Laptop pricing - gaming vs business

[Yarberger1]

Hello all

I am a complete novice when it comes to laptops.

I am sourcing one for my wife, who will be using it entirely for business/home office. (We're in Canada).

I've looked at 'business' (or general) laptops, which seem to have 6-8GB ram with an i5-ish processor and a 256 or 500gb SSD, and they tend to run somewhere between $1,000-$1,300. If you seek to upgrade it in any way (to 16GB ram for example), the system then prices north of $1500. That's before you look at CPU or other upgrades.

Gaming laptops by contrast have i7 processors, 16GB ram and 500GB SSDs as standard, and some are costing $1500 as configured. An example is here: https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_1925_1920_1924&item_id=193854

It seems that spec-wise the gaming laptops are far and away the better machines. So why are they cheaper than their Lenovo/Dell counterparts? What I am missing?

P.S. I currently own an Acer Aspire E15 with 6GB of RAM, and it is as slow as molasses with barely any software/apps on it. I'm very reluctant to essentially repeat my prior mistake with a machine that offers no improvement in performance.

Thanks for any input or guidance you can provide.

Cheers.

 

[rgd1101]

what the warranty? business usually have better support
if you going to get a business level. go to dell.com , hp.com and or lenovo.com

 

[geofelt]

First, for your slowness issue:
For laptop performance, by far, the most important component is a ssd.
If you do not have a ssd, upgrade to one.
Today 6 gb of ram is simply not enough.
Go to a ram site like crucial, kingston, corsair and access their ram upgrade app.
Find an upgrade kit for the make/model of your laptop.
Upgrading ram is a simple thing.
Here is a video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZG43ki1Xk


On a laptop for your wife:
Gaming laptops are characterized by including strong discrete graphics chips designed for fast action presentation.
You do not need that. Integrated graphics will display hd videos just fine.
Pay attention to the display.
15" is typical, but image quality can vary.
Today's processors are plenty strong. I would not chase more than the minimum.

If wife is a touch typist, look at the lenovo thinkpad line. Their keyboards are superior.
If you go to the lenovo special site, you can get some good thinkpad deals.
Here is a T15 for $636:

Lenovo Official US Site | Laptops, PCs, Tablets & Data Center

Find & buy the right laptop, tablet, desktop or best server. ✔️Build your own PC today or call our sales team ☎ 1-855-2-LENOVO (1-855-253-6686)

www.lenovo.com

You can customize as to what you want.
But such upgrades cost a good premium that you can do yourself.
For example, upgrading from the base 4gb to 16gb(which is a good idea) would cost an added $295. A replacement 2 x 8gb ddr4 kit can be bought for <$80.
Similarly, the unit comes with a 500gb HDD.
Adding a 500gb SSD would cost $482.
A 500gb samsung m.2 ssd will cost <$100.
I mention samsung because they have a nice utility that will copy the C drive to the ssd:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

There are a number of videos showing the process.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z40f4TAEmsI

 

[Yarberger1]

First, for your slowness issue:
For laptop performance, by far, the most important component is a ssd.
If you do not have a ssd, upgrade to one.
Today 6 gb of ram is simply not enough.
Go to a ram site like crucial, kingston, corsair and access their ram upgrade app.
Find an upgrade kit for the make/model of your laptop.
Upgrading ram is a simple thing.
Here is a video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SZG43ki1Xk


On a laptop for your wife:
Gaming laptops are characterized by including strong discrete graphics chips designed for fast action presentation.
You do not need that. Integrated graphics will display hd videos just fine.
Pay attention to the display.
15" is typical, but image quality can vary.
Today's processors are plenty strong. I would not chase more than the minimum.

If wife is a touch typist, look at the lenovo thinkpad line. Their keyboards are superior.
If you go to the lenovo special site, you can get some good thinkpad deals.
Here is a T15 for $636:

Lenovo Official US Site | Laptops, PCs, Tablets & Data Center

Find & buy the right laptop, tablet, desktop or best server. ✔️Build your own PC today or call our sales team ☎ 1-855-2-LENOVO (1-855-253-6686)

www.lenovo.com

You can customize as to what you want.
But such upgrades cost a good premium that you can do yourself.
For example, upgrading from the base 4gb to 16gb(which is a good idea) would cost an added $295. A replacement 2 x 8gb ddr4 kit can be bought for <$80.
Similarly, the unit comes with a 500gb HDD.
Adding a 500gb SSD would cost $482.
A 500gb samsung m.2 ssd will cost <$100.
I mention samsung because they have a nice utility that will copy the C drive to the ssd:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

There are a number of videos showing the process.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z40f4TAEmsI

Really great reply. Thank you so much.

 

[LordVile]

Hello all

I am a complete novice when it comes to laptops.

I am sourcing one for my wife, who will be using it entirely for business/home office. (We're in Canada).

I've looked at 'business' (or general) laptops, which seem to have 6-8GB ram with an i5-ish processor and a 256 or 500gb SSD, and they tend to run somewhere between $1,000-$1,300. If you seek to upgrade it in any way (to 16GB ram for example), the system then prices north of $1500. That's before you look at CPU or other upgrades.

Gaming laptops by contrast have i7 processors, 16GB ram and 500GB SSDs as standard, and some are costing $1500 as configured. An example is here: https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_1925_1920_1924&item_id=193854

It seems that spec-wise the gaming laptops are far and away the better machines. So why are they cheaper than their Lenovo/Dell counterparts? What I am missing?

P.S. I currently own an Acer Aspire E15 with 6GB of RAM, and it is as slow as molasses with barely any software/apps on it. I'm very reluctant to essentially repeat my prior mistake with a machine that offers no improvement in performance.

Thanks for any input or guidance you can provide.

Cheers.

If it’s for buinssness or home office you don’t need a top of the line machine. Find one you’re happy typing on that is decently specced would be my advice tbh.