University Laptop

[shubhamsetia]

Hello readers of the LTT forum, first time doing anything on here so thats pretty cool. Long story short - I am moving to Vancouver for University (SFU) to study engineering. I have talked to many university students on what laptop I should buy, they gave me a list of features that are helpful. What they recommended was the following:

-  Windows (duh)

- Touch screen to help with diagrams and drawings

- 360 degree hinge to help with the same thing

- 16 gb of RAM

- Portable 

 

So that's a pretty good and expensive list, which indicates that I should buy an ultrabook however there are somethings I want to have in the laptop as well. It should be able to do light gaming like Overwatch, LoL, and CSGO. Along with looking aesthetically pleasing, I am heavily influenced by the aesthetics, not so much personality.. wait what is this about again? Lol cringe, anyway, it should look pretty good, but not "gamer-like". Side note: I do not need 60+ fps on a 1440p panel, I am fine with 45-60 even if I have to scale down to 720p. These are the laptops I am considering, and pls tell me others that I should consider if they are not on the list (1600 dollar budget):

- HP Spectre x360 (i7 7500u, 16gb RAM, 512gb ssd) $1600

- Dell xps13 2in1 - best I can get for 1600

- Maybe razer blade stealth but probably not, too expensive where I live

 

Thanks for all your help,

Shubi

[Zando_]

HP Spectre x360. Try and get the one with a discrete GPU if you can.  

[genexis_x]

Lenovo Yoga 720 with quad core i7 and GTX 1050
16GB RAM option only starts at $1500, has 4K display and 512GB PCIe SSD

[TheNuzziNuzz]

I really like Microsofts Surfaces. Dont get the Surface laptop tho.

 

The Surface Book is made out of solid aluminum, has a beautiful detachable display, and the keyboard part when the screen is attached has a dedicated GPU. The storage is all SSD and DBrand has some great skins for it.

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I really like Microsofts Surfaces. Dont get the Surface laptop tho.

 

The Surface Book is made out of solid aluminum, has a beautiful detachable display, and the keyboard part when the screen is attached has a dedicated GPU. The storage is all SSD and DBrand has some great skins for it.

Yes, they are awesome laptops! Though I just checked and the cheapest dGPU option is $2399... 

[shubhamsetia]

4 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I really like Microsofts Surfaces. Dont get the Surface laptop tho.

 

The Surface Book is made out of solid aluminum, has a beautiful detachable display, and the keyboard part when the screen is attached has a dedicated GPU. The storage is all SSD and DBrand has some great skins for it.

Dont you think they are a bit overpriced though. The surface book starts at 2400 dollars. Its a bit over my budget :(. Cool product though

[79wjd]

4 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

I really like Microsofts Surfaces. Dont get the Surface laptop tho.

 

The Surface Book is made out of solid aluminum, has a beautiful detachable display, and the keyboard part when the screen is attached has a dedicated GPU. The storage is all SSD and DBrand has some great skins for it.

I really couldn't recommend a Surface Book or a Surface Pro as a main laptop. I've used the Surface Book and I find it incredibly uncomfortable to type on because it's so top heavy. And I find that the Surface Pro offers an awful laptop experience as the trackpad is terrible, the keyboard is mediocre, and god help you if you ever want to use it on your lap. 

[TheNuzziNuzz]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

Yes, they are awesome laptops! Though I just checked and the cheapest dGPU option is $2399... 

Aw. Still worth it compared to most other options with the same build quality. Im typing this right now on a Surface Pro 4. Its only 4gb i5 model but I edit videos in Premier on it from time to time. Plus it runs min craft really well. This model was 900 USD

Just now, shubhamsetia said:

Dont you think they are a bit overpriced though. The surface book starts at 2400 dollars. Its a bit over my budget :(. Cool product though

They are quite expensive. You are mostly paying for the small form factor, detachability, and awesome build quality.

[GoodBytes]

Make sure the laptop of choice has digitize pen support, if you want to write or draw on the screen.

 

[NTDaws]

I was thinking this as well http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/tablets/windows-tablets/miix-series/Lenovo-MIIX-720-12IKB/p/88IPMX70799

[Zando_]

7 minutes ago, TheNuzziNuzz said:

They are quite expensive. You are mostly paying for the small form factor, detachability, and awesome build quality.

It's basically Microsoft's MacBook Pro. Beautiful, fast, ahead of it's time, but expensive. If you're happy to pay a premium, then it's a great computer. If you want bang for your buck, there's better laptops out there. 

[NTDaws]

Just now, huilun02 said:

Maybe read the OP's requirements in the first post?

Go sit on a pinecone

[NTDaws]

http://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/yoga/yoga-900-series/Lenovo-Yoga-910-13IKB/p/88YG9000786

[leodaniel]

I would recommend something portable and silent. You will have to carry it around a lot and if you have some books you will be grateful if it doesn't weight that much. In my experience, drawing on a laptop, even a surface, is a "gimmick". I don't really know anyone who uses it. It's great for the first weeks and then you will probably go back to good old paper. At least this is how it was for me and almost all my friends. So I would not care much about that.

Also, check your university if they have any partner programs. We get discounts (15% up) twice a year for selected hardware.

Also spend more money for a better display. High res is a must! It doesn't have to be 4k but at least 2.5k. Your eyes will thank you, when you have to write a paper and research on it for hours. 

The model doesn't really matter, HP, Lenovo or Dell all have some pretty high end and good looking stuff. I can't give you a recommendation for a specific model, but hope this helped you out a bit  

[79wjd]

2 minutes ago, leodaniel said:

In my experience, drawing on a laptop, even a surface, is a "gimmick". I don't really know anyone who uses it. It's great for the first weeks and then you will probably go back to good old paper.

I literally bought my SP3 exclusively for taking handwritten notes and have been using it for such since the fall of 2015. I rarely ever touch traditional pen and paper.

 

[GoodBytes]

9 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

I literally bought my SP3 exclusively for taking handwritten notes and have been using it for such since the fall of 2015. I rarely ever touch traditional pen and paper.

 

Same. I used my Surface Pro extensively during my studies, it was a joy to use compared to the laptop, and now I use it at work on a daily basis.

 

[leodaniel]

22 minutes ago, djdwosk97 said:

I literally bought my SP3 exclusively for taking handwritten notes and have been using it for such since the fall of 2015. I rarely ever touch traditional pen and paper.

 

Okey. So it may be more personal preferences than I thought. When I think about it, it may also strongly depend on the tables/space you have in your lecture halls and maybe what type of learner you are... 

[GoodBytes]

12 minutes ago, leodaniel said:

Okey. So it may be more personal preferences than I thought. When I think about it, it may also strongly depend on the tables/space you have in your lecture halls and maybe what type of learner you are... 

Yea. I highly recommend to not buy any system for at least the first semester, and see. Maybe in ones program they never need to write symbols, math, or anything, and typing is all you need, while other programs, you have the exact opposite where pen is extremely needed.

 

And of course, the rest is about knowing your available tools, so that you know how to work with them to take full advantage of them. For example, note taking with Word is extremely idiotic.

[TomR]

Instead of buying an expensive laptop that is excellent for schoolwork and shitty for gaming, why not spend the same amount of money on a cheap laptop that's still excellent for schoolwork and the rest on a desktop that's upgradeable and much better for gaming?

[shubhamsetia]

2 hours ago, TomR said:

Instead of buying an expensive laptop that is excellent for schoolwork and shitty for gaming, why not spend the same amount of money on a cheap laptop that's still excellent for schoolwork and the rest on a desktop that's upgradeable and much better for gaming?

Im planning on working in college, so I will eventually save up for a nice desktop anyway. Along with that, I am a firm believer in working hard and buying something excellent rather than spending half the money and buying something average/good. If I build my own computer, I want it to be a 2000$ build with a 1080 (Or an equivalent at the time). Along with that, currently, I am mainly into games that do not require a lot of serious hardware - such as LoL or Overwatch. If my interest in these types of games stays constant, I might not even get a desktop, spend the 2k on something else. However, I need a Laptop because I know I will spend most of my time on it.