Conan, what is best in laptops for ~$1000?

April 7, 2018 9:56 AM

Having become more familiar with Dell beep codes lately than I ever wanted to be, it's time to retire the ole Inspiron 7537 (circa 2014). I hate shopping for new computers because I tend to get very stuck in the weeds of what I need now vs. what I could conceivably need in the :::future:::. I come to the hive mind for advice.

What I typically do on my laptop is a mix of internetting, Adobe Producting (Illustrator, Photoshop), media streaming, and light gaming (the fanciest pantsiest game I currently own is Subnautica but that's mainly because that is the outermost limit of what my current computer can handle). I'm not A Gamer(tm) but I enjoy playing games for a few hours every week. Right now I have an integrated graphics card and I'm excited to explore the world beyond those limitations in my next machine, but I'm not mining bitcoin or playing 12 hours of COD every day.

I don't need is a ton of storage, since we run a media server in the house. Right now I'm using about 260GB of my current 1TB drive. Currently 8GB RAM, would like to experience the world of 16GB. I want VROOOOM or at least as much VROOOOM as I can afford.

Household has 2 clumsy adults (well, 1 normal adult and one off the charts clumsy adult who is currently banned from getting a new laptop since he spilled whisky on and fried the keyboard on his new Lenovo Yoga) and 1 young child. New laptop cannot be made of glass.

Portability not a concern. This is a desktop replacement. I'm supposed to be getting a Surface Pro from work for my work needs at some point in the next couple of months, so I'm not concerned about this new personal laptop being on the heavy side. 15-17" display as I do tend to watch TV on it during times when my spouse is watching the actual TV.

More ports > less ports.

I'm totally cool with a certified refurb or last year's model of something. So, hardware-knowledgeable peeps, whatcha got for me?

posted by soren_lorensen to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

DELL XPS.
posted by yoyo_nyc at 10:00 AM on April 7, 2018

The Wirecutter is your friend. Simple, straightforward recommendations (and justifications for the recommendations) for various laptops, for various uses.

The Dell XPS yoyo_nyc recommends is their top Ultrabook.
posted by blob at 10:36 AM on April 7, 2018

Best answer: If you don't care about portability, you might also look at their cleverly named Inspiron 15 7000 Gaming. It's chunkier than an XPS but cheaper; I picked one up in October or so. It's not giant gaming laptop size, just basically normal laptop size instead of super-skinny size. There are some with lovely prices on the dell outlet right now -- you want the 7567. It comes with a mobile 1050 or 1050ti, which is enough for subnautica, older titles like the various borderlandses, and bethesda games. I knocked Fallout4 down to 1280x720 and it's fine. FWIW, subnautica seems to push the gpu harder than anything else I've played so far.

You'd want it to be plugged in to play games or if you're going to ask it to crunch numbers for a while, but for the usual surfing/light productivity stuff my battery lasts 6 hours easy. I like that it has a 2.5 inch drive bay as well as an m2 slot. I'd recommend looking for one with an m2 drive installed so that you can easily add another storage drive in the normal drive bay whenever the m2 stick fills up. It's also not covered with lightning bolts and skulls and other stupid gamery crap.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:32 AM on April 7, 2018

(It looks like they're replacing this line with the G-something series of laptops so there might be good deals on the remaining 7567s on the outlet for a bit. Good ones going for about $700 but I didn't check whether those were new or refurbs)
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:33 AM on April 7, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks GCU Sweet and Full of Grace that was just what the doctor ordered. Portability is the least important feature (computer rarely leaves the couch), especially since a Surface is in my future for any work travel I need to do. Best Buy has (well, had) a nicely specced 7567 like new open-box for around $850, so I went for it. The reviews on that particular model indicate that it's got the newer, better IPS display rather than the older TN that has terrible reviews.
posted by soren_lorensen at 12:23 PM on April 7, 2018

I just posted in another ask.me about my love for used ThinkPads from eBay. Reliable, sturdy, powerful.
posted by theora55 at 1:19 PM on April 7, 2018

You've answered this, but my main rec for laptops is not to cheap out on the processor - AMD sell a bunch of cheap processors that are literally not fit for purpose, you need an i3 or an i5 Intel imo.
posted by Sebmojo at 3:37 PM on April 7, 2018

Came here to say XPS (am typing on one right now) but it sounds like you already have a good solution. Anyway if anybody else is wondering, I find my XPS 15 to be a really nice machine all around and would recommend it to others.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 4:48 PM on April 7, 2018

XPS is great for portable but doesn't have an HDMI or Ethernet port, etc (you can buy a cable). It's been great once I got around that quirk and getting the wireless settings right (the defaults were weird in ours). Got it because of Wirecutter and while happy with it (touch screen has been great for a younger kid) it's not right for everyone.
posted by typecloud at 6:13 PM on April 7, 2018

AMD sell a bunch of cheap processors that are literally not fit for purpose

The new generation procs are much improved (though in fairness I have not seen the numbers on the mobile versions yet).
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 9:28 AM on April 8, 2018

I hope you enjoy it! I forgot to mention looking for the ips panel instead of the tn. Mine is cheerful red that reminds me to smash the chains of the workers.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 10:14 AM on April 8, 2018