Future proof laptop

[Imnevergold]

I'm a university student who is going to be broke going into university and broke coming out of university. I would really like a laptop that I can still be using 8 years from now. The laptop doesn't have to be portable since I have a tablet I can take notes on. I would like something that has a quad core cpu, good build quality, decent battery life, 4k display, can handle light to medium video editing, and can handle light gaming. I'm willing to spend up to $2k USD since I know this is a long term investment (working at a gift shop this summer to pay for this). So far I've looked at the Dell XPS 15, the Lenovo yoga 720, and the 2016 Razer blade. The Dell XPS 15 is my favorite out of the bunch, but I've heard that there are issues with quality control (faulty keyboards, flickering screens, etc.). Which laptop would you recommend I get?

[The Sloth]

desktop+ laptop would be better for you, what engineering discipline? 

[VVoltor]

The XPS 15 is pretty good, and if by any chance it's faulty you can just RMA the thing, in my opinion not really a reason not to buy it.

But I would seriously consider a desktop instead, especially because it sounds like you'll be taking your tablet with you on the go and don't want to carry your laptop around.

 

Because of the money you can save on the initial purchase and the possibility to throw in a new video card, maybe some ram or another SSD, it will last so much longer and be a lot more powerful for less money. 8 years from now you can still have a decent system, any laptop after that amount of time will be absolute trash... At least worth considering imho.

[The Sloth]

2 minutes ago, VVoltor said:

But I would seriously consider a desktop instead, especially because it sounds like you'll be taking your tablet with you on the go and don't want to carry your laptop around.

 

won't be as good as a thinkpad+ a desktop, OP will have to use something like a notepad+ laptop to take notes, a tablet won't be a good solution in engineering. 

[shabaz]

I don't have a model to recommend, but, whatever you choose I think ports will be your best friend. With Thunderbolt 3 you can kind of forget about graphics processing at that point. To truly future proof I would recommend finding something with Thunderbolt 3, USB C, and an M.2 NVME. I think in your price range that shouldn't be too hard but I believe ports will be the next big thing. Good luck on your search.

[Imnevergold]

2 hours ago, nerdslayer1 said:

desktop+ laptop would be better for you, what engineering discipline? 

I'm not in engineering, I'm actually going to be studying international development. I do film and photography as a hobby. 

[Donut417]

11 minutes ago, Imnevergold said:

I'm not in engineering, I'm actually going to be studying international development. I do film and photography as a hobby. 

Id recommend building your self a machine. Desktop CPU's tend to stay relevant longer than laptop CPU's do. Plus with the ease of upgrading a desktop it could last you 8 years +. 

[Pendragon]

3 hours ago, Imnevergold said:

I'm a university student who is going to be broke going into university and broke coming out of university.

get a cheap second hand thinkpad for 300-400 and save your money.