Asus G53S Vs Current Ultrabooks 1200 budget

[Squander]

I travel a ton. I do video editing, photoshop touch up work, and I play games. FF14 and it's likely I'll pick up legacy of the void.

My current laptop is a 15in Asus G53s with a 560m 2gb 1TB (8lbs without the powerbrick!)
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-G53-Series.38877.0.html

Due to video and photoshop work I need a lot of space. I have 1TB completely filled right now. Because I travel a lot, I need a rugged computer that can handle me falling off my bike, and because I travel a lot, I really want to get a light laptop this time.

Anything I get will upgrade me to windows 10. As such, I want it to be touch screen.

SDcard reader and usb slots are important to me as people give me cards all the time for different projects. I use a gaming mouse.

Given these constraints, what would you recommend? Other than size and weight I've really enjoyed my ASUS. I don't feel like I need more power, and I am under the impression that I could get away without a dedicated graphics card. Do you think I'm fooling myself?

If I wait till Dec. I could probably up my budget. But the ASUS is old, and it's time for it to go. I am also open to the idea of getting a cheap laptop and constraining my video editing work to home. But over the last couple years, I've enjoyed the freedom of working on any project I wanted while on vacation or out and about.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you want a semi-rugged laptop that is relatively light then consider a 14" ThinkPad T450s. It is designed for "typical" rough handling. Not as rugged as Panasonic ToughBooks, but a hell of a lot cheaper since Toughbooks basically start at around $2k and they are relatively large and heavy, then again, they can take a good amount of punishment. The T450s weighs in at 3.5lbs.

The T450s is not exactly inexpensive either. The base least expensive model is $953, but it only comes with a 500GB hard drive and a 1600x900 resolution TN screen. The 1,052 model has a 1920x1080 resolution IPS screen. Unfortunately, the only upgrade option is the CPU. Around this time of the year (near holiday season) Lenovo removes most or all upgrade options to reduce the time it takes to customize orders and ship them.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t450s/?action=testD


There is no option for a dedicated GPU, but integrated graphics should be fine for Photoshop. I not sure how well or poorly the Intel HD 5500 will be able to handle FF14. It has a standard 2.5" SATA III drive bay for the 500GB HDD. It also has two m.2 slots for m.2 format SSDs. A m.2 SSD has a max capacity of 512GB.


Perhaps the 14" ThinkPad Yoga 14 could be an alternative for $859. However, it is not a semi-rugged convertible laptop. There are no options to configure it. You buy it as is. Core i5-5200u, 1TB HDD + 16GB m.2 SSD cache, nVidia 940m, 1080p IPS touchscreen. I suppose there may be an option to disable the single m.2 slot so that a SSD will not be used as a cache drive so that you can install a 512GB m.2 SSD and use it as a separate drive. It weighs in at 4.2lbs.

http/shop.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/yoga-series/yoga-14/


The 940m is not a powerful GPU, but it is more powerful than the Intel HD 5500 graphics core.

 

[Squander]

I not sure how well or poorly the Intel HD 5500 will be able to handle FF14

It looks like the 5500 gets about 1/2 the fps of the 560m. Going from an i7 2670 to a 5200U is a significant downgrade too.

Seems I need to up my budget if I want to stay on par but get lighter. Or ditch the lighter aspect. Or deal with a downgrade.

Everyone I know who has a thinkpad loves it.

 

[Squander]

How do you feel about this?

http/www.costco.com/HP-ENVY-15t-Slim-Quad-Touchscreen-Laptop-%7c-Intel-Core-i7-%7c-4GB-Graphics-%7c-Backlit-Keyboard-%7c-1080p-%7c-Office-365-Personal---1-yr.product.100233080.html

 

[jaguarskx]

The HP has good specs. Definitely more powerful than the ThinkPad and your current laptop.

However, I suggested the ThinkPad T450s because you stated the following in your original post:

I need a rugged computer that can handle me falling off my bike

A ThinkPad has a much higher chance of surviving a fall than a typical laptop like the HP Envy.