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Question

Help choosing laptop

Mar 6, 2018 10:29AM PST

Had my old laptop die on me and was in search of a new one. Price point was up to 1600cad, which is about 1250usd, but was willing to maybe push it up to 2000 under special circumstances. There was a sale on newegg for this Asus, which sold out instantly, and I got one which was 1350 cad, or about 1050usd.

http://store.asus.com/us/item/201707AM210000002/A18490-ASUS-Vivobook-N580VD-DB74T-15.6-inch-FHD-Touch%2C-GTX-1050%2C-Intel-i7%2C-512-GB-SSD%2C-16GB

I initially wanted, a UHD touchscreen (this is fhd, uhd model is $100 more and was not on sale like this was), but upon further investigation I thought it may be pointless, due to this laptop having a really bad battery life compared to the rest of the market which will drain it even more, it being a 15" screen so not really that noticeable, and the fact that I don't even think it is true UHD in the vivo books really even if it's advertised as such.

In any case, this kind of fit my criteria that I was looking for which was touchscreen, lightweight, and a strong processor. Battery life is the only issue. And at this price point I don't think there is much on the market that could beat this deal? (feel free to give other suggestions if you feel I am mistaken, but often times in Canada prices are at a premium, not just because of the exchange rate, for most laptop models than in the US).

I also looked at this model, https://www.costco.ca/Dell-Inspiron-15-7000-English-Notebook%2c-i7-8550U.product.100388170.html

which has all the features I was looking for, but would be $650 more expensive. It would have the 8th gen "utilitarian" processor, which from all standpoints is weaker than the 7th gen 7700HQ it seems, and the graphic card would be weaker as well. Although I'm not 100% on which models they are, and how much of a difference there really is between NVIDIA GTX1050 4GB GDDR5 that the Asus has and 4 GB NVIDIA® 940MX Graphics that the Dell has. This would have UHD touchscreen though, which I do believe is true UHD, and definitely a larger battery life of 1.5 to 2hrs I would assume. I would most likely go for the Dell if they were relatively evenly priced but the price difference is significant (factoring in tax it's actually 750$!).

So, wanted to ask, with these specifications in mind, which would you choose as a laptop? And if neither, what model would you suggest as a replacement (within the same price ranges of course).

Discussion is locked

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Answer
To me, way overpriced.
Mar 6, 2018 11:07AM PST

For 1999CDN the Dell with the 940MX is a DISAPPOINTING MACHINE. Don't put that on your list.

My wife got an Asus Vivobook for about 1K USD with an 8th Gen i7 and the 1050 GPU.

The Asus will be VERY NICE overall. To drive a 4K UHD display for gaming is not a good idea today even on near 3,000USD gamer laptops. Stick with 1080 LCDs for now.

The Asus's choice of a 512GB SSD will make this a very good experience and game well.

As to battery time, the ugly truth is on battery power you might not get more than a hour when gaming. For web work, many hours.

Frankly, having had a few touch screens I won't buy that feature again.

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i agree
Mar 6, 2018 11:44AM PST

Yes, that's what I thought too, for that much difference it's barely better (depending on preference) and I'm kind of changing my mind about the UHD display viability too and am shying away from it. The touchscreen I sort of like when browsing through documents, powerpoints etc. as sort of an e-reader like feature which I've gotten used to. I have used a few touchscreens (never had one) but thought it was kind of useful at times. No idea if this will cause display problem further down the line vs. non touch screen, since I don't know enough about it, but yeah hope it won't become problematic.

Also, I am guessing by 8th gen you mean the same processor as the Dell 8550U? What do you think of it compared to the 7700HQ? Is it easier on battery life, and what about performance for gaming?

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You can find reviews on the CPU generations.
Mar 6, 2018 11:57AM PST

My wife's old still working laptop is gen 1. So it's pretty amazing to see the comparison from gen 1 to 8th gen.

I use a 7700 i7 laptop daily and it's quite nice. But today with the 8th gen out for same price I'd get on with the program.

Here's the model she bought but mind you it's 17 inch and more about her use as a desktop replacement. The price was right too. The display is to me, impeccable.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07661CYPD/

The Canadian price on Amazon is way out of line.

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yep
Mar 6, 2018 12:40PM PST

Yeah, it's insane. It honestly happens to all the popular models that are in demand (and a majority consumer electronics I'd say, although not as noticeable as on laptops). Canadians usually have to pay a premium to buy it, it's not just the exchange rate, the only way you can get it at the same $ is if you get it on sale. One of the reasons why I thought this was a great deal, and went for it as I saw it, even if I wasn't 100% I'd keep it. But yeah now the more I look at models/price comparison here, I think it's a great deal honestly.