at EVERY laptop there is on the market. The ones that really catch my eye are the Aorus x5/x7 Pro (see links below) and the Sager NP8651-S. 

 

I like the Aorus because of the power and the sleek design; not to mention you get a nice SLI GPU configuration which will help with games. Although not all games are compatible and you can't use nVidia Optimus to save battery power, I think it's well worth the trade-off of looking like an absolute beast in class.

 

I also like the Sager because it's very affordable and has great specs. I personally think it looks a bit bland (I have only seen a few pictures of it, so I have no idea if it's just the camera quality or what), and I think that you get a great deal for the price, which is around $1400. You'd be getting a nVidia 970M with 3GB GDDR5. It does start with 8GB of RAM, but you can upgrade it to more, which I really like. 

 

Overall, I think I will go with the Sager, as it just seems like it's well worth the money, and it's just what I need. It's not very thick, but it's not super thin ( I don't want the thing being too hot..). However, if the new Dell XPS 15 w/ Infinity Display gets formally announced or released with specs, I will probably get that one if it has a decent GPU (preferably above a 960M). *fingers crossed!*

 

Aorus x5 (G-Sync): http://www.aorus.com/Product/Features/X5

Aorus x7 (G-Sync): http://www.aorus.com/Product/Features/X7%20Pro-SYNC

Sager (No G-Sync): http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP8651-S.html

 

Hope I was somewhat useful in your decision to buy a laptop.

[Bussinateur]

I'm actually going into Computer Engineering myself this fall and am looking for a laptop as well!

 

I've looked at EVERY laptop there is on the market. The ones that really catch my eye are the Aorus x5/x7 Pro (see links below) and the Sager NP8651-S. 

 

I like the Aorus because of the power and the sleek design; not to mention you get a nice SLI GPU configuration which will help with games. Although not all games are compatible and you can't use nVidia Optimus to save battery power, I think it's well worth the trade-off of looking like an absolute beast in class.

 

I also like the Sager because it's very affordable and has great specs. I personally think it looks a bit bland (I have only seen a few pictures of it, so I have no idea if it's just the camera quality or what), and I think that you get a great deal for the price, which is around $1400. You'd be getting a nVidia 970M with 3GB GDDR5. It does start with 8GB of RAM, but you can upgrade it to more, which I really like. 

 

Overall, I think I will go with the Sager, as it just seems like it's well worth the money, and it's just what I need. It's not very thick, but it's not super thin ( I don't want the thing being too hot..). However, if the new Dell XPS 15 w/ Infinity Display gets formally announced or released with specs, I will probably get that one if it has a decent GPU (preferably above a 960M). *fingers crossed!*

 

Aorus x5 (G-Sync): http://www.aorus.com/Product/Features/X5

Aorus x7 (G-Sync): http://www.aorus.com/Product/Features/X7%20Pro-SYNC

Sager (No G-Sync): http://www.sagernotebook.com/Notebook-NP8651-S.html

 

Hope I was somewhat useful in your decision to buy a laptop.

 

Battery over absolute performance is key. Having your laptop die on you is way worse than losing a few fps in games