Laptop suggestions!

Hey all!

Since all of you lovely people are familiar with technology to some extent, I would love to ask for your advice on buying a new laptop. I know many of you game and/or utilize many large programs so I would love your help!

I currently have a Lenovo 2958 (a dinosaur, basically) which I love and adore but it is a Windows 7 and my camera does not work, something I need very badly for online school at the moment. It also does not have an HDMI plug-in which is pretty standard on most modern laptops.

SPECS I need:

64-bit

At least 450GB

16GB+ RAM (Memory)

14 to 15"+

Webcam/Microphone (or port for microphone)

Can handle multiple large programs (sims, other games, photoshop, video editing programs, etc. etc.)

2000 USD or under

I will also be using the bad boy in college for schoolwork and my jobs. I will not be considering a Mac or any Google products. 

Any help is appreciated very much, thank you all ♥♥♥

I would highly recommend looking at HPs - the computer I got for college was a then custom-built HP (I ordered custom from them because specs on in-store computers were poor at the time, but I'm sure you wouldn't need to do that now). The computer still works and I got it in 2008, so that says something for the staying power and the quality. My mom has an HP as well - a much more recent one - and has never had any issues with hers either, so I would say it's a pretty solid choice. As for model, I can't make any recommendations cause I'm an Apple person now myself, but overall the HP brand seems good. 👍🏻

Last edited on 2020-06-01 at 13:09:30 by River

As someone with a regular HP laptop who games, I do not suggest it. Unless you go into their gaming laptops in which case I have no idea but I think they tend to be on the larger size like 17". But I have no idea. I just don't suggest a regular HP.

Now Asus, however... I've had two of them and they were bomb-diggity. Especially their gaming laptops. I bought one for myself for my 20th birthday and if I hadn't accidentally murdered it, it'd still be with me today (I melted the charging port by uh...leaving it on 24/7 <. < don't do that). The one I had had dual fans, was never hot, and was insanely quiet. Highly recommend. And I never had a performance issue with it. I literally cannot say anything bad about that laptop.

I currently have a Surface and I think it's a pretty good computer-ish thing. I guess it's more like a tablet type thing, but there's always the surface book or laptop. I don't know much about the specifics but it's been a great computer for drawing since you don't need an extra tablet and it's really convenient to bring around and everything. It does have a port for extra storage using an SD card though. It can handle the programs, but if I have a lot of programs running at the same time, it does get a bit hot. However, I do have a pretty old version so that might also contribute to it. I'd say the only thing I don't like about it is that the detachable keyboard can get pretty dirty. 

I know squat about gaming, so I defer to other people on that. 😅Creative software like photoshop/final cut/premiere pro will all run better on a Mac but they're definitely not made for gaming, so I can see if the gaming is a more important priority why they're not in the running. The HP I had was an 'entertainment pc', which ran games fine, so maybe that category would be better than the average computer that you can word process and email on that's on offer in stores. *shrug*

I do NOT recommend a mac . ever. For creative... yeah I guess. Sure. But you will find your self, if you want to game, having a  windows.
Windows can do most things that Mac can. It's not worth paying the apple tax to be quite honest with you. Not unless you want to get into the hollywood creative industry.

I recommend Dell. they make nice sturdy machines that can handle quite a bit. Specifically models, I couldn't tell you that.

If you want something rugged, I suggest a think pad. Those things.... Could handle a bombing lol.
I don't recommend HP there is so much bloat-ware on those and from my experience with them, they don't tend to hold up well. I don't know much about any other kinds of laptops though. :/

Whatever you're looking at, I recommend not looking too too deeply into the storage size since you can  A) upgrade the hard drive/ssd whenever, and B ) External drives are cheap.  Storage is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day.

Thank you all so far for your recommendations!

@River: I may look into those too, I'd like to consider all options. I'm sure there is some form of an HP that can handle what I am looking for. The only thing I can't say I like are the massive screens. Ideally they would be amazing for photo-editing and art, however, the tiny desks in college lectures say otherwise LOL

@box: Thank you! My boyfriend keeps sending me Asus's which look fantastic, the only downfall is the lack of a webcam on some. I would like to stay away from having to purchase an external webcam if I could. He sent me a Zenbook that is also a touchscreen and looks nice! Which one did you have?

@Cazoo: Thank you! Those look super nice as well. I have an iPad Pro at the moment so I'd rather get a traditional-type laptop than a tablet-like one, but I will look into those too. I just got the iPad so I'd rather not buy a tablet and then have two, but it does sound super nice for efficiency and art!

@Bela: Thank you! I kinda overlooked Dell for some reason- I should look into them too. My mom always has a Dell but she always has frequent issues with them so I kinda scanned over it. I'll consider your thoughts about the HP and then the storage thing as well. I'd personally like to not have to buy external things but if worse comes to worse I can. I do love my Lenovo and my dad has a ThinkPad which is very nice too, just a bit small. I looked into an Ideapad (E15?) which looks great as well. I just like the customizable options lol. 


Last edited on 2020-06-01 at 14:45:26 by Pistol

Yeah when I had my gaming laptop, it ran all those other programs perfectly fine. My little HP currently has issues with running Sims 4 so that's why I'm concerned. It also lags and has issues loading other games like Minecraft. Some games I wish I could play (such as MMOs, FPS, and ones like Skyrim) are not even remotely capable on this mid-tier HP. It also corrupted League of Legends to the point where it won't even uninstall. And no matter my internet connection, I'm usually the last to load into any game. Thank goodness they stopped showing loading progress because I got heckled constantly! 

From a 5 second Google search, Asus does offer a gaming laptop for under $1000 but I'm not sure the specs so it'd be well within your budget. Mine was literally their best at $1800 but that was 8 years ago now.

EDIT: Was on the phone so didn't hit send for a while lol. I don't remember the exact model and I'm sure it's super outdated at this point but it was definitely one of their Republic of Gaming ones. It had a mic and webcam and a backlit keyboard (absolutely LOVED that aspect! I've been wanting another ever since). Also, webcams are super cheap depending on whether or not you care a lot about quality. You're looking at like a $20 add on and if you use that, if you're the conspiracy type, you can just unplug it when you're done and not worry about strangers looking at you! XD

DOUBLE EDIT: I found this 14" Asus gaming laptop that seems to fit your specs! It is more expensive than its 15.6" counterparts but if you're willing to pay more for smaller, there ya go~ Also, no webcam

Last edited on 2020-06-01 at 15:08:02 by box

To be quite honest, Pistol, everyone has different experiences with laptops/brands.

For me, the brand Toshiba for laptops, HATE ME but they LOVE my sister Sarah. Meanwhile, I LOVE their internal/external hard drives and haven't had issues with them. HP works WONDERS for my mother while they cause issues for my mother in law.  It all depends on you unfortunately.

We can all give you our experiences, but it does not mean that X laptop is really really good Or X is really really bad.  It comes down to specs, and A LOT of review reading about facts. Not just " I didn't like this" or "it crashed the minute I pressed a key"  but things like how this motherboard/processor ran compared to this other one. Lots of taking in information with a grain of salt.

@box: Thank you! That is the one my boyfriend sent to me too haha which is a great choice - webcam. I don't mind if it's over $1000 at this point, I just want something that will function well and last long!

@Bela: Very true! I am trying to look around as much as I can and am asking the opinions of those I know as well. I'm definitely trying to ask more tech-y people as I have no idea what half of the specs mean. I think every laptop has pros and cons for its use especially as the use changes, and reviews are only so helpful. I am trying to compare different brands and collect the best info I can. Thank you! 

*hugs* Let me know if you ever want/ need a bounce board :3 I would love to help you as much as I possibly can!! ^_^ I wish you the upmost bestest bestest luck on finding your "forever" machine haha.
That one Box posted does look pretty good ^_^

I had an HP for my last two laptops and I played the Sims 3 and Herinteractive games on it and Sony Vegas Platinum 11 and had no real issues, however both had their internal fans die pretty fast and I had problems with both where the hinged during their lifetimes, but they lasted forever (my last one was still running and had 750GB on it which I deeply miss, but this new one was a Christmas present) and even with the issues mentioned I still love and would recommend HPs.

My current one is a Lenova Yoga (730), has 450 GB on it. I don't know if I've used the webcam but it does come with one, no disc drive however (I miss disc drives, lol). I had all the Sims 3 (I found the Sims 4 to complex for my brain so I can't attest to its running on here) on here at one point and it ran smoother then it did on my HPs. I use Word and Sony Vegas Platinum 15 (cause 11 suddenly stopped working and there answer was it must be because windows 10 but it had worked with windows 10 before.. and I'm ranting, sorry XD) and they run like a dream on here. 

And if you do art, it folds the other way to become a tablet basically so yeah XD

Looks like you can buy the one I have right from them for a little less then 1k. here

Hello all!

As Bela said, we can share our experiences but it doesn't necessarily rate 1 laptop over another. When I am computer shopping, I find reading the actual product reviews helpful. I buy my computers on Amazon (haven't for awhile because I have a good machine right now, finally).

I used to game on laptops but I had an issue with burning them up (or dropping them, because I am a clutz). I have a gaming PC now that is an Asus and I would highly recommend this brand. If I were to get another gaming laptop, it'd be an Asus.

I used to game on HP's. Sims 3, Minecraft, Skyrim. But they couldn't handle the games well and definitely were not on a very high visual setting. The important thing about laptops is proper air flow and cooling to keep your computer from melting.   :)

I highly recommend Asus as that has been a very good brand, in my experience. I don't have a particular laptop in mind though, sorry.

Good luck laptop shopping. Hope you find something that works great for you!    :)

Personally I've owned two ASUS laptops brand new, one is my current gaming laptop from the TUF range and the other was my trusty laptop for 8 years (still going strong). Other than some teething problems with the current laptop- which I suspect was due to win10 and/or faulty memory card- it runs really great. The other laptop has had all sorts replaced over the years but it was very heavily used and ran intensive programs so it was only issues caused by wear and tear and not from failures on the manufacturers part. That being said there's a lot of reviews on ASUS where customers have received faulty parts or have had to have their pc replaced- this is to be expected with a brand that tries to be cost effective though. Other than that though I also highly recommend ASUS, their zenbooks are perfect for what you have described though they may fall short with integrated graphics cards.  

If you want it for games like the Sims 4 which can be pretty cpu intensive (a lot of newer games are these days) then I would definitely consider the TUF range, which are basically designed for college life with intensive programs, and have dedicated graphics cards for gaming. 

Last edited on 2020-06-02 at 05:23:12 by maplɛ

I would find a computer not based by brand or anything really, although HP in my experience have been good, long lasting computers. My vote is always go desktop rather then laptop, but since you want a laptop I'd say go online and look up specs on different computers and find whatever ones matches those specs that's within your price range because since you know what you want it's easier to find computers then. Or go in store and look up the specs on computers. I have a HP desktop right now that I love. 64-bit, 8gb, 1660 ti, windows 10, 15-9400F and we added an external 2TB hard drive and 256 gig ssd.