Hi there! So, I have an HP HDX 16 laptop that served me very well for almost 5 years – probably the best purchase I ever made – but its screen went bust a few months ago and started feeling a-bit slow compared to the home PC that I've been using anyway, so I am now looking at getting a new laptop for my studies since I will be needing a portable computer soon.
I am a PhD student in Engineering, so I need a powerful laptop on which I run simulations (I primarily use MATLAB at the moment) and I will probably need to travel abroad to conferences every now and then, so I need something that's not too bulky and heavy, doesn't look too flashy, has reasonable battery life and is able to be relatively silent. I may also go to study abroad for a few months next year, so I would be very happy if it can handle some games too (I like to play some games if and when I have some free time). In particular, my preferences are as follows:
• Powerful processor
• A minimum of 8GB RAM (preferably 16 GB or more)
• Preferably a discrete graphics card – doesn't need to be high end, but I'd like to play something like Assetto Corsa or GTA games on at least medium settings. To be honest, modern integrated graphics might be able to satisfy this requirement, so a discrete card would be unnecessary – but I'm not sure about this, so any suggestions would be welcome
• At least a Full HD (1920x1080) screen that's of good quality; I don't mind if it doesn't have a touch screen, although it would be desirable. Same for glossy screen – oddly, I would prefer glossy but it's not that important
• Good sound would be nice, although not a deal breaker
• Not too bulky or heavy
• Nice design that's not too flashy
• Storage: I need a decent amount of storage, so ideally it would have something like a 1TB HDD and a 256GB SSD for performance; I am a-bit flexible here, in the sense that I could do without SSD or carry a portable external hard disk even though this isn't ideal – especially since I don't think that most external disks are meant to be used this way in terms of longevity (although any ideas/suggestions would be welcome)
• Must be reliable and worry free for at least the next 3 years
• Price: under approx. Eur 1,500
A tall order, I know, but I did find some laptops which satisfy most of the criteria, ordered according to personal preference: (although almost all of them are gaming laptops, I don't mind not having a gaming laptop)
• HP Omen 15
• MSI GS60 with Intel Core i7-4700HQ and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
• Gigabyte P34W v3
• HP Envy 15
• MSI GT60 Dominator 15.6" i7-4710MQ with Intel Core i7-4710MQ and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M
And because I like it:
• New Dell XPS 13 (although no discrete graphics and a-bit expensive for me)
In truth, my preference would be the HP Omen (good specs and love the design...yes, I'm a sucker for design), but (a) it only comes with an SSD up to 512GB, (b) doesn't seem to be available in my country (although I might be able to get around this) and (c) is a-bit on the expensive side.
So my queries are as follows – do you have any recommendations/tips/suggestions as regards to the laptops I listed above (in terms of my requirements and general reputations and/or first-hand experience about the manufacturers), or would you perhaps recommend something else? Or should I wait for a few months if some new laptops will be released?
Apologies for the long post...thanks a-lot in advance!
I am a PhD student in Engineering, so I need a powerful laptop on which I run simulations (I primarily use MATLAB at the moment) and I will probably need to travel abroad to conferences every now and then, so I need something that's not too bulky and heavy, doesn't look too flashy, has reasonable battery life and is able to be relatively silent. I may also go to study abroad for a few months next year, so I would be very happy if it can handle some games too (I like to play some games if and when I have some free time). In particular, my preferences are as follows:
• Powerful processor
• A minimum of 8GB RAM (preferably 16 GB or more)
• Preferably a discrete graphics card – doesn't need to be high end, but I'd like to play something like Assetto Corsa or GTA games on at least medium settings. To be honest, modern integrated graphics might be able to satisfy this requirement, so a discrete card would be unnecessary – but I'm not sure about this, so any suggestions would be welcome
• At least a Full HD (1920x1080) screen that's of good quality; I don't mind if it doesn't have a touch screen, although it would be desirable. Same for glossy screen – oddly, I would prefer glossy but it's not that important
• Good sound would be nice, although not a deal breaker
• Not too bulky or heavy
• Nice design that's not too flashy
• Storage: I need a decent amount of storage, so ideally it would have something like a 1TB HDD and a 256GB SSD for performance; I am a-bit flexible here, in the sense that I could do without SSD or carry a portable external hard disk even though this isn't ideal – especially since I don't think that most external disks are meant to be used this way in terms of longevity (although any ideas/suggestions would be welcome)
• Must be reliable and worry free for at least the next 3 years
• Price: under approx. Eur 1,500
A tall order, I know, but I did find some laptops which satisfy most of the criteria, ordered according to personal preference: (although almost all of them are gaming laptops, I don't mind not having a gaming laptop)
• HP Omen 15
• MSI GS60 with Intel Core i7-4700HQ and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M
• Gigabyte P34W v3
• HP Envy 15
• MSI GT60 Dominator 15.6" i7-4710MQ with Intel Core i7-4710MQ and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M
And because I like it:
• New Dell XPS 13 (although no discrete graphics and a-bit expensive for me)
In truth, my preference would be the HP Omen (good specs and love the design...yes, I'm a sucker for design), but (a) it only comes with an SSD up to 512GB, (b) doesn't seem to be available in my country (although I might be able to get around this) and (c) is a-bit on the expensive side.
So my queries are as follows – do you have any recommendations/tips/suggestions as regards to the laptops I listed above (in terms of my requirements and general reputations and/or first-hand experience about the manufacturers), or would you perhaps recommend something else? Or should I wait for a few months if some new laptops will be released?
Apologies for the long post...thanks a-lot in advance!
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