Apr 3, 2016
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Hey guys, I'm about to buy a new laptop for my course as an electrical engineer. I will probably use it mostly for autoCAD, matlab, and maybe... light gaming for about 5 years at least? And here's the two laptops that have caught my eyes, they're both from Asus, both of them are on sale for only $673.
1) Asus K501LX

  • i5 5200u
    4GB RAM DDR3
    500GB HDD 5200rpm with 1x m2 2280 slot
    GTX 950m DDR3 4GB VRAM
    3 cells 48Whrs battery
    2kg weight
    No DVD Drive
    FHD 15.6'' glossy TN screen
    https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/K501LX/


2) ASUS N551JQ-XO005D

  • i5 4200H
    4GB RAM
    1T HDD 7200rpm
    GT 845m 2GB VRAM DDR3
    6 cells 56Whrs battery
    2.7 kg weight
    DVD Drive
    HD 15.6'' matte IPS screen
    https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/N551JQ/specifications/


Apparently, the 1st model seems to be very light and therefore portable, plus it's also pretty new. But I've heard that the K series is not very good in built quality, some people even say that it's not right to put the ULV CPU with the gtx 950m due to bottlenecking.

The N series quality is said to be superior, even when compared to the same priced Dell laptop. I prefer these 2 laptops to others due to their innovative and elegant design, which Dell laptop cannot have in this price range.

I will probably move a lot, but I'm pretty concerned about having a light- weighted laptop that will seemingly break down after 2-3 years of use. And I will certainly pay for an additional $100-SSD, but for the N551JQ, I need to replace the DVD with the caddy bay. Is it actually a wise choice ? And what SSD should I choose ?

Edit: I would appreciate if you help me choose between the 2 laptops above. Other laptops recommendation is also good but please not over $800 (Pure SSD+ Pure HDD included)
;)
 
Solution



go with the second one, it has a better harddrive, a better processor, and it has a better battery far better. The gpu is older but it frankly wont matter as both will be about the same in performance and you wont be gaming so its fine.
Apr 3, 2016
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Thanks for your suggestion. But as I said before, I'm not into gaming, or rather, refrain from doing so. That's why I don't really want to buy a gaming-like laptop. Furthermore, the i7559 sure is stronger than what I listed, but it doesn't come with a ssd, To get an ssd, I have to pay $100, which is an additional $200 in total. For entertainment, I mostly listen to music or watch movies. Office work would certainly be writing code, using touchpad, so speaker / keyboard build quality is prefered... Anyway, thanks for the recommendation :wahoo:
 

BadActor

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Apr 3, 2016
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I know that the i7559 is more powerful but it takes $200 to get the specs I need. The pre-built i7559 comes with the hybrid drive only, which I don't really like. I just looked at the price in the local area and they're selling the i7559 for $942. I know it's a rip-off and the price on newegg seems more reasonable. Yet there are drawbacks from buying and shipping to my country. That's why I want to buy things in the store only.
 
Apr 3, 2016
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I can upgrade it whenever I want. It's not a serious matter since RAM is the easiest (maybe) component to upgrade :) . I just want to know what laptop to choose between the listed above
 

Purpletalon55

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Apr 2, 2016
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go with the second one, it has a better harddrive, a better processor, and it has a better battery far better. The gpu is older but it frankly wont matter as both will be about the same in performance and you wont be gaming so its fine.
 
Solution
Apr 3, 2016
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ok, should I go for a samsung evo 850 ? Or any other ssd ?
 

Purpletalon55

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Apr 2, 2016
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850 evo's are the most reliable drives. :)