Looking for a good laptop

[Rawan_]

HP Pavilion Convertible, Intel Core i7, 8GB DDR4, 1TB HDD with 8GB SSHD, NVIDIA GeForce 4GB. Is this laptop with these specifications a good one? I think it's cost is in the range of $800. I honestly don't know if it's a good one. I use the laptop a lot in gaming and all sorts of things, but I play light games and not so much playing so I need a good laptop with high performance but in the same time I'm a student so I need it with a resonable price. So, is this good? If not, any ideas what could be better? Thanks

 

[gondo]

NVidia Geforce means nothing when it comes to video. You need to know the exact model of video to determine it's gaming performance. 1060m, 1070m, etc....

A Hybrid hard drive is a compromise between speed and capacity. Optimal would be an SSD in the 256GB range for speed and reliability, then for storage use an external drive or USB thumb drive. If on board storage is required then the hybrid drive works as you really have no choice unless you spend tons of cash on a super high capacity SSD.

Other than that the specs look alright. An I7 may be overkill and a laptop with an I5 may be better suited and the money put towards better video? It's tough to do cause laptops come preconfigured and you often must take what it comes with.

Also look at the screen size/resolution. Some people get low cost 4k laptops only to realize that the poor video performance can't game on that resolution. Others get a low cost laptop and it's only 720p. Make sure it's 1080p. Better laptops will have a better screen such as IPS, matte finish, anti-glare, etc...

Also look at the touch pad. Some brands are horrible and others perform very well. This is a big plus of Apple laptops. Their touchpads work very well and people love them. Try it out and see how you like the performance of the touchpad and keyboard. Make sure you like the layout of the keyboard and the performance of the built in speakers.

Other than that shop around. Personally I like Asus laptops for in store availability. And if ordering online I'm a big Sager fan.

 

[Rawan_]

@gondo wow it's waaay more complicated than I thought. I'm not a tech person so I don't get half of that. But I'll try to spot them when I'm searching for a laptop. Thanks a million!!

 

[gondo]

Not a tech person. Then keep this in mind:

- 8GB of RAM is enough.
- Look for a 1080p screen.
- Don't stress about the hard drive as it can easily be changed in the future or if it ever dies which will happen eventually.
- For video keep in mind that GTX 1060 is the best for 1080p screen resolution when gaming. Any more such as a 1070 or 1080 is not required (but nice), and any less is not as good. If you plan on any serious gaming try to budget for a GTX 1060.
- Don't worry about the CPU. Any laptop with GTX1060 will have either an I5 or I7 which is adequate.
- Consider an extended warranty since you can't just easily swap a motherboard or monitor on a laptop. It's adds to the price but you'll be glad you have it if you need it. By default there is only 1 year and it's nice to have the 3.
- Don't worry about the price, get what you want and enjoy the hell out of it.