Need Some Advice

[velvetxcat]

Hiya all!

 

So, I'm in the market for a new laptop around the $1500 mark. I have a gaming desktop already so I'm mostly looking for something that can at a minimum run Autodesk Maya well, play QHD or higher video, and is just really effective for all around productivity. Being able to play games would be a plus, but I primarily play Warframe and games of that nature that aren't too terribly intensive. The main things specwise that I'm worried about are battery life, portability, and not looking like a generic slice or ugly brick (looking at you, clevo). i7 and a decent GPU (970/60M or 1060 if it can cool well) are musts because of the CAD and heavy art workflows I go through for modeling and video rendering. I've been looking at Razer because let's face it, they look amazing, but the heat problems while gaming (which I'm not sure whether they would transfer over to modeling/drawing or not) and battery life seem to be an issue for a lot of people. MSI makes it hard to tell on their site whether the laptops are thick or thin, which makes me a little dubious. I'm of course still open to both of those possibilities if y'all think they'd work for me

 

Anyway, any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!

[r00tH4cK3r]

5 minutes ago, velvetxcat said:

Hiya all!

 

So, I'm in the market for a new laptop around the $1500 mark. I have a gaming desktop already so I'm mostly looking for something that can at a minimum run Autodesk Maya well, play QHD or higher video, and is just really effective for all around productivity. Being able to play games would be a plus, but I primarily play Warframe and games of that nature that aren't too terribly intensive. The main things specwise that I'm worried about are battery life, portability, and not looking like a generic slice or ugly brick (looking at you, clevo). i7 and a decent GPU (970/60M or 1060 if it can cool well) are musts because of the CAD and heavy art workflows I go through for modeling and video rendering. I've been looking at Razer because let's face it, they look amazing, but the heat problems while gaming (which I'm not sure whether they would transfer over to modeling/drawing or not) and battery life seem to be an issue for a lot of people. MSI makes it hard to tell on their site whether the laptops are thick or thin, which makes me a little dubious. I'm of course still open to both of those possibilities if y'all think they'd work for me

 

Anyway, any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152944

[Mike Soda]

Here's 3 different choices to think about, personally I'd go with the MSI option as it comes with an SSD. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100167732 4084 8000 4814 601211658&IsNodeId=1

[velvetxcat]

9 minutes ago, r00tH4cK3r said:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152944

Thanks for the response! Only thing I'm a little shaky on for that one and ones like it are the >1 in thickness and the >5 pound weight, which ends up being a lot (from toting a macbook for 3 years, and not a new one )

[Pendragon]

9 hours ago, velvetxcat said:

The main things specwise that I'm worried about are battery life, portability, and not looking like a generic slice or ugly brick (looking at you, clevo). i7 and a decent GPU (970/60M or 1060 if it can cool well) are musts because of the CAD and heavy art workflows I go through for modeling and video rendering. I've been looking at Razer because let's face it, they look amazing, but the heat problems while gaming (which I'm not sure whether they would transfer over to modeling/drawing or not) and battery life seem to be an issue for a lot of people.

XPS15. Pretty much the only choice here. Everything else recommended above have issues.

 

Razer blade will have problems when you're rendering. 

[velvetxcat]

11 hours ago, Pendragon said:

XPS15. Pretty much the only choice here. Everything else recommended above have issues.

 

Razer blade will have problems when you're rendering. 

 

Thanks for the input! XPS 15 is indeed looking like the best option, as much as I'm SO unwilling to get a dell because frankly my only experience with dells is just totally junk machines that're absolutely worthless, but I'll definitely put it up there on the list as it seems very highly recommended and I can see from your stats you know what you're talking about

[Pendragon]

31 minutes ago, velvetxcat said:

I can see from your stats you know what you're talking about

That's not a great measurement of knowledge. Just judge every post by it's merits. You'll also want to grab the refurb one's on ebay with premier warranty from Dell. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-XPS-15-9550-15-6-FHD-1080P-INTEL-i7-6700HQ-16GB-512GB-SSD-GTX-960M-PROSPRT-/201654654998?hash=item2ef38dd816:g:lioAAOSwJb9Wqidt