Looking for laptop advice

[faustogreco]

Hi all,
First post, so wish me luck.
I am a business traveler, who also attends online college for Data Science. I also play MMO's like WoW, and occasionally resubscribe to LOTRO, EQ2, and other older MMO's.
I am looking to buy a laptop that fits all of those needs.
17 inch would be preffered, but 15" would be fine as well.
Anyone have a suggestion or a favorite laptop they use that fits? Am looking to spend below $1000 USD.

[Denpepe]

Something like this should work

https://www.amazon.com/FX503VD-NH76-...n%3A9647497011

and this one is on sale but only 15 inch
https://www.amazon.com/FX503VM-Power...n%3A9647497011

[junky]

Hi all,
First post, so wish me luck.
I am a business traveler, who also attends online college for Data Science. I also play MMO's like WoW, and occasionally resubscribe to LOTRO, EQ2, and other older MMO's.
I am looking to buy a laptop that fits all of those needs.
17 inch would be preffered, but 15" would be fine as well.
Anyone have a suggestion or a favorite laptop they use that fits? Am looking to spend below $1000 USD.

Good luck!!

0. Some rules of thumb:
CPU, an I5/I7 or AMD equivalent when the come up. Almost all laptops you'll see are ok
GPU, GTX 1050/Ti, no more needed really, if you are ok with less than the highest graphics settings (which is fine with me)
Screen, get an IPS display. There is variance in quality, but as a ROT
Storage - have at least a small SSD, just to make it fun to use

1. I would wait and see how good is the new Dell G3 series. It has some 3D/gaming capabilities, but also doesn't have the gamer style, if that bothers you.
If you already want to get something, Dell have 12% off now

2. Another option, previous generation but loaded with what's needed: Acer Nitro 5, not for $650 (was $600, but well), with GTX 1050 Ti, SSD + HDD, good enough IPS display https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-ni...MtMwFSDfEugM0g

3. Yes/No?

4. Perhaps consider these laptops or this nice system

[Biomega]

I'm in a similar spot. Going to be moving a lot for work in 2 months time, so I'm going to sell my desktop PC and get a laptop. I'm not a super hardcore gamer these days, but I do play a lot. Mostly WoW and single-player RPGs like FF, Witcher etc. (and old games, but those shouldn't matter for the discussion since they run on a calculator).

How is the graphics card situation for laptops? I'd assume it doesn't suffer the same crypto problems as the desktop ones? How feasible is a higher-end graphics card, does it work with cooling etc. in such a tight setup? Or does any top model turn your laptop into a cooking griddle?

Also, about displays... I keep hearing IPS, but I also keep reading in reviews that some great machines are criticized for their poor IPS. What's to watch out for there?

[Shakadam]

I'm in a similar spot. Going to be moving a lot for work in 2 months time, so I'm going to sell my desktop PC and get a laptop. I'm not a super hardcore gamer these days, but I do play a lot. Mostly WoW and single-player RPGs like FF, Witcher etc. (and old games, but those shouldn't matter for the discussion since they run on a calculator).

How is the graphics card situation for laptops? I'd assume it doesn't suffer the same crypto problems as the desktop ones? How feasible is a higher-end graphics card, does it work with cooling etc. in such a tight setup? Or does any top model turn your laptop into a cooking griddle?

Also, about displays... I keep hearing IPS, but I also keep reading in reviews that some great machines are criticized for their poor IPS. What's to watch out for there?

The rule of thumb for laptops is this:

If you want good graphical performance for games etc, the laptop will be large, heavy, and very noisy.


You can find thin ultrabooks up to mobile GTX 1050 performance, which is OK for most gaming as long as you turn down settings. Usually quiet while idle but again, expect them to be anything from loud to very loud under heavy load.


Pretty much all laptops have IPS screens of varying quality these days. If you manage to find something that doesn't have an IPS screen, avoid it like the plague because you're never really going to get a perfect viewing angle while in front of a laptop, so anything that isn't IPS is absolutely terrible to use.

[Deleted]

At this point I would wait for coffeelake to get into mainstream laptops.

[Aleksej89]

As far as the IPS panel goes i would make sure to see the programs/games you use in IPS before buying.
I had a couple of IPS monitors and panels and regardless of the extensive fiddling with color settings a lot of games just did not look right with it.

The dark colors were too dark, the brights were too bright and overall everything was a tad too colorful.
Some games like FPS shooters actually penalized me for using IPS because of the more intensive shadows/darkness hiding my opponents better.

So if you are considering IPS panel instead of a regular TN panel be sure you first see it in your applications and that you are ready to bother with color calibration.

[Puzzony]

I'm using a Lenovo Legion Y520 (7th gen i7 and 1050Ti), and it's fine for basically any game @1080p. It was $999.99, exactly a year ago, so it is probably cheaper now. That being said, as it has been mentioned, 8th gen intel laptops are around the corner, so you should be definitely wait for them (8th gen i5/i7 is a beast compared to the 7th gen ones).

[Vertigo X]

I'm using a Lenovo Legion Y520 (7th gen i7 and 1050Ti), and it's fine for basically any game @1080p. It was $999.99

Ouch

https://www.evga.com/products/produc...516-34-1833-T1

[Puzzony]

Ouch

https://www.evga.com/products/produc...516-34-1833-T1

I've bought it a year ago. Also, I'm from the hellhole that's called Eastern Europe, if i'd buy that laptop now, i'd cost like 1400+ bucks because shipping and customs and shit, my country also puts a hefty extra sum on stuff that's imported from outside the EU, hell even in the EU we have to pay some extra above a certain price thresold.

[Biomega]

At this point I would wait for coffeelake to get into mainstream laptops.

Is there a timeline on that? I was thinking of buying my laptop mid/end July as I need it by August. But if there's like a major step mid August or something I can probably wait.

[Deleted]

Is there a timeline on that? I was thinking of buying my laptop mid/end July as I need it by August. But if there's like a major step mid August or something I can probably wait.

They are in the higher tier products now, but it seems likely this will trickle down over the next couple/few months. I can't be more accurate than that, but as the time nears you'll also find 7th gen Intel products drop in price, if 8th gen doesn't land in your price range before it's needed.

[Biomega]

They are in the higher tier products now, but it seems likely this will trickle down over the next couple/few months. I can't be more accurate than that, but as the time nears you'll also find 7th gen Intel products drop in price, if 8th gen doesn't land in your price range before it's needed.

Fair enough, thanks!

[Deleted]

Try an msi I think they got high end PC for less than 999$