Seeking $750 Laptop For Illustration and Art Work

[Daniel_317]

Trying to get a new laptop for my partner to replace her dying machine. She is an illustrator, so having a laptop with a great screen is sort of a must (ie high color reproduction/accuracy and the ability to actually display that higher color reproduction with decent contrast, low DeltaE, etc.); we know that getting a separate IPS screen is the 'standard' for doing color-sensitive work with a laptop, but that makes the device a lot less portable, so we'd like to avoid that if possible.

That said, it'd be awesome if we could also get some gaming performance, so a dedicated GPU of some power would be awesome. Having a dedicated GPU would also be nice for some art-related programs.

• 
  Total budget and country of purchase:
  $750 or so, though a little bit more isn't out of the question. USA.
  
  Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications for the money? Pick or include any that apply.
  Good battery and best specifications for the money. Would prefer to avoid a 2 in 1 form factor unless it doesn't add cost.
  
  How important is weight and thinness to you?
  The lighter the better, but thinness doesn't matter much.
  
  Which OS do you require? Windows, Mac, Chrome OS, Linux.
  Windows.
  
  Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
  15.6" or bigger
  
  Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
  Illustration/Photoediting: Paint Tool SAI, Photoshop, etc.; Video Editing: Sony Vegas Pro; Games: Paladins, Minecraft, Dolphin, PCSX4 (potentially), Skyrim, etc.
  
  If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
  Gaming is a secondary priority, but getting benchmarks like these would be nice: Paladins (Low-Medium, 30-60FPS); Skyrim (Low-Medium, 30-60FPS); PCSX4 (30FPS for the most part); Dolphin (60FPS for the most part)
  
  Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
  Good keyboard and build quality are a must. An optical drive would be nice, but it's not absolutely required. In terms of IO, we need at least three USB ports (preferably USB 3.0), HDMI out (and VGA out if possible), and an Ethernet jack.

We've had the Acer Nitro 5 suggested to us, but its screen is pretty trash.

What do ya'll think? Any suggestions?

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks!

 

[Peter Martin]

I think the budget is too low or your expectations a bit too high for that price point.

 

[Daniel_317]

Even with the understanding that the gaming benchmarks are not necessary?

 

[jaguarskx]

The problem is that you are looking for a laptop with a high quality screen in a moderately priced laptop. Laptops with screens that are suitable for color accurate tasks really starts at about $1,000 and that is with integrated graphics.