Which brand and model of laptop should I buy?

[Shou Miko]

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

Well Acemagic has been caught having malware in their pre-installed Windows and Acemagic claims it was to bypass the setup of Windows and such if I remember correctly.

Just one of many reviews that talks about acemagic:

 

[Fizban]

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.

CPU can matter in theory, sure, but not in this scenario. Both these GPU's are way too weak to bottleneck any of the cpu's they're being paired with.

I have a laptop with a 14900HX and a 4090 Mobile. CPU would matter on it, but not on something with a 3050.

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.

A lot of these are long-term reviews, from people on discord servers dedicated to laptops.

Only recent Lenovo's I've seen have lots of issues are the LOQ's.

 

[wheresmycar]

Well Acemagic has been caught having malware in their pre-installed Windows and Acemagic claims it was to bypass the setup of Windows and such if I remember correctly.

Just one of many reviews that talks about acemagic:

One of the reasons I always commit to a fresh install of windows when buying laptops... well primarily to eliminate all the bloat.

 

[forman313]

Thinkpad P15v is 50% off. £999 inc VAT.
AMD R7 Pro 6850H (same cpu as R7 7445H, except the 6850H has higher clocks)
32GB DDR5, 1TB Gen4 SSD
Quadro T1200 4GB GPU, 15.6" 4K IPS 600nits, 68Wh battery.

No bloat and comes with 1yr premier support. Something happens, give them a call and they´ll be at your door the next day. You´re not going to need it tough, not with the T, X or P series. That´s why you get it for free.

If you need more oohmp for gaming, the LOQ with RTX4060 is a very nice deal.

 

[Fizban]

This site usually has some pretty good deals listed: https://gaminglaptop.deals/

 

[Splinterdog]

I'm inclined towards this one - Asus TUF Gaming F15.
How important is a Thunderbolt connection? This one has one.

 

[eidairaman1]

I'm inclined towards this one - Asus TUF Gaming F15.
How important is a Thunderbolt connection? This one has one.

Do you use apple products?

 

[Splinterdog]

Do you use apple products?

No I don't and never will. But Thunderbolt does have other uses such as fast transfer and rapid charging as far as I know. It's not that crucial to me though, just curious.

 

[Splinterdog]

There comes a time when you simply can't read or watch any more reviews and benchmarks eventually do my head in. Having said that, the reviews for the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition were pretty unanimous in their praise, especially for the battery life, gaming performance and specs, so I bought one.
Talking of specs, it met all my criteria - 16GB RAM, 1TB NVMe, both upgradeable (there's a second M.2 slot), 4 cell 90Wh battery, Ryzen 7 7435HS CPU and Radeon RX 7700S 8GB GPU.
It's not a desktop replacement by any means and is the first brand new laptop I've bought in over 20 years. My last laptop was a second hand Lenovo i3 with Intel HD graphics that I was glad to see the back of before it went belly up.
This will be a significant step up
And in the end, I won't be sharing it with my wife who will need one of her own, so we're looking at a well specced Acer Aspire 3 for her, making sure it has the all important numpad for number crunchers like her.

 

[Splinterdog]

The Acer that I was after has sold out and I'm now looking at a Samsung Galaxy Book 4 FE 15.6 with i3 1315U and 8GB RAM.
However, the memory is soldered which I have never liked because you can't upgrade it. Of course, she will only be using it for spreadsheets, web browsing and online accounting, so I wonder if that will matter.
It's in the right price point of GB£374 but it may be worth paying a little more for a laptop that can be upgraded if necessary.
This appeals as well but it also has a max RAM limit of 8GB according to Crucial.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/acer-aspire-3-15.6-laptop-intel-core-i3-256-gb-ssd-silver-10238901.html