Notebook Recommendation for Student

[2packi]

Hello all, I am entering into my first year of med school, and my 6 year old Aspire 4830TG is showing signs of wear, mainly because all the panels keep falling off and are in place with electrical tape, and if you could help me with my search it would be awesome. I am in Canada, so amazon.ca, memoryexpress.com, bestbuy.ca, I can even order via Amazon US and have someone bring it over to Canada for me.  What i'm looking for is a portable laptop with a good sized keyboard for long note typing sessions. Although I don't intend on gaming much, it would be nice to be able to play with my friends the occasional game of Starcraft 2, and if possible Fortnite (not a major requirement). I am also learning to code, and write some program etc,  so a laptop that is able to handle that workload would be good. A decent battery would be good so I don't have to hunt for a plug everywhere I go. I was looking at some 2 in 1's because I can fold the notebook to save space while referencing it as I hand write my notes, but have no idea how to start my search. Thank you for your time and any suggestions that you can give me! Also, something under $1500 would be ideal!

[DrMacintosh]

For coding a MacBook Pro would give you the largest compatibility without the need for emulation. 

 

Though in Canada a base 2017 MacBook Pro might be above the budget given the strength of  cad

[Streetguru]

7 minutes ago, 2packi said:

 

Do you actually want to spend that much?

If not just grab something with a GTX 1050/ti or a Ryzen APU laptop

ew. mac.*

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Streetguru said:

ew. mac.*

Hey, he said he wanted to code and the Mac is going to be the best at doing that since it can support more languages out of the box and almost all of them with its ability to Bootcamp windows and install Linux. 

[Streetguru]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

 

It's only useful if you're going to develop for macOS/iOS isn't it? Far as the hardware goes you could get more for your money elsewhere otherwise right?

[DrMacintosh]

Just now, Streetguru said:

It's only useful if you're going to develop for macOS/iOS isn't it? Far as the hardware goes you could get more for your money elsewhere otherwise right?

The Mac has native python. Windows machines can only emulate python and even then it has limitations. 

 

It would help to know what he is coding in. 

[2packi]

I am basically coding windows programs/addins in C#. I am a little hesitant about getting a Mac since I mainly have used windows.  

[Streetguru]

11 minutes ago, 2packi said:

I am basically coding windows programs/addins in C#. I am a little hesitant about getting a Mac since I mainly have used windows.  

I can only say that I would never buy an apple product, poor cooling(most laptops have poor cooling though) but things like the riveted keyboard really kill me.
 

Do you really want your laptop to be your gaming machine? Because you can just grab any old business laptop with an i7 and be perfectly fine for coding/programming, then build a cheap Ryzen APU Desktop PC.

Otherwise

GTX 1050, i7 1080p IPS display ??? make sure it has at least a 1080p IPS display under $1500
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA97K6YN4849


Ryzen laptops are pretty hit or miss, you just have to make sure they have dual channel memory.
https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAFXK7428868

Laptop prices in CAD seem like insane on newegg.

God damn Newegg CA sucks for used business laptops*

[AntiTrust]

25 minutes ago, 2packi said:

Hello all, I am entering into my first year of med school, and my 6 year old Aspire 4830TG is showing signs of wear, mainly because all the panels keep falling off and are in place with electrical tape, and if you could help me with my search it would be awesome. I am in Canada, so amazon.ca, memoryexpress.com, bestbuy.ca, I can even order via Amazon US and have someone bring it over to Canada for me.  What i'm looking for is a portable laptop with a good sized keyboard for long note typing sessions. Although I don't intend on gaming much, it would be nice to be able to play with my friends the occasional game of Starcraft 2, and if possible Fortnite (not a major requirement). I am also learning to code, and write some program etc,  so a laptop that is able to handle that workload would be good. A decent battery would be good so I don't have to hunt for a plug everywhere I go. I was looking at some 2 in 1's because I can fold the notebook to save space while referencing it as I hand write my notes, but have no idea how to start my search. Thank you for your time and any suggestions that you can give me! Also, something under $1500 would be ideal!

I think Linus makes a great case for the LG Gram in this video

[Streetguru]

12 minutes ago, 2packi said:

I am basically coding windows programs/addins in C#. I am a little hesitant about getting a Mac since I mainly have used windows.  

Amazon CA has a better selection of used business machines looks like

 

Should be $500 CAD or less, get something with a quad core i7 and 800p or 900p display minimum, you will probably have to replace the battery to get decent battery life, and maybe add an SSD at some point.

god damn being canadian sucks for cheap decent laptops

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=sr_st_price-asc-rank?keywords=i7+laptop&fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A667823011%2Cn%3A2404990011%2Ck%3Ai7+laptop%2Cp_n_feature_fourteen_browse-bin%3A7322419011|7322421011&qid=1522610326&sort=price-asc-rank

https://www.amazon.ca/LENOVO-Thinkpad-X201-Webcam-Windows/dp/B06XJY3L2T/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1522610330&sr=1-2&keywords=i7+laptop

https://www.amazon.ca/HP-elitebook-2570p-Webcam-Windows/dp/B072LDQ3HW/ref=sr_1_4?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1522610330&sr=1-4&keywords=i7+laptop

[2packi]

10 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

 

Well, "gaming machine," something that can run Starcraft 2 is all that im looking for, but I think trying to play anything new is a bad idea. 

 

 

9 minutes ago, AntiTrust said:

 

Thanks, I was reading up about that, will have a closer look.

 

6 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

 

Yes, Canadian prices do suck, but thanks for the links, i'll have a look at those links, Thanks!

[Streetguru]

3 minutes ago, 2packi said:

 

Well the Ryzen Laptop can run Starcraft 2 and most other games at 720p -1080p low settings, and if you get a GTX 1050 tier GPU you can run whatever at 1080p just fine

If only someone would build a decent Ryzen laptop

The older business laptops will be fine for programing/coding but won't run much of anything.
 

 

[2packi]

9 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Well the Ryzen Laptop can run Starcraft 2 and most other games at 720p -1080p low settings, and if you get a GTX 1050 tier GPU you can run whatever at 1080p just fine

That looks like a very interesting option, thanks a lot.

 

Im gonna do some more research on the battery life side of things, but thanks everyone for pointing me in the right direction!

[genexis_x]

7 hours ago, 2packi said:

portable laptop with a good sized keyboard

able to handle that workload

decent battery

2 in 1's

under $1500 would be ideal!

Asus UX461UA (optional MX150 8W)

Lenovo Yoga 720 13

Acer Spin 5 13

HP Envy x360 15 (optional MX150)

 

All with KB-R ULVs

[i_got_laid_by_a_dragoness]

14 hours ago, 2packi said:

Thank you for your time and any suggestions that you can give me! Also, something under $1500 would be ideal!

HP EliteBook 8540p. You said you're a med student? This thing is ruggedized and feels bulletproof. It also has 100% upgradeability. CPU, GPU, RAM, even the motherboard, battery, and cooling have "better" versions available and the laptop will accept most MXM graphics (3.0a) that are made post 2014 including the Quadro M2000M.

[2packi]

16 hours ago, ZM Fong said:

 

Thanks, will look at your suggestions!

 

9 hours ago, i_got_laid_by_a_dragoness said:

 

Thanks for the suggestion!