looking to buy a Laptop for University [Computer Science] upto 1400USD

[mrmayurs4]

Hello Everyone

I'm looking for a  lightish programming laptop. 

 

• Total budget and country of purchase: $800 - $1500(including Taxes)

• Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications for the money? Pick or include any that apply. 2 in 1 not required. Good battery preferred.

• How important is weight and thinness to you? DONT care about thinness but it should be lightish say under 2kg for 15-inch screen size.

• Which OS do you require? Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Linux. Windows and Linux 

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/A

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. light Gaming. College(Comp Sci). Maybe light photo and video editing. MX150 should suffice however a 1050 is much appreciated

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? League of Legends(max) and Overwatch(high) at 60fps at least. Might play some other games.

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Needs to be sturdy enough to last minimum 3 years. Good keyboard IS A MUST. Touchscreen, a fingerprint reader is a bonus, optical drive not required. THE laptop either must have 16GB ram or should be user upgradable to 16 GB in the future 

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Something that doesn't look like a transformer please. Also make sure it is readily available in the usa.

the budget is up to 1400 USD before taxes so say around 1500 USD MAX

I was Considering the Specter x360 15 

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-spectre-x360-15-bl152nr

Dell XPS 15 i5 7300HQ one 

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9560-laptop/dncwxb1641sv2

On other hands the 

Asus UX330 Is a good option but can't find it with 16 gigs of Ram 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075N1YHVK?ref_=ams_ad_dp_ttl

(I am ready to drop the GPU for the Asus mode I think its worth it )

ACER Swift 3 looks to be bang for the buck but concerned about reliability

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8250U-NVIDIA-GeForce-SF314-52G-55WQ/dp/B0746P25QX/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4RRBDK8ZJ2F7PS7FBHTW

Some other which come to mind are the 

Yoga 720 ( concerned about battery and heat management)

Some other Acer laptops (Concerned about build quality)

I am also open to business laptops like the Thinkpads.

[openthatchest]

44 minutes ago, mrmayurs4 said:

Hello Everyone

I'm looking for a  lightish programming laptop. 

 

• Total budget and country of purchase: $800 - $1500(including Taxes)

• Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications for the money? Pick or include any that apply. 2 in 1 not required. Good battery preferred.

• How important is weight and thinness to you? DONT care about thinness but it should be lightish say under 2kg for 15-inch screen size.

• Which OS do you require? Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Linux. Windows and Linux 

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. N/A

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. light Gaming. College(Comp Sci). Maybe light photo and video editing. MX150 should suffice however a 1050 is much appreciated

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? League of Legends(max) and Overwatch(high) at 60fps at least. Might play some other games.

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Needs to be sturdy enough to last minimum 3 years. Good keyboard IS A MUST. Touchscreen, a fingerprint reader is a bonus, optical drive not required. THE laptop either must have 16GB ram or should be user upgradable to 16 GB in the future 

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Something that doesn't look like a transformer please. Also make sure it is readily available in the usa.

the budget is up to 1400 USD before taxes so say around 1500 USD MAX

I was Considering the Specter x360 15 

http://store.hp.com/us/en/pdp/hp-spectre-x360-15-bl152nr

Dell XPS 15 i5 7300HQ one 

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9560-laptop/dncwxb1641sv2

On other hands the 

Asus UX330 Is a good option but can't find it with 16 gigs of Ram 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075N1YHVK?ref_=ams_ad_dp_ttl

(I am ready to drop the GPU for the Asus mode I think its worth it )

ACER Swift 3 looks to be bang for the buck but concerned about reliability

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8250U-NVIDIA-GeForce-SF314-52G-55WQ/dp/B0746P25QX/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=4RRBDK8ZJ2F7PS7FBHTW

Some other which come to mind are the 

Yoga 720 ( concerned about battery and heat management)

Some other Acer laptops (Concerned about build quality)

I am also open to business laptops like the Thinkpads.

the best one you can get with money. no excuses.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-Flagship-i7-7700HQ-Quad-Core/dp/B074SJKRPB/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1508505674&sr=8-4&keywords=acer+helios

 

about 6 pounds, but will destroy any task you throw at it.

[Jaxzzzzz]

It sounds like you are looking for a thin and light, am I correct in thinking that?

[genexis_x]

1 hour ago, mrmayurs4 said:

snip

You need a HQ CPU. Dell XPS 15 and Lenovo Yoga 720 15 inch. Take note that you may want to do some modding with XPS 15, and the Yoga 720 is lacking some ports so check before you buy. The Yoga 720 manages heat quite well (considering its thin chassis) and has a decent battery life.

However, I would still want advise you to wait for 6 core HQ CPUs to come

[mrmayurs4]

1 hour ago, Jaxzzzzz said:

It sounds like you are looking for a thin and light, am I correct in thinking that?

True I am looking for something portable (College work) the Helios 300 or the Inspiron gaming won't do.

[mrmayurs4]

1 hour ago, ZM Fong said:

You need a HQ CPU. Dell XPS 15 and Lenovo Yoga 720 15 inch. Take note that you may want to do some modding with XPS 15, and the Yoga 720 is lacking some ports so check before you buy. The Yoga 720 manages heat quite well (considering its thin chassis) and has a decent battery life.

However, I would still want advise you to wait for 6 core HQ CPUs to come

3

Thanks For the Input

I wish I could wait but this has to be now and most of the HQCPU laptops will not suffice as either they are too bulky or don't have the battery to last 8ish hours that's why I was leaning on the specter x360

[genexis_x]

32 minutes ago, mrmayurs4 said:

don't have the battery to last 8ish hours

false statement, they can last for that long but it depends on the load

The HP Spectre x360 is great but it suffers from slightly high surface temp and slightly high fan noise. Also the Kaby Lake R CPU can't maintain the boost clock in long, heavy loads (only run at 2.2-2.4GHz)

[mrmayurs4]

2 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

false statement, they can last for that long but it depends on the load

The HP Spectre x360 is great but it suffers from slightly high surface temp and slightly high fan noise. Also the Kaby Lake R CPU can't maintain the boost clock in long, heavy loads (only run at 2.2-2.4GHz)

Agreed But I use Chrome. I Ended up with the Specter X360 with 16 gigs ram and 512 Gb SSD For 1390 USD 

[DocSwag]

Are you in a rush for a new pc? Because if not, I would wait for the 6 core hq CPUs.