Hi OzB,
tl;dr short version:
Suggestions for a laptop, please; ideally ones NOT from China.
Budget: $2,500, with wiggle room
Type: Laptop (probably gaming, but open)
Storage: 512GB SSD onboard, with, hopefully, an empty 2.5" slot
RAM: 16GB
CPU: Core i7 or equivalent
GPU: RTX 2060 or equivalent
Ideally it will have 1-2 HDMI ports and/or 1 mDP port for additional monitors. The more USBs, the better, too.
A back-lit keyboard would be nice, too. Lol. :P
If anyone has any general brand endorsements or suggestions, I'd love to hear those, too.
Long version:
A couple of months ago I was in the market for a new gaming laptop for myself. I eventually settled on a Lenovo Legion Y740. This laptop was to replace my 8 year old Alienware M17x, which died after a long, loyal service.
I went with Lenovo primarily because I had access to a corporate discount, which I was able to apply on top of a sale they had going at the time on those models, for a very nice discount. I ordered the laptop on April 3, at the height of Covid-19, and was happy to wait patiently for it to arrive, which it did in very early May.
I used it for a couple of weeks and was very happy with it. It was very fast and good-looking. I figured I'd found my next long term companion and went ahead and ordered an additional adapter ($125) on about May 14, because I dislike having to unplug it and lug it around when I want to take my laptop away from its normal desk home with my extra monitor (a Lenovo ThinkVision 24", $180) and my other peripherals. A price I'm happy to pay for convenience.
Anyway, days later in mid-May, the keyboard backlight began to play up. It would stop its normal cycle of lights, configured via bundled Corsair software, and it would take a reboot to restore it. Reboots worked okay for a few days, until I one day turned the laptop on and the backlight failed to come on at all. I tried all the troubleshooting but it was quite clearly a hardware issue; the Legion Y740 has several other light zones on its case (power button, fan backlights, and part of the logo on the lid) which all continued to work without any issue throughout the entire time I had the laptop.
So, on May 24, I opened a case with Lenovo to see if I could have the laptop repaired. To their credit, the particular person I spoke to initially was very helpful. They understood my problem and that I had tried all available remedies, and pushed up the chain to their manager to approve a replacement. I received an email on May 29 saying that I could expect delivery of a replacement unit 3 weeks from that date (so, around June 19). A keyboard backlight might not seem like a huge deal, and it isn't, though for the couple of days I used it without it I wasn't happy - it does make a decent difference to me, and I suggest an analogy; if I bought a new car, drove it off the lott, and then 2 weeks later the radio crapped out, I'd definitely take it back to the dealer, even though I can still drive it. I didn't actually want a replacement, but was told that was the only option; I suppose the keyboard backlight is probably pretty-deeply built-in to the thing.
In the meantime, my original unit was picked up on June 5. After having an issue with my tracking number, I was eventually provided with a new one, which, upon accessing, indicated that my order date of May 29 is due to ship on July 13, and arrive at my door on July 28 - over 5 weeks later than June 19. 3 weeks wasn't a big deal, but 8 weeks certainly is.
There was no communication as to why this projection had changed, in my opinion, quite so dramatically. So, I got through to Lenovo via phone again today, and they were once again a lot more polite and helpful over the phone than via email (which is quite a low bar - I've found their emails blunt and rude). The first person I spoke to informed me that they couldn't provide any info as returns and replacements are handled by Lenovo Post Delivery (LPD). I asked if they have a phone number, which they don't; only an email address, and so I asked for a phone number for complaints, which was provided.
I spoke to the person at complaints/Customer Care, who informed me that "a number of Lenovo's orders from early June have been delayed due to new Customs regulations and requirements in China, which are due to Covid-19". An unsurprisingly explanation, but also one which I find a bit hard to believe, since it didn't take them 2 months to organise a laptop in April when Covid-19 was at its height. A more believable explanation would be something along the lines of Chinese-U.S. trade war and/or Chinese-Australian embargo, but I digress…
Anyway, I was informed by this person, who was also overall helpful and friendly, that I could submit a complaint in writing to a supplied Customer Care email address, which I will be doing, telling them essentially what I've written here, and pointing out that, for a laptop I ordered on April 3, to not receive it (notwithstanding the replacement, of course) until potentially the start of August, 4 months later, is unacceptable, and that I'd like a refund. Not that it matters, but this laptop isn't simply for leisure - I also need it for applying for jobs and study as I do not have an alternative, and I hate doing that stuff on my phone. They should have let me hold onto the faulty one until they were ready to supply the replacement.
My Lenovo Legion Y740 cost $2,500, plus a bit extra for "on-site upgrade and support" for a year. As mentioned I bought myself an additional adapter, which uses their proprietary port and plug so is useless for anything else, for another $125. I bought a Samsung Evo 860 1TB SSD to pop into the Y740's 2.5" open slot, so any replacement I get will hopefully have one of those slots, otherwise that's $227.50 I didn't need to spend. A Lenovo monitor, which is fine, but was another $180 purchase from their company, and I also upgraded the stock Windows 10 Home on the Legion to W10 Pro - I will have to purchase another key.
So, here endeth my story about my Lenovo laptop, for now, and while I don't want to say "DON'T BUY!", definitely ThinkTwice (tm) (if you'll pardon the pun). Here starteth the part where I ask for suggestions on other laptop makes and models; ideally ones NOT from China.
Budget: $2,500, with wiggle room
Type: Laptop (probably gaming, but open)
Storage: 512GB SSD onboard, with, hopefully, an empty 2.5" slot
RAM: 16GB
CPU: Core i7 or equivilent
GPU: RTX 2060 or equivilent
Ideally it will have 1-2 HDMI ports and/or 1 mDP port for additional monitors. The more USBs, the better, too.
A back-lit keyboard would be nice, too. Lol. :P
If anyone has any general brand endorsements or suggestions, I'd love to hear those, too.
Frunk
tl;dr is required. Thanks