I need help choosing a new laptop to replace a desktop.
May 22, 2022 12:51 PM Subscribe
I would like to replace a 6 year old custom built Velocity Micro gaming tower desktop with a laptop for two reasons: 1. To pare down on the amount of visual clutter on surfaces in my studio. 2. To be able to continue to game and create art while on slightly extended supportive visits to the homes of my elderly parents in NY/FL.
I haven't purchased a laptop for myself in over 10 years and I just want some solid advice on a setup that will meet my needs, which are: some light gaming, digital painting, and moderate 3D work. I've done a bunch of research at places like notebookcheck, but I'm not getting a good feel for even which types of laptop would meet my needs. Would a gaming laptop be too GPU focused to be useful for painting & 3D modeling/rendering? Would a multimedia laptop choke on my gaming needs? What else do I need to buy? A USB hub? Laptop platform/cooling mat? External storage? I could use some guidance and would love specific recommendations. The only brand I am not open to is Alienware. I had an extremely expensive Alienware desktop that self-destructed in a puff of smoke and fire after less than a year and I refuse to purchase anything from them ever again.
Budget: Preferably less than $1900 USD.
OS: Ability to run Windows 11 without choking would be great.
Typical Setup: Plugged in with an external monitor, KB, mouse, and Wacom tablet. (Not currently a Cintiq, but that might come in the future.) Wouldn't be sad if I could run it closed without damaging the screen with heat, but I don't have high expectations of this being possible.
Alternate Setup: Hauled to my parents' house/condo with the external kb, mouse, and tablet and used while plugged in.
Use Cases:
Gaming: The most demanding game I play regularly is Minecraft, which is more reliant on CPU than GPU. Normally my 6 year old PC gives me 120 frames, but in areas of my worlds where I have a lot of redstone and tile entities it crawls to 25-40 frames. Everything else I play is fairly lightweight--SDV, Darkest Dungeon, some Borderlands 2-3, Terraria, RimWorld, Oxygen Not Included, Factorio, and the occasional newer RPG or RTS title.
Digital Painting: Clip Studio Paint, Krita, Corel Painter. My canvases aren't typically huge as most of my stuff doesn't ever get printed.
3D: Blender, ZBrush, Daz Studio. I do some rendering but it's most as a reference for 2D painting.
Other: Writing, reading, streaming, the usual internet junkie stuff.
Things I Don't Care About: Cameras, fingerprint ID, high quality sound from the speakers (I use headphones 100% of the time), the presence or absence of RGB backlighting (though being able to turn it off is nice), the presence or absence of GaMeR aeSTheTiCS, having a huge screen
Things I Do Care About:
While I don't care much about the SIZE of the screen, I would like the color quality to be pretty accurate and sharp for those days, weeks, or months that I must be away from my beloved Sharp/NEC PA272W. I also detest loud/high pitched fan noise. I do not want a 2-in-1 because I already have an iPad Pro & Apple Pencil.
Things I Want to Plug Into This Laptop:
* USB Mechanical KB
* USB/Bluetooth Logitech MX Ergo Trackball
* Sharp/NEC Multisync PA272W (has a mini DisplayPort and HDMI in addition to the old school DVI)
* USB Wacom tablet
* USB Elgato Wave Condenser Microphone
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it.
I haven't purchased a laptop for myself in over 10 years and I just want some solid advice on a setup that will meet my needs, which are: some light gaming, digital painting, and moderate 3D work. I've done a bunch of research at places like notebookcheck, but I'm not getting a good feel for even which types of laptop would meet my needs. Would a gaming laptop be too GPU focused to be useful for painting & 3D modeling/rendering? Would a multimedia laptop choke on my gaming needs? What else do I need to buy? A USB hub? Laptop platform/cooling mat? External storage? I could use some guidance and would love specific recommendations. The only brand I am not open to is Alienware. I had an extremely expensive Alienware desktop that self-destructed in a puff of smoke and fire after less than a year and I refuse to purchase anything from them ever again.
Budget: Preferably less than $1900 USD.
OS: Ability to run Windows 11 without choking would be great.
Typical Setup: Plugged in with an external monitor, KB, mouse, and Wacom tablet. (Not currently a Cintiq, but that might come in the future.) Wouldn't be sad if I could run it closed without damaging the screen with heat, but I don't have high expectations of this being possible.
Alternate Setup: Hauled to my parents' house/condo with the external kb, mouse, and tablet and used while plugged in.
Use Cases:
Gaming: The most demanding game I play regularly is Minecraft, which is more reliant on CPU than GPU. Normally my 6 year old PC gives me 120 frames, but in areas of my worlds where I have a lot of redstone and tile entities it crawls to 25-40 frames. Everything else I play is fairly lightweight--SDV, Darkest Dungeon, some Borderlands 2-3, Terraria, RimWorld, Oxygen Not Included, Factorio, and the occasional newer RPG or RTS title.
Digital Painting: Clip Studio Paint, Krita, Corel Painter. My canvases aren't typically huge as most of my stuff doesn't ever get printed.
3D: Blender, ZBrush, Daz Studio. I do some rendering but it's most as a reference for 2D painting.
Other: Writing, reading, streaming, the usual internet junkie stuff.
Things I Don't Care About: Cameras, fingerprint ID, high quality sound from the speakers (I use headphones 100% of the time), the presence or absence of RGB backlighting (though being able to turn it off is nice), the presence or absence of GaMeR aeSTheTiCS, having a huge screen
Things I Do Care About:
While I don't care much about the SIZE of the screen, I would like the color quality to be pretty accurate and sharp for those days, weeks, or months that I must be away from my beloved Sharp/NEC PA272W. I also detest loud/high pitched fan noise. I do not want a 2-in-1 because I already have an iPad Pro & Apple Pencil.
Things I Want to Plug Into This Laptop:
* USB Mechanical KB
* USB/Bluetooth Logitech MX Ergo Trackball
* Sharp/NEC Multisync PA272W (has a mini DisplayPort and HDMI in addition to the old school DVI)
* USB Wacom tablet
* USB Elgato Wave Condenser Microphone
Thanks in advance, I really appreciate it.
Best answer: The Dell 5500 (e.g. 5540, 5560..) series laptops are powerful, reliable, and have an upgrade to a UHD screen with Adobe color profile. You might look around for deals on them.
posted by nickggully at 3:49 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by nickggully at 3:49 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The wirecutter is sadly attached to the New York Times, which wants you to purchase an additional subscription to read more than a very few articles per month. However, their advice is pretty good.
The Best Laptops is a pretty good description of the types of laptops available and best in each category. You'll probably wind up getting a laptop with USB-C, since that's where everyone is going. This implies you'll need a USB hub.
Most anything except the cheapest laptops will handle most of what you want without issues. For photo and video editing, the wirecutter likes the Dell XPS 15 9500.
posted by blob at 4:42 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
The Best Laptops is a pretty good description of the types of laptops available and best in each category. You'll probably wind up getting a laptop with USB-C, since that's where everyone is going. This implies you'll need a USB hub.
Most anything except the cheapest laptops will handle most of what you want without issues. For photo and video editing, the wirecutter likes the Dell XPS 15 9500.
posted by blob at 4:42 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've been using the Framework laptop for a couple months now and I've never been happier with a computer. It sounds like it will meet your needs just fine, and the upgradeability / repairability is a huge bonus if you ever decide you need more performance or storage.
They actually just upgraded the laptop last week, so you can even get a discount on the older model. If you decide you want to upgrade down the line it's trivial to purchase the newer components and upgrade the hardware of the laptop yourself.
posted by JeffJeffJeff at 4:58 PM on May 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
They actually just upgraded the laptop last week, so you can even get a discount on the older model. If you decide you want to upgrade down the line it's trivial to purchase the newer components and upgrade the hardware of the laptop yourself.
posted by JeffJeffJeff at 4:58 PM on May 22, 2022 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I like my Zephyrus G14. This year's model looks like a pretty solid upgrade, has a couple of USB A ports in addition to the USB C, and I notice BestBuy have them at a little discount right now.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:30 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 6:30 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Things I frequently use my laptop for:
Minecraft
Blender
Unreal Engine
CAD software
VR stuff
Some photo/image editing
At my desk I usually use it with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse. I occasionally use a Wacom (Intuos 3).
I recently upgraded to this laptop:
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-7-series/legion-7-16-amd/len101g0011
I upgraded to 32 gigs of memory and a 1 Tb hard drive, which was a good choice.
It has great color display, and plenty of USB ports, though I keep some things plugged into a USB hub for convenience. Has HDMI for my monitor, no issues running the second screen at the same time. Runs all of my software without complaint. It's a little slower rendering than a really top notch desktop would be, but the portability is worth it to me.
Does great with Minecraft. I'm not a heavy redstone user, but some people on my server are, and I haven't noticed it stuttering in those areas.
Downsides- it can be loud. Running shaders in Minecraft leads to an effect not unlike a helicopter preparing for flight. It's not high pitched, but it's fairly loud for a laptop when you're doing something demanding. It doesn't get incredibly hot, but I would suggest a lap desk. The power brick is unbelievable. It is nearly the size and weight of an actual brick.
I've been very happy with it. If you decide you can compromise on noise level, I would highly recommend it, or another Legion machine. Good build quality.
Other downside- I ordered on Thanksgiving and it was delivered a little after New Year's. So be prepared for some lead time. Given the supply of GPU's right now, that's pretty common though.
Feel free to MeMail me with questions!
posted by Adridne at 2:31 PM on May 22, 2022 [1 favorite]