100% sRGB 120Hz TN vs 60% sRGB IPS laptop screen.

[Saiki4116]

I am buying a new laptop for my wife. She would be using it for CAD, photoshop, casual video editing, media consumption and I would share this laptop for casual dota2 gaming. I have narrowed it two 15.6 laptops
Asus strix GL503 which is a TN panel with 120Hz refresh, 3ms response, 94% NTSC coverage(130% sRGB) coverage
Dell G7 which has a IPS panel, with 60HZ refresh, 60% sRGB coverage, 250 nit display.
I have a desktop and am using Dell S2216H display( not exactly high end, 80% sRGB and 250 nits). I have never used or experienced a high end TN panel and most of the time it was garden variety 768p TN panels. I don't want to compromise severely on display quality and the only reason to go with gaming laptops as they have newer i7-8750H CPU which sport 6 cores and are very useful for CAD. I am also not an avid gamer and I am playing Dota2 on skylake integrated graphics. Is lower brightness and lower color gamut on Dell G7 IPS Display is going to be an issue. Most ultrabooks sport much better displays than G7, but won't offer the CPU performance. Does the 130% sRGB gamut on ROG makes it better than G7 60% sRGB gamut.

These two laptops have similar specs and price. Which laptop should I prefer based on the screen?

 

[Solandri]

Color gamut is something of a personal preference. I know some people who don't care and would be happy with 60% sRGB. But personally, I think 60% sRGB is only acceptable for office tasks and text browsing. For enjoyable gaming, I really do think you should try to get at least 100% sRGB.

Photoshop and video editing are another matter. You pretty much need an IPS screen for these. A TN screen's color shift with tilt angle makes them useless for consistent photo and video editing.

If you're going to insist on choosing between those two laptops, my suggestion would be to get the one with the TN panel for more pleasant gaming and web browsing on the laptop screen. Then buy an IPS monitor and hook it up to the laptop for when your wife uses it for photo or video editing. Keep an eye out on Dell's outlet site. Their 24" U series monitors regularly show up there for around $175 when they have a coupon or discount running. Sometimes lower (I managed to grab a U2214 last year for $89).

OTOH if you don't really plan to move this laptop around (i.e. use the laptop as a desktop), then just get whichever laptop is cheaper or whose features/appearance you like better. Then get a nice external monitor and leave it connected to the laptop all the time. I'm still biased towards the 94% NTSC screen though. Even though regular web and video content only use 100% sRGB, most cameras can capture more than 100% sRGB. So having the wider gamut screen could be handy for checking color details in photos and videos, even if the brightnesses aren't consistent enough for editing work due to the TN screen.