New Mid-to-High End Laptop for Info. Sys. Security Student

[The Government is Reptiles]

Hi everyone! I'll be starting my first year of computer science this coming September and I'm in dire need of a new laptop, as my current one from 2011 is in no condition to be taken anywhere but the electronics recycling plant. The requirements on my College's website are as follows:

Processor: i7 or better
RAM: 16 Gb or higher
Storage: Min. 500 Gb
VRAM:Min. 2 Gb or higher
OS: Windows 10 (Pro or Education)

If you are willing to help me (in which case thanks!), I'd like to point out that I don't care if a laptop has less RAM or Storage than the min. specs ask for, as long as either of them are user upgradeable. I can personally understand the trouble trying to find a 16 Gb RAM laptop off the shelf. The i7 the College asked for is likely just recommending a powerful processor, so IMO a comparable Ryzen should also suffice. I also don't plan to do any gaming on this laptop, as I'm perfectly content with my gaming rig at home, although with a 2 Gb VRAM requirement it seems the laptop will need to have a dedicated GPU. Adding to the last point, I don't care if the laptop has the word "gaming" in it so long as it fulfills the requirements I asked for.

Budget? I'm going to say no options above $1300 CAD. Just keep in mind I'm not looking for the best of the best, no Razer Blade Pro's or Acer Predator's or Asus ROG's. I understand something requiring 2 Gb VRAM, an i7 and 8 to 16 Gigs of RAM will not be cheap, but I also know there are laptops that fulfill (at least most) of these requirements without breaking the bank. I'm not sure if this helps but I live in Ontario Canada, so availability might serve as a hindrance to me, but I seriously doubt it.

Thanks again to the wonderful Toms Hardware community! You guys and gals are always super helpful and I know I can count on y'all, cheers!

 

[Sagar_20]

For this kind of specifications, you are looking at 1500+

Check out this: Asus TUF FX505

This is possibly the best laptop you can get.

If willing to spend more, you can consider the Asus Zenbook 15.

but if you're on tight budget and don't mind the heavy weight, get the Acer Nitro 5.

 

[LordVile]

Hi everyone! I'll be starting my first year of computer science this coming September and I'm in dire need of a new laptop, as my current one from 2011 is in no condition to be taken anywhere but the electronics recycling plant. The requirements on my College's website are as follows:

Processor: i7 or better
RAM: 16 Gb or higher
Storage: Min. 500 Gb
VRAM:Min. 2 Gb or higher
OS: Windows 10 (Pro or Education)

If you are willing to help me (in which case thanks!), I'd like to point out that I don't care if a laptop has less RAM or Storage than the min. specs ask for, as long as either of them are user upgradeable. I can personally understand the trouble trying to find a 16 Gb RAM laptop off the shelf. The i7 the College asked for is likely just recommending a powerful processor, so IMO a comparable Ryzen should also suffice. I also don't plan to do any gaming on this laptop, as I'm perfectly content with my gaming rig at home, although with a 2 Gb VRAM requirement it seems the laptop will need to have a dedicated GPU. Adding to the last point, I don't care if the laptop has the word "gaming" in it so long as it fulfills the requirements I asked for.

Budget? I'm going to say no options above $1300 CAD. Just keep in mind I'm not looking for the best of the best, no Razer Blade Pro's or Acer Predator's or Asus ROG's. I understand something requiring 2 Gb VRAM, an i7 and 8 to 16 Gigs of RAM will not be cheap, but I also know there are laptops that fulfill (at least most) of these requirements without breaking the bank. I'm not sure if this helps but I live in Ontario Canada, so availability might serve as a hindrance to me, but I seriously doubt it.

Thanks again to the wonderful Toms Hardware community! You guys and gals are always super helpful and I know I can count on y'all, cheers!

Are these laptop or desktop specs because an i7 can be everything from a 2 core y series to an 8 core 9700K.

 

[The Government is Reptiles]

Are these laptop or desktop specs because an i7 can be everything from a 2 core y series to an 8 core 9700K.

Yeah what I put on my post was exactly as it was on my College website's requirements page lol. They weren't very specific, but I'm sure you could replace that text with "a powerful, modern processor" to be more clear as to what is needed from the laptop.

 

[LordVile]

Yeah what I put on my post was exactly as it was on my College website's requirements page lol. They weren't very specific, but I'm sure you could replace that text with "a powerful, modern processor" to be more clear as to what is needed from the laptop.

But are those requirements for a desktop or a laptop?

 

[The Government is Reptiles]

For this kind of specifications, you are looking at 1500+

Check out this: Asus TUF FX505

This is possibly the best laptop you can get.

If willing to spend more, you can consider the Asus Zenbook 15.

but if you're on tight budget and don't mind the heavy weight, get the Acer Nitro 5.

Thanks for the reply! That Acer Nitro 5 is looking really good, especially because it's 400 bucks off right now. I'll certainly keep it in consideration.