Shopping for a high-performance laptop right now isn't easy. Prices across the market are unusually high, partly due to rising RAM and storage costs, supply-chain pressures, and increased demand for AI hardware. Finding a powerful laptop that actually justifies its price has become increasingly challenging.
I've spent countless hours researching the market, comparing specifications, prices, and deals across major retailers to identify the best high-performance laptops available at different budgets.
Who Is This Guide For?
This guide is specifically for people who need more power than a typical everyday laptop can provide, including:
Gamers who want smooth performance in demanding modern titles.
Content creators working with video editing, photo editing, animation, and 3D rendering.
Students and professionals in engineering, architecture, computer science, and other demanding technical fields.
Developers and power users running virtual machines, complex software, large projects, or heavy multitasking.
If you only need a laptop for web browsing, streaming, emails, or basic office work, this guide probably isn't for you. These recommendations focus on machines built to handle demanding workloads.
How I Selected These Laptops
My recommendations go beyond CPU and GPU model numbers. I've considered GPU wattage (TGP), cooling performance, display quality, build quality, upgradeability, and overall value. Two laptops with the same graphics card can deliver very different performance.
I've also included options within each budget range for buyers who prioritize raw performance, portability, premium displays, or larger screens.
My goal is simple: help you get the most performance and quality for your money without overpaying.
Note: All prices are in USD and based on the US market. Prices and availability can change, so always double-check before purchasing.
Strong CPU, solid build quality, and higher-power RTX 4050. Good for gaming and productivity, but the display covers only 62.5% sRGB, making it unsuitable for color-sensitive editing
Stunning 1600p OLED display with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, powerful 20-core i7 CPU & 115W RTX 5060. Excellent for gaming, video editing, and demanding productivity.
Its 115W RTX 5060, powerful 16-core CPU, & 100% DCI-P3 display make it especially attractive for gaming and content creation
Which should you choose? The MSI Crosshair 16 HX remains my top pick for overall value, offering a powerful CPU, 115W RTX 5060, and excellent 240Hz display at a competitive price. Choose the Acer Nitro V 16S AI if gaming performance is your main priority, thanks to its RTX 5070. The ASUS ROG Strix G16 is ideal for CPU-intensive tasks and strong cooling, while the Lenovo Legion 5i OLED stands out for its stunning OLED display and color accuracy. For the best balance of gaming, content creation, and productivity, consider the GIGABYTE AERO X16, featuring an RTX 5070, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and color-accurate 1600p display, although its GPU is limited to 85W.
Premium refurbished option featuring a powerful 24-core Ultra 9, 115W RTX 5070 Ti 12GB, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and stunning 240Hz OLED display. Excellent for gaming and content creation
Which should you choose? Pick the MSI Vector 16 HX AI for the best gaming value, or the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S for the best overall performance and OLED display if you're comfortable buying refurbished. The Gigabyte Gaming A16 Pro is an excellent balanced alternative for those who prefer a new laptop.
This is a great pick if you want a larger display with solid performance
The MSI Vector 16 HX AI is my top pick for maximum performance, thanks to its powerful processor and 175W RTX 5080. The GIGABYTE Gaming A16 Pro is a more affordable alternative with 32GB RAM and 16GB VRAM, although its 115W GPU limits its performance compared to the MSI.
For those who prefer a larger display, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI offers an immersive 18-inch screen, making it ideal for gaming and multitasking. Meanwhile, the HP OMEN MAX 16 is another excellent high-performance option, featuring a 175W RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, and premium cooling features. However, the listed unit is refurbished, so buyers should consider its condition and warranty.
My recommendation: Choose the MSI for maximum performance and value, the GIGABYTE for a lower-priced RTX 5080, the Acer for its large display, or the HP for powerful hardware with 32GB RAM if you're comfortable buying refurbished.
Choose the MSI Vector A16 HX for maximum gaming performance, thanks to its powerful processor and 175W RTX 5080.
Choose the MSI Stealth A16 AI+ if you value portability, a premium OLED display, and strong gaming and creative performance.
Choose the MSI Vector A18 HX AI if you want a large 18-inch display, powerful hardware, and a desktop-replacement experience.
Bottom line: The Vector A16 prioritizes performance, the Stealth A16 balances power and portability, and the Vector A18 delivers the big-screen experience.
At this price, RTX 5090 graphics should be the priority, with premium displays, powerful cooling, and excellent build quality.
Choose the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i for the best overall balance of performance, cooling, and display quality.
Choose the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 for its stunning large display and immersive gaming experience.
Choose the MSI Raider 16 Max HX for maximum performance and demanding workloads.
Choose the Razer Blade 16 for premium build quality, portability, and a sleek design without sacrificing too much power.
Bottom line: Prioritize performance with the MSI, all-round quality with the Lenovo, big-screen gaming with ASUS, or portability with Razer.
Final Thoughts
There's no single best high-performance laptop for everyone. The right choice depends on your budget and whether you prioritize gaming performance, demanding productivity workloads, display quality, portability, or a balance of everything.
Remember, higher prices and better-looking specifications don't always translate into better real-world performance. GPU wattage, cooling, and overall hardware configuration can make a significant difference.
I've done my best to highlight the strongest options at each price point, but deals change frequently, so always compare prices before buying.
Have a laptop you think deserves a spot on this list, or found a better deal? Drop it in the comments! I'll do my best to keep this guide updated as prices change and better options become available.
Following up on the excellent GeekBook X14 Pro, GEEKOM has kindly sent me the GeekBook M16 to review for r/suggestalaptop as well, free of charge. I had high hopes for this unit, and I was surprised in many different ways. In the end, I will go through everything with you below in as honest and fair a manner as I can manage, so letās get started, shall we?
To begin, the GeekBook M16 is GEEKOMās third laptop released, and one aimed at being a more budget oriented unit versus the X14 Pro and X16 Proās premium design. Despite being a more budget oriented unit, the GeekBook M16 is actually still a thin and light ultrabook with an all-metal chassis, a fairly nice screen, and an attempt to remain quiet under most operations, so I will as before be reviewing it in this capacity. I believe this machine has done an excellent job in the measures theyāve taken to cut costs, and even has some improvements over its big brothers in some ways, and I will do my best to go through every aspect of the unit for you all below!
Snug packagingWhat you get in the box
SPECIFICATIONS AND CHASSIS
My specifications as provided by GEEKOM are as follows:
Intel Core Ultra 185H
16GB of LPDDR5 at 6400MHz
512GB Kingston om8tap4512k1 a00 SSD that is replaceable
a 1920 x 1200 60Hz 100% sRGB colour IPS screen
a 99Whr battery
There is a second SSD slot that is free for further storage upgrades. As for its expansion slots, the laptop has
1 x USB-C port at USB 4 40Gbps speeds
1 x USB-C port at 10Gbps
1 x HDMI port
2 x USB-A gen 3.2 ports
1 x 3.5mm audio jack
By default, it also comes with the same USB-C expansion hub as the X14 Pro and X16 Pro, adding two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, an ethernet port, and a USB-C port replacing the one it takes up, so expansion is not lacking with this device in the slightest.
With the price being $849 USD at the time of this writing (with frequent discount coupons on their website), these specifications are quite excellent, especially in todayās market. Most notable is the screen being 100% sRGB, and the number of ports. The chassis is also STILL full metal unibody, though it is aluminum instead of the magnesium alloy thatās on the X14 Pro and X16 Pro. The difference is that the chassis is ever so slightly more of a stain magnet, such as with fingerprints and whatnot. Itās easy to wipe off, but I still have to point it out. Otherwise, there is little to no difference in the chassis. The screen has almost no wobble, the keyboard has very little flex, closing the unit does not press on the screen, and the chassis feels quite sturdy. Iām honestly surprised theyāve managed this level of quality at this price point. The keyboard is also very excellent. It took me a small amount of time to get used to the spacing (I kept hitting numlock instead of backspace and O instead of I etc) but after a few minutes it felt natural again. As a lover of full keyboards this one is wonderful, and I have very high praise for it. All in all, I have only praise for the unit design. The touchpad is also improved from the X14 Pro. On the X14 Pro the āclickā areas were quarter circle regions at the bottom left and bottom right edges of the trackpad, but the M16ās trackpad has proper rectangular click regions that reach all the way to the bottom middle section. Itās a great improvement that arrived quickly after the last units they made, and Iām glad to see them trying to improve.
Nice and shinyThe not-so-soft underbelly is also shinyLovely full-sized keyboard and nice sized trackpad
PERFORMANCE AND COOLING
Here is the weirdest section. The GeekBook X14 Pro had a 35W power limit to the CPU, with the cores getting 25W and the GPU getting around 10W. This presented decent performance and decent gaming performance for the specifications, and the system handled its cooling fairly well. This GeekBook M16 however was completely different. Firstly, the cooling has been upgraded and power limits have been improved, 55W sustained is possible with a short burst of 67W frequently seen when starting stress tests or benchmarks. This presented a solid uplift of 50% performance over the same Core Ultra 9 185H in the X14 Pro when running Cinebench R23, being able to consistently achieve approximately 15500 points as opposed to the X14 Proās 9000-10000 point range. For Passmarkās CPU benchmark, we achieved 31324 points, up from the X14 Proās 19000 point range. This CPU performance is decidedly excellent out of the box for something so thin and light, and anyone reliant on a decent CPU will be quite happy with it..
Impressive Cinebench score for being an ultrabookImpressive passmark score for an ultrabook
On the downside, the GPU performance suffered a fair bit, which was quite disappointing. To get a little technical, the X14 Pro kept its GPU around 2072MHz with a temperature around 94Ā°C (likely at a thermal limit) as recorded by 3DMark during the Steel Nomad benchmark, while the M16 kept its GPU around 2350MHz with an extremely impressive temperature of only 72Ā°C (with fans being quiet, no less). Despite this, the X14 Pro managed to perform roughly 20% faster according to 3DMarkās Steel Nomad benchmark. This is also a little bit of an issue because the X14 Pro performs better when repasted, but the fact that the M16ās GPU was kept that cold means that it likely has little to gain from a repaste, as it already has a lot of thermal headroom out of the box. It is unfortunately one of the very few disappointments Iāve had about this laptop, as Iād hoped the improved cooling and higher system power limits wouldāve translated into better gaming performance despite it being designed as a more budget alternative to their premium line. As for why the GPU performs so much worse, I cannot be certain. One possible reason is that LPDDR5 could have the same reduced performance in 16GB configurations that DDR5 SODIMMs have (which we at SAL are aware of), or it could be possible that the 6400MHz LPDDR5 isnāt fast enough to grant the performance the GPU needs, and the X14 Proās 7467MHz LPDDR5X is just that much better for the GPU. It could even be some other system-level configuration that I am unaware of. I can only guess based on my prior knowledge and experiences. Either way, it will still play lighter games and older games perfectly fine, but it wonāt quite be able to push as far as its older brothers.
A sadly lackluster score, but not terribleExcellent GPU temperature line under stress with near silent fans
As for the cooling system itself, Iāve already mentioned the fact that the GPU runs very cold when under stress, but the CPU is different. To begin with, in my last review for the X14 Pro, I mentioned thatĀ the CPU would spike to a high 90Ā°C range and then immediately drop back to a very cold state, and I initially registered this as a HWiNFO64 error. To be specific, I set HWiNFO64 to update twice a second, and every 30 seconds to a minute itāll spike from ~45Ā°C to over 90Ā°C and indicate thermal throttling is active, then the next time the sensor updates (which is half-second later), it will be all the way back down at 45Ā°C. This behaviour also happens here on the M16, so I must assume it is not an error, but I do not know why it happens. It could be a quirk of Intelās Meteor Lake, since Iāve never dealt with these particular CPUs before the GeekBooks, but I have no way of knowing for sure. Whatever the reason however, it does not seem to be dangerous, so one should not mind it if temperature monitoring software shows that theyāre idling and hitting thermal throttle points randomly. Iāve been using the X14 Pro for almost 7 months and it has not exhibited any untoward issues from this, and I am sure the M16 will be the same, so while I must point this out, please rest assured.
Idle spike being displayed. Note the average CPU temperatures are still low.
Now when under load, thatās a different story. The fans will kick in under higher CPU loads and while still very quiet, the temperatures become very consistent and no longer have such high spikes. I do have a minor issue in that the fans seem to take excessively long to actually spin up, however. It isnāt a particularly big deal, but when you have just started a heavy load (such as a stress test, or rendering a video, etc) the fans remain silent for a few seconds, at which point the CPU can hit temperatures in excess of 100Ā°C briefly, then they will start spinning up. The fans appear to have four stages of speed, and after spinning up once, it apparently checks if temperatures are still too high, then spin up again, then repeat this process until maximum speed. The whole process can take nearly 10 seconds to achieve maximum fanspeed, and it would be nicer if this process could either be faster, or a fan curve option could be implemented in the software or BIOS in the future, or if impossible, in later models. Due to how quiet this laptop is, it would be absolutely no penchant to anyone to say, keep the fans spinning at level 1 or 2 while at idle temperatures, and this could prevent the spike to higher temperatures while idle (if only for safety of mind), or prevent the high spikes when first applying load to the system. Do note that while I mentioned the CPU does cross 100Ā°C when starting a heavy load, it does not remain there long (maybe 5 seconds at most), and it never hits Intelās TJMax rating of 105Ā°C at any point, so the processor will be perfectly safe.
Additionally, the system seems to focus on keeping the CPU at 95Ā°C or lower while the fans are active. Since repasting improves processor benchmark scores even at a set power limit, thermal throttling must be the final issue. If you are buying this unit with the intent to use the processor under heavy loads often, it wonāt actually overheat, but if you are tech savvy or even just comfortable with servicing the laptop, you might wish to consider repasting the unit with something like PTM 7950. It isnāt required for usage of the unit, itās just a potential benefit open to you.
Showing under-load temperatures. The sensor was reset AFTER starting CB run to display higher temps falling into stability.
SOUND
The speakers on this unit are perfectly fine. No distortions Iāve observed, and sound is certainly loud enough. There is DTS: X available should you require it as well. The microphone is perfectly fine for use in calls and zoom meetings and the like, though at least headphones would be recommended to not pick up othersā speech. I have no complaints here. There are sound effect options you can apply in the GEEKOM software as well, but I donāt think they are necessary. Use them if you wish, as this is much more of a personal taste situation.
SCREEN AND BATTERY
The screen is good. Itās 1920 x 1200 resolution, and only 60Hz, but itās 100% sRGB, making this laptop one of the cheapest available with proper colour space on the market. This means itās an excellent cheap editing machine for those who wish to do such a thing. The brightness is great and itās matte finish so reflections arenāt a bother. Itās usable in well-lit rooms at lower brightness as well. Itās a great choice for a budget device.
As for the BATTERY on this laptopā¦ I am amazed. Itās 99Whr, up from the 72Whr on the X14 Pro, but the battery life itself is astounding. With approximately 30% screen brightness, I was able to achieve a ridiculous 18.5 hours of youtube playback on wifi with sound enabled. I tested more than once to be sure. In fact, the battery life was so good, I even decided to do the ultimate in laptop blasphemy: I tested with screen brightness set to 100%. I still achieved 13.5 hours of youtube playback under those conditions, leaving me nothing short of flabbergasted. I do know know what sorcery GEEKOM performed to achieve this level of battery life on a Meteor Lake processor, but I now need to purchase several hats just so I can take them off and say āhats off to you, GEEKOMā, as it runs circles around many other Lunar Lake and even some Panther Lake processor-equipped laptops which are known to be a marked improvement in battery life from Meteor Lake.
As for charging times, the battery went from 2% all the way up to 55% in just 1 hour, which is almost 10 hours of battery usage at lower brightness levels. I have high praise for that level of charging speed. Hopefully things get even better in the future.
Screen isn't as impressive as an OLED, but is still plenty fine
OUT OF THE BOX EXPERIENCE
Just like with the X14 Pro, the laptop comes with windows installed but not actually set up. As I did with the previous unit, I took this lovely chance to set up my computer with a local account and avoid much of the nonsense that Windows 11 wishes to attempt on its users. As with before, I will FOREVER praise this ability for people, even if the average person wonāt take advantage of it. Itās great to have the option. As before, itās a barebones installation with just the GEEKOM software pre-installed. The software is identical to the X14 Proās version, with BIOS updates and some limited system control options available. You can see it below. Please continue like this, GEEKOM, I vastly appreciate it, and many users will too.
Same software design as before
DOWNSIDES
There arenāt as many as before, which I appreciate. Letās use a list again.
There is still no option I could find to limit battery maximum charge available. I can only hope this shows up in later models.
The FN key function is still weird. I wish GEEKOM would change it so that the FN button simply works while being held down and pressing any of the hotkeys, instead of the odd toggle feature it has.
The laptop once had a very weird situation where certain things, especially installing programs, was oddly extremely slow while on battery. I cannot explain why this was the case, but I also could not find a way to fix or reproduce it. Normal usage was perfectly fine too, which confused me.
The keyboard backlight turns off after 15 seconds without any option to control it otherwise again. I would like the ability to keep it on for usage in dark rooms.
Iād like a FN combination key to disable the trackpad entirely. Even though the palm rejection is excellent, such options are never a bad thing.
As before, I wish we could get a 3D TLC SSD instead, especially when the drive size is on the smaller side. I couldnāt find much information about the drive available this time unlike the X14 Pro, so I canāt say I understand their choice like before.
The 100W charger gets very warm when charging or generally under load, you may wish to allow it to cool off slightly before picking it up if it was just being stressed.
FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSION
So, thereās a much shorter list of downsides this time. I already discussed everything else in the paragraphs above. Thereās been improvements such as in the trackpad and the battery life and the cooling, and I highly appreciate these things. I genuinely think this is a great unit to buy for more casual users or users who want to do hobbyist work. The price is excellent and the choice of where to cut corners versus the more expensive premium options (screen, chassis materials, RAM speed) do not ever get into the ācheapā territory of notebooks that we see all over the market, with useless 62% sRGB screens that shouldnāt even be made anymore, or poor chassis construction and poor board design and little expansion slots. There are only two things I wish GEEKOM did with this new chassis and cooling system. First, I wish a 32GB RAM option was available. Considering the enhanced CPU performance and lack of danger of overheating, it would make a very excellent budget editing unit with a good screen, and I wouldnāt be able to recommend it highly enough. It might even improve the GPUās performance, which would also make it a solid little gaming device.
The next thing I would like to see is GEEKOM starting to use better stock thermal paste. All three of their laptops released so far improve their performance with better paste, up to 25% better in benchmarks according to others, and if they could use phase-change material such as Honeywell PTM 7950, Thermal Grizzly phasesheet PTM, or Thermalright Helios v2 it would be nothing short of sublime. I would even be fine with their own in-house solution, as long as the performance is there.
At the end of the day, this laptop is wonderful. Despite the few shortcomings, itās priced exceptionally well and is very light and sturdy. I doubt many people would complain about it. I canāt wait to see more from GEEKOM and I also canāt wait to see them expand their operations to more countries as well. If they keep it up, they can become a pretty strong power player in the market.
Thank you for reading until the end! I hope you have enjoyed, and I will be glad to answer any questions in the comments below.
Buying a refurbished ThinkPad from a Canadian dealer for my kid's schoolwork and daily use. It will mostly stay at home, but will occasionally ride in a backpack for classes. I want something smooth and responsive that can also handle light casual gaming like Minecraft and Roblox.
Trying to decide between these options:
Main Contender ā ThinkPad T14s Gen 3 (Grade A): $600 CAD: Core i5-1245U (12th Gen) | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | 14" 1200p (16:10) | Iris Xe Graphics | 92% Battery Health $675 CAD: Same specs, but upgraded to 512GB SSD Other Grade A / A+ Options from the Dealer: ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 (Grade A+) ā $595 CAD
Specs: i5-12th Gen | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | 13.3" 1200p (16:10) | Iris Xe ThinkPad T14 Gen 3 (Grade A) ā $600 CAD
Specs: i5-12th Gen | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | 14" 1200p (16:10) | Iris Xe | Built-in Ethernet ThinkPad T490 (Grade A) ā $250 CAD
Specs: i5-8th Gen | 16GB RAM | 256GB SSD | 14" 1080p | UHD 620 Graphics
For school + Roblox/Minecraft, is it worth stepping up to the 12th-Gen Iris Xe models ($600ā$675), or would the older $250 T490 be enough? And on the T14s, is paying $675 for 512GB worth it vs $600 for 256GB?
Hi, I am in Europe. I've been looking for an old laptop that would be tiny enough for easy travel (weight isn't a problem as the screen size is, I'd like a display size to be 10.1 inches and under). I mostly wish to play old games on it (Let's say earliest 3d games would be the most I would go for), watch movies and try out old software on it. I know where to find these laptops for up to 50$, but I wanted to see which ones you would suggest I get that would run windows 7 pretty smoothly and could last long.
Bonus points (None of these are a necessity): If you can play dvds and cd's on it, if it has a touch screen that'd be cool as well as I like drawing digitally (the least important on the list), hdmi port is always a plus, VGA one as well. If it can run windows 7 OS and a lighter Linux distro (dual boot), the longer the battery life and disk space the better and I absolutely accept used and refurbished laptops.
Mainly study, but if the components can handle some light gaming it would be perfect
Form factor
Standard
Intended usage
Chrome (yt, google docs...), university site, games like project zomboid, factorio, fortnite...
Desired battery life
like 8 hours(?)
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, weight, battery life, size
Info/Requirements
hi, i recently got a 20% discount code for the samung store and i wanted to know if there is any good deal i can have beetween that and the black friday. However, from what i read, samsung laptops aren't worth their price, except the screen, if you compare the components with other brands (i was proposing samsung because every device i own is samsung, but for examle a buddy of mine bought a laptop, i think acer, with intel9, rtx 5050 and 32gb of ddr4 for like 1500 euros)
My daughter has Ā£60 left of her bday money and her laptops just broke. Itās a asus c424m.
She uses it for streaming music and games mainly. Can anyone recommend a used one thatās around the same? And one I donāt have to add a lot too
Thankyou
hey guys, so im going back to college and trying to decide between a used MacBook Pro M1 16GB (2020) and a brand new MacBook Neo A18 Pro 8GB. these are pretty much my only 2 options because of my student budget.
right now im using an MSI GF63 with an i7-10750H, 16GB ram and GTX 1650 Ti running Fedora. it handles my stuff fine but the battery life is just terrible lol.
during the day at uni i mostly just do typing, research, web browsing, spotify and sometimes a bit of FreeCAD. The actual heavy work happens when i get home and plug it in.
I do embedded programming, C/C++, backend and frontend development, Docker/dev containers, and robotics stuff with MuJoCo simulations. also use Claude Code, Codex, sometimes Blender, UTM for Windows 11 ARM and occasionally run local quantized LLMs (2B-8B). most of my ML training is on Colab/Kaggle anyway.
I've been looking at benchmarks online and some show the A18 Pro being slightly faster than the M1, which makes sense considering the M1 is already 6 years old. But im not sure how that translates to actual sustained workloads, especially since the M1 Pro has a fan and 16GB of ram.
my main concern is whether the Neo's 8GB will become a bottleneck with Docker, MuJoCo and multiple dev tools open, or if the faster CPU makes up for it. I really want something that feels noticeably faster than my current i7, not just better battery life.
also wondering how the battery on a 6 year old used M1 MacBook Pro would compare to a new Neo. ideally i wanna get through a full day at uni without carrying a charger around.
so what would you guys pick in my situation? especially if you've used either one for programming or robotics/simulation work. would love to hear some real world experiences rather than just benchmarks.
[Blender, WoW, Krita, Assasin's Creed, stuff like that]
Desired battery life
[don't care much, 2 hours seems good enough]
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
[performance>display size>everything else]
Info/Requirements
[144hz would be nice, maybe something that doesn't instantly sound like an airplane and tries to burn my house down (aka is known for loud fans/overheating issues) aside from that idc much. i also wouldn't mind trying to repair one that's sold as broken but can easily be fixed - can't say i'm a professional but i believe i could replace stuff that doesn't need soldering. ]
Not a big tech guy but Iām looking for a laptop and I know next to nothing about them. My current laptop is an extremely old dell from about 2010 itās a brick and is starting to crash. I will be doing basic work, streaming movies , Microsoft word and etc. I donāt want to spend more than 5-600$ my main concern is I donāt want it to be slow,
I need help choosing a new laptop in Portugal (EU market). I used to have a MacBook, but didn't like it because I could barely play anything, so i want to switch to a gaming laptop. I worked all summer to save up and make this dream happen.
My budget is up to ā¬1700, and it's meant for both university and gaming. Since I've never owned a gaming laptop, i don't really understand specs or hardware, so l'd appreciate help from folks who know better. All i know is that i have a huge Steam wishlist and a dream!
If it helps, here is a small list of games: The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption 2, inZOI, Cities:
Skylines II, The Sims 4, Manor Lords, GTA V,
Dayz, and Planet Zoo, etc
Since it's also for college, it needs to be reasonably portable and have decent battery life for normal classes/note-taking. A desktop PC is completely out of the question because I need daily mobility.
P.S.: I've read a lot about poor battery life and overheating on gaming laptops, which makes me nervous. Since this is a big investment for me, I really want to make sure I make the right choice.
What models available in the EU/Portuaal would you recommend up to ā¬1700?
Basically the title, my gaming criteria is nothing too crazy ( minecraft with shaders, some AAA games with reduced graphic settings) But I do need this laptop to have a long life span.
im looking to buy a laptop. Switching from pc because i know that i wont be able to have my pc when going to college. PC specs are 24gb ram ddr4, ryzen 7 5800xt, rx6600 xt. what laptop should i buy to equal the performance of my pc. i looked on the internet and i had a heart attack because people say its impossible to get stable 260 fps on a laptop in cs2 as an example. Now i think of giving up because im scared that i wont be able to run the games i play. BTW im from europe so laptops are so much more expensive here. Any chance i can find one?
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Country
[Central eu]
Budget
[1500 USD]
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
[Yes]
Screen size
[Any but prefer the bigger ones]
Weight limit
[Any]
Purpose
[General purpose]
Form factor
[Standard]
Intended usage
[Music programs fl studio, abelton, any game]
Desired battery life
[Any]
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
[Performance, battery life, weight]
Info/Requirements
[Oled would be nice, i am really open for everything if performance is equal to the pc]
Willing to pay for the right computer, but would like to stay under $2500USD
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
No
Screen size
Any between 14 and 17 inches, but open to options
Weight limit
Any - Still want some portability and actual use on lap
Purpose
Casual gaming, heavy 3D modeling/CAD (Fusion360), 3D printing, Vehicle Diagnostics
Form factor
My current is a 2-in-1, which I actually use quite a bit. Pen support/touch screen would be really nice.
Intended usage
Fusion 360
Solidworks
Bambu Studio
Steam/Epic (Kids like to play Fortnite and survival/crafting games)
CapCut/Davinci Resolve (Video editing)
Standard "everyday life" use - Excel/Word/Powerpoint/Web Browsing
Desired battery life
I'm USUALLY plugged in, especially when doing heavy lifting. I do occasionally need to be on battery for a couple hours at a time when working in the garage or in cars. I don't anticipate doing any max-performance work while on battery, but obviously the ability to do so would be nice.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, Size, Weight, Battery Life.
I don't think I need a "workstation" level machine, where portability is significantly compromised. I'd get a desktop if that were the case.
Info/Requirements
You know more than I do when it comes to where I should start to look in terms of specs/components. Here are some things I THING I require - but I'm relying on the brain trust to help me decide and narrow it down.
Lots of RAM and a decent graphics card are a must when doing CAD work.
I'll often be connected to 2 external monitors with a separate keyboard and mouse, especially while doing "real" work
This is 100% for personal use
I like having a touch-screen, especially when working in the garage or in the car
I don't care about things like RGB lights or anything like that.
Durability is going to be important. I'll be carrying it in a backpack on a motorcycle and it will serve life as a portable computer.
Budget is pretty flexible. I'd rather buy-once/cry-once, if it's worth it.
I do some work outside, but I've never really had an issue with glare or anything with my previous computers.
I'm not doing any kind of serious photo or video editing.
I do not have any brand preferences for computer or components.
Open to any suggestions! If there are any questions you guys might have to help recommend something, I'm happy to answer.
Laptop Request hello boys and girls I need an caption with good power for gaming, photoediting and school stuff, so it runs many games on 1080p with 100fps or more in an price range of 900-1200 Euros
Work purposes mostly - Visual Studio, Excel, Affinity. I also enjoy gaming but I do have a desktop for that. Would be nice to play WoW Forever on this while I'm traveling for work.
Form factor
Regular, no 2-in-1's please.
Intended usage
Visual Studio
Affinity
Excel
WoW Forever
Fortnite (every now and then)
Desired battery life
I'm usually plugged in but I do enjoy the battery life of the MacBook. I know I won't get it on a Windows machine and that's fine.
Performance - Top priority
Size - Secondary (bigger screen needed)
Battery LIfe
Weight - Lowest priority
Info/Requirements
As my title says, I am leaving the Apple Ecosystem and while I am perfectly content with keeping the MacBook, I would like to see what my options are for something comparable with my use case and needs.
One thing I would like to point is, is that I would love to have a more sleek, professional casing for the laptop. This isn't a full requirement but more of a nice to have. I like that I can bring the MacBook anywhere and it doesn't look like a gaming monster.
Weight limit: No more than 5 pounds, the lighter the better.
Purpose: Business use
Form factor: Standard Clamshell
Intended usage: Everyday use of Quickbooks, Windows Professional (Excel, Outlook, Word, etc.) Adobe products. This will be a business laptop with many programs running at once.
Desired battery life: 5 hours or more
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life: Ability to run Window Professional. 10-Key, Backlight keyboard. Lightweight for travel, but also sturdy to be able to handle being in a backpack. Speed to be able to run multiple programs at once without stalling out.
Info/Requirements: 10-key backlit keyboard, running Windows 11 Professional (it's a work laptop) the ability to run multiple programs, including Quickbooks online, and the everyday Windows Programs. Lightweight and easy to carry for travel. Prefer to be in the 3-5 pound range.
Edit to add, currently using a HP Elitebook with Intel Ultra 7 24GB DDR5 Ram so I would like to stay at that (or better) or equivalent with AMD.
So, my last gaming laptop was an MSI GE75 Raider 10se. Excellent laptop performance wise. Absolute shit build wise. But, I still have 64gb of DDR4 memory, and multiple SSD's (both NVME and 2.5") that I'd love to use. Can anyone recommend me a good laptop from that time? (I'd like to avoid MSI though if possible. I don't trust their hinges.)
Honestly not sure how much what I'm looking for would even cost. Maybe $1000 USD or less? $1200 or less? I don't want to spend a fortune, but I also understand I can't get a budget laptop that meets my needs.
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
Not preferred but will do so if necessary and its from a trustworthy vendor
Screen size
15"
Weight limit
Unsure. I will be carrying it between my two offices multiple times per week though, so nothing extraordinarily heavy.
Purpose
Work
Form factor
Standard/Clamshell (a regular laptop)
Intended usage
I need to run multiple businesses simultaneously from the one machine. As such, it will need to run multiple browsers with multiple tabs at once, so that I can have separate workspaces for each business. My guess is max 40 tabs on average. (Regarding the separate workspaces: although I've switched between multiple virtual desktops in the past, I'm not interested in doing that at the moment).
One business uses G-Suite so I will be using a dedicated Chrome instance for that. Main CRM is Housecall Pro. While that is web based, that tab or tabs will use more resources than say Gmail. I anticipate 5-10 open tabs on average.
Second business's CRM is Salesforce. I usually have multiple Salesforce tabs open at once (3-7) on average. As well as a tab for our attendance and time keeping software, Connecteam, a VOIP tab, a OneDrive tab and a ChatGPT tab open. This is run out of Firefox Nightly.
Lastly, I usually have 1-5 Edge tabs open for Indeed for Employers. This could be moved into Firefox.
I run Outlook desktop all day and currently have 6 email accounts and 5 O365 shared inboxes set up. Likely will have multiple Excel documents (1-5 on average) open at once and potentially a few Word docs (1-3) as well.
I stream via Spotify on occasion as well. I also keep Notepad open at all times as well.
In the background I usually have Teams, Snagit, a personal OneDrive sync as well as a Business OneDrive sync, Protonmail Bridge. I have a bluetooth mouse connected all the time, and bluetooth headphones connected for meetings and when streaming.
Desired battery life
4-6 hours. More is obviously better, but I hardly ever use it not plugged in.
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
1) More than 8GB of RAM
2) Work with my current docks (charge via USB C and output to 2 external monitors via USB C)
3) 15" display (currently have 13" and it's too small)
4) Weight isn't super important, but I will carry it from office to office multiple times per week, so not super heavy
Info/Requirements
As you can see from the screenshot below, I'm running into my 8GB memory limit with just a few apps open, so more RAM is a necessity. I have USB C laptop docks on both of my desks, but they're basically useless for my current laptop as it can't charge or display to an external monitor via the USB C port. So I need to the new machine to play nicely with the docks. I also need it to be able to support 2 external monitors. The laptop's display doesn't really matter, my current machine has a plastic screen. Current machine specs are below the screenshot for reference.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6
Processor 11th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1155G7 @ 2.50GHz (2.50 GHz)
budget flexible up to ~1.9L. i game (valorant, gta v, some newer aaa) and edit youtube videos on the side, 1080p timelines. shortlisted the 2026 nitro 5 for the 16:10 screen and the hx chips. two configs on acer's store:
- i5-14450HX + rtx 4050 6gb, 62wh battery, around 1.63L
- i7-14650HX + rtx 5050 8gb, 73wh battery, around 1.85L
both have 16gb ddr5 (up to 32gb), 1tb ssd, 16" 165hz.
is the i7/5050 worth the extra ~22k for my use, or do i take the i5 and keep the money?
Hello, I am a first year civil engineer student and I need laptop recommendation. Now I have a MacBook but itās limited because we will work with Revit. Right now for Autocad I am using my dadās computer āASUS Zenbook ā I donāt know what gen and other stuff. I am not into computers so this is really hard for me because I donāt understand anything. Is there any way to have a computer that has the outside look of a MacBook but still is really fast, but also doesnāt break a bank
Also I could use my dads computer but it just canāt run Autocad because when I am trying to do my work it automatically shuts down or the screen becomes black
Budget- unsure just want to my options hopefully under $1000 AUD but willing to spend a little over if needed
Are you open to refurbs/used options?- Maybe depends on warranty and stuff don't know too much about refurbs tbh
Screen size- 13-14 inch
Weight limit- any but under 2kg preferable
Purpose- Schoolwork
Form factor- Clamshell or 2 in 1 just prefer touchscreen but willing to compromise
Intended usage- Studying nursing, taking to lectures, working on assessments, having lots of tabs open for study, digital campus, online databases
I already have a PC at home with 64gb ram and 3060 graphics so can do home study and assessments on my PC just need something reliable to take to classes for about 3 years that I can just put in my bag and go.
Desired battery life- 10 hours
Please list, in order of most important to least important- Battery life, Longevity, Performance, Size, Weight
