Need Laptop Buying Advice for Uni/Gaming/Work Computer ($800-1300+)

LKeelann on 11/04/2018 - 01:27

Hey there,

So I've just gotten a scholarship and have desperately needed a new laptop for a while now. I'm kind of wondering what I should be looking out for based on my needs and would really appreciate any advice you could give me.

-I play and stream stuff like Hearthstone, WoW and indie games in my free time. I definitely don't need to see someone's knuckle hair in 4K 60fps, but might occasionally play things like Fo4 level heavy.

-For Uni and work I'm mostly just having a large amount of content open at once, often running heavy browser addons to sort/search/tick boxes etc that freeze up the current one I'm on (but I know that might just be bad addons).

My laptop now is a 2 year old Acer, i7 6th series core, 8gb ram, 1TB HDD, can provide other specs if needed. But basically it's become a freezing and sluggish mess. I can't stream or do much more than try to play extremely laggy and crashing games, or just having a word document with a couple of other programs running. This happens from a factory reset so I'm guessing the hardware has just had enough.

Basically I'm just wondering what I should be looking for, and if anyone had any suggestions that aren't visible already on ozdeals. I've been searching for ideally a i7 8th series, 16gb ram, any SSD (optimistically, I know). But do these things matter a whole lot? I'm happy to wait a couple of months/go visiting stores for deals if that will help.

Oh and sturdy is better because I'll be lugging it around a lot, but I understand all this is asking a lot for the price range Β―_(ツ)_/Β― so if it doesn't have everything/I don't actually need certain things that's totally fine.

Thanks a heap for any advice!

Ps sorry if this posts twice, I tried to post and my internet went down and didn't see any new posts come up.

Computing

Comments

  • [Deactivated] on 11/04/2018 - 06:28
    -1

    MacBook Air

    • harro112 on 11/04/2018 - 08:54

      Airs start above his upper bound, and that's with integrated graphics.

    • Shrederick on 20/04/2018 - 08:13

      MacBook Air was a godsend for me at uni. Pair that with a desktop when you have spare cash. My MacBook air 2011 is still relevant today!

  • sky blu on 11/04/2018 - 06:36

    https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/366571

    Within your budget, i7 8th gen, 256GB SSD, dedicated graphics.

    You can upgrade RAM later on.

  • Ryanek on 11/04/2018 - 08:19
    +7

    A 2 year old Acer should be more than sufficient! I suggest you upgrade it with SSD, you will notice a dramatic difference.

    • sky blu on 11/04/2018 - 08:30

      You must meant drastic difference.

      • Ryanek on 11/04/2018 - 10:05
        +3

        Actually the word drastic has a negative connotation.

        • sky blu on 11/04/2018 - 10:11
          +2

          Thanks πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘πŸ‘

    • spp on 11/04/2018 - 14:54

      I upgraded my iMac 2013 2.7GHz 8GB RAM 1TB HDD recently with 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD and it is working like a brand new. I suggest just upgrade to SSD and you should be fine.

  • harro112 on 11/04/2018 - 08:51
    +2

    Your Asus should be fine - if its GPU is still up to what you want to do, which doesn't sound too demanding, then swap the HDD with an SSD (preferably m.2 NVME). The fact it's slowed down so much has more to do with what's installed on it, so try to regularly prune software you don't need, especially anything that starts on startup.

  • dasher86 on 11/04/2018 - 09:13
    +2

    Open the laptop give it a clean and a service - cooling gel etc.
    Get a SSD.

  • sky blu on 11/04/2018 - 10:13
    +1

    As others said, upgrade your current laptop with an SSD hard drive. Look on eBay you can get a 500GB Samsung 850 SSD for under $200 these days.

  • Keelann on 11/04/2018 - 12:10

    Thanks all. There's a few other problems with it that will cost $$$ to fix but I might put it in and ask how much it'll take to repair it, then weigh up an SSD and other stuff against a new laptop. I wasn't sure it was the hard drive because even with everything uninstalled it was slow but thanks that's really helpful!

  • Keelann on 23/04/2018 - 20:12

    Hey, so I took the old laptop to a relative who works on laptops and they've told me I'd be better off getting a new one. Mostly due to things like the damaged casing,as well as issues with the screen and keyboard.

    I'm looking at a few different ones and was hoping to get some opinions if possible.

    I know there's cheaper products on overseas ebay/amazon etc but I'd really want a warranty for the first year at least.

    www.metabox.com.au/store/b219/Metabox-Alpha-N850HK-Laptop
    -2.3kg, comes without windows 10, and I'm guessing I can't transfer the license over as I bought my current one with w10 installed so I'm probably going to have to pass as it'd go over my $1300 limit

    dell.com/en-au/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-7000-gaming/spd/inspiron-15-7567-laptop/b510330au
    -This seems like the best in value at $1359 with the 20% discount, but I'm told it weighs about 2.65kg

    www.lmc.com.au/products/Notebooks_and_Laptops/Asus/593876/As…
    -Seems great but no SSD and apparently installing one would void the warranty, also would cost extra money

    https://www.centrecom.com.au/acer-aspire-vx-15-156-intel-cor…
    -Gets hot but is quiet, 2.5kg which may be bearable (I'm unsure), and honestly looks pretty silly but no other major issues

    The GTX 1050 might seem excessive, but I was browsing my steam games and I actually do sink a lot of time into heavier things like DA:I, Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3, and would want something that can handle future games.

    If all of these are trash and I'm looking at the wrong specs/in the wrong places please let me know! Thanks

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