- Mar 25, 2024
- 67
- 17
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I'm searching for a new, used, or refurbished laptop to replace my current gaming laptop which is a 2016 Lenovo Thinkpad E560 with the big i5-6200U and HD 520 graphics. Love that machine but it's technically not built for gaming, I simply use it for gaming and I would like to find a suitable replacement to play games at a more comfortable FPS than 40 or below.
Here are the prerequisites as instructed:
1. Budget: Budget is $600 or less, I still need to eat.
2. What is the size of the notebook? Large, preferably. Always liked a thick and heavy Thinkpad to carry around, but things are getting smaller every day. I'll say between 14"-16" since laptops bigger than that probably exceed the budget.
3. What screen resolution do you want? Doesn't matter, but my current Thinkpad has 1280x720p I believe, so anything equal or higher is acceptable.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? I'm not replacing my desktop, just taking the experience with me.
5. How much battery life do you need? Doesn't matter, a laptop's battery life will not last while playing games and I will use AC power while gaming. I became accustomed to worn batteries in old Thinkpads so most of the time I plug in any laptop I use.
6a. Do you want to play games with your laptop? Yes
6b. If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
The following are the games I will play, the ones in bold are the most frequently played: COD: MW1 (2007), COD: MW2 (2009) COD: WAW, VirtualDelinquent 2077 (Cyberpunk), TES IV: Oblivion, TES V: Skyrim (2011), Fallout 3 (GOTY), Fallout 4 w/mods, Fallout: New Vegas, Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Obviously, some of these games listed will not run on high settings and some will, depending on the game. I would like to play all of them on high settings, but low and medium settings are tolerable.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Web browsing, mostly. Sometimes I use it as a mobile workstation, doing things such as file transfers, backup a drive, and boot into a Linux environment to install a Distro on a drive.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Doesn't matter, I have a spare NVMe to use it with. Winders 10 or 11 will come on the machine anyways unless it had no drive, I guess if I had to put a reasonable number I'd say 500GB or more if it was soley used for Windows gaming.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. I had four already in mind:
A. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3
B. Lenovo LOQ 15.6"
C. Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 15Iru8
D. Lenovo Thinkpad T490
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? At least 10 years in service, starting from the year of birth. So a Lenovo T490 that was made in 2019 would need replaced in 2029. I wouldn't throw it away afterward, it'll be a fine addition to my collection.
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Considering compact discs are a thing of the past, I don't think the need for one in a laptop is necessary. None of my Thinkpads over the years have had a working disc drive, and external disc readers are available if I severely need one when I am away from my desktop. I was considering adding a hard drive caddy into my E560 disc bay for some additional storage. Not that I needed it but the option was there.
12a. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like. Lenovo, top priority. Thinkpad, preferably. Other brands I may consider are HP, MSI, or LG. Hard pass on everything else; Dell, Apple, Acer, Asus, ROG, etc.
12b. and explain the reasons. I was a Thinkpad user before it was made into a meme, started with an old Z60m back in 2009ish and I loved them until they started copying MacBook. The days of IBM and thick magnesium-alloy chassis might be over, but I'll still consider Lenovo's laptops to be superior to other laptops, even the Apple carbon copies.
My other choices aren't so personal, HP made a fine workstation that I used for many years so I'd consider their laptop if the price was right. MSI is probably a decent gaming laptop, and LG makes TVs, appliances, phones, and so on, maybe their laptops are okay enough to use. The brands I don't like aren't up to the tasks I need them to do. Nothing personal, just business.
13. What country do you live in? United States.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. If I'm buying used hardware, I would want something that is an upgrade to the i5-6200U that's already in my laptop. If a nice older Thinkpad came to sale with a 7th gen i7, that would be an upgrade even though it's not significant. If it had an i7-6500U, that would not be an upgrade even though it's a higher model.
Something else wanted to express, I do not like the idea of soldered RAM in a laptop. I suppose I'll have to get used to soldered CPU and GPU, but I'd pass if it came with soldered RAM only. I'd probably compromise if it had 16GB or more, or if it had like 8GB soldered RAM with an additional slot for me to add more, the T490 has this design.
I will also need a laptop that has wireless, this is standard in nearly all laptops but I'll mention it just in case. I also prefer no web camera on my laptops, but many come with them. The one nice thing about the Ideapad is that it comes with a shutter to block the web camera and I'd like that for peace of mind.
Let me know your thoughts and thanks for your replies.
Here are the prerequisites as instructed:
1. Budget: Budget is $600 or less, I still need to eat.
2. What is the size of the notebook? Large, preferably. Always liked a thick and heavy Thinkpad to carry around, but things are getting smaller every day. I'll say between 14"-16" since laptops bigger than that probably exceed the budget.
3. What screen resolution do you want? Doesn't matter, but my current Thinkpad has 1280x720p I believe, so anything equal or higher is acceptable.
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? I'm not replacing my desktop, just taking the experience with me.
5. How much battery life do you need? Doesn't matter, a laptop's battery life will not last while playing games and I will use AC power while gaming. I became accustomed to worn batteries in old Thinkpads so most of the time I plug in any laptop I use.
6a. Do you want to play games with your laptop? Yes
6b. If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
The following are the games I will play, the ones in bold are the most frequently played: COD: MW1 (2007), COD: MW2 (2009) COD: WAW, VirtualDelinquent 2077 (Cyberpunk), TES IV: Oblivion, TES V: Skyrim (2011), Fallout 3 (GOTY), Fallout 4 w/mods, Fallout: New Vegas, Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Obviously, some of these games listed will not run on high settings and some will, depending on the game. I would like to play all of them on high settings, but low and medium settings are tolerable.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) Web browsing, mostly. Sometimes I use it as a mobile workstation, doing things such as file transfers, backup a drive, and boot into a Linux environment to install a Distro on a drive.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? Doesn't matter, I have a spare NVMe to use it with. Winders 10 or 11 will come on the machine anyways unless it had no drive, I guess if I had to put a reasonable number I'd say 500GB or more if it was soley used for Windows gaming.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. I had four already in mind:
A. Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3
B. Lenovo LOQ 15.6"
C. Lenovo Ideapad Slim 3 15Iru8
D. Lenovo Thinkpad T490
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? At least 10 years in service, starting from the year of birth. So a Lenovo T490 that was made in 2019 would need replaced in 2029. I wouldn't throw it away afterward, it'll be a fine addition to my collection.
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Considering compact discs are a thing of the past, I don't think the need for one in a laptop is necessary. None of my Thinkpads over the years have had a working disc drive, and external disc readers are available if I severely need one when I am away from my desktop. I was considering adding a hard drive caddy into my E560 disc bay for some additional storage. Not that I needed it but the option was there.
12a. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like. Lenovo, top priority. Thinkpad, preferably. Other brands I may consider are HP, MSI, or LG. Hard pass on everything else; Dell, Apple, Acer, Asus, ROG, etc.
12b. and explain the reasons. I was a Thinkpad user before it was made into a meme, started with an old Z60m back in 2009ish and I loved them until they started copying MacBook. The days of IBM and thick magnesium-alloy chassis might be over, but I'll still consider Lenovo's laptops to be superior to other laptops, even the Apple carbon copies.
My other choices aren't so personal, HP made a fine workstation that I used for many years so I'd consider their laptop if the price was right. MSI is probably a decent gaming laptop, and LG makes TVs, appliances, phones, and so on, maybe their laptops are okay enough to use. The brands I don't like aren't up to the tasks I need them to do. Nothing personal, just business.
13. What country do you live in? United States.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. If I'm buying used hardware, I would want something that is an upgrade to the i5-6200U that's already in my laptop. If a nice older Thinkpad came to sale with a 7th gen i7, that would be an upgrade even though it's not significant. If it had an i7-6500U, that would not be an upgrade even though it's a higher model.
Something else wanted to express, I do not like the idea of soldered RAM in a laptop. I suppose I'll have to get used to soldered CPU and GPU, but I'd pass if it came with soldered RAM only. I'd probably compromise if it had 16GB or more, or if it had like 8GB soldered RAM with an additional slot for me to add more, the T490 has this design.
I will also need a laptop that has wireless, this is standard in nearly all laptops but I'll mention it just in case. I also prefer no web camera on my laptops, but many come with them. The one nice thing about the Ideapad is that it comes with a shutter to block the web camera and I'd like that for peace of mind.
Let me know your thoughts and thanks for your replies.
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