Which Laptop do I get for University

[Oneltech]

Hello LTT community I am going to be getting a new laptop for university as I am going to be studying Computer Engineering abroad. I was looking into a couple of laptops that would fulfill my needs as I would be travelling a lot, and the need of light weightiness and extended battery life for uni. I am going to describe my needs below and the laptops I've been looking at and I would like to hear your opinions on what I should get in the near future.

 

Needs:-

1- University Use (Computer Engineering Major) *not sure what is better for the major Windows or OSX

2- Graphic designing (Programs I use mostly are Photoshop, & Paint tool Sai)

3- Gaming, The games I am going to play do not require the highest Specs, but I would love to be able to play as smooth as possible on the go.

4- Travel, as I would be doing a lot of travelling during my study.

5- Microsoft Office, Mainly Excel and Word.

6- Chrome :: Surfing the web

 

Laptops:- *Choice 1, 2, & 3 are my favorite

1- The New Razer Blade :: 256GB I will either upgrade or just use my external drive/ Love the ability to use the Core but I am not sure about the RAM

2- Aorus X7 DT :: Not yet out/ Love the GTX 980 even though 17" is quiet big for a laptop for portability

3- The New Skylake Processor Macbook Pro :: It is coming in the near future so I thought I'de just put it up in the list as it is one of the most used laptops for uni (from what I've heard)/ Love the Battery life but not sure about OSX and the power the Laptop itself can deliver to me *not sure about full specs but I know macs have really good components

4- GS72 6QE Stealth Pro [4K] No Comments (not much research done)

5- GT72S 6QF DOMINATOR PRO G 29TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (GTX 980)/ Love the desktop grade GPU, but it is a quiet expensive laptop and really bulky as for portability not going to be able to go to uni with that and going to be hard to travel

 

Post your suggestions down below for which laptops you think would best suit me, If you have a different laptop to suggest just post it down below.

 

Thanks ^^

[RedWulf]

I would say 2 or 5. As I'm sure you know many media editing, rendering, and engineering programs need power. The OSX would be good if it was only office work, but windows is preferable for most other areas like programming and technical modeling. My Lenovo has a 17" screen and its actually pretty easy to carry about.  

[Moonzy]

why not the dell inspiron 7559? i thought its like the laptop of the year since its recommended everywhere lol

[DioOmicida]

Personally I don't like large 17", heavy desktop graded GPU laptops as I feel it defeats the purpose of a laptop. It would never fit on any classroom desk and take up an entire table when studying around in resturants.
I'd go with the Blade as you could buy the Razor Core and snap a Desktop GPU in it when your not mobile.

[itsmyjobtoknow]

A. A lot of students in my school use Macs, and I've seen and heard many professor that teaches CAD state that no one uses OS X for CAD work. At least not professionally. 

B. You are a student, gaming on the go should be your absolute last thing you want to do...but that is just my prospective on college/university. 

C. Don't go for anything that is 17-inches, those things are a pain in the ass to carry around, especially when you haven't count in textbooks and other notebooks. 

D. IMO, go for something cheaper, go for something you need and will get the job done, but not overly powerful where you won't even get the chance to use it when you are hammered with work. You may want a gaming laptop, but I would recommend something that suits your needs as a student first. 

 

Something like an Asus X555UB-NH51 has my recommendation. ALl you need to do with that machine is throw in a SSD and you are good to go.

[German_John]

Don't get a 17" laptop. I can't even take my 15" laptop with me all the time, so I bought a convertible to take notes. 

 

If you really need the horsepower while being portable, the one on your list that works best is probably the blade - although it does throttle.

 

Photoshop works on less high-end software (it works really well with my 860m), I don't know about your other tool unfortunately.

 

About Macs: Mac acceptance depends on your institution. If you don't know, I'd recommend Windows/Linux (or dual boot if you want or need OSX). The universities I attended usually didn't use Macs in their CS-related classes, and I think outside the US that's normal. The hardware is also not all that good going by mere horsepower. Right now, the highest-end Macbook Pro has a GPU that tiers more or less with the 860m or 960m, and a quad core Core i7, but does cost over two and a half grand...

 

If you at all can make it without a GPU I'd recommend something without one and just a good CPU (something like a high-end Thinkpad or a Macbook Pro for example) because it's really much easier to take with you. However if you will travel a lot and need the compute power there, you may want to get a GPU...

[Oneltech]

5 hours ago, RedWulf said:

I would say 2 or 5. As I'm sure you know many media editing, rendering, and engineering programs need power. The OSX would be good if it was only office work, but windows is preferable for most other areas like programming and technical modeling. My Lenovo has a 17" screen and its actually pretty easy to carry about.  

I agree with what you are saying about the power needed, but with these choices portability is not there. I mean 17" is just too big. as far as the Lenovo if you mean the Y700 I was considering getting that because of the nice price tag compared to other laptops in the same spec range. But I later thought about it and 17" didn't seem the best fitting for me, even though I might do an exception as I really like the specs on the number 2.

 

5 hours ago, Moonzy said:

why not the dell inspiron 7559? i thought its like the laptop of the year since its recommended everywhere lol

Not a big fan of Dell.

 

5 hours ago, DioOmicida said:

Personally I don't like large 17", heavy desktop graded GPU laptops as I feel it defeats the purpose of a laptop. It would never fit on any classroom desk and take up an entire table when studying around in resturants.
I'd go with the Blade as you could buy the Razor Core and snap a Desktop GPU in it when your not mobile.

Exactly that is my point and is why the Blade is on the top of the list. I totally agree since when you are not mobile you can just connect your laptop to an external screen + Razer Core (Desktop GPU). the only problem for me is the RAM in the Blade since it only has 16GB I've never used a 16GB laptop for more than a couple hours that's why I can say nothing. I've really had some problems with my current laptop which had 4GB of RAM when I first got it and ended up upgrading it to 8GB, which works a little bit better but still having some issues when I am multitasking especially between Photoshop and other editing tools which I use. But I still think that the Razer is the best pick of all. *Still waiting for Razer to send Linus a review unit so he can do a RΞVIΞW. 

 

4 hours ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

A. A lot of students in my school use Macs, and I've seen and heard many professor that teaches CAD state that no one uses OS X for CAD work. At least not professionally. 

B. You are a student, gaming on the go should be your absolute last thing you want to do...but that is just my prospective on college/university. 

C. Don't go for anything that is 17-inches, those things are a pain in the ass to carry around, especially when you haven't count in textbooks and other notebooks. 

D. IMO, go for something cheaper, go for something you need and will get the job done, but not overly powerful where you won't even get the chance to use it when you are hammered with work. You may want a gaming laptop, but I would recommend something that suits your needs as a student first. 

 

Something like an Asus X555UB-NH51 has my recommendation. ALl you need to do with that machine is throw in a SSD and you are good to go.

A. Agreed, Lots of students use Mac though, Mac is not for professional purposes 

B. Agreed, But it would be nice to have some time to do something other than just studying

C. Agreed, I'd go with something 13-15 max, with some exceptions

D. Disagreed, If I get something cheaper it usually means the hardware are lower end which means they end up breaking more often than they should, that is why it is not a solution for me, because I want something that will last me at least for 5 years (until I graduate)

 

4 hours ago, German_John said:

Don't get a 17" laptop. I can't even take my 15" laptop with me all the time, so I bought a convertible to take notes. 

 

If you really need the horsepower while being portable, the one on your list that works best is probably the blade - although it does throttle.

 

Photoshop works on less high-end software (it works really well with my 860m), I don't know about your other tool unfortunately.

 

About Macs: Mac acceptance depends on your institution. If you don't know, I'd recommend Windows/Linux (or dual boot if you want or need OSX). The universities I attended usually didn't use Macs in their CS-related classes, and I think outside the US that's normal. The hardware is also not all that good going by mere horsepower. Right now, the highest-end Macbook Pro has a GPU that tiers more or less with the 860m or 960m, and a quad core Core i7, but does cost over two and a half grand...

 

If you at all can make it without a GPU I'd recommend something without one and just a good CPU (something like a high-end Thinkpad or a Macbook Pro for example) because it's really much easier to take with you. However if you will travel a lot and need the compute power there, you may want to get a GPU...

Good point 17" are not meant to be taken of the desk in my opinion. Agreed on the throttle of the blade though I really don't care much as I'll be unleashing its full power when it is on a fan cooling stand which will help a bit I guess, and when I am at the University I won't be using much of it's power. As for the laptop without the GPU there is the option which is the Razer Blade Stealth it is cheaper, has a weak GPU, and can be docked to the Razer Core which means an Ultra book that can Perform like a Desktop, which is a very good and viable option, but it's not for me.

 

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, I am waiting for more opinions. ^^

[German_John]

2 hours ago, Oneltech said:

Good point 17" are not meant to be taken of the desk in my opinion. Agreed on the throttle of the blade though I really don't care much as I'll be unleashing its full power when it is on a fan cooling stand which will help a bit I guess, and when I am at the University I won't be using much of it's power. As for the laptop without the GPU there is the option which is the Razer Blade Stealth it is cheaper, has a weak GPU, and can be docked to the Razer Core which means an Ultra book that can Perform like a Desktop, which is a very good and viable option, but it's not for me.

Well... if you can afford the Blade Stealth and the Core... then I think that's one of the best things to do right now. I'd recommend the QHD version over 4K, because of battery life. 4K at that size is just showing off. I have 4K at 15.6" and have to be REALLY close to the screen to see pixels. 

You still wouldn't have much compute power on the go.

And the big issue is that it's a dual core. If you want to play modern games, the likes of Far Cry 4 will become more and will need quad cores, and things like Photoshop like their cores as well.

 

Well, sorry. I'll read better in the future.

About RAM, I have a shitton of Chrome tabs open and rarely even get to 8GB.

Edited March 29, 2016 by German_John
Didn't read the whole post. Bad manners.

[DioOmicida]

2 hours ago, Oneltech said:

 

I've really had some problems with my current laptop which had 4GB of RAM when I first got it and ended up upgrading it to 8GB, which works a little bit better but still having some issues when I am multitasking especially between Photoshop and other editing tools which I use.

 

Well you know what you need for your experiences more so then I ever will. Personally I don't think I've ever really capped up 8GB but if that has been a bottleneck for you then you know what you need to do.

[exercutor5]

3 hours ago, Oneltech said:

D. Disagreed, If I get something cheaper it usually means the hardware are lower end which means they end up breaking more often than they should, that is why it is not a solution for me, because I want something that will last me at least for 5 years (until I graduate)

Not true. With the utmost care for what you are doing, nothing is going to break physically.

 

And the Dell Inspiron 7559 beats the list of laptops you have for the best price to performance ratio.

[djdelarosa25]

UX501 perhaps?

[Moonzy]

5 hours ago, Oneltech said:

Not a big fan of Dell.

i wouldnt pick a laptop because of a brand if i were you lol

[itsmyjobtoknow]

5 hours ago, Oneltech said:

A. Agreed, Lots of students use Mac though, Mac is not for professional purposes 

B. Agreed, But it would be nice to have some time to do something other than just studying

C. Agreed, I'd go with something 13-15 max, with some exceptions

D. Disagreed, If I get something cheaper it usually means the hardware are lower end which means they end up breaking more often than they should, that is why it is not a solution for me, because I want something that will last me at least for 5 years (until I graduate)

 

Cheaper does not mean lower end hardware or lesser build quality (sometimes you find really good deals and discount for high end machines at a low price). It all depends on the user and how they treat their hardware. 

Nonetheless, think of it this way, since you are traveling to college (assuming you are not dorming), there is a chance you may lose your laptop, or damaged during travel, etc.

Trust me, I work in the IT department on my campus and I go around checking the Labs and I've seen nice laptops being left behind....

Anything can happen, so I rather have a cheaper laptop when I am out and about doing my work, and able to afford a replacement if anything did ever happen.

 

I am a college student myself, I don't have that much money to be throwing at another thousand USD laptop if someone ever happened to the first one. But I do have enough money to get me another cheap laptop if my already cheap one broke. 

 

[Oneltech]

14 hours ago, German_John said:

Well... if you can afford the Blade Stealth and the Core... then I think that's one of the best things to do right now. I'd recommend the QHD version over 4K, because of battery life. 4K at that size is just showing off. I have 4K at 15.6" and have to be REALLY close to the screen to see pixels. 

You still wouldn't have much compute power on the go.

And the big issue is that it's a dual core. If you want to play modern games, the likes of Far Cry 4 will become more and will need quad cores, and things like Photoshop like their cores as well.

 

Well, sorry. I'll read better in the future.

About RAM, I have a shitton of Chrome tabs open and rarely even get to 8GB.

Ok as for the Stealth I do not want to get it, also as I mentioned I need to have GPU on the go, and maybe some time later I would get the Core for the Razer Blade 14. For now my first choice is Razer Blade 14.

 

13 hours ago, DioOmicida said:

Well you know what you need for your experiences more so then I ever will. Personally I don't think I've ever really capped up 8GB but if that has been a bottleneck for you then you know what you need to do.

The problem is I don't know how much exactly I need, because I've never used my programs on a laptop that is more than 8GB ram, I guess 16 will be really good, but the ability to upgrade would be a really nice feature to have on the Blade .

 

12 hours ago, exercutor5 said:

Not true. With the utmost care for what you are doing, nothing is going to break physically.

 

And the Dell Inspiron 7559 beats the list of laptops you have for the best price to performance ratio.

You didn't get what I mean here, I know it is physically is not going to break, I mean for example some cheaper end laptops tend to have more problems than other which either require some diagnoses and fixes for problems, or require replacement parts often. And as for the Dell laptop mentioned I've heard some pretty good reviews and it seems ok, but as I've previously mentioned Dell is just not my thing.

 

11 hours ago, djdelarosa25 said:

UX501 perhaps?

Looks like the specs in that thing are really good, but I'de rather add the 500$ to get a Razer, but I'll consider that since it really has good specs, thanks .

 

10 hours ago, Moonzy said:

i wouldnt pick a laptop because of a brand if i were you lol

I don't know about you, that is just me, I simply don't like Dells it is my personal opinion, even though some are really good.

 

10 hours ago, itsmyjobtoknow said:

 

Cheaper does not mean lower end hardware or lesser build quality (sometimes you find really good deals and discount for high end machines at a low price). It all depends on the user and how they treat their hardware. 

Nonetheless, think of it this way, since you are traveling to college (assuming you are not dorming), there is a chance you may lose your laptop, or damaged during travel, etc.

Trust me, I work in the IT department on my campus and I go around checking the Labs and I've seen nice laptops being left behind....

Anything can happen, so I rather have a cheaper laptop when I am out and about doing my work, and able to afford a replacement if anything did ever happen.

 

I am a college student myself, I don't have that much money to be throwing at another thousand USD laptop if someone ever happened to the first one. But I do have enough money to get me another cheap laptop if my already cheap one broke. 

 

I get your point I am not saying that the price affects the laptops itself, I mean if a laptop like Alienware goes on a 50% discount  that wouldn't affect how good it was built lol. But I mean for example The Lenovo Y700 which seems to have slightly better specs than some of the laptops I mentioned above and goes as low as 899$ as for the Razer which goes as low as 1999$, why would there be such a big price gap between the two since they are pretty similar in specs, BUILD QUALITY. From a personal experience Lenovos tend to have problems very often and require a lot of fixing.

[maulemall]

17 hours ago, exercutor5 said:

Not true. With the utmost care for what you are doing, nothing is going to break physically.

 

And the Dell Inspiron 7559 beats the list of laptops you have for the best price to performance ratio.

Never been a fan of Dell But I want this one...

[Oneltech]

1 hour ago, maulemall said:

Never been a fan of Dell But I want this one...

I agree on how good it is for best price to performance, but again Dell is not my thing, once again it is a very good laptop compared to competitors.

[OldFart]

Honestly, if it's for Uni, you really don't want to be in a position where game playing is an easy thing - and laptops with 980s wont last the extended hours you need them to run on battery; without being overly heavy.  AND -- having a gamer readily handy is a great way to shed a full point off your GPA.  No joke -- I'll say that again.  Having a gaming system readily available is a GREAT way to drop your GPA a full level.  

 

Instead, bring a console for the dorm or apartment; that you can get involved with friends 1:1, etc. - but at classes, shed down to a 960 MAX, and consider just going zero dedicated GPU and go onboard, max out battery life all you can.

 

Skip the mac's -- not for any political BS; but rather you want something that can dualboot to RHEL which is a far superior programming environment to anything you'll have on the MacOs side.  

 

Find yourself a good ultrabook, matte screen to allow for no-glare and no-reflection when in use in daylight, the best battery you can find and shed the quad to a dual core, IMO.

[djdelarosa25]

6 hours ago, OldFart said:

Honestly, if it's for Uni, you really don't want to be in a position where game playing is an easy thing - and laptops with 980s wont last the extended hours you need them to run on battery; without being overly heavy.  AND -- having a gamer readily handy is a great way to shed a full point off your GPA.  No joke -- I'll say that again.  Having a gaming system readily available is a GREAT way to drop your GPA a full level.  

 

Instead, bring a console for the dorm or apartment; that you can get involved with friends 1:1, etc. - but at classes, shed down to a 960 MAX, and consider just going zero dedicated GPU and go onboard, max out battery life all you can.

 

Skip the mac's -- not for any political BS; but rather you want something that can dualboot to RHEL which is a far superior programming environment to anything you'll have on the MacOs side.  

 

Find yourself a good ultrabook, matte screen to allow for no-glare and no-reflection when in use in daylight, the best battery you can find and shed the quad to a dual core, IMO.

True lmao. You actually scared me, I was considering for a gaming laptop, and it's really true how it can destroy your grades, especially for me,  since I can't control my temptations until I realize it's too late.

[Oneltech]

14 hours ago, OldFart said:

Honestly, if it's for Uni, you really don't want to be in a position where game playing is an easy thing - and laptops with 980s wont last the extended hours you need them to run on battery; without being overly heavy.  AND -- having a gamer readily handy is a great way to shed a full point off your GPA.  No joke -- I'll say that again.  Having a gaming system readily available is a GREAT way to drop your GPA a full level.  

 

Instead, bring a console for the dorm or apartment; that you can get involved with friends 1:1, etc. - but at classes, shed down to a 960 MAX, and consider just going zero dedicated GPU and go onboard, max out battery life all you can.

 

Skip the mac's -- not for any political BS; but rather you want something that can dualboot to RHEL which is a far superior programming environment to anything you'll have on the MacOs side.  

 

Find yourself a good ultrabook, matte screen to allow for no-glare and no-reflection when in use in daylight, the best battery you can find and shed the quad to a dual core, IMO.

True, but don't worry about me I'll be ok, anyways you must review the points of why I need such a powerful laptop

Needs:-

1- University Use (Computer Engineering Major) *not sure what is better for the major Windows or OSX

2- Graphic designing (Programs I use mostly are Photoshop, & Paint tool Sai)

3- Gaming, The games I am going to play do not require the highest Specs, but I would love to be able to play as smooth as possible on the go.

4- Travel, as I would be doing a lot of travelling during my study.

5- Microsoft Office, Mainly Excel and Word.

6- Chrome :: Surfing the web

Don't just comment on one thing, I mean obviously the 5 other things are way more important. Anyways I thank you for the comment & advice, but I am still going with one of the laptops listed above as the needs other than gaming require a higher end laptop.

 

7 hours ago, djdelarosa25 said:

True lmao. You actually scared me, I was considering for a gaming laptop, and it's really true how it can destroy your grades, especially for me,  since I can't control my temptations until I realize it's too late.

If you can manage your time you are most probably good to get one.

[OldFart]

3 hours ago, Oneltech said:

True, but don't worry about me I'll be ok, anyways you must review the points of why I need such a powerful laptop

Needs:-

1- University Use (Computer Engineering Major) *not sure what is better for the major Windows or OSX

2- Graphic designing (Programs I use mostly are Photoshop, & Paint tool Sai)

3- Gaming, The games I am going to play do not require the highest Specs, but I would love to be able to play as smooth as possible on the go.

4- Travel, as I would be doing a lot of travelling during my study.

5- Microsoft Office, Mainly Excel and Word.

6- Chrome :: Surfing the web

Don't just comment on one thing,

Sure --

 

   For all items you quote above, with the exception of gaming, you can do with a chromebook, or ultrabook laptop.  You don't need a quad core for compilation of code; your compiler and optimizer (if you use older C base) is going to execute single threaded anyhow, and you're compile time is never going to be longer than ten to fifteen seconds.

 

   Graphics design, same thing -- no major CPU/GPU requirements;  maybe find an ultrabook with 16GB of memory; or one with at least a 60% RGB accuracy rating -- honestly, between 60 and 100% you wont tell the difference unless the printjob is professional grade.  For schooling, it's not needed.

 

   Re travel, office, chrome; again -- its about as light as long a battery life as you can get, and then some memory to handle tabs in a browser.

 

   I see no need in any of the red font requirements for a dedicated GPU card; and the impact to battery life of adding one is going to be substantial enough to possibly have a laptop routinely die before you are home from classes on a daily basis.  And yes, while some lecture halls have a spare wall plug here and there, but you'll never be early enough to snag them all the time.

 

save your money; get a laptop that functions for the needs of your college program, and perhaps a console with substantial savings left over.

[Oneltech]

On 3/31/2016 at 10:04 PM, OldFart said:

Sure --

 

   For all items you quote above, with the exception of gaming, you can do with a chromebook, or ultrabook laptop.  You don't need a quad core for compilation of code; your compiler and optimizer (if you use older C base) is going to execute single threaded anyhow, and you're compile time is never going to be longer than ten to fifteen seconds.

 

   Graphics design, same thing -- no major CPU/GPU requirements;  maybe find an ultrabook with 16GB of memory; or one with at least a 60% RGB accuracy rating -- honestly, between 60 and 100% you wont tell the difference unless the printjob is professional grade.  For schooling, it's not needed.

 

   Re travel, office, chrome; again -- its about as light as long a battery life as you can get, and then some memory to handle tabs in a browser.

 

   I see no need in any of the red font requirements for a dedicated GPU card; and the impact to battery life of adding one is going to be substantial enough to possibly have a laptop routinely die before you are home from classes on a daily basis.  And yes, while some lecture halls have a spare wall plug here and there, but you'll never be early enough to snag them all the time.

 

save your money; get a laptop that functions for the needs of your college program, and perhaps a console with substantial savings left over.

True for all what you said above, but the Gaming is one of the 6 things I need that the laptop has to be functional on the go. So I think I'll be buying a laptop with a good GPU. I'm going to be comparing other laptops to the Razer Blade 14 2016 since I would love to have the feature of a non-soldered Ram but for now it is my top pick.

[Oneltech]

I've been looking at this laptop and I find that it seems to be better spec wise than the Razer

GS60 6QE GHOST PRO

I mean 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD, 16GB Ram can be upgraded up to 32GB. not so sure about the Graphics VRam because the website says 6/3GB GDDR5 is it a 6GB or a 3GB or is it an option where you can choose this or that, and the price is 100$ less than the 256GB Razer model. But I am not sure about the overall build quality seems bad compared to the Razer.

What do you guys think of the MSI vs the Razer Blade.

[don_svetlio]

41 minutes ago, Oneltech said:

I've been looking at this laptop and I find that it seems to be better spec wise than the Razer

GS60 6QE GHOST PRO

I mean 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD, 16GB Ram can be upgraded up to 32GB. not so sure about the Graphics VRam because the website says 6/3GB GDDR5 is it a 6GB or a 3GB or is it an option where you can choose this or that, and the price is 100$ less than the 256GB Razer model. But I am not sure about the overall build quality seems bad compared to the Razer.

What do you guys think of the MSI vs the Razer Blade.

The GS is certainly better built - the Blade only *looks*  good - it's build is not that great - not to mention the Quality Control issues are Razer are truly bad. THe GS60 is definitely MUCH better value and an overall better, quieter, cooler running laptop