Laptop for under 1000$ for student

quagmire

quagmire

Allllright !
1) What is your budget?
Under $1000

2) What size & weight consideration (if any) would you prefer?
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen

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

Programming
1. Matlab
2. Visual Studio
3. Machine learning software packages (Light weight, for heavy workloads I'll run on systems)

Multi-threaded applications (computational solvers)
1. Ansys softwares
2. Altair softwares
3. Dassault Systems softwares

Productivity
1. Chrome (Lots of tabs)
2. Adobe PDF Reader
3. Microsoft Office
4. Screen Recorders

Casual
1. Video calling - Skype, Hangouts
2. Videos and Music

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

a. Like: Dell, Asus
b. Dislike: Lenovo (Have had battery issues with Z510)

6) Anything else you would like to say?

1. Full HD
2. Battery : 3-4 hours
3. Purchase place : Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon or local stores in US
4. Need good CPU, above average GPU will do
5. Will definitely need international warranty
6. SSD for C drive
7. Backlit keyboard
8. Windows 10 OS
9. Dual band wifi
10. Not more than 3kg
11. Decent audio driver
12. Wont be gaming

Shortlisted - Dell G7 with i7-8750H and GTX 1060 and 256GB SSD for 980$
 
W

whitestar_999

Super Moderator
Staff member
Looks good but comments say that it has 2*4gb ram with 2 slots so you will have to sacrifice 1 ram module(or both if you believe in running dual channel ram) if you want to upgrade ram in future.
 
Nerevarine

Nerevarine

Incarnate
Im not very sure about this but I would suggest go for a workstation laptop instead of a general laptop, particularly one with FPO GPU like Nvidia Quadro.
I've used HP Zbook 15 G3 first hand, and its a great work laptop. Its bulky but it has excellent cooling.
1000 USD might be a little low for proper workstations but research if you actually need double FPO in any softwares you use.
Then decide.
 
omega44-xt

omega44-xt

Gear up ...
That Dell G7 at $980 is a steal, especially considering it is the model with i7 & GTX 1060. Dell G7 has a great cooling system & after sales support with a decent battery life for a gaming laptop, ~5hrs on normal tasks.

If you won't be gaming, check if you can find Dell G5/G7 with i7 & GTX 1050Ti for cheaper, like $100 cheaper at least. Since your requirements are CPU intensive, get an i7 8750H laptop for sure.

New Lenovo Y530 is also a good option but I think Lenovo doesn't have International Warranty.

Stay away from HP Omen dc series. It looks great & all but its CPU runs very hot on load, like 90C+, so not good on the long run.
 
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