Buy $1,300-$1,450ish laptop now, or is it worth waiting?

Greetings, salutations, and G'day mates.

I've got a Metabox with a 1050 Ti that's on its last legs due to some travel-induced abuse. The power jack's wonky and has to be plugged in just right and left completely still - The CPU overheats because a crappy repair shop took off the heatsink for no reason and the liquidmetal oxidised on the die, and so on. The performance level is still adequate, but I'm getting sick of the issues it has.

So I'm thinking about grabbing a new machine - But it's super difficult to find a bargain without quietly nerfed GPU wattage ruining the whole deal. Apparently the 40 series mobile cards won't be out for ages, and I have no idea when, if ever, 30 series mobile GPUs (or the rest of laptops) will reduce in price. $1,500 is my hard limit but it seems near impossible to get a decent GPU at full wattage for that price point. So I ask: Is there any reason to wait? Or are the deals on right now about as good as it's going to get for the next few months? If so - What do I get? Durability matters for me since it sits in a bag and gets thrown around a little. I'd be gaming without an external monitor.

Cheers.

PS: How do I add tags to posts?

Comments

  • +1

    Can try Dell outlet, can get a 3060 in your price range on the g series laptops. https://www.dell.com/en-au/outlet/shop/laptops-tablets?refin…

    • Cheers - Those prices are right, but they don't say anything about the GPU wattage. How would I go about finding that out? If their wattage is low like 65W, then the value is iffy given they're refurbs, IMO …

      • What do you mean GPU wattage? Are you expecting a GPU in a laptop to produce the same as a dedicated PCIe graphics card?

        Also an RTX 3060 is ~$600 alone.

        • +1

          No of course I'm not expecting a mobile GPU to eat as much power as a desktop GPU.

          However, laptop manufacturers have a bit of leeway with the 30 series as to what they cap power consumption at. From what I understand, a 3060 can be as low as 65W or as high as 95W, and the performance scales well with the increased power consumption, assuming cooling is adequate. Max-Q and Max-P are seemingly often used as descriptors for this, but not always.

          Edit: Check out the chatter about this issue in the comments for this deal: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/735205

  • +1

    I'd wait a few years and they will get cheaper.

    • A few years is a bit too long mate haha!

      • There'll be faster processors out then too…

  • Why not get a PS5 now and a new PC in a few years. PS5 seems to finally be getting back in stock.

    • Because I travel. Plus, I'd have to get a laptop anyway - Nothing like watching a show in bed sometimes, and touchscreens are lame IMO.

      • +2

        You could get OLED Switch. Lots of great exclusive Switch games you might enjoy catching up on.

        • I could, I could.

          But I'd like a laptop, to play my massive Steam collection and to also have the full functionality that a Windows machine with a physical keyboard affords.

  • Oh man you just missed the JB 25% off gaming laptops plus 8% shopback on JB vouchers like 3 weeks ago.

    • Crushed :(

  • Slightly above your price range, but has 3060!

    Acer Nitro 5 15.6" QHD 165Hz i9-11th Gen 16GB 512GB RTX3060 $1,499 + Delivery ($5 Most Area/$0 VIC C&C) + Surcharge @ Centre Com

    Also take a look at some of the intel NUC x15 series, there are some 3060 models within your price range.

    • Oh man the nuc X15 seems perfect!

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