Advice on buying a new laptop

[Mac.]

Hey guys,

you might've read that my old laptop's screen died. I went to repair with it and they said that if I would let it get repaired, it would've cost me a minimum of €160,- (maybe even more) which I think is too much for a 2,5 year old laptop of €570,-.

So I'm planning on buying a new one in the price range of €600 - €800.

Currently, I've found of a couple alternatives, but the following is on my top 1 list:

Asus A555LB-DM297T
€729,-

CPU: Intel Core i7-5500U, 2,4GHz
RAM: 8GB
HDD: 1TB, 5400rpm
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GT940M, 2GB
Res.: 1920x1080p (15,6" screen)
OS: Windows 10, Home
​

For the price of €729,- I thought these were some pretty good specs, but I'm not an expert, so any feedback on price/quality-ratio?

I'm planning on using the laptop for both daily use (internet, microsoft office, youtube, etc.), but for my studies I will also need to have a little more power for programs such as Photoshop, SQL Management Studio, Visual Studio, Microsoft Excel (billion-data-worksheets including macro's/formula's), PowerBI,, etc.

But I occasionally also want to play some games, most of them aren't very demanding (such as Minecraft, GMod and older CODs), but I've also got GTA5 that I'd like to play. I guess with the combination of CPU, RAM and GPU would be suffificient to play GTA5 on low/med-settings, right?

So, any tips? Other suggestions?
Am I making a good call with this laptop?

Thanks
~ McGuire

 

[Hary]

I would say that the specifications you implied are perfect for your needs I wouldn't change anything in that and yeah the GT940 M has Maxwell architecture so all good there(for your use).whats the screen's size? 15" or more?

 

[Mac.]

I would say that the specifications you implied are perfect for your needs I wouldn't change anything in that and yeah the GT940 M has Maxwell architecture so all good there(for your use).whats the screen's size? 15" or more?

Thanks for your heads up
Its screensize is 15,6''.

 

[Hary]

Thanks for your heads up
Its screensize is 15,6''.

You're all good then No need for any further changes. Except if you're gonna work deeply with photoshop and Render some high quality content, you'll need 16GB of RAM which ofc you can change it manually other than that everything suits your work

 

[CntrlAltDel]

That's a nice laptop. Only thing I would change maybe is switch the HDD for an SSD it will make a world of a difference for productivity and carry around a USB 3.0 external drive where you store the bulk of your data files.
Another thing that I should mention that you may already know is that the 1920x1080p resolution monitor isn't carved in stone, you have to specifically ask for the revision that has the full HD monitor with it.
Same goes for the 8GB of memory, in fact they might even give you 2GB only and expect you to fill the rest of the slots yourself.
Same goes for the hard drive, might be smaller in capacity, might be bigger, might be faster (RPM-wise), might be slower

Just inquire about the hardware you want specifically

 

[KillEmil]

It seems like a good choise! The only thing i would change is the HDD with a SSD.If you can buy a external HD case even better.You make the current 1tb hdd external.

 

[Hary]

It seems like a good choise! The only thing i would change is the HDD with a SSD.If you can buy a external HD case even better.You make the current 1tb hdd external.

i agree to change the HDD with the SSD but its entirely optional and for what purpose is the laptop gonna be used for. As for the purpose stated by @McGuire i don't think an SSD is necessary like a priority or an urgency.

 

[KillEmil]

i agree to change the HDD with the SSD but its entirely optional and for what purpose is the laptop gonna be used for. As for the purpose stated by @McGuire i don't think an SSD is necessary like a priority or an urgency.

I agree Hary but it would be so much faster and you can buy SSD's really cheap now. I recently changed my 5 years laptop HDD to SSD for 68 euro and it's so much faster now...

 

[CntrlAltDel]

i agree to change the HDD with the SSD but its entirely optional and for what purpose is the laptop gonna be used for. As for the purpose stated by @McGuire i don't think an SSD is necessary like a priority or an urgency.

You produce content, an SSD is not only a convenience but also an investment. Installed in a laptop you save battery because there's no moving parts in an SSD and also its lifespan is much longer than a hard drive, you'll never get degenerating performance with age like a normal mechanical hard drive

 

[Mac.]

That's a nice laptop. Only thing I would change maybe is switch the HDD for an SSD it will make a world of a difference for productivity and carry around a USB 3.0 external drive where you store the bulk of your data files.
Another thing that I should mention that you may already know is that the 1920x1080p resolution monitor isn't carved in stone, you have to specifically ask for the revision that has the full HD monitor with it.
Same goes for the 8GB of memory, in fact they might even give you 2GB only and expect you to fill the rest of the slots yourself.
Same goes for the hard drive, might be smaller in capacity, might be bigger, might be faster (RPM-wise), might be slower

Just inquire about the hardware you want specifically

Are you saying that if a webshop says that a laptop they sell has 8GB of memory, in reality it could be they actually give you 2GB?
If that is what you mean: then can they do that lol?

Nothing in the product description says this, so I actually expect the webshop to deliver what I am buying, right?

---

About the SSD, for my current and future activity on laptops, I guess an SSD ain't needed.
Not to forget that this laptop only comes with HDD and I really have no knowledge whatsoever about building a customized laptop

 

[Hary]

Are you saying that if a webshop says that a laptop they sell has 8GB of memory, in reality it could be they actually give you 2GB?
If that is what you mean: then can they do that lol?

haven't experienced anything like that myself like that lol.

 

[KilluMinati]

Asus has good laptops

 

[LeiTRoSaS]

Good luck. I hope ull by one that fits realy nice to u.

 

[W4RL10N]

So youre giving 730EU for dual core i7 with cheap nvidia GPU?
I dont think you will have a lot of fun in games like GTA V, unless you run some low resolution with low settings. At 1080p, youre probably gonna be able to play Minecraft, productivity is gonna be fine for the most part, unless you plan on doing video editing which isnt going to work out very well.
Dont know about Billions of data in excell on a dual core. I have an i3-4130 which is basically same as your i7 just bit faster. It works well for games, like i run all my games at minimum 60FPS at 1080p High-Ultra settings. And thats fine, but i do have a GPU which is about 800% as fast as that nvidia thing you plan on buying (HWCompare just basic specs but still http://www.hwcompare.com/21219/geforce-940m-vs-radeon-hd-7870/ ). On the other hand my CPU is running 90%+ in games like BF4 and GTA V, which doesn't leave much room for multitasking aka productivity if you will while gaming, that does kinda bother me and i am planning on getting an i7 4770k or 4790k soon.

My honest opinion about every component and how it will perform:
CPU: i7 5500U (U stands for Ultrabook CPU, which means lower power consumption and also lower temperatures but bad side is lower performance as well.) Its fine for a laptop, but not for heavy workload, even tho it is an "i 7" 5th generation.
RAM: 8Gb, is decent, and will serve you well, not sure if its shared with the GPU tho.
HDD: 1tb is decent amount of storage, but 5400RPM is a no go for me. You will see soon why i mean that if you chose to buy that laptop. Cause that is really slow for a main drive.
GPU: I am not sure, but i think this GT940M is about as fast as my integrated GPU which is intel HD 4400, that nvidia would be little faster but nothing too dramatic for a "dedicated" card.

Ultimately its your decision, but i personally wouldn't opt for this laptop as my main laptop.

 

[Hary]

GPU: I am not sure, but i think this GT940M is about as fast as my integrated GPU which is intel HD 4400, that nvidia would be little faster but nothing too dramatic for a "dedicated" card.

GPU is as fast as intel hd4400?are you freaking kidding me? lel. and nothing too "dramatic"? the 900 series is in the maxwell architecture and FYI its nearly as fast as the GTX650. check out the specs at nvidia's official website. its got all the core speed,GB/s,shaders etc etc and its a DX12 card.

 

[Mac.]

I dont think you will have a lot of fun in games like GTA V, unless you run some low resolution with low settings. At 1080p, youre probably gonna be able to play Minecraft, productivity is gonna be fine for the most part, unless you plan on doing video editing which isnt going to work out very well.

Well, I used to enjoy playing GTA5 with my old laptop. Its cpu was an AMD A8-series and I had an integrated Intel HD 8670 gpu. I had to play the game at lowest settings of course and it lagged now and then, but I had fun playing anyways
And no, I don't plan on doing video editing at all or anything related to that.

And thats fine, but i do have a GPU which is about 800% as fast as that nvidia thing you plan on buying (HWCompare just basic specs but still http://www.hwcompare.com/21219/geforce-940m-vs-radeon-hd-7870/ ). On the other hand my CPU is running 90%+ in games like BF4 and GTA V, which doesn't leave much room for multitasking aka productivity if you will while gaming, that does kinda bother me and i am planning on getting an i7 4770k or 4790k soon.

Yea I can see that your cpu and gpu are much faster/better than mine, however, at what pricerange am I looking at then?
I guess quite some more than €800,-, right? Cause that's my maximum price.

GPU: I am not sure, but i think this GT940M is about as fast as my integrated GPU which is intel HD 4400, that nvidia would be little faster but nothing too dramatic for a "dedicated" card.

According to multiple benchmarks, the GT940m is at least 2-3x better than the HD4400.

Anyways, thanks, y'all for the advice, but I decided to go with this one
For the price of €730,- I haven't found a better one (concerning specs) which is available in my region. There was one in china or something, but hell no that I am buying something from there ^^

 

[VXLT]

i think this is a good one
MSI GL62 6QF-628 Gaming Laptop
it's specs
cpu:

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5

• 6th Generation Intel Core i5 6300HQ (2.30 GHz)

• 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD

• 15.6" Full HD 1920 x 1080

• 15.07" x 10.23" x 1.06" 5.29 lbs.

• DVD Super Multi

 

[Mac.]

Not available in my region
Unless I haven't searched good enough; you got any shops where they're selling this?

 

[W4RL10N]

You produce content, an SSD is not only a convenience but also an investment. Installed in a laptop you save battery because there's no moving parts in an SSD and also its lifespan is much longer than a hard drive, you'll never get degenerating performance with age like a normal mechanical hard drive

This is not true but some of it is. Yes it will save energy and provide unmatched performance compared to HDD, but lifespan of HDD is far greater than a life span of SSD. Yes they are more resistant to shock and drops, but not by much ofc they do break too. SSD's do get slower as they age and get filled up with data.

Well, I used to enjoy playing GTA5 with my old laptop. Its cpu was an AMD A8-series and I had an integrated Intel HD 8670 gpu. I had to play the game at lowest settings of course and it lagged now and then, but I had fun playing anyways
And no, I don't plan on doing video editing at all or anything related to that.



Yea I can see that your cpu and gpu are much faster/better than mine, however, at what pricerange am I looking at then?
I guess quite some more than €800,-, right? Cause that's my maximum price.



According to multiple benchmarks, the GT940m is at least 2-3x better than the HD4400.

Anyways, thanks, y'all for the advice, but I decided to go with this one
For the price of €730,- I haven't found a better one (concerning specs) which is available in my region. There was one in china or something, but hell no that I am buying something from there ^^

I just didnt feel like those specs are worth the money, cause i see that so many times here. People pay 2-3x the price of a product just cause it has "I7" or "Nvidia" in their name. But if you dont have a better offer, then i guess you get that laptop.

And yeah even if that GT940M is better than integrated intel HD4400, doesn't make it good xD But idk, its really hard to find good specs for a laptop at a good price. But i know for 730EU, where i live you could buy a beast PC, with i7 and probably GTX 980.

Edit: PS: "Its cpu was an AMD A8-series and I had an integrated Intel HD 8670 gpu." There is no Intel HD8670 ^.^ Only AMD HD 8670 Which is basically the same as that Nvidia, but slightly slower.

 

[Mac.]

This is not true but some of it is. Yes it will save energy and provide unmatched performance compared to HDD, but lifespan of HDD is far greater than a life span of SSD. Yes they are more resistant to shock and drops, but not by much ofc they do break too. SSD's do get slower as they age and get filled up with data.


I just didnt feel like those specs are worth the money, cause i see that so many times here. People pay 2-3x the price of a product just cause it has "I7" or "Nvidia" in their name. But if you dont have a better offer, then i guess you get that laptop.

And yeah even if that GT940M is better than integrated intel HD4400, doesn't make it good xD But idk, its really hard to find good specs for a laptop at a good price. But i know for 730EU, where i live you could buy a beast PC, with i7 and probably GTX 980.

Edit: PS: "Its cpu was an AMD A8-series and I had an integrated Intel HD 8670 gpu." There is no Intel HD8670 ^.^ Only AMD HD 8670 Which is basically the same as that Nvidia, but slightly slower.

Yea I know that the GT940M isn't top notch
but I thought that for this price, it's a reasonable gpu which I can use to run all my games (GTA5 is actually the only 'high-end' game, the rest is just cod4, minecraft, gmod and age of empires 2 lol).

Plus, for this price, I'd have a pretty darn good desktop PC yea, but I never planned on buying a desktop as I travel a lot for work and studies

Anyways, thanks for the advice tho, it looks like you know where you're talking about ^^

 

[Hary]

So bought the laptop with the specs that you mentioned above or something different? Got the news from the "how your desktop looks like thread"