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Laptop for College

I am looking for a laptop for college and I LOVE the Surface Book but I have heard of a ton of software and hardware issues that would ruin the experience. Are there any equivalent products that you would recommend? The stylus is very important because I love taking notes by hand, besides the organization part. I also like the GPU I want to be able to play simple games like Overwatch or be able to use Dolphin at high resolutions with Anti-Aliasing etc.

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My Rig : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/MTBd2R

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My Laptop : Lenovo Z575 with 6 GB RAM (1866 MHz), Crucial MX300 525 GB & Western Digital 2 TB (Removed optical drive)

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I'm not fully sure how well it would fit your gaming needs, but I'd probably go for the HP Spectre x360. You can see a good listing of 2-in-1 laptops on a recent TechRadar article.

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Just get the surface, it's still a pretty solid device for what it is.  I definitely suggest getting the 970m model though.

Want to custom loop?  Ask me more if you are curious

 

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1 minute ago, Damascus said:

Just get the surface, it's still a pretty solid device for what it is.  I definitely suggest getting the 970m model though.

Are there different performance bases? I thought they only had one version of the base.

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7 minutes ago, domandric034 said:

While this is a great machine for the price, and would no doubt fit the gaming needs well, it does not have 2-in-1 capability. Additionally, I don't think it's available with a touchscreen. Size would make it less portable in comparison to the desired 2-in-1 form factor as well.

PC: Ryzen 5 2600 // 16 GB Corsair 3200 // MSI RX 580 8 GB // 500 GB WD Blue M.2 (sata) // Silverstone Raven RVZ03B // Fedora 33

LAPTOP: i7 5700HQ // 16 GB Kingston 1866 // GTX 970M // 250 GB Samsung 850 EVO M.2 // 1 TB HDD // Windows 10

ETC: (2) Dell U2515H (2560x1440) // Corsair K63 // Logitech G603 // FiiO E10 // Beyerdynamic DT 770 PRO (250 ohm) // Audio Technica ATH-M60x

 

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Dell XPS 15?

Desktop specs:

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AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Gigabyte B550M DS3H mATX

Asrock Challenger Pro OC Radeon RX 6700 XT Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (8Gx2) 3600MHz CL18 Kingston NV2 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

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9 minutes ago, jamie.k.hofer said:

Are there different performance bases? I thought they only had one version of the base.

The first performance base essentially runs a 940mx (2gb?), and it is rather slow.  The newer one has a 970m 3gb that is equivalent to a 1050 ti, much better for gaming.

Want to custom loop?  Ask me more if you are curious

 

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30 minutes ago, domandric034 said:

While it doesnt have 2in1, it is insane for gaming and for most of your workloads.

My Rig : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/MTBd2R

My VM Server : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rPR6gL

My Backup Server : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/cRQYYr

My Storage Server : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tzzR9W

My Router : https://pcpartpicker.com/list/bMPN4C

My Laptop : Lenovo Z575 with 6 GB RAM (1866 MHz), Crucial MX300 525 GB & Western Digital 2 TB (Removed optical drive)

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The issues have been ironed out by now I think, just get the book.

13 minutes ago, Damascus said:

The first performance base essentially runs a 940mx (2gb?), and it is rather slow.  The newer one has a 970m 3gb that is equivalent to a 1050 ti, much better for gaming.

Purty sure it's actually a 965m

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17 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

The issues have been ironed out by now I think, just get the book.

Purty sure it's actually a 965m

Makes sense, still a way better chip than the cut down 940mx

Want to custom loop?  Ask me more if you are curious

 

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7 minutes ago, Damascus said:

Makes sense, still a way better chip than the cut down 940mx

At the same time I think the cheapest configuration with it is 2399...

 

I want the one with the 965m so bad, but it's so expensive that I can't justify it :/ 

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Do this:

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Buy whatever product is best for you, not what product is "best" for the market.

 

Interested in computer architecture? Still in middle or high school? P.M. me!

 

I love computer hardware and feel free to ask me anything about that (or phones). I especially like SSDs. But please do not ask me anything about Networking, programming, command line stuff, or any relatively hard software stuff. I know next to nothing about that.

 

Compooters:

Spoiler

Desktop:

Spoiler

CPU: i7 6700k, CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, Motherboard: MSI Z170a KRAIT GAMING, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 4x4gb DDR4-2666 MHz, Storage: SanDisk SSD Plus 240gb + OCZ Vertex 180 480 GB + Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM, Video Card: EVGA GTX 970 SSC, Case: Fractal Design Define S, Power Supply: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 650w Yay, Keyboard: Logitech G710+, Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, Headphones: B&O H9i, Monitor: LG 29um67 (2560x1080 75hz freesync)

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Laptop (I use it for school):

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Surface book 2 13" with an i7 8650u, 8gb RAM, 256 GB storage, and a GTX 1050

And if you're curious (or a stalker) I have a Just Black Pixel 2 XL 64gb

 

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not a good laptop. 

Laptop Main

(Retired) Zbook 15: i7-6820HQ, M2000M, 32gb, 512gb SSD + 2tb HDD, 4k Dreamcolor

(Retired) Alienware 15 R3: i7-6820HK, GTX1070, 16gb, 512 SSD + 1tb HDD, 1080p

(Retired) T560: i7-6600U, HD520, 16gb, 512gb SSD, 1620p

(Retired) P650RS: i7-6820HK, 1070, 16gb, 512gb + 1tb HDD, 4k Samsung PLS

(Retired) MBP 2012 Retina: i7-3820QM, GT650M, 16gb, 512gb SSD, 1800p

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15 hours ago, Pendragon said:

not a good laptop. 

Would you mind elaborating on that?

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3 hours ago, jamie.k.hofer said:

Would you mind elaborating on that?

Writing on it is stressful, hinge design has high artistic value has negative practical value. You can't put things flat against it in a brief case. You're always worried whether you're going to break the bulge.

 

It's a duo core with a 965m at BEST. 

 

The one USP it has is detachable 2 in 1. For comparison, there is a new 2 in 1 with a quad core and 1050, Lenovo 720 that's far cheaper and better speced. 

Laptop Main

(Retired) Zbook 15: i7-6820HQ, M2000M, 32gb, 512gb SSD + 2tb HDD, 4k Dreamcolor

(Retired) Alienware 15 R3: i7-6820HK, GTX1070, 16gb, 512 SSD + 1tb HDD, 1080p

(Retired) T560: i7-6600U, HD520, 16gb, 512gb SSD, 1620p

(Retired) P650RS: i7-6820HK, 1070, 16gb, 512gb + 1tb HDD, 4k Samsung PLS

(Retired) MBP 2012 Retina: i7-3820QM, GT650M, 16gb, 512gb SSD, 1800p

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