Recommendation for Laptop

[notsomebody1989]

Hi

Would like to seek recommendation for laptop. Budget not more than $3k. Not sure if can get the specs I wanted, all comments welcomed!

Went down to SimLim and was recommended Dell G5 at $2.8k but wanted to see if there are more recommendation.

Specs I would like:
CPU: 8th Gen is fine (9th Gen better)
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1TB SSD + 1TB SSD (ideal), 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD (okay)
Graphics: Rarely game nowadays (any is fine)
Weight: not more than 2.5kg

TIA!

 

[tjrsasea]

Hi

Would like to seek recommendation for laptop. Budget not more than $3k. Not sure if can get the specs I wanted, all comments welcomed!

Went down to SimLim and was recommended Dell G5 at $2.8k but wanted to see if there are more recommendation.

Specs I would like:
CPU: 8th Gen is fine (9th Gen better)
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1TB SSD + 1TB SSD (ideal), 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD (okay)
Graphics: Rarely game nowadays (any is fine)
Weight: not more than 2.5kg

TIA!

What is the purpose of getting a laptop of this specs btw? Are you looking to do video editing? Or game? (which i guess not since you said you are not gaming and any graphics card is fine)

Normal video streaming or browsing or document processing dont require 32gb of ram or so much SSD storage. Tbh its best to tell us ur use case for us to recommend you the specs, if not you are just buying a high end laptop for nothing and wasting money.

Unless of course money is not an issue to you and you just want the specs for the sake of having the specs..

 

[notsomebody1989]

What is the purpose of getting a laptop of this specs btw? Are you looking to do video editing? Or game? (which i guess not since you said you are not gaming and any graphics card is fine)

Normal video streaming or browsing or document processing dont require 32gb of ram or so much SSD storage. Tbh its best to tell us ur use case for us to recommend you the specs, if not you are just buying a high end laptop for nothing and wasting money.

Unless of course money is not an issue to you and you just want the specs for the sake of having the specs..

Thanks for your reminder that I left out the purpose. Im intending to use it for personal and work. It will be my primary machine.

Understand most will recommend to separate work/personal, personal preference not to deal with 2 different machines.

For work, run some VMs, up to 5 at a time. Apart from that, doc processing etc are not worth mentioning.

For personal, some video/photo editing. Large storage to store as well. additional 1TB SSD is for performance sake, but 1TB HDD is fine too. Occasional gaming, but non-priority.

Lastly, hoping not to open and upgrade for next 3 years so go for higher specs.

 

[tutonic]

Lenovo A485 specs below for $1538.25 since got PCDEAL promo on Lenovo website, which gives it 500bucks discount. Plus, you get 3 year onsite warranty for 1 dollar by Lenovo.

Ryzen 7 2700U
Win 10 Pro 64bit
14 inch 1080p touch/no touch (40bucks difference only)
32gb ram
radeon vega graphics
Fingerprint reader (for the lols since it's only 12 bucks)
Max config (size-wise) is either 128ssd + 1tb HD or 128ssd + 512ssd.
Max laptop battery upgrades
65w charger
weight is 1.58kg or thereabout.


Just something to consider.. the only 'downside' is that there's no 1tb SSD option for this model.


EDIT:

Another one to consider is Lenovo E595 since it uses the newer gen Ryzen 3700U instead of 2700U above.

Ryzen 7 3700U
win 10 pro 64bit
32gb ram
2tb HDD + 512gb SSD
15.6inch 1080p screen
65w charger

weight around 1.75kg (slightly heavier)

Price is $1460.30 after PCDEAL discount, so this one slightly more worth it, since you can get larger storage and newer processor but there's very marginal difference between the 2700u and 3700u since they are both U series processors.



If you want Intel, there's the L480

i7 8550u (since it costs the same as i5 8350u)
win 10 pro 64bit
14 inch 1080p screen
32gb ram
AMD Radeon 530 graphics card (around MX150 equivalent so can game a tiny bit)
Backlit keyboard
Storage is very lacking here since they only have 512gb SSD
weight is around 1.7kg.

Price is $1,961.53


Long story cut short: basically, if you're looking for a high powered machine that can last minimum 3 years, look at the thinkpads (focus on E and A series since they are the cheaper few). They are relatively light and are really rugged machines (and obviously, have the amongst best keyboard experience in laptops, hands down).

Ryzen is VERY cheap on Lenovo website now because of the PCDEAL promotion. Maxed out config gives you something like $500+ discount, so it's something to consider. I don't know when the promo is ending ah, so you need to google a bit more for that.

 

[tjrsasea]

Thanks for your reminder that I left out the purpose. Im intending to use it for personal and work. It will be my primary machine.

Understand most will recommend to separate work/personal, personal preference not to deal with 2 different machines.

For work, run some VMs, up to 5 at a time. Apart from that, doc processing etc are not worth mentioning.

For personal, some video/photo editing. Large storage to store as well. additional 1TB SSD is for performance sake, but 1TB HDD is fine too. Occasional gaming, but non-priority.

Lastly, hoping not to open and upgrade for next 3 years so go for higher specs.

I see, thanks for the clarification. I would choose a laptop with discrete graphics card cos you will be doing some video editing as well. As such, I have configured a laptop for you from aftershock. Its slightly over your budget but meets all the specs you want. If you don't need 2x 1TB SSD you definitely can opt for a 1TB HDD instead of the SSD to reduce the cost. This comes with a 2 years warranty and is around $3100+ with the specs as below.


Aftershock APEX 15

WARRANTY PACKAGE : 2 Years Parts Warranty (Onsite Pickup and Return)
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT: Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Processor (6 Core 9th Generation Processor)
GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
Display : 15.6 Inch 144HZ FHD Premium AHVA / IPS Wide Color Display (1920x1080)
MEMORY (NOTEBOOK RAM) : 32GB (16GB X 2) DDR4 2666MHZ (Dual Channel)
KEYBOARD : Brown Tactile Mechanical Keyboard With Per Key RGB (Silent Tactile Feedback)
M.2 SSD BAY: 1000GB M.2 NVME ULTRA FAST SSD (Read Speed: 3400mb/s | Write speed : 3000mb/s)
Secondary Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 860 EVO SSD
WI-FI BLUETOOTH : Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 9560 (High Performance WIFI)

 

[notsomebody1989]

Thanks tjrsasea & tutonic for your recommendations!

I will take a look and update my decision! Meanwhile, if there are more comments, feel free to add on.

 

[Anything_Whatever]

I see, thanks for the clarification. I would choose a laptop with discrete graphics card cos you will be doing some video editing as well. As such, I have configured a laptop for you from aftershock. Its slightly over your budget but meets all the specs you want. If you don't need 2x 1TB SSD you definitely can opt for a 1TB HDD instead of the SSD to reduce the cost. This comes with a 2 years warranty and is around $3100+ with the specs as below.


Aftershock APEX 15

WARRANTY PACKAGE : 2 Years Parts Warranty (Onsite Pickup and Return)
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT: Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Processor (6 Core 9th Generation Processor)
GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
Display : 15.6 Inch 144HZ FHD Premium AHVA / IPS Wide Color Display (1920x1080)
MEMORY (NOTEBOOK RAM) : 32GB (16GB X 2) DDR4 2666MHZ (Dual Channel)
KEYBOARD : Brown Tactile Mechanical Keyboard With Per Key RGB (Silent Tactile Feedback)
M.2 SSD BAY: 1000GB M.2 NVME ULTRA FAST SSD (Read Speed: 3400mb/s | Write speed : 3000mb/s)
Secondary Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 860 EVO SSD
WI-FI BLUETOOTH : Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 9560 (High Performance WIFI)

What is the weight of this configuration? Like not very portable....
Aftershock power adaptor is really like .... a brick!

 

[tjrsasea]

What is the weight of this configuration? Like not very portable....
Aftershock power adaptor is really like .... a brick!

Listed as 1.95kg for this model. Different configurations would have a different weight so worst case +- 0.5kg? Its light for its specs le!

Not surprising to have a heavier power adaptor as this config is pretty powerful and the adaptor have to supply the required power. If not the battery will drain when plugged in when gaming.

 

[Lil_d3viLz]

I was looking at high end brands like Asus Gigabyte MSI till i realise retailers in SG charges a whopping 40% more than retailers in other countries. Ebay Amazon Ezbuy all cheaper than SG.
For laptop, we have 1 year of international warranty. That should be enough. I ain't paying 40% for local warranty, just so that some local distributors can earn such money.
Laptop voltage isn't an issue since we received 100v to 240v power adapter as laptop users travel around the world.

Feel that in SG, no matter what we buy, there is always a much cheaper alternative overseas.
Gonna buy laptop either in TW or US or Aus when I go overseas.

 

[Ark Law]

I was looking at high end brands like Asus Gigabyte MSI till i realise retailers in SG charges a whopping 40% more than retailers in other countries. Ebay Amazon Ezbuy all cheaper than SG.
For laptop, we have 1 year of international warranty. That should be enough. I ain't paying 40% for local warranty, just so that some local distributors can earn such money.
Laptop voltage isn't an issue since we received 100v to 240v power adapter as laptop users travel around the world.

Feel that in SG, no matter what we buy, there is always a much cheaper alternative overseas.
Gonna buy laptop either in TW or US or Aus when I go overseas.

For work purposes, 1 year is too short. Must get those with extendable warranty.

 

[HolyInnocents]

I see, thanks for the clarification. I would choose a laptop with discrete graphics card cos you will be doing some video editing as well. As such, I have configured a laptop for you from aftershock. Its slightly over your budget but meets all the specs you want. If you don't need 2x 1TB SSD you definitely can opt for a 1TB HDD instead of the SSD to reduce the cost. This comes with a 2 years warranty and is around $3100+ with the specs as below.


Aftershock APEX 15

WARRANTY PACKAGE : 2 Years Parts Warranty (Onsite Pickup and Return)
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT: Intel® Core™ i7-9750H Processor (6 Core 9th Generation Processor)
GRAPHICS CARD: NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6
Display : 15.6 Inch 144HZ FHD Premium AHVA / IPS Wide Color Display (1920x1080)
MEMORY (NOTEBOOK RAM) : 32GB (16GB X 2) DDR4 2666MHZ (Dual Channel)
KEYBOARD : Brown Tactile Mechanical Keyboard With Per Key RGB (Silent Tactile Feedback)
M.2 SSD BAY: 1000GB M.2 NVME ULTRA FAST SSD (Read Speed: 3400mb/s | Write speed : 3000mb/s)
Secondary Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 860 EVO SSD
WI-FI BLUETOOTH : Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 9560 (High Performance WIFI)

but the battery life is...2-3hrs

 

[tjrsasea]

but the battery life is...2-3hrs

Well, you cant have a performance laptop with super good battery life. I've never used this laptop before but if 2-3 hours with the specs under load is considered nt bad le. Plus this laptop is not that hravy compared to others.

 

[notsomebody1989]

Thanks all for the reply. Just to update since I have already bought my laptop.

So over the weekend, I saw this deal and decided to get it. APEX-15 was a strong contender due to the value it offers but then battery life was a deal-breaker. Though Aero 15 do not possess that specs I wanted, but for ram and SSD, I can easily buy additional from online and put them in myself.

Gigabyte Aero Classic 15-SA FHD
CPU: i7-9750H
RAM: 16GB Samsung DDR4 2666MHz
SSD: 512GB
GPU: 1660 ti
Display: 15.6" 144Hz
Battery: 94Wh

All for the price of $2,599 which I thought is a steal. (i may be wrong)