Laptop Recommendations, ~$1,250 (flexible budget, spring 2020)
I am looking for work/personal laptop recommendations. I currently use an older, middle of the road Dell Inspiron (maybe paid ~$450 four years ago or so) that is near the end of its useful life. I'm not super techy so hoping you guys could help me out
I will use this new laptop for work (M&A analyst, some freelance work, light coding - may finally dabble in e-comm, etc.) and some personal but personal use will be light (web browsing, light streaming, etc.).
The main use will be grinding through some 30+ MB files, using the CapIQ plug-in (doesn't even work on my current laptop!), models with a lot of tabs/calcs running through, etc.
I figure I will need at least 16GB of RAM so I can have, for example, a model, a CIM draft, email, and internet (and probably more programs) running with minimal interruption.
I was told to get an SSD hard-drive if possible, seems like 512MB is in the sweet spot of my budget.
How anal should I be to make sure I have a 10th generation Intel processor?
I have a 15 inch laptop now and I'm conflicted on if I want to stay that size (number pad is nice) but 13 inch would be a lot more convenient to carry (and I usually have a monitor and keyboard when I'm heavily working so need for a number pad isn't really a deciding factor). Not a huge factor but guess I am leaning towards 13/14 inch for my next one.
Budget: Would like to spend around $1,000 but would go up to $1,500 for the right laptop.
Any other considerations do you think I should factor in when deciding?
Any specific recommendations? I like Dell's and might be biased towards them but open to suggestions. No Macs. I had a Lenovo briefly and it was okay but I didn't love the FN key placement. I'm scouring for a deal on a Dell XPS but should I just get a high-end Inspiron with all the specs if weight doesn't matter so much to me? Might be nice though.
I am limiting myself somewhat but I had a hell of a time returning a laptop from Amazon a few years ago (missing pixels in the screen, returned in less than a month) since it was from a 3rd party so I am really leaning towards buying direct or from a place like Microcenter. I would like to avoid Best Buy but I suppose I would prefer that to Amazon...
Thanks!
I’m a big MacBook fan personally, but I don’t really use MS Office much anymore. Coding is much, much easier on Linux or MacOS machines. Not impossible on Windows, just added layers of complexity and installations.
How is the newest MacBook Pro that just got released? Huge MacBook fan here too and intend to use it for banking (Windows bootcamp) plus some personal (though very minimal) entertainment content but not sure if it is a waste of computing capabilities.
Get a custom made laptop... I made one a little while ago with slightly higher specs than you have said and it came to around £1.2k.
Just google custom laptops and there’s loads of places that’ll do it for you
Go lenovo and change the F-key such that they are F-native keys without having to use the FN button unless you want to use they “old functionality” - ie change sound/brightness etc. I did that on mine and it does wonders.
Dell XPS are pretty good
Have you considered a Microsoft Surface Pro? It's towards the top of your range, but you can get an i5, 16GB, 256GB for $1200, and the i7 upgrade is $100 more. (add in another $100 for the type cover) I know its not as much storage as you want, but it has a microSD slot, and you can get a 256GB microSD card for $30 and just drop less used items on it. I can vouch that the microSD slot is fast enough for 1080P movies.
My base model Gen 6 w/ 8GB and an i5 can run my Bloomberg Terminal reasonably on 1-2 monitors. I have no idea why you'd need more for CapIQ, although I can bog it down by trying to run BB, M* Direct and FactSet simultaneously with a big excel file or three.
Elementary question but did you guys buy all new keyboards, mouse, etc. with the laptops switching to the USB-C ports now? I have been looking at an XPS but wondered if Lenovo still had some of the old USB ports where I wouldn't have to buy all new stuff.
Bro what the fuck? I you're gonna spend $1000+ on a computer, just build your own PC. I did this year and I love it. Great for everything, faster, bigger screen, etc.
How hard is it to build a pc for someone who is illiterate in tech? I understand basic specs but only use console for gaming and a MacBook for college.
I was basically illiterate in tech as well, but if you spend some time watching videos on PC building, it's kinda fun. Once I actually started building my PC, I foound that it was a lot simpler than I thought: all you do is buy the components, plug everything in, and you're basically good to go.
Building a PC is like building an Excel model. Find the inputs, find someone to guide you or a set of instructions, and plug and chug.
Just a general question. What is the purpose of a personal laptop that’s 1.2k? What will it do that your iPhone and a 200$ cheap computer can’t do? Can’t believe people waste this kind of money on this.
Bruh, my work laptop is somewhere north of $2k. (I can't tell the exact size of the SSD since we have really good VPN integration and my functional disk space is essentially infinity) Spending a decent chunk of change is not a bad idea.
I will echo the idea of a BYO desktop for home though. My 5+ year old one doubles as a home movie server and my bedroom TV.
$200 laptops are shit, $400 laptops are meh, $600 laptops are pretty good
reddit.com/r/laptopdeals
i7, 8+GB of ram and good build quality and you're good to go
Honestly, I'd be fine with dropping down to an i5 for 16GB of ram. AMD's also been killing it lately after many years of suckage post-K8. I'd honestly been worrying about the company's survival, but right now they might even be the preferred option.
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