ramenconsumer
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2020
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
Hi there,
I'll be enrolling into a university as a Computer Science major later on this year. I've seen some recommendations floating around for CS majors to get a Macbook, but I would prefer a Windows OS laptop.
Some things to note,
1. Portability is a huge consideration since I'll have to carry it around for 4 years.
2. Will probably be dual booting ubuntu (No idea how to use it, will probably learn and play around with it in the future)
3. Heard that 8GB RAM is sufficient for my degree, but 16GB is the sweet spot
4. 512GB of storage would be a minimum for me
5. Will not be doing any gaming on it, purely for work/studies
So far, I have narrowed it down to 5 different laptops, would appreciate the advice/feedback or additional recommendations.
* [Dell XPS 13](https://www.dell.com/en-sg/shop/lap...ilver/spd/xps-13-9300-laptop/w5170131100sgw10) $2099 SGD
Bit pricey for my taste, and the 8GB of RAM bothers me a bit. However, the overabundant of praises and recommendations I have seen for the XPS 13 in regards to the build quality and overall performance seems to make up for it. It costs $450 SGD more to upgrade this model to a better one with 16GB RAM and a better CPU, so that's probably out of my budget.
* [Asus Vivobook S14](https://sg.store.asus.com/asus-vivobook-s14-s433jq-eb098t-indie-black.html) $1498
Comes with a slightly better CPU as compared to the aforementioned XPS13, 1TB storage is a bonus as well (Although I probably don't need so much space) and most importantly it is about $600 SGD cheaper than the XPS. 8GB RAM as well, so that bothers me too. And also slightly heavier as compared to the XPS. Only issue I have is I used to own a Asus Zenbook for my poly, and I encountered some build quality issues, so the brand image in my mind is slightly tarnished. This was originally the laptop I was going to buy, before I did my research on the others, seems like the most bang for buck.
* [Lenovo ThinkPad T495s](https://www.lenovo.com/sg/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-t-series/T495s/p/22TP2TT495S) $1539 SGD
CPU benchmark for this one seems worse than the XPS13's. About the same weight as the XPS. Has 16GB of RAM, so that's a plus for me. Other than that, heard that their keyboards are pretty good (Not that important to me).
* [Dell Inspiron 5593](https://laptopmedia.com/review/dell-inspiron-5593-review-does-it-have-the-balance/) $1398 SGD
Hardware seems good on paper, but I noticed some reviews criticizing it for the build quality and battery life.
* [Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FLC](https://sg.store.asus.com/asus-zenbook-14-ux433flc-a5258r.html) $1898 SGD
CPU better than the XPS. 16GB RAM is nice but its DDR3. Only problem here is same as the Vivobook above, had some past build quality issues with a Zenbook that I used to own.
I'll be enrolling into a university as a Computer Science major later on this year. I've seen some recommendations floating around for CS majors to get a Macbook, but I would prefer a Windows OS laptop.
Some things to note,
1. Portability is a huge consideration since I'll have to carry it around for 4 years.
2. Will probably be dual booting ubuntu (No idea how to use it, will probably learn and play around with it in the future)
3. Heard that 8GB RAM is sufficient for my degree, but 16GB is the sweet spot
4. 512GB of storage would be a minimum for me
5. Will not be doing any gaming on it, purely for work/studies
So far, I have narrowed it down to 5 different laptops, would appreciate the advice/feedback or additional recommendations.
* [Dell XPS 13](https://www.dell.com/en-sg/shop/lap...ilver/spd/xps-13-9300-laptop/w5170131100sgw10) $2099 SGD
Bit pricey for my taste, and the 8GB of RAM bothers me a bit. However, the overabundant of praises and recommendations I have seen for the XPS 13 in regards to the build quality and overall performance seems to make up for it. It costs $450 SGD more to upgrade this model to a better one with 16GB RAM and a better CPU, so that's probably out of my budget.
* [Asus Vivobook S14](https://sg.store.asus.com/asus-vivobook-s14-s433jq-eb098t-indie-black.html) $1498
Comes with a slightly better CPU as compared to the aforementioned XPS13, 1TB storage is a bonus as well (Although I probably don't need so much space) and most importantly it is about $600 SGD cheaper than the XPS. 8GB RAM as well, so that bothers me too. And also slightly heavier as compared to the XPS. Only issue I have is I used to own a Asus Zenbook for my poly, and I encountered some build quality issues, so the brand image in my mind is slightly tarnished. This was originally the laptop I was going to buy, before I did my research on the others, seems like the most bang for buck.
* [Lenovo ThinkPad T495s](https://www.lenovo.com/sg/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-t-series/T495s/p/22TP2TT495S) $1539 SGD
CPU benchmark for this one seems worse than the XPS13's. About the same weight as the XPS. Has 16GB of RAM, so that's a plus for me. Other than that, heard that their keyboards are pretty good (Not that important to me).
* [Dell Inspiron 5593](https://laptopmedia.com/review/dell-inspiron-5593-review-does-it-have-the-balance/) $1398 SGD
Hardware seems good on paper, but I noticed some reviews criticizing it for the build quality and battery life.
* [Asus Zenbook 14 UX433FLC](https://sg.store.asus.com/asus-zenbook-14-ux433flc-a5258r.html) $1898 SGD
CPU better than the XPS. 16GB RAM is nice but its DDR3. Only problem here is same as the Vivobook above, had some past build quality issues with a Zenbook that I used to own.
Last edited:
