Need a laptop

aisle9 · September 4, 2017

So here's what I have:

Dell Inspiron 14z type 5423
i7-3537U
Radeon HD 7570M
480GB SanDisk SSD (installed by me, will move to new computer)
12GB of RAM (came with 8GB)

I picked this up at a yard sale for $50 about six months ago, so I won't complain too much. On the whole, it's a solid laptop, but there's one thing that's pissing me off to no end: the 768p TN panel display. It looks terrible even at the best of viewing angles.

My wishlist is pretty simple:

i5 or i7 (or an AMD equivalent), standard or U-class processor works (not waiting for Coffee Lake--not going to pay the early adopter premium on those)
Great battery life (4+ hours uptime)
User serviceable (i.e., I can remove and replace the battery, RAM, hard drives, etc., even if I have to open it up)
12"-14" 1080P IPS display. I can't emphasize this enough: if my Dell had a nicer display, this conversation wouldn't be happening. 15.6" laptops are just a wee bit large for me to consider them easily portable, but if a 15.6" offers by far and away the best value, so be it
Ability to play Skyrim (vanilla or SE) at 1080p on high details with minimum FPS of 30, average of at least 40-50. I don't really see myself playing anything more graphically intensive than Skyrim SE, and my current laptop can handle it at 768p low details with the 7570M
- If I do need dedicated graphics for this, GDDR5 is a must, even if it's only something like the lowly 940MX

My budget is $700 at the absolute max. I'd rather go cheaper if possible, as I kind of think that a 940MX or 950M would be enough to cover my bases. I'm very open to AMD APUs if they offer the best price to performance ratio I'm likely to find. I have a preference for Lenovo and Acer laptops, but again, as long as it's a quality build, I'm open to just about any OEM. I've had a lot of bad experiences with Dell laptops in the past, but the sheer reliability of this Inspiron 14z has won me back over to an extent.

Ideas?

DannyTheKitty · September 4, 2017

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315927

comes with a 950M and an i5 7200u

its not the cheapest possible... but it was a quick search on newegg ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

aisle9 · September 4, 2017

Just now, DannyTheKitty said:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315927

comes with a 950M and an i5 7200u

its not the cheapest possible... but it was a quick search on newegg ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

17.3" is way, waaaaaay too big. Thanks for looking, though.

OmJo93 · September 4, 2017

52 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

Ideas?

This Acer Aspire (15.6") https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LD4MGY4/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1504542845&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=nvidia+940mx&dpPl=1&dpID=41HfDkXXyeL&ref=plSrch

Not seeing many <15.6" laptops with a dGPU under $700 on Amazon. There's this refurbished Lenovo https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B074T1TV2P/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504543186&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=nvidia+940mx+14"&dpPl=1&dpID=51xqZwsMToL&ref=plSrch

If you can spend $150 more Dell has some sales on the new Inspiron gaming laptops with IPS display. Probably a better deal than anything you'll find with a 940MX aside from the Acer Aspire. I think that GPU is used primarily in Ultrabook laptops, so generally more expensive.

Edited September 4, 2017 by OmJo93

ErrystioT · September 4, 2017

There isn't much sub 14" laptops with dGPU built-in unless you wait later this year. Although there's this (http://www.microcenter.com/product/481303/aspire_5_a515-51g-52r1_156_laptop_computer_-_black). It's actually 15.6", not so light. But for $600 it's asking right now, you'll get i5-7200U, 8GB DDR4 RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p IPS panel and Nvidia MX 150 (which essentially a GT 1030, hand-to-hand with the previous GTX 950M). The battery life's not bad as well, You can stretch out until 5hrs with this thing.

Edited September 4, 2017 by ErrystioT
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