I'm a high school senior that applied as a mechanical engineering major, and I wanted some thoughts and opinions on what laptop I should aim to get for college.

For starters, I'm aware that Macbooks are pretty much out of the question because of their extreme incompatibility with some of the engineering software that I'll have to use.

Currently, I've been looking for a laptop that has a somewhat high performance in gaming, since all throughout high school, I've been using this really cheap and old desktop with low specs that could barely run some of the simpler games like Minecraft and Roblox.

I'm looking for a laptop that is at least somewhat portable, has a decent battery life that can get me through the day (I know that gaming laptops drain VERY fast). and doesn't have RGB lighting all around the exterior (or at least it can be turned off).

The only laptop that ticks all of the boxes and that I like is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus.

Although the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales are happening right now, I'm convinced that the prices for some of the models that I'm eyeing will significantly decrease next year after CES, so I'll probably buy a laptop around Jan-July? (Around the time when the next gen models release/Prime Day in July)

Please let me know if you have any tips/suggestions for me to mind as I look for a laptop to buy.

I've never had a laptop before and my dad is interested in buying me one for xmas. Anything under 1000usd is preferable! One that works for school but can also run games like Minecraft and Roblox would be great.

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: $800 - $1300
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Would consider if there was an amazing deal, prefer new
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Performance, form factor, batter life, build quality
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Somewhat, will likely remain connected to a 32 in monitor by HDMI/DP
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. 14-16 in
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Would not mind being able to run some games such as AAA games, and emulators, but not essential as this will likely strictly be a work computer
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? Yea this will probably just be a work PC
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Touch screen isn't a necessity would rather better cpu, graphics card, ram. HDMI or DP connection, fingerprint reader is cool but not an essential. Definitely would like a quieter laptop so it's not a distration during calls.
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Happy to have a bit of overkill. Feel like my 2015 Macbook Pro was a bit of overkill for what I needed but it still operates today. It's slowed down and not sure I trust it for work at this point. Wouldn't mind 32 gb ram or more, have seen several lenovos with this. I like to keep ALOT of tabs open while working, although I'm sure 16gb would fit the bill, but like I said happy to have a bit of overkill.

I am currently looking to buy a laptop which is thin and light. I dont want to do gaming on the laptop while I will be using it for average to above average demanding development purpose.

I stumble upon ideapad pro 5 and yoga slim 7.

Ideapad pro 5 with core ultra 9 and 2.8K-OLED 400Nits 120Hz Laptop (32GB/1TB SSD/Intel Arc GPU/Win11/MSO 21) available at 1.07 lakh INR.

While yoga slim 7 with core ultra 7 and WUXGA-OLED 400Nits 60Hz Laptop (32GB/1TB SSD/100% DCI-P3/FHD+IR Camera/Win11/MSO 21) available at 98k INR.

I am confused between these two.

I am looking for thin and light, with good battery life and I am planning to use this device for atleast 6 years.

Help me make the decision.

Around $800 usd

Looking in the USA, Massachusetts

Open to used if in very good condition

I prioritize a good balance of performance and battery life

Weight and thinness isn’t that important b it I don’t want to carry a brick.

Screen size should be around 13- 14 inches

Plan to use it for collage stuff and day trading

I want a laptop to be well built and will plenty of port for additional screens, devices, usb drives, etc

i7 or i5 processor

16gb of ram

Preferably windows

I wanted to get a laptop that would be able to run The Sims 2 and 3 with all of their DLC, and Fields of Mistria.

I'm guessing the latter game would require lower specs, so I didn't put it into the title.

My budget would be $500.

Windows, US, that's it.

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:- around $500 US

• Are you open to refurbs/used?-NO

• How important is weight and thinness to you?-Not too important.

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.-preferable 15.6 inch

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. NONE

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?- NO Gaming

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?-

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.- I'm mainly looking for a decent quality laptop for general use - online shopping, internet browsing, light Microsoft Office product usage for work.

Does anyone have any suggestions of good deals they seen online for Black Friday/Cyber Monday that would fit what I need?

I've considered the following:

1. Acer - Aspire Vero 16 - AV16-51P-58KU-16" - Intel Core Ultra 5 - 8GB Memory, 512 GB ---$379
2. Acer - Aspire 15 - A15-41M-R2CN - AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535U processor Hexa-core 2.90 GHZ - 8GB RAM, 512 GB SSD --- $359
3. HP - 15t-fd000 - Intel® Core™ i7-1355U (up to 5.0 GHz, 12 MB L3 cache, 10 cores, 12 threads) + Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics - 8 GB SDRAM - 256 GB SSD -- $379

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

So i bought an Asus Studiobook ProArt 16 and a bit disappointed with it since battery life is literally 1.5h when watching a generic video and even less under heavy video processing/editing which is embarrassing for a £2.5k laptop.

It's got 64gb ram, i7 12th gen, 1tb storage, 6gb vram 3080gpu but chokes like a lil bitch when it comes to any AI photo upscaling tasks using Topaz or tryna create 3d text in after effects.

Also have no idea why the battery life is so poor even when just browsing Internet so think i need a new laptop.

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:

£4000. UK.

• Are you open to refurbs/used?

No

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

Performance, battery life. I want at least 6h video playback ie i should be able to watch 6h of movies on half brightness of so.

• How important is weight and thinness to you?

Not that important unless it's literally a gigantic ugly brick.

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

Large. 16 or 17"

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

AutoCAD, After Effects, Topaz AO Gigapixel

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

Occasionally Stellaris... Nothing too intense.

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

1tb storage minimum,

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

No apple/mac

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:

$800 USD

• Are you open to refurbs/used?

Yes, definitely. Small dents and cosmetic wear isn't a problem for me. What I'm really cautious about are pressure marks / dead pixels on screens.

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

1. Ultrabook
2. Performance
3. Build quality
4. Battery life (I will probably have it plugged in most of the time)
5. 2-in-1

• How important is weight and thinness to you?

Important, since there's the chance that I'll need to bring it places.

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

14" or less, preferably smaller

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.

• Programming, monitoring my homelab
• Game emulation (handhelds, PS1 and older)
• Light audio production (FL studio)
• Media streaming
• Obsidian (lots of typing)

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

(See above)

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

• At least 16GB RAM, 512GB storage
• 120hz, OLED strongly preferred (something to match my main monitor)
• Probably not going to use headphones, so good speakers
• Good keyboard (I love Lenovo keyboards)
• Multiple USB ports is a plus
• Expandable ram and storage is a plus
• Touchscreen is a plus but not needed

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

I was originally going to buy a Samsung S9 tablet since I wanted something to use while I'm away from my desk and that puts less strain on my eyes than my phone. But after seeing the prices of some of these laptops, I mine as well get one of those since it automatically comes with more functionality.

I was eyeing one of those 14" Zenbooks earlier today, looks nice. I read Snapdragon machines aren't fully compatible with emulation? Which is why I'm staying wary of the "Copilot" laptops.

Hello! I'm looking to upgrade my laptop soon but I'm not an expert in the field so I'm hoping to get some advice.

What I'm looking for is a budget 15'6" laptop, with at least 24 GB RAM and at least 1 TB of space. I'm mainly considering Intel i7 and AMD Ryzen 7 series processors, and either an NVIDIA GeForce 4050 RTX or a 4060 RTX graphics card. I want it to be quite well built and I want to be able to play some games on it smoothly, since my current laptop is very slow and can't even run most things and, honestly, I'm quite tired of that. I also do art and sometimes render.

I've looked through all known laptop/electronics shops (I live in Poland) and from the laptops that I've found, these are the ones I'm considering especially:

1. ASUS TUF Gaming F15 - Intel Core i7-13620H CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 32 GB RAM.
2. ASUS TUF Gaming A15 - AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS (or 7 7435HS) CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 32 GB RAM.
3. Lenovo LOQ 15 - AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 32 GB RAM (or 24 GB RAM with more SSD space).
4. HP Victus 15 - AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS CPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 32 GB RAM.

Out of these, which one would you recommend the most? (And specifically for the ASUS TUF, is the F15 or the A15 better?)

Thank you!

Might get a gaming pc

So I’m a Xbox gamer how just uses an Xbox series x for all my games. Graphically it’s great and no issues but since it’s Black Friday and some deals are to good to turn down I was thinking off buying a gaming pc. Anyway I know nothing at all about pcs just the basics in college I was taught. I spotted one in curry’s pc world called the MSI MAG infinite s3 gaming pc RTX 4060. I was just wondering if you guys opinion on it and weather to buy it or stay away from it. Price wise it is £800 down from £1100 approx $1019-$1400 dollars USD.

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: $1500 or less
• Are you open to refurbs/used? I am open to it
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? I prefer clamshell, definitely want high performance and build quality (I will tend to bang things as I am very clumsy). Battery life is not as high of a concern.
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Not very important
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. I would like a large screen. My current is 18" and I'd ideally like to stay around that width.
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. I want to use Ableton Suite and Max4Live for music making, along with Supercollider. I'm often running multiple MIDI devices through my USB ports, including a second monitor, an audio interface, an Ableton Push 3, studio monitors or bluetooth headphones, and sometimes processing other people's instruments through my laptop via Ableton. It's very important that Ableton run smoothly for me. I also typically have at least an external USB webcam and a document camera running since I do tele-speech therapy for work, and sometimes will have that running along with multiple videos (for choices), several documents, and lots of windows. Only mentioning because my current laptop has run into issues when I've had all these things happening at the same time.
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? I'm not very interested in graphically intense AAA games. I'm more into indies like Hollow Knight, RimWorld, and Balatro, although I occasionally will play Persona or EU4.
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Touchscreen would be nice to have but not necessary. Build quality is +++ importance because I am clumsy. I really want to have a num pad and need to have at least one USB (I usually run a splitter through it) and an HDMI port.
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

I am looking at a 16gb LPDDR5 3k 90 Hz OLED 14" Acer Swift Go. It comes in AMD 7840U and Intel Ultra 7 155H variants. Which processor/GPU package would be better for Windows? Year old threads seem to say that AMD is better, but I wonder if that is still true today, with current drivers.

I am interested in light gaming, mostly web browsing and watching movies. Better battery life would be good! Not sure what I would use the ai cores for.

Also the AMD version is $700 from Acer, Intel is $800 from Amazon (3% discount over AMD with Prime membership.

Thanks!

Confused between gaming and not specifically gaming laptops. I'm a gamer but mainly play on ps5 but I like a PC for playing strategy games and the like. I mainly want this laptop for university work but also the option for casual gaming on the couch when not at my desk. On to the questionnaire:

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: United Kingdom (UK) up to £1200, but more ideally 600-1000 unless really worth the extra

• Are you open to refurbs/used? New preferred

• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Battery life of 3-4 hours unplugged is fine. Able to work with it just literally on my lap preferred (my current laptop is 14 inch and I think 16 inch would be maybe too big to be comfortable lounging on the sofa?)

• How important is weight and thinness to you? Not that important but comfortable on a lap and chucking it in my rucksack

• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. As I say maybe 14-15 inch

• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Yes some gaming

• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? Most likely game to want to play would be total warhammer, top graphics not necessary. Like to play MMP type games on high graphics (e.g. FFXIV)

• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? No touch screen needed. good build quality, not a massively loud fan and a nice display for watching netflix or gaming

• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. Comfortable laptop with decent enough gaming capacity to handle games at like 1080p and 60fps without having to reduce graphics. Not expecting new AAA games at max graphics and a million FPS

I have been looking at:

cheapest but maybe not good enough for gaming?

Lenovo yoga slim 6

More gaming focussed but is it overkill for some strategy games and minecraft/ffxiv?

ROG zephyrus G14

Gigabyte Aorus 16

Asus TUF gaming A14

Thank you for the advice!

Could someone recommend me a good laptop for college as well as gaming on the side? It must have a keypad as well as be able to run multiple excel sheets and such. Preferably sleek too so it's not too heavy. Thankyou for any help!

Hello guys, So here it goes.

I appreciate your help with this !

Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US:

Alrededor de 4 millones COP / Colombia (1000 USD)

Are you open to refurbs/used?

Yes.

How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

Want to use it for gaming mostly so performance above all.

How important is weight and thinness to you?

Not at all.

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.

Gaming only.

If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

If possible I would like to be able to play modern games with a good FPS even If I have to use lower settings

Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

N/A

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: $2000 USD
• Are you open to refurbs/used? No
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? My order of prioritization would be build quality, performance, then battery life. I do not want a 2-in-1.
• How important is weight and thinness to you? I'm fine with anything under 4lbs. I would prefer the laptop to be on the thinner side.
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. I want a 16" display, but I'm willing to down to a 15". I don't want anything smaller than that.
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. Since I'm majoring in mechanical engineering, I'll need the laptop to be capable of running programs such as SOLIDWORKS and MATLAB. Of course, it should be able to run Microsoft 365 applications as well.
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? I'm not going to be doing any gaming.
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? I would like the laptop to have a reliable build quality. I wouldn't mind a touch-screen or fingerprint reader. A nice keyboard would be great!
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. I want the laptop to have 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. I also would like a dedicated graphics card, such as the NVIDIA RTX 4060 or 4070. I would prefer for the laptop to have a minimalistic aesthetic. Something close to a MacBook. I don't like the designs of gaming laptops, so try to stay away from recommending them to me. Also, if possible, I would prefer for the laptop to not have an OLED display, due to the fact of burn-in.

https://www.amazon.com/i7-13620H-Processor-GeForce-Display-ANV15-51-73B9/dp/B0CMRGBXM9

https://www.amazon.com/Predator-i7-13650HX-GeForce-Display-PHN16-71-76H5/dp/B0CX27GY7N/

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/g16-gaming-laptop/spd/g-series-16-7630-laptop

Mostly I want a laptop that has reasonable build quality and can play Baldur’s Gate 3 on reasonable settings without overheating.

I’m looking at replacing my Dell XPS 13 (9300)

Windows 11 pc will be easier for me but could look a Mac.

I need something I can carry everyday so weight is important.

It won’t be used everyday, it’s used mostly when I’m away from my desk and at home.

I need to be able to connect 2 monitors.

I need at least 16gb ram and 1TB SSD.

I need a machine that can cope with large excel sheets. Plus occasional Adobe photoshop and illustrator use.

In my mind I thought of either of these New Dell XPS 13 Windows surface 7th laptop

What is stopping me to choose, are these new chips. Snapdragon, and the arm comparability issues.

https://www.lenovo.com/es/es/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-7-series/lenovo-legion-pro-7i-gen-9-(16-inch-intel)/83de007esp

https://www.lenovo.com/es/es/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-pro-series/legion-pro-5-gen-8-16-inch-amd/82wm00fjsp

https://www.lenovo.com/es/es/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-5-series/lenovo-legion-pro-5i-gen-9-(16-inch-intel)/83df00ftsp

is it worth it paying 800 euros more for the legion pro 7i with a 4080 instead of the pro 5 with 4070? if not, what processor is better ryzen or intel on the 2 legion 5 pros? Im going to be editing simple 4k videos and some gaming, looking for longevity and the best deal right now.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering purchasing the MSI Sword 16 HX (model B14VEKG-210IN) with an Intel Core i7 14th Gen 14700HX. My main use will be streaming and pentesting, though I don’t plan on using it much for gaming.

There doesn’t seem to be much information or reviews available for this model, so I’m unsure if it might have any potential issues down the line.

Is this laptop good to buy

Thanks for your input!

Hi all, I'm struggling in understanding laptops and which one fits me best, as hard as I try. I truly know nothing.

I currently have a MacBook Air and I've primarily had Apple brand laptops. I don't dislike Apple by any means, however the keys began to stick within a month of use, even after having them fixed same issue. I've had this MacBook Air for maybe 3 years now, runs fairly smoothly for my uses even with my one game (wizard101) on there. It's mainly the keys that bother me.

On that note, I'm not opposed to having another Apple laptop as I'm very familiar with the set up and such, but I am also aware that the keys sticking has been a continuous issue for Apple. I have some experience with HP laptops (no idea the type, sorry), however I'm not sure if that would be able to handle the gaming application.

My budget is around $1000, and the only specifics I really have are:

• Will last at least 3/4 years
• A good battery life
• Able to handle many open applications
• Fairly lightweight (~5lb>) and can go into a backpack
• Won't lag with my game too heavily
• Has a decent sized storage. Oh and the keyboard should work after more than 6 months.

Truly any help is appreciated as I have literally no idea what I'm doing, I just have a feeling another Mac is not going to be what I'm needing right now. Thank you in advance.

Hello,

So... I'm currently a 3rd-year engineering student and I'm looking for a big laptop upgrade. I've scoured the internet and these two are the closest to what I want. I plan to run Autocad and Revit, maybe Solidworks, but that isn't likely (Solidworks is just expensive...!). I also use excel moderately. I also enjoy drawing in my free time, so I would love to have stylus support (and would be nice for note-taking too).

All that's holding me back from this Surface Studio 2 is the hefty price point.. I love how you can change the screen orientation and write on the surface. Its also just beautiful to me. I also enjoy the Zenbook because of its aesthetics (just below the surface studio) and it also supports stylus usage, just with less screen mobility than the surface. I just haven't bought the Zenbook due to the things I've heard about Asus customer support.... I know Microsoft support is generally pretty reliable, and I've owned a Surface Pro before, years ago, and never had problems with it. My siblings have had multiple occasions where Microsoft repair was smooth and reliable as well.

Another drawback for me for the surface is the lack of hdmi ports. Below I listed the specs of each, as well as my needs and wants for a laptop.

Specs:

Surface Studio 2:

• 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 (13700h?)
• 16GB RAM (ddr5)
• 512GB SSD (m.2)
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4050 (I believe the 6gb version)

Asus 14x Zenbook:

• 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 (13900h)
• 32GB RAM (ddr5)
• 1TB SSD (m.2)
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 (4gb)

Needs/Wants:

Needs:

-13-14.5" (max) for the size (corner to corner).

-AMD 5-7 series or intel i5-i7 (minimum-- the ultra 5 and 7 are also acceptable).

-16gb of ram (minimum).

-Nvidia 3050 (minimum) or equivalent.

-At LEAST touch screen.

-512 gb of storage (minimum).

-Aesthetically pleasing i.e. NO tacky gaming laptops

-Lightweight (1.5kg-2kg)

-5-6 hour battery life (minimum).

Wants (but not necessary):

-Touchscreen that also supports stylus use (I like to draw on the go).

-Opens flat (180 degrees or more)

-No excessive/tacky logos, or rgb keyboards.

-Backlit keyboard (my current laptop just has white backlighting)

Also, any other laptop recs are much appreciated. If anyone has experience with Microsoft refurbished laptops, please let me know how it went/how the device arrived or any problems.

TLDR; I want the Surface Studio 2 laptop but the price point makes my heart hurt. Does it seem worth the price compared to the Asus Zenbook 14x or should I just settle for the less expensive option?

i’m looking for something that can handle games like sims 4, won’t be incredibly slow, and is easy to manage? my laptop rn is incredibly slow, and i think it has a couple viruses tbh. i tried to fix it by myself but i think i’m a little too stupid. it’s not worth it to get it fixed so i’m just gonna save to get a new one. any ideas?

I've been a video editor/motion graphic artist for the past 7 years working on a desktop. Since the past year I've been freelancing, and have decided to buy a laptop so that I can work on the move.

When I first started working, laptops couldn't handle my working (and gaming) requirements - unless I paid a bomb - so I set up a custom PC. However, I recently worked on a video project on my friends m2 pro and was pretty impressed.

So, I've decided to buy a decent MacBook for work, and use the PC exclusively for gaming.

FYI, current PC specs below:

Intel i9-9900K (overclocked to 5 Ghz) 32 GB Corsair Vengeance RAM Nvidia RTX 2070 (8GB dedicated) NVMe Samsung SSD 970 + 3 TB HDD

In terms of work, I usually work with 1080p or 4k files, very rarely 8k. I use the Adobe Suite and my primary softwares are After Effects and Premier Pro.

I do not work on anything 3D. I also do not need external display support. So I guess that rules out the 'Apple Max' chips.

I'm okay with a 14" display, and will usually be plugged in, so battery life isn't my biggest concern. Does it make sense if I save some money by buying a 512 GB SSD and invest in cheaper external SSD's or should I just look at 1 TB SSD?

I'm looking for anything M3 chip onwards, both the Air and Pro versions.

What would you suggest as the best fit for me without it being an overkill? I'm looking for an improved performance over my PC to use exclusively for video editing.

Thanks in advance for your tips/suggestions!

Hello everyone,

I’m here like other searching for laptop suggestions. I want something that can run regular desktop things of course. Lots of word or google documents. That I’m sure pretty much anything can do. I do, however, want to play a few games and want to make sure there is enough space on the laptop. Full transparency, I am not very knowledgeable on laptops. The games I like to play are just Skyrim, baulders gate, stardew valley, and the sims. Nothing online. Hoping to stay around $1,000 but willing to invest for a quality laptop.

Thanks for any and all suggestions!

ETA: Located in United States!

I bought a Lenovo Ideapad 1 with these specs:

•Processor - AMD Ryzen™ 5 7520U Processor (2.80 GHz up to 4.30

•Graphic Card - Integrated AMD Radeon™ 610M

•Memory - 8 GB LPDDR5-5500MHz (Soldered) Storage 256 GB SSD M.2 2242 PCIe Gen4 TLC

•Display - 15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080), IPS, Anti-Glare, Touch, 45%NTSC, 300 nits, 60Hz, Narrow Bezel

Link: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-100/ideapad-1-gen-7-15-inch-amd/82vg00myus

I bought this in a rush for $339 during a Black Friday deal. For the price, there wasn’t anything new available from any brand that offered a better chipset and graphics card combo. The only downside is that the 8GB of RAM is soldered, although it is LPDDR5, which provides faster performance.

I’m comparing it to this model: eBay listing https://www.ebay.com/itm/335637612582?_skw=lenovo+ryzen+5+5500+u+refurbished&itmmeta=01JDZ1VQH1R0CEXDME07DRG8VX&hash=item4e258f8826:g:UY8AAOSwT5dnHIyC&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABAHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnUHjsekJlGNm1dN7ztaDlMSQ%2FRPRPY0atutsWelrqQDJf6CriZUP5JahMHXmKpUGREFk1hPzI58hOngRUITvTvXFNfnumqCoypmZD8KslzjHsCmadJbUCSLD4bW2dPHMvkC1me9F1aOs8Yc%2B84VjGbE%2FIDJSjBTTCfafoiVTxvuIwALwMIKvhva7hpCtK7zlWilog4MFPNwU4bZCLU04%2FyqckIplsBxlxHZOb3u8kO3ccfoEqNgEC%2F060VvjrSlB7JQlet0E4k%2BCUwwrK3VdOLp%2FhRsotEUOrPoUOLqVQehMyx1id5KIaOqcG7yTmvb3I%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8z47uHvZA

Thank you for any suggestions or advice!

Hi, I'm looking for a laptop for photo editing. I work with large files and want a computer that is both powerful and durable, preferably something I can use for many years to come. I've been looking at Apple's MacBook Pro models with their new M4 chip, but would like to get some pointers on other options that can match or surpass this in performance and quality.

Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Don't use USD if you're not buying in the US:

- Max 40 000 SEK (3 500 EUR), Sweden.

Are you open to renovations/used?

- New only, no refurbished/used models.

How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?

- A robust and qualitative design. High priority – the computer must handle photo editing smoothly. Long battery life is important. The computer must be durable and solid.

How important is weight and thinness to you?

- Not too heavy or bulky.

Do you have a preferred screen size? If you are indifferent, write N/A.

- Around 16 inches.

Do you do any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List the programs/games you want to run.

- Photo editing (Adobe Lightroom as the main program, more Adobe programs may be added).

If you play, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?

- N/A

Any specific requirements like good keyboard, reliable build quality, touchscreen, fingerprint reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?

- Screen quality: Very important – if there are options with Nano-texture display or similar, it is an advantage. No touch screen (I prefer without), but a good keyboard. Well built.

Please leave any closing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.

- The computer must be able to handle large photo files without problems and be optimized for programs in Adobe.