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In desperate need of a new laptop...

RPS37

RPS37

Member
So I'm completely fed up with my current laptop. It's just ass slow at everything.
I'm looking for a laptop I can edit photos in Lightroom, back up my iPhone, probably a little music recording, and maybe a little gaming.
Budget: 1000-2000 USD
I've always had Windows laptops, but I have all Apple products (iPhone, IPad, watch) so I'm interested in a macbook.
However, I know Apple laptops are mostly overpriced for what you get.
 
decisions

decisions

Member
If “a little gaming” involves anything even mildly intensive, then your only Macbook option is the new 16”. The base model is $2400 and I don’t think it’s overpriced at all. You get a lot more than you did with the 2016-2019 models at the same price point.

Check out the gaming tests on YT for it.
It’s a big improvement for Macs due to the new GPUs.

If it’s too far out of your price range, I would say don’t go farther back than 2018 on the MBPs. They improved the butterfly keyboard each year with them being more faulty towards the beginning.

Haven’t used a Windows laptop in two years so can’t give much advice there. Tried a Lenovo gaming laptop and it just never really worked how I wanted it to...
 
Last edited:
daveonezero

daveonezero

Banned
I’m happy with my Air from 2018

no gaming though unless it’s retro.
For you you might want to get a Pro and the 16” is the only one worth it.

I’d get the new 16” if I needed it. I spent some time with a newer 15” and liked it a lot. The last iteration of the 16” maybe worth it to as Apple figured out thermals a bit.
 
Cato

Cato

Banned
RPS37 said:
So I'm completely fed up with my current laptop. It's just ass slow at everything.
I'm looking for a laptop I can edit photos in Lightroom, back up my iPhone, probably a little music recording, and maybe a little gaming.
Budget: 1000-2000 USD
I've always had Windows laptops, but I have all Apple products (iPhone, IPad, watch) so I'm interested in a macbook.
However, I know Apple laptops are mostly overpriced for what you get.
Click to expand...

I prefer Lenovo laptops. I find they have high quality.
I would look at their L340 model.

Lenovo IdeaPad L340 (15) | 15" Laptop with Dolby Audio™ & TrueBlock Privacy Shutter

Introducing the IdeaPad L340 – with immersive audio, superb performance and stunning visuals.This 15" everyday laptop also has an eye-care mode, webcam shutter, and rapid recharging - all as standard.
www.lenovo.com

It starts just over 1000 dollars but that is just the base model.
You should at least bump the memory to 16G and the SSD to 1TB.
Then you will have a really good laptop.
 
newtypepilot

newtypepilot

Member
Since OP doesn't say, I'm just gonna assume your current laptop has a hard drive and not a SSD. If it has a panel that lets you swap out the hard drive, then you can just buy a SSD and clone the current hard drive.
 
belmarduk

belmarduk

Member
Well, the low end MacBook Pros have recently been lowered to $1,299 (US) so maybe that's something to think about if you're considering a Mac.
I wouldn't bother with the Macbook Air.

What do you think of Surface Books?
 
Mistake

Mistake

Member
SSD made things better in my laptop, so maybe you can try that first and then use it for your newer computer if it doesn’t. I usually just shut down now instead of sleep it’s so fast, and my lenovo is about 5-6 years old. If you want a good balance between price and performance (thereby extending the life of your machine,) I’d check out lenovo
 
AeonGaidenRaiden

AeonGaidenRaiden

Member
New Dell XPS are awesome. And this is coming from an iMac user. Id honestly never spend a dime on todays macbooks. Theres a reason why the 2015 model is still heavily sold on their website. After that it all went to shit and hike in price for the sake of the brand.
 
RPS37

RPS37

Member
This is my current laptop specs.
I'm very most likely not going to become a P C gamer if it requires a very expensive laptop. I'll mostly be using it for editing photos and backing up my iPhone. I've definitely just got a Hard Disk Drive right now.
Would updating to an SSD make that much of a difference? Is it an easy process?
Thanks for all the replies so far. Keep em coming.
gtlPCkr.jpg
 
Last edited:
MilkyJoe

MilkyJoe

Member
RPS37 said:
So I'm completely fed up with my current laptop. It's just ass slow at everything.
I'm looking for a laptop I can edit photos in Lightroom, back up my iPhone, probably a little music recording, and maybe a little gaming.
Budget: 1000-2000 USD
I've always had Windows laptops, but I have all Apple products (iPhone, IPad, watch) so I'm interested in a macbook.
However, I know Apple laptops are mostly overpriced for what you get.
Click to expand...

Your money will go twice as far with a Windows laptop.
 
Rentahamster

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
RPS37 said:
So I'm completely fed up with my current laptop. It's just ass slow at everything.
I'm looking for a laptop I can edit photos in Lightroom, back up my iPhone, probably a little music recording, and maybe a little gaming.
Budget: 1000-2000 USD
I've always had Windows laptops, but I have all Apple products (iPhone, IPad, watch) so I'm interested in a macbook.
However, I know Apple laptops are mostly overpriced for what you get.
Click to expand...
These are good resources to find deals:

Reddit - Dive into anything

www.reddit.com www.reddit.com

slickdeals.net

Laptop Deals, Sales & Discounts April 2024

Find laptop deals and sales to score a new computer. Get specials and offers from your favorite stores on all the top brands and models.
slickdeals.net slickdeals.net

Linus has a lot of good laptop reviews that factor in both gaming and productivity/media editing: https://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips/videos

Dell Outlet also has decent deals. The XPS 13 and 15 lines are pretty good.

Refurbished Laptops and 2-in-1 PCs: Dell Outlet | Dell United States

outlet.us.dell.com
 
Mistake

Mistake

Member
RPS37 said:
This is my current laptop specs.
I'm very most likely not going to become a P C gamer if it requires a very expensive laptop. I'll mostly be using it for editing photos and backing up my iPhone. I've definitely just got a Hard Disk Drive right now.
Would updating to an SSD make that much of a difference? Is it an easy process?
Thanks for all the replies so far. Keep em coming.
gtlPCkr.jpg
Click to expand...
your computer shouldn’t be that slow with those specs. I mean, my phone has less, and it’s an iphone 6S. Do a complete clean of the hdd with malwarebytes and a good defrag tool before you clone to an SSD. Cloning is very easy. My only tip about it is to make sure you clone everything exactly, including the bad blocks. I didn’t do that, so I had to start over, and it takes a while. Another thing to do is check your processes, like startup, to see what is hogging speed, and clear your browser.
 
Last edited:
H

hariseldon

Unconfirmed Member
newtypepilot said:
Since OP doesn't say, I'm just gonna assume your current laptop has a hard drive and not a SSD. If it has a panel that lets you swap out the hard drive, then you can just buy a SSD and clone the current hard drive.
Click to expand...

I did this with an old 2012 Asus a few years back - suddenly it had perfect desktop performance. It only lacked in gaming (crappy GPU). I'd highly recommend going down this path first to see if it makes enough of a difference before buying a new machine. RPS37 RPS37 the specson that laptop are good, SSD will do the job.
 
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