Help! Buying a new laptop ~45k

[footballfan]

Hey guys,

I'm looking to buy a new laptop, as my old desktop doesn't really serve the purpose anymore, and also prefer the mobility and convenience of a laptop.

1) What is your budget? (INR or USD)
40 to 45k INR
Can stretch to 50k if it's really worth it, but currently reserved that extra 5k for extended warranty, wireless keyboard and mouse, laptop bed stand and any other accessories that may be required.

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?

Prefer a 15.6 screen, IPS if possible. Prefer this screen size mainly because these have the numberic keypad along with the regular keyboard.

Wouldn't mind if someone can convince me to go for a 14 inch screen either But please note that isn't laptop weight isn't a concern for me.


3) What are the primary tasks you will be performing with this notebook?

It's mainly to study and learn programming, web development, cloud, ML, etc.

I would be installing Ubuntu, to dual boot with Windows. May also run VMs if required.

Will also be gaming occasionally, but highest settings, playing latest and greatest games isn't a requirement.

5) Any typical configuration in your mind you're eying for ?

Had shortlisted the below Ryzen 5 3550H based laptops and hoped to get them at around 45k or lesser during the upcoming republic day sales

ASUS TUF FX505DY-BQ002T 15.6-inch FHD Gaming Laptop (AMD Ryzen 5-3550H/8GB/1TB HDD/Windows 10/Radeon RX 560X 4GB Graphics/2.20 Kg), Black *www.amazon.in/dp/B07MSK34LL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_63WgEbK5BHEKZ

Acer Nitro 5 Ryzen 5 Quad Core - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 560X) AN515-43 Gaming Laptop
Acer Nitro 5 Ryzen 5 Quad Core - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 560X) AN515-43 Gaming Laptop Rs.63094 Price in India - Buy Acer Nitro 5 Ryzen 5 Quad Core - (8 GB/1 TB HDD/Windows 10 Home/4 GB Graphics/AMD Radeon RX 560X) AN515-43 Gaming Laptop Obsidian Black Online - Acer : Flipkart.com


4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?

N/A

6) Anything else you would like to say?

Would prefer an online purchase but happy enough to buy offline as well.

 

[whitestar_999]

Prefer asus over acer nitro. Also checkout Asus Offer Redemption | Laptop Offers | Warranty Offers | Asus Promo asus is giving 2 years extended warranty for as low as Rs.99(may be a bit more for certain models but still very good price). @SaiyanGoku @anupam_pb should have some other/better suggestions.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Save money by not spending it on a cheap wireless kb/mouse or any laptop with 560x.
Even for occasional gaming, I won't go under GTX 1650.

 

[footballfan]

Prefer asus over acer nitro. Also checkout Asus Offer Redemption | Laptop Offers | Warranty Offers | Asus Promo asus is giving 2 years extended warranty for as low as Rs.99(may be a bit more for certain models but still very good price). @SaiyanGoku @anupam_pb should have some other/better suggestions.

Very interesting, thanks! Just checked and it seems that for this Asus model the 2 year extension is 999 and 3 year extension is 2499. Would you think it's worth it?

 

[footballfan]

Save money by not spending it on a cheap wireless kb/mouse or any laptop with 560x.
Even for occasional gaming, I won't go under GTX 1650.

If I understood you correctly, it's worth paying 6-7k extra for a a GTX 1650 laptop over the RX560X laptop? Would you also know if the Ryzen 3550H can handle the 1650?

 

[SaiyanGoku]

If I understood you correctly, it's worth paying 6-7k extra for a a GTX 1650 laptop over the RX560X laptop? Would you also know if the Ryzen 3550H can handle the 1650?

Yes, it can handle it very well.
Laptop purchase

i5 8300H (45W), well is almost 2 years old and R5 3550H performs almost like it on an average despite having a TDP of 35W.

Also 1650 is about 60% faster than 560x on an average
Graphics Card Comparison - Head 2 Head

 

[whitestar_999]

Very interesting, thanks! Just checked and it seems that for this Asus model the 2 year extension is 999 and 3 year extension is 2499. Would you think it's worth it?

Yes it is worth it.Most laptops usually have issues within first 2 years else good chance it will run fine for 2-3 years more.

 

[omega44-xt]

If I understood you correctly, it's worth paying 6-7k extra for a a GTX 1650 laptop over the RX560X laptop? Would you also know if the Ryzen 3550H can handle the 1650?

You can get R5 3550H + GTX 1650 laptops for close to 55k with all offers, usually 58k. It is worth spending the extra money. As Goku already said, the difference b/w RX560X & 1650 is too big.

R5 3550H is inferior to i5 9300H for gaming, but is still good enough for 1650. It's not good for something like 1660Ti.

Laptop GPU comparison
^^As you can see, in some games like RDR2, 1650 is about 75% better than 1050 (similar to RX560X). RX560X might not run some heavy games releasing in 2021 (say even at 720p low 30fps), 1650 will.

*www.amazon.in/FX505DT-Graphics-5-3...505&qid=1578898582&smid=A14CZOWI0VEHLG&sr=8-3
This is enough if you can add a HDD/SSD to 2.5" drive bay later along with an additional 8GB RAM stick.

*www.amazon.in/FX505DT-Graphics-5-3...505&qid=1578898582&smid=A14CZOWI0VEHLG&sr=8-1
Get this if you aren't comfortable manually adding extra drive. You still need a 2nd RAM stick added later for using its full performance.

Both of them have a 120Hz display as well, good for eSports games like CS GO, DOTA 2, R6, etc.

These 2 are well priced right now. Not sure if this price will remain when the sale begins. It might just get back to ~57/59k & you will get 2-3k off with SBI card. Wait for sales IMO. You might get a better deal or you will get it at a similar price.

 

[whitestar_999]

These 2 are well priced right now. Not sure if this price will remain when the sale begins. It might just get back to ~57/59k & you will get 2-3k off with SBI card. Wait for sales IMO. You might get a better deal or you will get it at a similar price.

Best way to maximize discount would be to buy using sbi simply click card(gives effectively 2.5% discount on amazon products purchases in the form of reward points) & combine that with SBI YONO app amazon 5% offer(sbi account is must & products must be added to cart within YONO app & transaction also completed within YONO app).

 

[omega44-xt]

Best way to maximize discount would be to buy using sbi simply click card(gives effectively 2.5% discount on amazon products purchases in the form of reward points) & combine that with SBI YONO app amazon 5% offer(sbi account is must & products must be added to cart within YONO app & transaction also completed within YONO app).

Will that combine with the 10% SBI off that will be offered during sale?

 

[whitestar_999]

Will that combine with the 10% SBI off that will be offered during sale?

Yes,YONO amazon 5% offer is over & above any sbi amazon offer.Only thing is that you will have to add the products to cart & complete the transaction within YONO app itself hoping no technical issue occurs & then again hope that cashback(in the form of amazon gift voucher) will be send by sbi on registered email within 90 days(since it is sbi so be ready to be disappointed with customer service,I already lodged a complaint with YONO customer care for not receiving cashback till now though some others got it).

 

[footballfan]

Thank you @anupam_pb , @whitestar_999 , @SaiyanGoku

I'm waiting for the republic day sales, hopefully I can snag something good based on your recommendations.

In the meantime, can you please give your opinion on this. How much extra is it worth paying for i5 9th gen + GTX1650 over R5 3550 + GTX1650? I mean is it worth paying 5k extra for the first combo? Or is the performance difference negligible

 

[omega44-xt]

Thank you @anupam_pb , @whitestar_999 , @SaiyanGoku

I'm waiting for the republic day sales, hopefully I can snag something good based on your recommendations.

In the meantime, can you please give your opinion on this. How much extra is it worth paying for i5 9th gen + GTX1650 over R5 3550 + GTX1650? I mean is it worth paying 5k extra for the first combo? Or is the performance difference negligible

There is a small 5-10% or so difference, depending on the game. Something like Lenovo Y540 is a better built laptop than Asus FX505. Look for extended warranty offers on both. FX505 has a 120Hz display though, although the specs aren't good enough to push 120fps in a lot of games.

 

[footballfan]

There is a small 5-10% or so difference, depending on the game. Something like Lenovo Y540 is a better built laptop than Asus FX505. Look for extended warranty offers on both. FX505 has a 120Hz display though, although the specs aren't good enough to push 120fps in a lot of games.

Ok understood that there's only a slim increase for games, but how about general performance (coding/dev/VMs etc)?

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Ok understood that there's only a slim increase for games, but how about general performance (coding/dev/VMs etc)?

I was testing 2 VMs simultaneously each with 4 threads on turbo-boost disabled 9750H (so 2.6GHz effective) without any issues. You probably can run 2 VMs with 2 threads each on a 4C/8T processor. Try to leave >=4 threads for your host OS.

 

[omega44-xt]

Ok understood that there's only a slim increase for games, but how about general performance (coding/dev/VMs etc)?

*www.amazon.in/FX505DT-Graphics-5-3...505&qid=1579332755&smid=A14CZOWI0VEHLG&sr=8-3

Get it or 1TB+256GB version ASAP, 1.5k discount with SBI card. Great value

 

[footballfan]

*www.amazon.in/FX505DT-Graphics-5-3...505&qid=1579332755&smid=A14CZOWI0VEHLG&sr=8-3

Get it or 1TB+256GB version ASAP, 1.5k discount with SBI card. Great value

Thanks for the heads-up!

So, pre discount, the options are like this:
1tb HD - 50k
512gb NVME SSD - 52k
1tb + 256gb NVME SSD - 54k

Given that all 3 of these options can be upgraded (I can buy and install myself), which is best value? Especially given that you folks have recommended to get an SSD anyway.

 

[SaiyanGoku]

Given that all 3 of these options can be upgraded (I can buy and install myself), which is best value? Especially given that you folks have recommended to get an SSD anyway.

Get 512GB ssd variant now and get a 1 or 2 TB hdd later.

 

[omega44-xt]

Get 512GB ssd variant now and get a 1 or 2 TB hdd later.

+1 to this
Maybe add another SSD later, cheap 1TB SSDs go for 6.5-7k. Do add another 8GB RAM stick.

 

[footballfan]

Just placed an order for the 512gb NVME SSD variant. Took some time as only managed to get hold of an SBI credit card today. Total amount paid: 50489.

Will be spending another 999 on the warranty extension. RAM, hard disk and other accessories will come later! Already the most expensive piece of electronics I've every purchased! Hope it goes well.

Many thanks for the guidance and suggestions @SaiyanGoku @anupam_pb @whitestar_999 , I really appreciate it! Will post photos and a review once I get the laptop and use it a bit.

Meanwhile, would you guys help with some kind of checklist or to-do list or any other guides for setting up a new laptop to get the best experience and life out of it?