Buy new laptop now or at semester start in September?

[Deleted]

I currently have a laptop with a 10 minute lasting battery, shitty cpu, 4GB ram and problems with charging.

I was wondering if I should buy a new laptop now or wait until semester start in September?

My main concern is if there is going to be a huge advancement in technology by then.

This is the laptop I have been looking at:

Lenovo Y50-70 15.6" Full HD | ~$1700

• GTX960M
• i7-4720HQ
• 16GB RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• 1920x1080

It will mainly be used for programming and school (going to study CS).


If anyone has another suggestion, feel free to let me know.

I'm looking for a laptop with 16GB Ram, SSD & i7 Quadcore. GPU doesn't really matter that much - I won't be playing any AAA games on it.

[Deleted]

Well i am going to ask what probably others will too. Do you really need a laptop? And if you could use one cause you need it at uni or w/e with 2k you can get both a decent desktop for home and a lightweight laptop for school. Unless you have 0 peripherals that might make it a little difficult but everything can be done. In that case would wait till Sep that new gpu's are coming out exactly then.

[Deleted]

Well i am going to ask what probably others will too. Do you really need a laptop?

Well I currently use a laptop for school (High School), but as I stated it is really shitty and could use an upgrade.

And if you could use one cause you need it at uni or w/e with 2k you can get both a decent desktop for home and a lightweight laptop for school. Unless you have 0 peripherals that might make it a little difficult but everything can be done.

I already have a decent desktop.
i7-4770k
8GB Ram
384SSD + 2TB HDD.
GTX960

So it is primarily for portability/school use.

In that case would wait till Sep that new gpu's are coming out exactly then.

Well, as I stated, I don't really need a dedicated GPU. It will come in handy of course, but it doesn't have to be latest gen.


Appreciate your reply.


Btw - the laptop I am looking to buy has to last for at least 3 years, which is why it might seem like an overkill.

[Lathais]

Yeah, if you already have a good desktop at home no reason to wait to buy. Only thing coming out soon are GPUs which you don't need.

[Deleted]

If you just need a laptop for school and nothing else. Get a 13.3 laptop with at the minimum i3. I bought mine three years ago and it is still rock solid.

Just look at a bussnes laptops, they should be more solid etc. Such as this lenovo. You can even custimize a bit more, better CPU, better screen ( I would not touch the RAM upgrade, it is cheaper to do that yourself).

[Deleted]

Yeah, if you already have a good desktop at home no reason to wait to buy. Only thing coming out soon are GPUs which you don't need.

Yeah, and after doing some research it looks we will first see the new GPUs from Nvidia in Q3, which mean it will probably be "mainstream" for laptops in 2017, and that is too late for me.

Appreciate it.

If you just need a laptop for school and nothing else. Get a 13.3 laptop with at the minimum i3. I bought mine three years ago and it is still rock solid.

Just look at a bussnes laptops, they should be more solid etc. Such as -SNIPPED-. You can even custimize a bit more, better CPU, better screen ( I would not touch the RAM upgrade, it is cheaper to do that yourself).

I'm an EU fag so that option is not available to me.

Besides, the CPUs listed don't seem quite powerful enough - it has only like 2/5 of the CPU mark as my current desktop CPU, and that one takes like 15-20 minutes to compile some of my bigger C++ projects. I would rather have to wait like 40 minutes.

Appreciate your suggestion though.

[Justin-Sane]

Wait until september for the back to school sales.

[Deleted]

Wait until september for the back to school sales.

Isn't that only for low-mid range laptops?

[Artorius]

Computer science right?

I know it's more expensive but a Macbook pro isn't a bad option.

And if you don't think that OSX is a plus for your programming tasks (so you don't need to use clunky Linux distros), or will do the coding at Windows itself (it's doable, but as a CS student you should learn Unix, it'll come handy when doing server management and a lot of other things.).

Or a Dell XPS 15 as Windows alternative.

[Deleted]

Computer science right?

Correct.

-SNIPPED-I know it's more expensive but a Macbook pro isn't a bad option.

I am planning on running Win/*Nix dual boot. While I know a Macbook is a great option, it just doesn't support my needs since I use Visual Studio a lot (C++/C#).

Additionally, you linked to the US shop, which mean I will have to pay at least 25% more than the price listed. As you can see it gets really expensive really quickly

-SNIPPED-And if you don't think that OSX is a plus for your programming tasks (so you don't need to use clunky Linux distros), or will do the coding at Windows itself (it's doable, but as a CS student you should learn Unix, it'll come handy when doing server management and a lot of other things.).

I can't seem to figure out which CPU they put in the laptop, but the same specs cost at least $2,700 * 1.25.

Again it is extremely expensive compared to the laptop I listed.

-SNIPPED- Or a Dell XPS 15 as Windows alternative.

This is the only laptop that is comparable to the one I linked (battery and portability is better) - but again, I have to pay at least 25% more than the price listed.


Thanks a lot of this extensive reply.

[Artorius]

I also use Visual Studio as main IDE for C++/C#, and do most of the hard work at the real desktop. Leaving a cheap DELL laptop for when I really need to bring a computer with me.

But you were suggesting a fairly decent laptop in the first place, so I tried to pick the best options in regarding to build quality, sturdiness and things that random laptops do cheaply to cut costs such as display. I hadn't read the EU part, and after reading "$1700" I assumed USD as currency, so pardon me.

This version of the XPS 15 isn't that far from your budget, and is completely solid.

[Deleted]

I found another option with comparable specs

Acer Aspire Nitro VN7-591G 15.6" UHD | ~$1500

• GTX960M (same)
• i7-4720HQ (same
• 8GB RAM (8GB less)
• 256 GB SSD (256GB less)
• 3840 x 2160 (Twice as good resolution)

So for $200 less I get better screen but worse Ram & SSD.

Another Ram stick of 8GB shouldn't be too expensive so I can easily get it up to 16GB. The SSD can be upgraded later if needed as well.


What do you guys think?

Also, anyone who has experience with either Lenova or Acer, and which would you pick?

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I also use Visual Studio as main IDE for C++/C#, and do most of the hard work at the real desktop. Leaving a cheap DELL laptop for when I really need to bring a computer with me.

But you were suggesting a fairly decent laptop in the first place, so I tried to pick the best options in regarding to build quality, sturdiness and things that random laptops do cheaply to cut costs such as display. I hadn't read the EU part, and after reading "$1700" I assumed USD as currency, so pardon me.

-SNIPPED- This version of the XPS 15 isn't that far from your budget, and is completely solid.

Completely understandable - my bad.

I'm from Denmark btw - looking at the option you linked it would cost $375 more for the Dell than the Lenova in my country. The dell has room for 16GB more though so it might be an option.

Thanks again for the reply.

Are you sure you're going to be using Visual Studio in college? At my school you can't even touch an IDE until you're a junior/senior.

Well I use it for a lot of hobby projects and pretty familiar with it, so I will use it regardless.

But yeah, still no idea if we are going to learn C, Java or a whole third language initially.

[Zenfoldor]

My suggestion would be to wait. If you buy a laptop right now make sure it has a USB type-c connection. There are a couple of things coming down the pike, of course, that you will be missing out on.

Kaby lake will have native USB type-c built in. This is important because it allows your laptop to use external high bandwidth devices like video cards, to play games on the laptop. This tech is in its infancy but...even right now you don't really want a new expensive computer without type-c. It will also have full hardware support for 10 bit hevc, and hdcp 2.2.

Furthermore, the skylake processors(at least the one I've just sent back) are having fits in Windows 10 still after months, and on some units you will still see that now famous driver crash, which may only be fixable through bios updates?

If I was going to spend that much money on a laptop, I'd get something with Intel Iris graphics so it could play WoW reasonably but still maintain that low profile integrated gpu and great battery life. I believe Acer or Asus just released a new Iris model to compete with the surface books, or you can look at older processors that have those graphics but just make sure to check the performance.

4k screens will get cheaper as well, but I'm no screen expert. However, buying now may prevent you from finding an OLED screen on your laptop as well. I didn't check out your link so I'm not sure what your particular choice in laptop has on it.

[Artorius]

I also wouldn't compare the screens by the resolution alone. And while high DPI is done fairly well at Windows 10, Linux support for it is still horrible. You plan on dual booting so keep it in mind.

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4k screens will get cheaper as well, but I'm no screen expert. However, buying now may prevent you from finding an OLED screen on your laptop as well. I didn't check out your link so I'm not sure what your particular choice in laptop has on it.

This as well, OLED laptops arrived at the last CES and they'll soon be the new standard for premium devices. Despite all the problems of the technology, it still gives way better image quality due to contrast.

[Deleted]

My suggestion would be to wait. If you buy a laptop right now make sure it has a USB type-c connection. There are a couple of things coming down the pike, of course, that you will be missing out on.

Kaby lake will have native USB type-c built in. This is important because it allows your laptop to use external high bandwidth devices like video cards, to play games on the laptop. This tech is in its infancy but...even right now you don't really want a new expensive computer without type-c. It will also have full hardware support for 10 bit hevc, and hdcp 2.2.

Furthermore, the skylake processors(at least the one I've just sent back) are having fits in Windows 10 still after months, and on some units you will still see that now famous driver crash, which may only be fixable through bios updates?

If I was going to spend that much money on a laptop, I'd get something with Intel Iris graphics so it could play WoW reasonably but still maintain that low profile integrated gpu and great battery life. I believe Acer or Asus just released a new Iris model to compete with the surface books, or you can look at older processors that have those graphics but just make sure to check the performance.

4k screens will get cheaper as well, but I'm no screen expert. However, buying now may prevent you from finding an OLED screen on your laptop as well. I didn't check out your link so I'm not sure what your particular choice in laptop has on it.

Acer has USB-C; the Lenova doesn't.

I guess the Acer is the better pick between those two then.

It doesn't use a Skylake processor either - so I guess that is pretty good then.

I also wouldn't compare the screens by the resolution alone. And while high DPI is done fairly well at Windows 10, Linux support for it is still horrible. You plan on dual booting so keep it in mind.

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This as well, OLED laptops arrived at the last CES and they'll soon be the new standard for premium devices. Despite all the problems of the technology, it still gives way better image quality due to contrast.

I guess I can just downscale the resolution to 1920x1080 while running *Nix?

For the OLED, I would assume it will take a while before it gets to an affordable price since I haven't seen it on a laptop yet. But a lot can change quickly.

For the resolution the Acer has 340 cd/m2 and the Lenova has 220 cd/m2.

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Btw does this look like USB-C? Sorry for the poor image but I can't seem to find a better one.

http://i.imgur.com/HGz9dk9.png

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Another thing.

If I were to upgrade the 8GB Ram to 16GB can I just add a DDR3L SDRAM SO DIMM 204-PIN stick at the same speed to the laptop or does it have to be a specific RAM stick?

[tachycardias]

I have a similar question but with different parameters. My job gives me a $5000 yearly stipend for stuff like computers and travel for business purposes. I'd like to spend about $3000 (more or less) of that on a laptop that I could also use for gaming. I'll also have that stipend again on a yearly basis so I don't particularly need to wait until some optimal time point as far as technology release. My main problem is I'm clueless when it comes to hardware as my profession has nothing to do with knowing this. I want a 17in screen and prefer something that's not too heavy (<=5lbs) as I will need to carry it a bit. I probably need about 3-4 hours of battery life for work. What are some other things I should be looking for? Anyone k ow of a good rig with this stuff in mind?

[Artorius]

I guess I can just downscale the resolution to 1920x1080 while running *Nix?

For the OLED, I would assume it will take a while before it gets to an affordable price since I haven't seen it on a laptop yet. But a lot can change quickly.

For the resolution the Acer has 340 cd/m2 and the Lenova has 220 cd/m2.

Yes you can, but then you'll be using 4 pixels for each pixel and cause some blurriness. Yeah OLED laptops are still extremely expensive. And those other numbers are luminance of the panel, not resolution.

[Deleted]

Couldn't be bothered to read all responses, but I will share with you my experiences as CS student:

- get something fairly small - 13.3 or 14.1 (that's what I've got and wish I want with smaller one)
- make sure it is well constructed unit that will allow you to easily replace hdd and ram if need be
- make sure to get high end cpu in it - that means one that supports virtualization (vt-d and such) - running VMs could be something you do
- get SSD big enough(256 GB should do) to host both Linux and Windows - while either one is good enough for normal/day to day work some tasks will be easier on one or other
- make sure you got good resolution (1080p or higher) there is nothing worse than opening IDE and finding that only few lines of code fits your screen after all the IDEs bars/menus
- make sure it comes with modern wifi/bluetooth/ethernet devices meaning 802.11ac/4.0 or better/1GbE or better
- read reviews of the unit you are willing to buy and make sure it runs QUIET you don't want to be THAT GUY with loud laptop during lectures
- same goes for keyboard - although rare there are some really obnoxiously loud keyboards in laptops
- get small portable mice that "clicks" quietly - issue way more often than keyboard
- make sure it has matte sc

other points:

You should be fine with dual core, but quad would be better.
You should be fine with built in gpu - you won't be needing discrete one and that will lower your price and complexity of whole setup, less weight, less heat, less hassle with OS setup.
Don't listen to anyone telling you that cheap netbook is enough - although it is possible to use one you will be in serious disadvantage with such small/underpowered machine.

But yeah, still no idea if we are going to learn C, Java or a whole third language initially.

You most likely will "learn" C or CPP, ASM, java, c#, php maybe even some more obscure language like ADA or LISP. Note that I placed "learn" in quotes that's because you will be only introduced to them, maybe required to make assignment or 2, later on you will likely be allowed to choose language you want to do assignments in.

That's all the pointers I can think of the top on my head