Need some suggestions based on specifications. WARNING: LONG POST

NeonAbomination

Commendable
Aug 31, 2016
1
0
1,510
Hello Tomsguide community! I'm looking to buy a new laptop. I've tried asking for advice on reddit, but only got one reply (which I am thankful for, but it's not quite enough). I was hoping I could find some help here. Here is what I need, using the same form that I used on reddit.

Total budget and country of purchase:
Australia. Around $1500 is the highest I'm willing to spend, though I don't necessarily want to spend that much.

Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications to your requirements for the money? Pick or include any that apply.
Not sure what this means but I suppose best specifications to my requirements for the money.

How important is weight to you?
Not important at all. It could be as heavy as a brick or as light as a feather.

Which OS do you require? Windows, Linux, Mac.
Windows.

Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
Bigger is better, but if price rises dramatically I'll take a smaller screen.

Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. If you have no requirements, put N/A.
No editing really, but gaming for sure. I'm not looking for a laptop that can run super high graphics games, but something that could run most basic indie games (EG, Spelunky, Binding of Issac, Cortex Command, Risk of Rain, Terraria, Factorio). The ability to run more advanced stuff (EG, EYE divine cybermancy, Payday 1, Age of Mythology) on good but not necessarily max settings would be nice, but not necessary. This is probably the part that will rise the price up. If the more intensive stuff really raises the price by a lot, then screw it.
I also totally intend to have lots of tabs open in chrome or whatever. Not constantly, but it will happen. Along with running Steam and stuff. Youtube, flash, these sorts of things will get a lot of use from me. Also microsoft word. I suppose I might take up drawing with a trackpad later, but probably nothing intensive.

If you're gaming (leave blank if you put N/A above...), do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
As mentioned above, Most indie games, and maybe some more advanced but not graphically amazing games. 60 FPS, while hopefully avoiding dips when action gets a bit more intense. Not necessarily all MAX settings. AA can screw off and stuff. At least the indie games should be easy to play. The more advanced stuff might be asking too much/raise the price more than I would care.

Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable business grade build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
Well, it should have a few USB ports and a plug for a headset, but for me, the most vital thing is that it's durable. I'm sick of laptops that start to break with screws coming out of them in less than 3 months. I'm also sick of charger cables that bend the insides of the computer and make it close to impossible to charge in the future unless you bend the cable a certain way. Battery life is also important. I certainly don't want a laptop that only has a single hour of battery life. A decent touchpad would be nice. One that doesn't require an inhumane amount of effort to click, and doesn't get stuck on stuff. But that's probably not too important. I would like a nice keyboard all the same, but to me, functional is nice, as long as keys don't constantly fly off or jam I'm pretty good.

Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
I'm not necessarily looking for something close to $1500, but that's the basic limit I want to spend. If there's something good for less money, I'd love to hear about it. Really, the most important parts for me are price, followed by durability, followed by battery life, followed by some gaming functionality. I honestly do not give a single solitary damn about how it looks. The last laptop I had was a gateway, and it was trash that broke apart and had crappy clicking keys under the touchpad which were hard to click and a crappy charger which bending the insides of the computer, in fact, to be honest, the idea of reliability to me might be overstated, since I read that gateway computers generally have poor reliability. In fact, the same probably applies with the battery issue, since this thing literally only lasted an hour on a full charge, and only lasted 2 when it was new. That said, i still want something strong to be carried around a lot without breaking and stuff.

Thank you.