Laptop suggestions?

[Misery]

Yeah, looking to get a new laptop.

But after a mere 5 minutes of browsing the things, I'm just about ready to stab a clown. As a rule I *loathe* dealing with hardware, which includes shopping for it. It's why I generally dont upgrade my PCs until whatever I had been using just falls apart. So... yeah I know almost nothing about that aspect. I do the software side of things, not hardware.

My current PC is fine, this is mostly for when travelling, and it occurs to me that I could maybe offload some of what I would normally do on the PC onto the laptop, since the PC is perpetually out of space. It'll probably get used a decent amount here at home too, I suppose.

I use these things for gaming, but also rendering, and the rendering is usually the big drain. Fractals are complicated.

I dont care at all about display resolution... I'm used to my 1920x1080 monitor here. I do care about size though. Bigger screen and keyboard is better. Particularly since I'm used to typing on an enormous blocky keyboard

Dont care about aesthetics, the thing could look like a concrete brick for all I care.

I'd be curious as to how any given machine compares to the PC I'm using as well. This thing is an i9-12900k, with an RTX 3090.

I dont know how anyone browses these things without going mad. I swear all the names and descriptions of them just read as total gibberish to me.

Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

 

[velociraptor]

I have a high end ASUS ROG STRIX I use for high-end Photoshop work and video editing. Works well enough for me.

 

[Hypnalis]

Mine is probably much like velociraptor's, apart from the size: a Lenovo Yoga that weighs under 1 kg.

I think the CPU is "Intel EVO i7". It will be a slower, low-power variant of the standard consumer tech from approx 3 years ago.

Works fine, and much better for travelling than any of my older laptops. USB 3, Thunderbolt, and small SSDs have helped there OFC, but the small size and weight of the laptop is the main factor.

 

[Outdated]

I dont care at all about display resolution... I'm used to my 1920x1080 monitor here. I do care about size though. Bigger screen and keyboard is better. Particularly since I'm used to typing on an enormous blocky keyboard

Consider what you're actually going to be using it for, you're unlikely to expect it to process fractals for you for example when you've got a PC dedicated to that.

My guess is that it likely only needs to be able to browse the net and run a word processor for the most part so having a really powerful processor and lots of ram is likely to just be a waste of money. I'm the same, decent computers at home and the laptop is just a travel toy, I can jump on the net and I can edit and process photos.

Like you I also need a full size keyboard so I got a 16 1/2 inch laptop. Even then they're still not really enjoyable to type on but it beats dicking around with a stupid phone.

 

[velociraptor]

This is the system I have:

https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/gaming-laptops/asus-rog-strix-g16-2025-review

Not as powerful as my home desktop, but gives me some oomph on the road as I spend a lot of spring/summer/fall in a travel trailer.

 

[Shamar]

Yeah, looking to get a new laptop.

But after a mere 5 minutes of browsing the things, I'm just about ready to stab a clown. As a rule I *loathe* dealing with hardware, which includes shopping for it. It's why I generally dont upgrade my PCs until whatever I had been using just falls apart. So... yeah I know almost nothing about that aspect. I do the software side of things, not hardware.

My current PC is fine, this is mostly for when travelling, and it occurs to me that I could maybe offload some of what I would normally do on the PC onto the laptop, since the PC is perpetually out of space. It'll probably get used a decent amount here at home too, I suppose.

I use these things for gaming, but also rendering, and the rendering is usually the big drain. Fractals are complicated.

I dont care at all about display resolution... I'm used to my 1920x1080 monitor here. I do care about size though. Bigger screen and keyboard is better. Particularly since I'm used to typing on an enormous blocky keyboard

Dont care about aesthetics, the thing could look like a concrete brick for all I care.

I'd be curious as to how any given machine compares to the PC I'm using as well. This thing is an i9-12900k, with an RTX 3090.

I dont know how anyone browses these things without going mad. I swear all the names and descriptions of them just read as total gibberish to me.

Any suggestions at all would be greatly appreciated.

You might want to consider an older or used laptop. If you are just using it for browsing, downloading, file viewing, word processing, and email, this would be fine. I have a 20 year old Dell Latitude that is capable of 90% of my computing. For heavy duty number crunching, you still have the main desktop. The big problem is storage capacity, an external HDD will fix that.

 

[Richelle-H]

Here are some basics that I recomend. You do not want to go lower on the CPU or the GPU but depending on your price range you should look for something newer for both, if possible. The processors speed is also important (faster is always better) Then there is working Memory to consider for both the CPU and Graphics, and maximizing storage should also be of interest.

I have had high end computers when I was still working. My last one, before the one I use now, was a top of the line MSI computer (more than a decade and a half old by now). Now I have a much cheaper HP x360 convertible (meaning it has a normal Laptop configuration but can also be used as a tablet as it has a touch screen).

When it comes to external ports, those have changed a great deal of late. I hook my computer up to a large Screen TV, which requires an HDMI port, and those are disappearing on thinner laptops. Then USB ports are of use for some things. I have two USB-A ports, one of which has a Bluetooth dongle inserted for an external keyboard and mouse. The other has a 2 terabyte HDD drive attached, whichI have been moving from computer to computer for almost two decades now. I also have a solid state card inserted in the external memory card slot.

You should focus only on the highest processsing speed for the CPU and GPU, the most storage and working ram that is within your price range as well as the most ram available to the GPU (anything less than 4GB for graphics use is probably going to slow down rendering considerably (more is better).

I understand your frustration. Buying a new laptop can be a daunting task. I have done it enough times to know, having worked with at least a 1/2 dozen different ones over my lifetime and that does not incluse desktops. I am happy to answer any and all questions you may have if my post only succeeds in confusing you even more.

I hope you find one that suits your needs and that you are happy with.

 

[Pink Jazz]

I have this one, the HP OMEN 17z-db000.

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/pdp/c...op-pc-a7jp9av-?catEntryId=3074457345621934320

If you decide on going this though, don't pay HP's markup for RAM, SSD, and Wi-Fi card upgrades; it's much cheaper to buy these upgraded components yourself. You can get more RAM, a bigger and better SSD, and a faster Wi-Fi card for significantly less. I installed 64GB Crucial RAM, a 2TB Crucial T500 SSD, and a Qualcomm NCM865 Wi-Fi 7 card (extracted from an MSI Herald BE Wi-Fi 7 MAX card). Note that Windows 11 doesn't include native drivers for the Qualcomm Wi-Fi card; you can download these drivers from the MSI website and install them on a flash drive.