Need a new laptop...advice?

[savage8190]

Im in the market for a new laptop for school. I have a great desktop at home for the majority of my gaming, and I have an older ultrabook that I am giving to my kids (I wont let my kids touch a computer with my work on it). Looking for some recommendations on the unicorn I am seemingly seeking.

1. What is your budget? About $2000 CDN max....less is better.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 15"

3. What screen resolution do you want? High as possible...minimum 1080p with a high quality screen. Nothing worse than staring at code all day on a garbage screen.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Powerful and portable? I dont want a 10 pound monster, but it doesnt need to be ultrabook small.

5. How much battery life do you need? Don't give a crap about battery when gaming...that would be plugged in. But I would like to get a solid 6 hours running regular productivity software and/or doing regular browsing.

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 would like to play games occasionally, nothing major, dont need ultra settings....thats what my desktop is for. As long as I can play some decent games here and there Im good....maybe something along the lines of a 1050ti or 1060 would be good as a minimum.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) I am starting a Comp. Sci major with heavy emphasis on software development. This will be my primary use.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? minimum 256gb SSD, with other storage option (1tb 7200rpm, or more ssd capacity). I have to use a number of larger programs.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Anything in Canada. Best Buy and Costco are more Ideal as I can try and return.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 4-5 years minimum.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? None

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. Im pretty open. I would like to avoid HP and Acer due to some poor past experiences but its not a deal breaker.

13. What country do you live in? Canada

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. MUST have a good keyboard with a number pad and MUST have a trackpad with actual buttons...I HATE the ones with no buttons. Prefer quad core or better. MUST have 16gb of RAM minimum. Would like it to have a smallish power adapter if possible (I dont mind carrying it with me but I dont want to lug a huge brick around). Theres a number of options that seem to suite my needs but finding a balance between nice display, decent power, and decent battery life is hard to find.

 

[savage8190]

Lets get it working.

1) before you install the drivers, make sure windows is updated
Because than you will have access to the latest drivers

2)I recommand you not to use software like smart update. but manually install the drivers
Its not just gigabyte but also msi and asus, the idea is cool but isn't working out so far in my experience.

75 degrees (celcius) and only 10% cpu usage means its at battery saving mode, set it to peformance mode.
insert the powercable?

that driver instalation shoudn't last that long.

keep asking your questions lets get this solved!

Updating Windows was the first thing I did. I usually just update everything manually but thought I'd give the software a whirl (was being a bit lazy because I just did this with the Asus lol). It actually peaked to 75 degrees when it was plugged in on performance mode.

I kept at it a bit last night and tested out running some different things and it seemed to calm down and settle to about 35 degrees idle/while browsing and watching youtube and stuff, which is more in line with what I would expect. Im wondering if it was something that was updating causing the spike, or the smart update software itself. Not sure, I'll run it through more tasks today.

if you think the system is running slow;

1. run a benchmark on it.
2. get CCleaner, and got the tools section , startup and remove all unneeded program that load on boot (often manufacturer have those apps loading. and I would also include in removal all those "preloading helping software from adobe etc.)
3. goto search type in "programs and features" and remove the bloatware install by "manufacturer"
4. defrag hard drive
reboot.

Aside from benchmarking (thanks for the reminder) those are already done. I usually do all this first thing while Windows is updating .


I'll be doing more of my usual work on it today. I'll also run some benchmarks and I'm going to test out how it handles a gaming session.

 

[superninja12]

Alright looking forward to your results!

 

[savage8190]

OK, I ran some benchmarks and its definitely not running slow, so that was just the update software. I haven't noticed any issues with slowness today so far.

As for the temps...when I let it sit running idle its typically sitting at about 35, which is good. BUT, it seems to just randomly spike...nothing extra running, every couple of minutes it will ramp up to about 45 for 30 seconds and then slowly come back down; weird, but still not brutally hot. My concern, is that I have noticed as soon as ANY load is put on the PC...for example I have this browser window open and Blizzard is updating...it sits at 50 minimum. That gets uncomfortable on the lap real fast.

I have done all these things in different power modes, unplugged, plugged in, on my lap, on a table...its pretty consistent. Its not hitting 70's yet, but mid 50's is a pretty high average again for only a 6% CPU load and the GPU disabled. This thing just runs hot. Gonna go play some games now and hope it doesn't go up in flames lol.

 

[WildCard999]

If you have the laptop on a soft surface such as your lap (blocking the vents) the system would probably have a hard time expelling that hot air which is probably the cause of your higher temp.

 

[savage8190]

If you have the laptop on a soft surface such as your lap (blocking the vents) the system would probably have a hard time expelling that hot air which is probably the cause of your higher temp.

Like I said, I tested this both in my lap (where I make sure not to block the vents....which is very awkward with this one), and on my desk. Im actually at my desk right now and nothing is running now...idle is 48)

 

[savage8190]

lol well that was laughable. I was just playing Destiny 2 for like 15 minutes and it froze about 6 times. CPU hit 90, GPU about 79....theres some issues with this thing.

 

[The Paladin]

Time to get a under laptop fan system

 

[savage8190]

No, its time to return this laptop too and try to drag a couple more years out of my HP. It has never failed me...as much as some of the things HP does drives me crazy, my last 2 HP's have been rock solid for the most part.

I dont think there's anything worth buying on the market right now unfortunately. Hopefully manufacturers start realizing that battery life matters now that they have the capability to address it...

 

[superninja12]

Good call on returning the laptop.

https/youtu.be/zGzkuwi0WAM?t=7m55s

How does the laptop compare that of the reviews? are ytou getting sort of the same product?

 

[savage8190]

Ya it seems to have been the same as the reviewer....hitting 90's and throttling, fans did nothing.

I thought about it for a couple days...I was going to just forget picking something up but I decided to just give up on the dream of decent battery life LOL.

There was a really good sale on the MSI GE63VR 7RE Raider. I quite like the look of it, has identical specs to the Asus Hero, except the keyboard is much nicer. I picked it up and Im testing it out now. It does have great cooling and the fans aren't obnoxiously loud, though it does idle hotter than the Asus I had (apparently 40-45 is normal for this one) it seems to handle the higher temps better. I'll give it a good run through with some gaming and I'm going to take it to classes this week and see if lugging the power bar is that big of a deal (or if I even need it). Should be fine in most cases...

 

[savage8190]

Just thought I'd post, I just played a solid hour of Call Of Duty (man I hate that game, but its a good test for the system). The cooling on this laptop is VERY impressive. Leaving it on auto I couldn't even hear the fans and CPU/GPU barely hit 70. When I turn the cooler boost on they are noticeably louder...still not as loud as others I've heard...and it dropped the temps a good 10-15 degrees.

Haven't really tested the battery yet but expectations are low there.