Good Laptop for College for both Gaming and School Work

[ThunderFluff 10]

I'm about to start college and I'm looking to get a new laptop that would be able to handle mid level gaming as well as school work such as using Photoshop or CAD software like Solidworks. Any recommendations?

[stark1885 10]

If you actually need the graphics performance for school, then I would go with the y510p from lenovo. Its a 15.6 with a 1080p screen and dual 750m's totaling 4GB of GDDR5. If you dont need the gfx performace dont make the same mistake I did. It is FAR more convienient to have a small portable laptop for college with good battery life. Leave the gaming for a desktop. It may sound cool to fire up the laptop wherever you are at for a gaming session, but in all reality it sucks. Save money and get different machines tailored for each purpose.

[guitaratze88 10]

so, if you want to have a midrange graphic card in your notebook, take the GTX 860M based on Maxwell. It is a little bit slower than the 680M and very efficient. The core i7 4710MQ of the Haswell refresh should make it.

It depends on the usage. My notebook (Clevo P177SM) with a GTX 780M and a 4800MQ consumes only 25W while surfing. While gaming you HAVE TO use the power supply because the power consumption is high.... about 170W without charging the battery. CAD software needs power and there you have to decide between CAD and low power software like Firefox or something else.

I agree to stark1885 to buy a lenovo notebook for mobility and a desktop for your CAD software - it's a good idea but the price could be a problem. I personally need ONE device to do all the activities and I can say, that power and mobility (efficiency too) don't exclude each other

My advice is: Buy a Clevo notebook with a Core i7 (Haswell refresh) and the GTX 860M based on Maxwell. An SSD is necessary, of course.

[jon10110 10]

I have heard that the Lenovos are great for school/CAD work, but i personally prefer my Sager NP8278-S with the 870m

[Fehnsify 10]

I bought my Lenovo Y500 for about 800€ a year ago and I still don't regret it. It's small enough for most backpacks and the battery last 3 to 4 hours when in use. The only negative thing is that the GPU throttles down when on Battery and the Intel Graphics HD4000 is hardware disabled. So the Y510p would make more sense. But it costs about 300€ more than the Y500. Anyway they are both worth its money. Hope it helps you

Fehnsify

[Tech Inferno Fan 20]

I'm about to start college and I'm looking to get a new laptop that would be able to handle mid level gaming as well as school work such as using Photoshop or CAD software like Solidworks. Any recommendations?

Notebooks capable of attaching eGPUs (docked desktop video cards) straddle the line between mobility and high performance gaming. The best ones with Thunderbolt2 port (16Gbps, TB2), Thunderbolt1 port (10Gbps, TB1) or expresscard slot (5Gbps, EC). Candidate notebooks with this capability are listed at http://forum.techinferno.com/diy-e-gpu-projects/4109-egpu-candidate-system-list.html#post57159 , eg:

TB2: 2013 13/15" rMBP, 15" HP ZBook 15,

TB1: 2013 11/13" MBP, 2012 13/15" rMBP, 14" Asus G46VW

EC: 14" Dell E6440, 14" Lenovo L440, 12.5" HP 2570P.

Probably a 14" G46VW being the best balanced from this shortlist: 900P LCD (user upgradable to 1080P eDP), IVB i7-quad, GTX660M with TB1 port for eGPU expandability.

[rarespa 10]

you should look at Precision series. m3800 or m4800/m4700. You can bay them refurbushed from ebay and end up with and mobile WS that will play most of your games and be reliable. the downside is that they don't have Thunderbolt.

[notaphoenix321 10]

Lenovo y410p is pretty decent for the price, but the heat from gaming kinda kills the battery's lifespan.

[thaiusmle 10]

I recommend Y510p. Get the SLI model if you need more gaming performance.

Lenovo Y510p | High-Performance 15.6" Multimedia Laptop from Lenovo *| Lenovo US

[al4nw31 10]

I recommend Clevo or Sager. The Clevo W230SS is a great laptop for both, if a bit small. If you want something bigger, go for one of their 15 inch laptops. The Y510P is a great option, but it comes pre-configured (not many options) and runs extremely hot (if buying SLI edition).

[highzoff 10]

I have the y500 lenovo idea pad and it is great! should be fine for all schoolwork.

[Meeptopia 10]

I currently have a Y410p.

It is great for gaming and is quite portable, but the battery life is very low.

I would agree with stark and get a desktop for gaming and a laptop for work.

[soundslikerust 10]

look at clevo lenovo, maybe samsung. I have p370em from clevo and i think it has good price/power ratio. Lenowo's are nice with strong GPUs but look for one with good 4 core processor, dont buy 2 core from intel

[Anaerados 11]

I also have the lenovo Y510P.

While it is great performance/cost wise you have to keep in mind that its not really made for long lasting programming sessions on the road or anything like that.

In the last 4 months of using it I think I have the charger plugged in for 80% of the time, while im traveling quite a lot.

In this situation it would probably have been better to get something smaller with a better lasting battery.

Just my 2 cents

[whatsupdo7 10]

i recommned you Asus or Msi gaming laptops. they have plenty of attractive gaming latops you are looking with reasonable price. of course it is suitable for graphic work you mentioned..

but you should know that those laptops are little bit heavy and big.. so it would be hard for carrying around (3~4kg + adapter weights). if you don't need good mobility, then go with those laptops.

[LeXander 10]

I bought the alienware m14x when I was in this situation, what a waste of money, how big is your budget?

[LAZYB 10]

I asked myself the same question. After doing some research I ended up with a lenovo y500. My experience overall is good, though if you are planning to take it around the battery is not gonna last long. The newer models have better power management. What I best like of this laptop is that I can actually open it and tweak it around, thing that I found to be a problem in other models.

[evanfeelickz 10]

I am totally with you, even though my Y500 has some random bugs, (trackpad scrolling randomly disables, bluetooth not working after waking from sleep) it was the best $950 purchase I've made.