Need recommendations for a new laptop

MacV89

Prominent
Jun 20, 2017
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510
Hi there,

I'm attending a Radio Broadcasting program this fall and I need to buy a new laptop. I was wondering if anybody can suggest one to me that has all of the following specs. I'm in Canada and my budget is around $1000 CAD.

Intel i7 or equivalent processor
8 GB of RAM
500 GB HD
15 inch or larger screen
1 full size USB port
High-end graphics video card (consider a dedicated video with 1 GB of video memory)
Wireless 802.11 b/g
Windows 7 or newer

The laptop my program recommends is a Toshiba Satellite Pro and I'm not really sure that's the best choice. Has all the specs I need but terrible battery life.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thank You.

 
ASUS K501 for CDN$ 1,048.67.

https://www.amazon.ca/ASUS-Laptop-Intel-256GB-Windows/dp/B0146DD02G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1498020478&sr=8-1&keywords=gtx+950m



Intel Core i7-6500U 2.5GHz (Turbo up to 3.1GHz) Sky lake
8 GB DDR3L SDRAM; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M
256GB SSD Storage; No Optical Drive
15.6 inches 1920*1080 pixels LED-lit Screen
Windows 10 Operating System


The only requirement it does not meet is storage capacity. While the laptop only has 256GB of storage it is an SSD rather than a hard drive. The much higher read / write speeds means the laptop will be more responsive because programs will load much faster. Windows should boot up within 15 seconds compared to 45 to 60 seconds with a standard hard drive. Of course, if you actually do need at least 500GB of storage, then this laptop is not for you.

The GTX 950m is not considered a "high end" GPU depending on what your definition of the phrase means. For gaming purposes a "high end" GPU would be the GTX 1070 or better. Generally speaking though if you want to play games then the GTX 950m is pretty decent given the price of the laptop. This is the least expensive laptop on Amazon.ca with the GTX 950m.


An alternative would be the following Acer Aspire E5-575G-589K for CDN$ 899.99 from Newegg.ca.

https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834315887&cm_re=gtx_950m-_-34-315-887-_-Product

GeForce GTX 950M 2 GB GDDR5
Intel Core i5 7th Gen 7200U (2.50 GHz)
8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD
15.6" Full HD 1920 x 1080


The specs are pretty similar, but this has a 1TB hard drive so it exceeds your 500GB requirement. Acer is more value oriented than Asus so you get better bang for your Canadian buck. But Acer needs to cut corners somewhere so Acer laptops generally not as "premium" as Asus laptops.
 

MacV89

Prominent
Jun 20, 2017
5
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510


I'll definitely look into those, thank you.

 

MacV89

Prominent
Jun 20, 2017
5
0
510


I'm not a big gamer but I'd definitely like to get the best performance possibly for my money.

I was looking at the Lenovo Ideapad Y700 and its main purpose is a gaming laptop. However, its on sale right now and has pretty much all the specs I need. With tax I'm looking at just over $1300.

Any thoughts on that laptop?
 
Solution

MacV89

Prominent
Jun 20, 2017
5
0
510


I'll let you know what I decide to go with. Thanks for all your help.