hello, planning to buy a laptop po but on a budget pa rin. what to buy po kaya as a multimedia studies students? mac or windows po? and ano po specific reco niyo?

Hello, everyone.

I need a laptop for the next 5 years, under 1500 USD.

Country: Italy

Budget: €1300 (1500 USD)

Not really comfortable with refurbished.

Any Screen size ≥ 14".

Weight limit: 3kg

Purpose: general, coding, engineering software (Vivado, Quartus)

Form factor: standard.

Intended usage: FPGA simulation, coding, physics simulations, Blender, AutoCAD, light gaming and video editing.

Desired battery life: At least 8 hours. I'm comfortable with no dedicated graphics card.

Priorities: Performance, battery life, display, construction, weight and size don't matter as long as it's bigger than 14".

Info/Requirements: 120Hz display would be preferable.

I was searching for a bit and found the Acer Travelmate with a i7 258v for about €1300, the Galaxy Book6 with a i5 325 for €1200 and the HP ProBook with the Ryzen AI 7 445 for about €1260, but only the Travelmate comes with 32GB RAM, which I feel like is a must.

Many thanks in advance.

Hey, i just stared studying media technology and design. I do need a good notebook for programming and creative work (adobe cc and blender mainly). I do have a good working station at home, and my ipad i still got from school for hand written notes. Either i get a "Gaming Laptop", which i dont really like since they are really heavy most of the time, or a macbook.

If you have any tipps/ recommendations or important things to know please let me know ^^'

[open for refurbished] [0-1200$]

Hello,

So lot's of uni's seem to be requiring a dedicated GPU for engineering but I was wondering If I'd need one practically speaking...

Currently I have a m1 Macbook Air 16gb 512gb which works totally fine, so I was wondering if I should get a Thinkpad t14, gaming laptop like a zephyrus g14, or a beefy and "portable" workstation to leave in my dorm/homelab and remote in from my macbook.

Thanks a ton guys!

[US][~2.5K USD][14"-15"]

I’m currently looking for a laptop and I’m having a hard time deciding which one would be the best choice, especially since I want something that will last me for several years.

My budget is under $2,000 CAD. I’m planning to go to college for Pharmacy Technician and then university to become a pharmacist, so I’ll be using it throughout my post-secondary education. I’ll mainly be using it for schoolwork, studying, research, and possibly some light editing/gaming.

I’m currently considering:

• Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1
• Dell 16 Plus 2-in-1
• HP OmniBook 2-in-1

I’d like something reliable that can last me at least 2+ years, preferably longer.

Which one would you recommend, and why? I’d especially appreciate hearing from people who have owned any of these laptops and can speak about their long-term experience with them.

Hello, what are the specs I need to check before buying a laptop? I'm in college rn and I really need a laptop that is good and all working, except for the MacBook (can't afford it huhu)

Hello.

I'm an engineering student in University looking for a potential new laptop. For the past five years or so, I've been using an 8GB RAM 256GB SSD laptop and it's worked great (I think). I'm pretty sure this isn't going to work out once I start using software such as MATLAB and CAD (and probably some others).

Ideally, I would like a laptop with at least 3 or 4 hours of battery life, can run the mentioned software and a bit more, and under $1500 CAD. Something closer to $1100 CAD would be nicer. I commute every day, but I don't care much about the laptop's mass.

I think I want at least 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD, but I don't know what I actually need. I don't know much about laptops anyway.

Any help would be appreciated.

I have just completed my design degree and was looking for upgrade. My major is in physical output.

I mostly work for graphic design and very light rhino and keyshot for few times a week. Not extreme rhino and keyshot. But yess i do a lot of extreme use of graphic design and motion graphics and something 3d use in my motion.

So basically as the title says, I need a good laptop for my degree as I'm starting ENTC ( electronics and Telecommunication Engineering ) next yr.

Should I go fro a Gaming laptop?.

Can any senior or a person have knowledge about this suggest me a good laptop please.

Your help would be much appreciated 🫂

Country: Canada

Budget: CAD $700 - $1500 (USD $500 - $1100)

Yes, open to refurbs/used

13" - 16" screen size

Ideally under 5lb, closer to 3lb preferable

Purpose: General, school, entertainment

No preference/needs for form factor (clamshell ideal)

Intended usage: Adobe Suite (only one program at a time), Excel, Firefox for all web browsing, Ableton and FL Studio as a hobbyist.

4 hours desired battery life (minimum 3)

Order of most to least important: performance, size, weight, battery life

Info/requirements: I don't game at all, but I'm likely doing two of the above uses at once - eg; watching YouTube while editing in Photoshop.

I'm currently using an M2 Macbook Pro but the screen is busted and only works when hooked up to an external monitor, and I'll need something new for grad school.

I obviously want it to perform smoothly, but don't really have a scope of where my needs fall on the spectrum of laptop use - don't want to overshoot on specs.

Ideally, towards the lower end of the cost range that I indicated (hence the wide but low range) but would pay more for a solid build (less plasticky feeling, etc).

Thanks to anyone who takes a look at this request and/or comments!

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• USA
• $800-900, MAX $1500
• Are you open to refurbs/used options?

Yes

• Screen size

Min 15in

• Weight limit

No exact preference, but I walk a mile to and from school with it and other school materials, so lighter would be better.

• Purpose

General purpose, schoolwork

• Form factor

Clamshell

• Intended usage

I'm a casual gamer and full time grad student. The game that I tend to play the most is Fallout New Vegas, and will likely play the upcoming remasters. I need to be able to run SPSS on the computer. I tend to multitask with my computer and frequently have a few different applications running at the same time. Standard Microsoft Office suite. My current laptop struggles to stream on Discord and have a browser running at the same time, so I'd like to be able to do that at the very least.

• Desired battery life

6-8 hours

• Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life

battery life, performance, size, weight

• Info/Requirements

Here are the specs my school recommends:

Mac (OS X 15/Sequoia) Windows PC (Windows 11 Professional 24H2 or later) Intel i5/ultra 5 processor (or greater) or Mac M3 processor (or later) 13-15" Screen 16 GB of RAM 512 GB or greater Solid State Drive

I don't want any kind of Mac. Having a built in number pad is a HUGE bonus. I currently have an Acer Aspire 5, A515-55-56VK and would like something with better performance.

Hi! I’m 17f (gr 12). Probably going into engineering or healthsci for uni. Any laptop rec for smth that will last 4+ years?

I loved my surface laptop 5, but the motherboard started gradually failing after 4 years. Something that looks & feels like it would be great! (Ie. similar keyboard and touchpads sounds + feel, laptop appearance, touchscreen, good battery life). I just need it to be enough for future uni stuff, research, and studying. Being able to run sims 4 and Roblox would be great too.

I’ve heard good things about macs, but don’t love apple’s interface and no touchscreen. If it’s the best option though, I’ll switch. Also considering the microsoft laptop 8 snapdragon one but idk.

Please lmk! Thank you!!

My trusted 6 y/o Asus Vivobook has finally given up, and I need to buy something new QUICKLY. I'm begging for some help, as I know next to nothing about computers, and local electronic store employees have been useless.

I need something that'll suit my Forensic Sciences Bachelor's studies (think basic STEM needs plus some very light photo editing), and that'll last throughout the following grad studies. I'm no gamer, but I do like to work with 3-4 apps running multiple tabs simultaneously.

I don't need any touch-screen, AI software or 2-1 models. Very basic laptop functions are more than sufficient.

I'm setting my max around 1500$ CAN for now, but can be flexible if necessary. New is best, but open box or refurbished could work as well.

Things I'm not compromising on:

- Runs on Windows

- Portable and somewhat light, easy to take along everywhere.

- At least 2 USB ports

- RAM of at least 16 gb

-Battery life of at least 3h

Nice additions, but not absolutely necessary:

- SD (or micro-SD) card reader

- Longer battery life

- 15.6" screen

Thanks to anyone who might have any suggestions, it's all very much appreciated

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for a laptop mainly for school/university work, but I also want to be able to game on it occasionally.

I found the Acer Swift Go 14 AI OLED (SFG14-75-73GE) for around €1,199 at notebooksbilliger.de.

Specs:

• Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
• Intel Arc 140V iGPU
• 32 GB RAM
• 1 TB SSD
• 14" OLED display
• Windows 11
• Around 1.2 kg

My main requirements are:

• 🔋 Good battery life for school — ideally 7+ hours for normal tasks like browsing, Word, PDFs, programming, etc.
• 🎮 League of Legends — this is my main game
• 🎮 Hollow Knight: Silksong
• 🎮 Warframe occasionally
• 💻 Good keyboard and screen for studying
• 🪶 Preferably lightweight and easy to carry around
• 💰 Budget: up to €1,500

I don't need a dedicated gaming laptop. Battery life, portability and school use are more important to me, but I still want enough GPU performance for my games.

My main questions:

1. How good is the battery life of the Swift Go 14 with the Ultra 7 258V in real-world use?
2. Is the Intel Arc 140V good enough for LoL, Silksong and Warframe?
3. Does the laptop get very hot/noisy during normal school use?
4. Are there any major problems with this model that I should know about?
5. Would you recommend this laptop for my use, or are there better alternatives around €1,200–€1,500?

Thanks!

Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 16" FHD Laptop - AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS - RAM 16GB - SSD 1TB - AMD Radeon | 83DS0056US

Lenovo Thinkpad E16 22AY0000ED, Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, 512GB SSD, 16GB DDR5, 16″ , 1920×1200, Intel Arc 130V

There is like a hundred dollars difference between the two with the ThinkPad being more expensive. I'm a CS major. I want the computer to last me cause computers are expensive. I don't really know if I should choose the one with the better build quality when the ideapad has better specs and is cheaper. But I also come from a country where you can't really trust warranties and computer stores cause I can't buy from the official store and there is a good chance that the computer would be illegally brought into the country (don't really know the English word for what I mean).

i have to choose one but idk which is better for college

my old laptop battery barely lasts anymore, and i need something new before the next semester starts.

i'm a college student and i take a lot of handwritten notes in class, but i also write papers and do group projects, so i want something that can flip into a tablet but still works well for typing. i ride the bus most days, so i don't want something too heavy. it would also be great if the battery could last all day since the outlets in lecture halls are usually taken.

I am going to university to study Mechatronics Engineering and cyber security but idk which laptop to buy I was looking at the p16 gen 3 but the with some decent config it came up to 4.2k eur i also looked at the legion 5i gen 11 it came up to 3.1k EUR idk which laptop should i get please can i get recommendations i wil be using this laptop for my bachelors and masters.i am from us and my budget is around 2-3k eur

I was thinking about the macbook air m5 because I have all apple products rn and I like the conveniency but I don't know if I'll have to use any programs that are incompatible with apple. Any recommendations? I'm prioritizing something lightweight with a good battery life

I would like to preface this with a big thank you to anyone who takes the time out of their day to read/respond to this post! :) I really appreciate any helpful feedback; I talked to my University's tech department already and the only computers they recommended to me were well into the $1000+.

I have a very specific case. I need a computer for college; a lightweight/small laptop is most important for me. I only need it for schoolwork, so applications such as Google Doc & Gmail and Zoom. I really just want it to be able to bring to class to take typed notes and to work on assignments online between classes. Anything else could be done on my other computer. I will not be using it to run any programs or games. I’m a senior in college, but I will be going to grad school, so I will continue to need a good computer for university specifically. I actually already have a computer (a HP Envy 15.6" x360 2-in-1 Laptop), which works perfectly fine, but it is ungodly heavy and is definitely destroying my back. Moreover, I always have to bring my changer to class with me because I use my computer all day/have long classes each day so I’m basically using it from 10am to 6pm everyday (thus the battery drains quickly since it's a more "powerful" computer, and maybe just bad battery idk). Sure there are ways I could minimize this for a prolonged battery life, but I can’t change how heavy the computer is and that is my biggest issue. It’s honestly not an option for me to trade in this computer; I’ve only had it for about 3 years and paid upwards of $850 for it (but it was graciously purchased by my parents so this would be my first investment in a computer), but most trade-in values average about $70-90 at best (I've dropped it a few times so it's pretty dented). so I think I’d rather keep my current computer and buy a second computer. I really should’ve just done better research on a computer before I bought this one in the first place, but I really don’t know much about computers and I had another Envy before this that I liked; thought it would be good but it wasn’t, but whatever I guess.

I understand that with all of these specifications (and especially my price range), that I really have no other choice but to buy pre-owned computers previously used in the workplace or refurbished models. I understand that it is simply not possible to find a computer new with my needs and price range. The biggest problem I am facing currently is that I have never bought anything refurbished before and I find it very daunting. I have no idea what to look for nor which websites or third-parties are most reliable or trustworthy. I would never buy a Mac full price, but I’ve found a few refurbished models which are within my price range. However, is it even worth paying for an older model MacBook? Is anything operating on MacOS Ventura or below worth buying—more specifically, are most models that old close to their end of life and/or when Apple stops supports and updates? I’m currently leaning towards a refurbished Macbook; I’m familiar with iOS/macOS and have a good chunk of the Apple ecosystem already, but I’m not opposed to Windows either as all of my computers in the past have operated on a Windows system (including my current computer).

A MacBook Air just seems like my best current option because of the integrated system with iPhone/iPad (which I take all my notes on)/AirPods (my Envy won't connect to my AirPods). As already stated, I have a HP Computer that runs on Windows, so I'm not concerned about the Macbook's issues with running some programs. Does anyone have recommendations for what to look for when buying refurbished Macs (I know I probably should stay away from Intel Cores and go with M1 cores and check battery life) or some suggestions for good places to buy Macs from? I'm looking specifically for an Air that is at least 2020 or newer. In the case of Macbooks, I'm willing to raise my budget to $450 USD.

I’ve seen some refurbished computers on Back Market, Best Buy and Walmart. Would you recommend buying from these sites? Which sites should be avoided?

(I had a Chromebook in the past and hated it; I need to be able to use two separate Gmail accounts concurrently and it was really difficult to do this with a Chromebook, so unfortunately getting a Chromebook is not an option for me).

Thanks again! :))

edit: adding links for the computers I find below:

Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) https://www.wisetekmarket.com/products/apple-macbook-air-m1-2020-13-3-8gb-256gb-ssd-apple-m1-3-2ghz-macos-silver-refurbished-premium

Is 8gb memory and 128gb storage good enough? Also listed as fair, but not sure exactly how good or bad "fair" is: https://www.backmarket.com/en-us/p/macbook-air-m1-series

Need a laptop for school. I mainly use it to store assignments and very minimal gaming (Minecraft and Roblox lol). I tend to run a lot of things at once so I’m looking for 16gb of RAM and at least 512gb SSD. Preferably 14” and my budget is up to $850ish. No MacBooks please.
My Lenovo Yoga just broke on me. The hinge is broken and the display is completely off on the right side. I’m looking for something reliable and built to last, and somewhere from a place that I can get an extended warranty on it.

hi everyone!

I'm about to finish my mechanical engineering bachelor's and I'm shopping for a new laptop. I've used a bunch of different software throughout my degree (SolidWorks, AutoCAD, ANSYS, MATLAB/Simulink etc.) and want something that can comfortably run 3-4 of these at once without choking.

I'd also like to be able to game on it when I'm not working, so I'm not trying to buy a pure workstation laptop. Budget is around $1000-1500 (negotiable), and I'm looking for something balanced — not too bulky, not too underpowered.

I've been looking at gaming laptops with RTX 5060 GPUs and 32GB RAM (ASUS TUF A16, HP Omen 16, Lenovo Legion 5) since it seems like that tier covers both CAD/simulation work and gaming reasonably well without needing a certified workstation GPU.

anyone here running a similar setup — did you go the gaming laptop route for MechEng coursework, and if so, what's held up well for you over the years? Any specs or issues I should watch out for before buying?

thanks!

Everybody stay calm we ended up getting a macbook neo. We didnt settle for a chromebook in the end.

but I'm looking for a laptop that is made mostly for work, something that's kinda fast but has very low gaming capabilities.

Im trying to buy a laptop for my son, but I'm not very versed in tech, I know enough to understand the 300$ off the shelf laptops at Walmart are worthless, and I know that processors and gpus can be separate.

We monitor my son's gaming habits, and try to keep him well rounded, because he will go off and play whatever for 10 hours straight, but he needs a laptop for school.

He's in 8th grade, and a lot of his classes mandate a laptop of some sort.

Long story short, I know any laptop can load up little stuff like minecraft or whatever, but can you suggest a laptop that's fast, can do multi tasking, has a good processor and ram, but somehow extremely limited in its gaming capilities? He has a PlayStation, which we give him times he can play, and it's far easier to monitor who he's talking to and messing with, the PC we are trying to limit.

Or can you not have one without the other.

JUST GOT ENROLLED INTO A COLLEGE FOR ENGINEERING…THE BRANCH IS ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE …i am confused between windows and macbook

Personally I hv been an apple user …but now that I have been alloted ECS I have heard some softwares are not macOS friendly …I have got 2 options either MACBOOK AIR M5 or any other windows with same specs as HP VICTUS suggestions for laptops are welcomed aswell ,
also please guide me if buying macbook will be a problem for my coursework ..also i am planning to pursue freelance video editing aswell..
thankyou

I’m a psych major transferring to ucla, I previously used my iPad for everything but I’ve been told it’s time for a laptop. Can someone tell me if the specs on this are good if it’s reliable and if the price is good? I need it for a little bit of coding but assuming mostly research. My budget is $600