- Apr 21, 2015
- 3
- 0
- 4,510
Hello everyone! My current laptop is reaching the end of its life, and I've been wanting a more powerful machine for a long time. I originally was going to try and build my own PC (and got some great advice from folks on this website), but a change in my job means that I will be traveling one day every week or so to meet/work with a big client, and therefore need the portability of a laptop.
I would love for some advice on what the best machine would be for my needs!
1. What is your budget?
$1,500 or less is the goal, BUT I could go up to $1,700 or $1,800 if there was a significant benefit in doing so
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Larger than 14 inches
3. What screen resolution do you want?
I'm unfortunately ignorant in this regard. As a designer (and someone who appreciates beautiful games), I DO want to be able to see things very clearly.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm looking for power, so I suppose a desktop replacement. But it should be able to be moved periodically (weight isn't a huge issue for me, but I'm not sure if some heavy-duty laptops are not supposed to be moved around much).
5. How much battery life do you need?
At least 4 hours
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I definitely want to be able to play games that have come out in the last year on at LEAST medium settings (high if possible). My poor old laptop couldn't handle many games, so I'm going to catch up on the games I've missed out on since 2007 and enjoy some of the newest games too. Games I know that I would like to play are:
Skyrim
Crysis
No Man's Sky
Fallout 4
Civilization 5
Civilization 4 (there are a few intense mods that my laptop cannot fully handle such as Caveman2Cosmos)
Crusader Kings 2
Stellaris
Endless Space 2
Minecraft (using shaders and far render distance)
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I am a graphic designer, so I need to be able to fully utilize the adobe creative suite. My ideal laptop should be able to have both Illustrator and Photoshop open at the same time with multiple files open. I may also get into flash and other forms of animation down the road, and possibly final cut pro.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I was aiming for 1TB with my desktop build, but I'm open to advice if 1TB seems unreasonable.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I was considering the Alienware 17, here is the link: http
/www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-17-r3/pd?oc=dkcwg02m&model_id=alienware-17-r3
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
6 years or more (I'm usually pretty gentle with my laptops)
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I think I'll just buy an external optical drive since I've read that a lot of the kinds of laptops I'm looking for don't have built in ones.
12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
My current laptop is a dell, and I've had a fairly good experience with them. I'm fairly open in terms of brand though.
13. What country do you live in?
I live in America.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Here's a little nitpick: I'm a little hesitant to get a laptop with the extra number pad on the right of the keyboard. I'll deal with it if the laptop has everything else that I need, but it would be amazing if I could find one that did not have the extraneous (imo) number pad.
I am (if you couldn't already tell) not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to computers, so I would truly appreciate any help that you folks could provide.
ALSO, one last question/note: Would there be any benefit to creating my dream desktop that could handle both graphic design and gaming (which was going to cost me about $1,500) and then also buying a less expensive laptop that would work well for graphic design but would not run games? I suspect it would cost too much to do so though, since that would probably bring the cost for both up to at least $2,100 I'm thinking.
I would love for some advice on what the best machine would be for my needs!
1. What is your budget?
$1,500 or less is the goal, BUT I could go up to $1,700 or $1,800 if there was a significant benefit in doing so
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Larger than 14 inches
3. What screen resolution do you want?
I'm unfortunately ignorant in this regard. As a designer (and someone who appreciates beautiful games), I DO want to be able to see things very clearly.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm looking for power, so I suppose a desktop replacement. But it should be able to be moved periodically (weight isn't a huge issue for me, but I'm not sure if some heavy-duty laptops are not supposed to be moved around much).
5. How much battery life do you need?
At least 4 hours
6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
I definitely want to be able to play games that have come out in the last year on at LEAST medium settings (high if possible). My poor old laptop couldn't handle many games, so I'm going to catch up on the games I've missed out on since 2007 and enjoy some of the newest games too. Games I know that I would like to play are:
Skyrim
Crysis
No Man's Sky
Fallout 4
Civilization 5
Civilization 4 (there are a few intense mods that my laptop cannot fully handle such as Caveman2Cosmos)
Crusader Kings 2
Stellaris
Endless Space 2
Minecraft (using shaders and far render distance)
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I am a graphic designer, so I need to be able to fully utilize the adobe creative suite. My ideal laptop should be able to have both Illustrator and Photoshop open at the same time with multiple files open. I may also get into flash and other forms of animation down the road, and possibly final cut pro.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
I was aiming for 1TB with my desktop build, but I'm open to advice if 1TB seems unreasonable.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I was considering the Alienware 17, here is the link: http
/www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-17-r3/pd?oc=dkcwg02m&model_id=alienware-17-r310. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
6 years or more (I'm usually pretty gentle with my laptops)
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I think I'll just buy an external optical drive since I've read that a lot of the kinds of laptops I'm looking for don't have built in ones.
12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
My current laptop is a dell, and I've had a fairly good experience with them. I'm fairly open in terms of brand though.
13. What country do you live in?
I live in America.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
Here's a little nitpick: I'm a little hesitant to get a laptop with the extra number pad on the right of the keyboard. I'll deal with it if the laptop has everything else that I need, but it would be amazing if I could find one that did not have the extraneous (imo) number pad.
I am (if you couldn't already tell) not the sharpest crayon in the box when it comes to computers, so I would truly appreciate any help that you folks could provide.
ALSO, one last question/note: Would there be any benefit to creating my dream desktop that could handle both graphic design and gaming (which was going to cost me about $1,500) and then also buying a less expensive laptop that would work well for graphic design but would not run games? I suspect it would cost too much to do so though, since that would probably bring the cost for both up to at least $2,100 I'm thinking.
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