Looking for a laptop with the trackpad in the center

[robinnoodle]

My last laptop's screen cracked beyond repair over a year ago. It was purchased in 2010 and was quite slow so it wasn't worth trying to fix it. I have been without a pc ever since. Someone in my family has graciously offered to help me pay for part of a new one as a Christmas present. I'm finding difficulty finding a laptop that has (or can be customized to have at a non cost prohibitive price) all the features I need. The catch is it also needs to feature a trackpad in the middle. I find the off center ones incredibly difficult to work with. My ideal screen size is 14" but I can go up to , 15.1", or 17.3" if necessary. I don't really care about resolution of the screen at all (minimal glare would be good though).

I do a lot of multitasking so 8 gb of ram _at minimum_ would be necessary

Processor: I want this to be somewhat future proof so at least 7th gen i5 or higher

Graphics: I would like discreet graphics able to handle atleast some light gaming and picture editing (photo shop etc.)

Brand: Hp is my preferred brand but I am willing to consider others

Hard drive: I would prefer SSD or the ability to upgrade to SSD (at least 128 gb)

OS: Windows 10 Home or Pro

Budget: My biggest concern is that it's a good value for the amount of features that it has. I.e. not paying more than it's worth. I also need to factor in upgrades if those need to be made. I would say around 1000 USD but I could maybe go a little higher for the perfect laptop.

Sorry for drolling on with the excessively long post, and thanks in advance for any ideas you all might have... Cheers!




-Robin

 

[GreyCatz]

Hello, Robin:

TRACKPAD:
Before spending any money, I advise you to do a google search for 4 or 5 mainstream laptop brands. Type in e.g. 'laptop keyboard' or 'trackpad' and click 'Pictures'. You can now browse through hundreds of pictures and make a note of which brand comes closest to your requirement.

Off the top of my head, I imagine that some of Lenovo's 14" ThinkPads could be relevant because the trackpads are aligned with the red AcuPoint located in the middle of the keyboard. But it isn't exactly in the middle. Apple's MacBooks feature the largest trackpad areas in the business and they seem to hit dead-center.

SPECS:
It seems your work schedule is 2/3 productivity and 1/3 gaming. A 7th gen i5 is a good starting point and a dedicated 2GB GeForce 940MX unit should cover your graphics needs.

SSDs are much faster than mechanical HDDs but also noticeably more expensive. If you've been without a PC since 2010, the case could be made that you might as well go with a 1TB HDD and keep the change. With your budget, SSD storage typically maxes out at 256GBs.

If you want a reference laptop, there's this $966 Lenovo Flex 5 available from Amazon US:
https/www.amazon.com/dp/B0722DBHKM/ref=psdc_13896609011_t1_B06X1D4129

You get a 7th gen i7 CPU with a 2GB 940MX card. The 14" panel is a 2K touch-IPS screen and it actually comes with a 512GB SSD. At 6.35lbs it is a bit heavy and battery life will suffer from the IPS and touch functionality, so don't expect more than 5-6 hours of real-life work. But then there's the added practicality of the 2-in-1 flip design, so all in all it's quite a bargain and worth considering

Cheers,
GreyCatz.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you avoid systems with a num pad, you should find that the touchpad will be pretty centered in those systems. The issue is that many gaming laptops do include the num pad like this one https/www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i5-7300HQ-GeForce-i5577-5335BLK-PUS/dp/B06XFGDD8P/ref=dp_ob_title_ce this is probably the best all-around system for lower spec gaming but with still a pretty fast video card, an SSD and a good CPU.

If you do a web search for what you want, seems it's impossible to find a modern system, with a gaming grade video card, that does not have a num pad unless you go for a small screen.

If you want a "good value" going with an older model may not be good since you will have a slower CPU and video card for the same or more than a newer faster system, which pretty much locks you into a num pad and off-set touchpad.

Dell XPS 15 may be good, but it is on the higher price range http/www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/dell-laptops/xps-15/spd/xps-15-9560-laptop/dncwxb1641sv2