Help me decide

[LadyAce]

I need help choosing a new laptop to last me at least 3 more years. I need something  that can handle games and last me long enough for a day of college classes (so absolute minimum of 4 hours and portable). I'm currently torn between aero 15 and Alienware 15 but I'm open to other suggestions. My budget  (including warranty) is $2800

[NPSTR107]

Just now, LadyAce said:

I need help choosing a new laptop to last me at least 3 more years. I need something  that can handle games and last me long enough for a day of college classes (so absolute minimum of 4 hours and portable). I'm currently torn between aero 15 and Alienware 15 but I'm open to other suggestions. My budget  (including warranty) is $2800

I've heard bad stories from people with Alienware laptops, so be warned. Although it really depends on what type of games you play.

 

Have you also considered looking at other brands like: MSI, EVGA, ASUS, Origin, Gigabyte...

[Pendragon]

17 minutes ago, LadyAce said:

I need help choosing a new laptop to last me at least 3 more years. I need something  that can handle games and last me long enough for a day of college classes (so absolute minimum of 4 hours and portable). I'm currently torn between aero 15 and Alienware 15 but I'm open to other suggestions. My budget  (including warranty) is $2800

Why not, get TWO laptops in 3 years with 2800.  Put half of that 1400 in a tech or financial ETF with around 15% growth. After 1.5 year you're out with 1600 at 1.5 years and you can buy next gen laptops.

 

Get something with like a 1050ti or 1060 now (Dell 7567 or P650HP6) and get the updated volta one in 2 years or so. Much better value proposition. 

[LadyAce]

13 minutes ago, NPSTR107 said:

I've heard bad stories from people with Alienware laptops, so be warned. Although it really depends on what type of games you play.

 

Have you also considered looking at other brands like: MSI, EVGA, ASUS, Origin, Gigabyte...

Msi doesn't have the best battery life. Im pretty sure the Aero 15 is part of gigabyte and is their best one or atm. I haven't looked at the other brands though

[LadyAce]

2 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

Why not, get TWO laptops in 3 years with 2800.  Put half of that 1400 in a tech or financial ETF with around 15% growth. After 1.5 year you're out with 1600 at 1.5 years and you can buy next gen laptops.

 

Get something with like a 1050ti or 1060 now (Dell 7567 or P650HP6) and get the updated volta one in 2 years or so. Much better value proposition. 

Originally i was thinking of bong the Alienware and when it began to becomeoutdated get their external gpu. Your idea is clever but I'm the type to use a system until it breaks down on me 

[Mooshi]

Why a gaming laptop, though? They don't have enough power to do anything on battery without throttling to death and you wouldn't be gaming in class anyway.

[Pendragon]

1 minute ago, LadyAce said:

Originally i was thinking of bong the Alienware and when it began to becomeoutdated get their external gpu. Your idea is clever but I'm the type to use a system until it breaks down on me 

That's fine. Alienware eGPU is the ONLY one I'd consider for value right now. (I do own an AW15, but it's slowly becoming my adhoc desktop, I have a tb3 dock velcroed to it for more ports to make it a "portable desktop"). 

 

AGA is the only decent solution for performance. Honestly, picking up a last gen 6820HK AW15 R2 with an AGA is an amazing value proposition for the future. You only lose about 5% performance compared to desktop when the CPU is OCed to 4ghz+. My 6820HK runs 4.2ghz stable (albeit a bit hot. spiking past 85C often cause I'm not on liquid metal right now). 4.1ghz is extremely reasonable to expect from the 6820HK. 

 

Macbook Pros with the new 7920HQ with a direct PCIE lane to the CPU from the TB3 port without going through the motherboard PCH chip (as is extremely common with essentially all Windows TB3 laptops), is the "best" TB3 laptop to buy. But don't buy it. Only if you have too much money and this is considered a hobby for you. 

 

If you're still looking for a do all laptop with no eGPU fuss or upgrade later, Aero 15 is the only option (until the slightly newer gen comes out). But keep in mind that the 1060 is essentially the 970m of the past. So how the 970m is doing now is reflective of how the 1060 will be doing when the new volta gpus come out in 2 years. 

[LadyAce]

Just now, Mooshi said:

Why a gaming laptop, though? They don't have enough power to do anything on battery without throttling to death and you wouldn't be gaming in class anyway.

I love gaming and my college is halfway across the country from where i live so I would love to have the option to game while there since taking a pc isn't an option. I know gaming laptops aren't ideal but they are evolving where some of them outperform consoles

[Mooshi]

7 minutes ago, wrathoftheturkey said:

That's not true, many are almost reasonable with 3-4 hours of light usage on battery

Note the last bit of what you quoted. It's implying while gaming. Since OP lives far, it makes sense as an option. Other wise a gaming laptop sacrifices the portability aspect when actually gaming since it needs to be plugged in to get the most out of performance. 

[LadyAce]

47 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

That's fine. Alienware eGPU is the ONLY one I'd consider for value right now. (I do own an AW15, but it's slowly becoming my adhoc desktop, I have a tb3 dock velcroed to it for more ports to make it a "portable desktop"). 

 

AGA is the only decent solution for performance. Honestly, picking up a last gen 6820HK AW15 R2 with an AGA is an amazing value proposition for the future. You only lose about 5% performance compared to desktop when the CPU is OCed to 4ghz+. My 6820HK runs 4.2ghz stable (albeit a bit hot. spiking past 85C often cause I'm not on liquid metal right now). 4.1ghz is extremely reasonable to expect from the 6820HK. 

 

Macbook Pros with the new 7920HQ with a direct PCIE lane to the CPU from the TB3 port without going through the motherboard PCH chip (as is extremely common with essentially all Windows TB3 laptops), is the "best" TB3 laptop to buy. But don't buy it. Only if you have too much money and this is considered a hobby for you. 

 

If you're still looking for a do all laptop with no eGPU fuss or upgrade later, Aero 15 is the only option (until the slightly newer gen comes out). But keep in mind that the 1060 is essentially the 970m of the past. So how the 970m is doing now is reflective of how the 1060 will be doing when the new volta gpus come out in 2 years. 

How do you feel about the size/weight of the Alienware? My current laptop  (currently broken )only weighs about 5 pounds and is 15in...

Would an Alienware 15 1070 be worth the extra weight or should I look more at the aero 15 or even Alienware 13

[Pendragon]

18 minutes ago, LadyAce said:

How do you feel about the size/weight of the Alienware? My current laptop  (currently broken )only weighs about 5 pounds and is 15in...

 

yea i don't mind the weight. but that's cause i use to carry 3 laptops around at any 1 time. zbook15 for computational matters. 1 business notebook for general purposes and a macbook.

 

it's pretty heavy in comparison to a macbook for sure. but if you have concerns with the weight, just workout a little bit and the weight will be completely fine. I think if you want to eGPU it in the future (using this laptop maybe 5-6 years), then Alienware would be the only option. But the AW13 doesn't come with an unlocked processor so rip there. Aero15 is fine, but 1060 will be updated in 3 years. 

[LadyAce]

8 minutes ago, Pendragon said:

yea i don't mind the weight. but that's cause i use to carry 3 laptops around at any 1 time. zbook15 for computational matters. 1 business notebook for general purposes and a macbook.

 

it's pretty heavy in comparison to a macbook for sure. but if you have concerns with the weight, just workout a little bit and the weight will be completely fine. I think if you want to eGPU it in the future (using this laptop maybe 5-6 years), then Alienware would be the only option. But the AW13 doesn't come with an unlocked processor so rip there. Aero15 is fine, but 1060 will be updated in 3 years. 

I'm leaning towards Alienware but i think if i see it in store it'll help me make a decision