Which brand and model of laptop should I buy?

[de.das.dude]

in my experience from recommending stuff to people and not buying:

Lenovo is a no no. Thinpads are fine-ish.
acer nitro series has been surprisingly good longevity
Asus is a hit and miss. THey have poor Quality checks.
MSI is a big no no.
HP is decent, the omen series is pretty nice.

 

[Redwoodz]

I'm an Acer Nitro guy but this one is hard to pass up!

Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 with Ryzen™ 7 7435HS (8c/16t), 24GB DDR5-4800, 1TB SSD, RTX 4060 8GB, 144Hz 1080p display - £760 (you can save 100 quid further if you go for no OS and drop to 16GB RAM).

Was looking for these specs in his budget, nice find.

 

[kurosagi01]

I'm an Acer Nitro guy but this one is hard to pass up!

Lenovo LOQ Gen 9 with Ryzen™ 7 7435HS (8c/16t), 24GB DDR5-4800, 1TB SSD, RTX 4060 8GB, 144Hz 1080p display - £760 (you can save 100 quid further if you go for no OS and drop to 16GB RAM).

Oh damn, I did not see this on the Lenovo website, this would be a good shout too. Although I dunno how long OP is going to be around in the UK as I'm going to guess there could be a build time.

 

[Splinterdog]

Learn to use throttlestop if you haven't already, otherwise be prepared to have 1 of these...

Gaming laptops NEED THIS #llano V12 laptop cooler (it works) #shorts #technology #tech

Check out my long-form review of this where I give a more in-depth look at it and answer common questions (and give you a discount code where you can snag th...

youtube.com

Thanks for all your replies which I'm reading with interest. I'll also look into Throttlestop when I get the laptop. I had to give up watching the linked video after 30 seconds because his voice was so irritating
As for memory and NVMe upgrades, yes, that's an important consideration, especially if I lower the budget and want to upgrade later. Soldered memory should be outlawed.
I've had Dell and Lenovo laptops come into my workshop and can't deny the quality, that's for sure, even though they weren't gaming machines. I'd also like to buy one off the shelf instead of built to order due to time constraints.
As for Asus TUF Gaming, yes, I have seen reports of failures, as in other brands as well. My daughter bought an Asus TUF A16 laptop from Scan last year and she's delighted with it, so I am veering towards that at the moment.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If you don't care if your personal data is being sent to the Chinese government, go Lenovo. Given its long and repeating history of spyware on their products, this should come as no surprise. And remember, by Chinese law, Chinese companies, owned or partially owned by the government (as Lenovo is) MUST share user data with the government.

Yes, Lenovo makes good laptops but... .

We have several MSI laptops here and all have provided great service. HOWEVER, they are all mid - to upper tier models. I agree to avoid MSI lower end laptops. That said, I say avoid ALL lower end laptops.

I am not a fan of HP the company, but they do make some reliable laptops - again, if you stay away from the budget models.

Acer has done well too.

ASUS laptops have done well - but I fear their marketing team overhypes them causing enthusiasts to be let down.

There is no such thing as a good "gaming" laptop or "desktop replacement" laptop. Manufacturers can pack the horsepower into those tiny cases, but not the cooling. If you consider the fact a quality mid-tower PC case, with lots of large case fans and a HUGE (by comparison) CPU cooler, is challenged to keep the innards properly cooled when the computer is taxed, it simply makes logical sense a tiny laptop case cannot.

 

[kurosagi01]

A bit over the budget but if you are after something that doesn't look "gamer" aesthetics like the Asus TUF and Acer Nitro:
HP Omen 16 with RTX4060

https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=9R7Y8EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB

The way I keep my temps down to close to "PC" while playing games is using IETS GT500/600 or the new Ilano cooling pad, throttlestop, CPU UV, GPU UV + run at the default Nvidia boost clock speed, since most manufacturers add their own boost speed to get slightly more performance.

CPU temps 60-70c and GPU 55-70c while playing warzone with high settings + DLSS.

 

[Splinterdog]

A bit over the budget but if you are after something that doesn't look "gamer" aesthetics like the Asus TUF and Acer Nitro:
HP Omen 16 with RTX4060

https://www.hp.com/gb-en/shop/product.aspx?id=9R7Y8EA&opt=ABU&sel=NTB

The way I keep my temps down to close to "PC" while playing games is using IETS GT500/600 or the new Ilano cooling pad, throttlestop, CPU UV, GPU UV + run at the default Nvidia boost clock speed, since most manufacturers add their own boost speed to get slightly more performance.

CPU temps 60-70c and GPU 55-70c while playing warzone with high settings + DLSS.
View attachment 355465

That's a real beauty the HP and I like that it has so many ports at the back instead of the sides. My wife will also be using the laptop and since she's an accountant, has asked that it has a number pad on the keyboard, although that could be subject to discussion

 

[xxxsonic1971]

HP..... I have owned them since 1990's -omnibook and pavilion era, they only fail due to worn-out batterys and dropping. Never had a bad experience that wasn't my fault!

 

[wNotyarD]

That's a real beauty the HP and I like that it has so many ports at the back instead of the sides. My wife will also be using the laptop and since she's an accountant, has asked that it has a number pad on the keyboard, although that could be subject to discussion

Believe me. If someone has something used on the daily, not having it there becomes a big issue.
You could technically circumvent the lack of an inbuilt number pad by buying an external dedicated number pad at a later date, though.

 

[Fizban]

I got 3050 mobile, the problem with it is mostly the lack of VRAM, I would avoid anything with 4GB if you wanted to play modern games. It's just not sufficient. The other problem is some laptop manufacturer put too low TDP making it didn't boost much hence lower performance.

Its problem is a lot more than just VRAM.

There is a refreshed 3050 with more VRAM, it's still a really mediocre GPU.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-3050-6GB-Laptop-GPU-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.692276.0.html

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-4050-Laptop-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.675695.0.html

Just using Cyberpunk as an example:
i7-13700H+ RTX 3050 6 GB @ 1080P Ultra: 34 fps
i9-13900HX + RTX 4050 @ 1080P Ultra: 67 fps

in my experience from recommending stuff to people and not buying:

Lenovo is a no no. Thinpads are fine-ish.
acer nitro series has been surprisingly good longevity
Asus is a hit and miss. THey have poor Quality checks.
MSI is a big no no.
HP is decent, the omen series is pretty nice.

Lenovo's definitely not a nono. Not nowadays anyway. They tend to be the best reviewed and most reliable of all the mainstream gaming brands.

There is no such thing as a good "gaming" laptop or "desktop replacement" laptop. Manufacturers can pack the horsepower into those tiny cases, but not the cooling. If you consider the fact a quality mid-tower PC case, with lots of large case fans and a HUGE (by comparison) CPU cooler, is challenged to keep the innards properly cooled when the computer is taxed, it simply makes logical sense a tiny laptop case cannot.

Very outdated mindset. I've used many laptops that were perfectly capable of cooling high end components.

Fastest laptop I've owned can score over 41,000 on Cinebench R23, this is water-cooled desktop territory.

Innovations in cooling laptops have come a VERY long way in the past decade.

 

[unwind-protect]

I can't recommend any *50 NVidia chips, especially not the mobile ones.

 

[Fizban]

I can't recommend any *50 NVidia chips, especially not the mobile ones.

4050 genuinely isn't bad. It rivals the 3060. The generation as a whole on the low end didn't feel like much of an upgrade, but the exception is the 4050, it's about 70%-100% better performance than the 3050 was, depending on what game is being compared.

 

[unwind-protect]

4050 genuinely isn't bad. It rivals the 3060. The generation as a whole on the low end didn't feel like much of an upgrade, but the exception is the 4050, it's about 70%-100% better performance than the 3050 was, depending on what game is being compared.

Even the laptop version?

 

[Fizban]

Even the laptop version?

Just to put this in perspective, these are average Timespy graphics subscores for the following GPU's:

3050 Mobile: 4875
3050 Ti Mobile: 5361
4050 Mobile: 8219
3060 Mobile: 8324
4060 Mobile: 10424
3070 Mobile: 10480

 

[Klemc]

HP they are the bests of the bests.

 

[Splinterdog]

I've almost made up my mind and it's a toss up between Asus TUF A16 and F15. Both can be upgraded for mem and NVMe, both tick the price bracket and are at exactly the same price at Currys UK.
I already have AMD throughout the house and den in four PCs, two of which are gaming rigs, with Intel or Nvidia nowhere to be seen. It's probably not the best reason to base one's decision on, (apart from pain in the rear Radeon driver issues).
Both have a numerical keypad which would keep my wife happy, although she wouldn't be using it very much . The F15 is Intel i7 13620H/Nvidia RTX 4050 6GB and both have 16GB RAM and 1TB NVMe.
Here's a handy comparison site, although it wouldn't hurt to compare with one more laptop before I decide.
There's also the advantage of collecting it from the store which is just around the corner from where we will be staying, which is something I would rather like to do! Shiny thing syndrome strikes again.

Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2023) vs Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023): which is better? | NR

We put the Asus TUF Gaming F15 (2023) to the test against the Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023) to find out which laptop is best for you.

nanoreview.net

 

[A&P211]

HP..... I have owned them since 1990's -omnibook and pavilion era, they only fail due to worn-out batterys and dropping. Never had a bad experience that wasn't my fault!

With HP, I always liked there elitebook line. When I had my own business I only bought elitebooks for the 3yr onsite warranty. Only had to use it once in 8yrs with 3 laptops.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Its problem is a lot more than just VRAM.

There is a refreshed 3050 with more VRAM, it's still a really mediocre GPU.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-3050-6GB-Laptop-GPU-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.692276.0.html

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-RTX-4050-Laptop-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.675695.0.html

Just using Cyberpunk as an example:
i7-13700H+ RTX 3050 6 GB @ 1080P Ultra: 34 fps
i9-13900HX + RTX 4050 @ 1080P Ultra: 67 fps

You missed one single thing. That 6GB variant is a cut down bus version, instead of 128-bit it uses 96-bit that's why performance is dreadful, despite it is using 2560 shader instead of 2048 on normal 3050. That is not apples-to-apples comparison, compare two different gens of course the newer GPU is gonna be faster because architectural improvement (more tensor cores, more ray tracing core, a whopping 10MB more L2 caches 2MB vs 12MB), and different CPU to boot.

 

[Klemc]

You missed one single thing. That 6GB variant is a cut down bus version, instead of 128-bit it uses 96-bit that's why performance is dreadful, despite it is using 2560 shader instead of 2048 on normal 3050. That is not apples-to-apples comparison, compare two different gens of course the newer GPU is gonna be faster because architectural improvement (more tensor cores, more ray tracing core, a whopping 10MB more L2 caches 2MB vs 12MB), and different CPU to boot.

Next step is to remove the cooler !

 

[eidairaman1]

If I'm not mistaken Throttlestop only works with Intel CPU, though I agree that if you wanted to the laptop to run optimally you need to learn how to control the voltages (if available). Those laptop cooler is huge and...weird. Most laptop have downfiring speaker it will muffle the speaker sound.

Is there a such thing as good "laptop" speakers anymore?

Most just use headphones or powered speakers/amps.

Anyways @unclewebb might be able to answer that, otherwise use AMDs Crimson or w/e it is called today.

 

[unwind-protect]

Is there a such thing as good "laptop" speakers anymore?

The 16" Apple models have much better speakers.

 

[Apocalypsee]

Is there a such thing as good "laptop" speakers anymore?

Most just use headphones or powered speakers/amps.

Anyways @unclewebb might be able to answer that, otherwise use AMDs Crimson or w/e it is called today.

Even these so-called 'gaming laptops' have horrible speakers, downward firing should be banned from gaming laptops. Speakers are tiny, no more subwoofer to enhance lows, and very tinny sound and low maximum volume. I don't like to wear headphones or earphones they aren't comfortable to me.

 

[eidairaman1]

Even these so-called 'gaming laptops' have horrible speakers, downward firing should be banned from gaming laptops. Speakers are tiny, no more subwoofer to enhance lows, and very tinny sound and low maximum volume. I don't like to wear headphones or earphones they aren't comfortable to me.

Yeah the days of the Dell Inspiron 9100/XPS Gen 1 are gone sad enough

The 16" Apple models have much better speakers.

I dont bother with apple

 

[de.das.dude]

Lenovo's definitely not a nono. Not nowadays anyway. They tend to be the best reviewed and most reliable of all the mainstream gaming brands.

the problem with reviews is they dont really reflect real world usage. Infact time is a big factor. It can be "reliable" for a few months. Case in point the thinkpad which i use for work when i am visiting my parents, or power outages, has a double click issue on its power button/fingerprint sensor. Its less than 3 years old and i have used it for maybe 200days in total.

and my usage is pretty mild since i login to a VM for my actual work. So the laptop is basically a terminal.

 

[ARF]

We're visiting family in the UK next month and on my shopping list is a new laptop. It has to be a gaming laptop because all my previous ones have been basic with Intel HD graphics, albeit that was years ago.
Our usage will be 75% general use and the rest, light gaming, nothing extremely demanding like Cyberpunk, Crysis Remastered etc.
Having looked at what's available in the UK, we're spoilt for choice because the equivalents in Argentina are 4x the price.
My minimum spec is 1Tb NVMe and 16Gb RAM. I would like an AMD CPU and possibly a Radeon GPU, not because I'm an AMD fanboy, but perhaps because they may be cheaper?
Anyway, if it's Intel/Nvidia, so be it and the choice seems to be between Asus, Acer, MSI and Gigabyte from what I can see.
Budget is max GB£1000, but if I can get one for £700, even better, especially since my main gaming machine is as per my profile.
Here are a couple that take my interest:

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-nitro-5-an5155853we-15.6-gaming-laptop-intel-core-i5-rtx-3050-1-tb-ssd-10254545.html

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/asus-tuf-gaming%C2%A0a16-advantage%C2%A0edition-16-gaming-laptop-amd-ryzen-7-rx-7700s-1-tb-ssd-10262310.html

I'm taken with the Asus but am open to suggestions. Budget is an important consideration and although Scan UK is a great alternative, these two offer a better deal.

Huawei.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ACEMAGIC-Newest-Gaming-Laptop-Computer/dp/B0D4MBL88G/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?crid=278WEBXWP48AJ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.6I-J7wdFlESYwzd8YRYggJEqmfJVWs2vLUTdltPyiNaMndSuOgwD-HJNUdmQLXBUWJAzPRzPR2DlUNDy5NpPgHIEfmxVCcjK1RAk1lv7zISW-X25gUKdgEbxlnWkd2GHzcwBePrd4w1kfMAmUZ6azcWMLmkBA3mkffkg1l1fdsHpZ2Zfs539ToPYWgPVsTWLgtFnHMzIxQIjwLWq5pMZ6PgpR8-1qKlCPHr1k7y5qiQ.i-Dt8WsfF1o7C8WSAv15oqt2UznKktKnJ-CX-6qEeAk&dib_tag=se&keywords=ryzen+radeon+laptop&qid=1721299731&sprefix=ryzen+radeon+laptop%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-2-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Amazon.co.uk : ryzen radeon laptop