Need Your Help Picking a Laptop Please! ($2,000ish Budget)

[Koncealed]

Hi guys,

First off wanted to say thanks so much for helping me with this, whenever I need to make a buying decision I always turn to you guys! So, I'm in need of a new laptop. I have a max budget of around $2,000. When I say around, I mean that if there was a laptop that fit what I needed and it was $2,200 I would still buy it, but $2,400/$2,500 is pushing it.

So I'm looking for a very very capable laptop, I need something that has a big display (Preferably 17 inches), something that has a very fast processor, and something that can handle streaming videos, movies, and all that good stuff with ease. I will also be doing a lot of schoolwork on it, but that is only really limited to things like Microsoft Office, which most computers can handle fine. I have a desktop at home, which has all of my big beefy gaming hardware in it, so I don't plan on gaming, at least anything serious, on this laptop. I'm mainly going to be using it for schoolwork, streaming videos, watching movies, music when working, so on and so forth. So I guess you could say I need something that is big on/can handle a lot of multimedia, something that has a big and very good and crisp screen quality, and all that. I really have no knowledge with regards to laptops and what the best thing to fit my budget can get me, so I'd love if anyone could help!

So again, quick breakdown:
Will be used primarily for: Streaming videos, watching movies, schoolwork, general web-browsing.
Screen Size: Something quite big (17inch etc)
Screen Quality: Best I can get (Don't know what is best lol)
Touchscreen?: If possible that would be cool, but it's no deal breaker.
Processor/GPU/Hardware/Etc: Fastest and most capable I can get for the money
Must be a PC! Lenient to HP and Asus (Might just be because of design lol)

So basically I just want to find out what the best laptops out there are for my needs and for my price range, I don't know anything about laptops and what is good/bad, so again, thanks so much for the help!

I saw these two laptops on Bestbuy, they look to be pretty good, do you guys think either of these fit my needs?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

 

[patrick47018]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

 

[Koncealed]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

That seems to have a large emphasis on gaming, which is not what I'm looking for, also the screen being smaller isn't very attractive. I saw these laptops online, do you think this is going to be good for what I'm looking for?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

 

[daveeede]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

That seems to have a large emphasis on gaming, which is not what I'm looking for, also the screen being smaller isn't very attractive. I saw these laptops online, do you think this is going to be good for what I'm looking for?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

I don't recommend the Dell Z-book at all. It is a portable workstation mean't for AutoCAD and design.

For your needs you really don't need to be spending 2000+. The ROG is a great machine for gaming, but if you're really just doing some everyday stuff (and little gaming), you might be better off getting something lighter and with better battery life. But if you do want an ROG (they are awesome), you can step it down a bit and get this one:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5419233.p?id=1219128145308&skuId=5419233&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=9

It's 400$ less and to be honest I can bet you won't see the difference. It's still overkill for what you're going to be using it for in my opinion

 

[Koncealed]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

That seems to have a large emphasis on gaming, which is not what I'm looking for, also the screen being smaller isn't very attractive. I saw these laptops online, do you think this is going to be good for what I'm looking for?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

I don't recommend the Dell Z-book at all. It is a portable workstation mean't for AutoCAD and design.

For your needs you really don't need to be spending 2000+. The ROG is a great machine for gaming, but if you're really just doing some everyday stuff (and little gaming), you might be better off getting something lighter and with better battery life. But if you do want an ROG (they are awesome), you can step it down a bit and get this one:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5419233.p?id=1219128145308&skuId=5419233&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=9

It's 400$ less and to be honest I can bet you won't see the difference. It's still overkill for what you're going to be using it for in my opinion

Okay I see what you mean. I just realized that these computers have a ROG badge on them for gaming. Is there a laptop out there that really just has an amazing screen and resolution, is very fast with regards to streaming videos/movies, is very fast and can handle multiple programs/tabs open at a time with no problem, and stuff like that? Like I said my desktop is perfect for max gaming.

 

[daveeede]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

That seems to have a large emphasis on gaming, which is not what I'm looking for, also the screen being smaller isn't very attractive. I saw these laptops online, do you think this is going to be good for what I'm looking for?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

I don't recommend the Dell Z-book at all. It is a portable workstation mean't for AutoCAD and design.

For your needs you really don't need to be spending 2000+. The ROG is a great machine for gaming, but if you're really just doing some everyday stuff (and little gaming), you might be better off getting something lighter and with better battery life. But if you do want an ROG (they are awesome), you can step it down a bit and get this one:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5419233.p?id=1219128145308&skuId=5419233&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=9

It's 400$ less and to be honest I can bet you won't see the difference. It's still overkill for what you're going to be using it for in my opinion

Okay I see what you mean. I just realized that these computers have a ROG badge on them for gaming. Is there a laptop out there that really just has an amazing screen and resolution, is very fast with regards to streaming videos/movies, is very fast and can handle multiple programs/tabs open at a time with no problem, and stuff like that? Like I said my desktop is perfect for max gaming.

A friend of mine bought one of these: http/www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-7737/pd?oc=fncwj1904bb1&model_id=inspiron-17-7737

The screen is 17", Full HD and touchscreen. i7 and 16 Gb of ram make it more than capable of multi-tasking. The GT 750M graphics card can even run games here and there without a problem. The only upgrade that is missing is an SSD. Buy and install a Samsung 840 EVO 500Gb SSD and that solves that problem. You should not be spending more than 2000$ for your uses unless you wanted a Mac.

 

[Koncealed]

If you can deal with the screen being 15.6" instead of 17" the MSI 3K laptop series is great: http/www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=msi+3K&N=-1&isNodeId=1

That seems to have a large emphasis on gaming, which is not what I'm looking for, also the screen being smaller isn't very attractive. I saw these laptops online, do you think this is going to be good for what I'm looking for?

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-17-3-zbook-notebook-8-gb-memory-500-gb-hard-drive/1308851677.p?id=mp1308851677&skuId=1308851677&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=15

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-24gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-dual-128gb-solid-state-drives-black/1309435166.p?id=mp1309435166&skuId=1309435166&st=pcmcat138500050001_categoryid$abcat0502000&cp=1&lp=10#tab=buyingOptions

I don't recommend the Dell Z-book at all. It is a portable workstation mean't for AutoCAD and design.

For your needs you really don't need to be spending 2000+. The ROG is a great machine for gaming, but if you're really just doing some everyday stuff (and little gaming), you might be better off getting something lighter and with better battery life. But if you do want an ROG (they are awesome), you can step it down a bit and get this one:

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-17-3-laptop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5419233.p?id=1219128145308&skuId=5419233&st=categoryid$pcmcat247400050000&cp=1&lp=9

It's 400$ less and to be honest I can bet you won't see the difference. It's still overkill for what you're going to be using it for in my opinion

Okay I see what you mean. I just realized that these computers have a ROG badge on them for gaming. Is there a laptop out there that really just has an amazing screen and resolution, is very fast with regards to streaming videos/movies, is very fast and can handle multiple programs/tabs open at a time with no problem, and stuff like that? Like I said my desktop is perfect for max gaming.

A friend of mine bought one of these: http/www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-17-7737/pd?oc=fncwj1904bb1&model_id=inspiron-17-7737

The screen is 17", Full HD and touchscreen. i7 and 16 Gb of ram make it more than capable of multi-tasking. The GT 750M graphics card can even run games here and there without a problem. The only upgrade that is missing is an SSD. Buy and install a Samsung 840 EVO 500Gb SSD and that solves that problem. You should not be spending more than 2000$ for your uses unless you wanted a Mac.

Awesome! This is more of what I'm looking for. Although two issues, I've had VERY bad experiences with Dell in the past, not a big fan. Also, I'd rather not have to upgrade it, it'd be awesome if it was perfect with that a super fast SSD already in it. Do you know of any other brand such as Asus or HP that would have a laptop more comp marable to this one, but that has a very good SSD? Still 17.3 inch screen, super fast, great resolution etc? Thanks SO MUCH!

 

[velo3100]

I don't know many 17 inch laptops as I consider them too big. Asus are the best I think for what you need, take it from someone who owns one and has been using it for 3 years. You will have to have a look yourself at their website and then look at reviews. If you are unsure of the laptop you can always look at notebookcheck website. They are very detailed at their reviews.