I'm trying to find myself the best laptop with a budget of around 1500 but it's a bit too much. There seems to be so many different options and brands that it can be hard finding a laptop that I can keep using confidently for the next years to come.

I have thought about getting the new Samsung galaxybook 5 pro but people seem to have a lot of colorful opinions of it. Is it any good? Probably. But I want most value for my money. Some people recommend the Macbook M4 air witch seems to be a really good machine, although I am slighty conserned by the fact that I don't own any other apple products. I have a Samsung phone and am also thinking of upgrading my phone to a newer model. I won't be using the laptop for gaming but I will be using it for webdesign, school and work and for watching movies. I would like a good webcam too although an external webcam could do the job too but I fon't want to carry around extra stuff.

With these things in mind should I buy the Galaxybook 5 pro for the ecosystem? I also see many people talking about other laptops such as the Asus Zenbook 14 or the Dell XPS.

Could you good people of reddit recommend me the best laptops for 2025?

I have been saving up and can afford any computer I want but know nothing about computers, I need help figuring it out what to get. I need something that can handle large xlsx and coding files, that can be connected to a monitor for 10+ hours without overheating, that runs on a windows 11 software and that has an ok battery life with a nice keyboard for when I am not on my monitor. I am currently thinking about the Windows Surface 7 but wanted to ask the community as I don't know what I am doing. PLEASE HELP ME :).

I was thinking macbook but have heard mixed reviews for the durability of the newer models. If you have one and would recommend could you please lmk which model you have?

I would love to have one for the longer term (5yrs or so+) - and happy to pay more for the quality!

I usually use my laptop for things that I believe are simple. I watch and download movies, browse the internet with many tabs open, use Word and Excel, and run screenwriting programs. And not much more.

Sometimes, for work-related reasons, I edit videos and photos. Right now, it’s not something I do frequently, but it might be in the future. So, it would be nice if my laptop could handle these tasks with ease.

I don’t play video games or do streaming.

With this in mind, what laptop would you recommend I buy in 2025? Considering that I hope my laptop will last me for several years and that I can make the most out of it.

One more thing: I love watching movies, so I’m not sure if this is relevant, but I suppose I’d prefer a screen that allows me to enjoy them. I mean good resolution and, maybe, a decent size. Right now, I have a laptop with a 16-inch screen.

One last thing: I work with a lot of files, and for example, my laptop's storage is currently almost full. Maybe this could be solved with an external hard drive or something similar. But I suppose I’d prefer a laptop that already comes with ample storage.

I guess it’s obvious to say that I’m looking for something good (something that meets the needs I described), aesthetically pleasing, and, if possible, affordable.

Alright, that’s all.
Do you have any recommendations?
I’m looking forward to your suggestions!

How would you rank the major laptop brands (Apple, Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer, Samsung, MSI, Lenovo, etc) from best to worst in terms of overall quality, reliability, and longevity of their products.

What brand makes the best laptop for longevity, durability, and reliability. Dell used to be my favorite brand until the 4K Inspiron (with a built in battery) that I purchased open-box off of a seller on Ebay (seemed like a small business computer retailer) in early 2018 just died this June. I'm thinking about an ASUS.

What's the best laptop currently on the market? One with all the bells and whistles, highest specs available, and fully 4k with high color accuracy. I'm curious what's out there. Are there only models available built to custom parameters that fit the bill, or are there off-the-shelf models available? Go nuts.

I personally find Lenovo laptops to be pretty reliable and decent, what about you guys?

I'm not in a particular rush to buy a laptop at the moment, just waiting for the right moment to buy one. My current laptop is nearly 10 years old, Acer laptop at that.

There are several options that entice me, in no particular order;

1. HP Pavilion Plus 14 (Ryzen 7 7840U)

2. Asus Zenbook 14 (Ryzen 7 8840HS)

3. Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon X)

4. MacBook Air 13 M2

5. Asus Vivobook S 14 (Core Ultra 9)

Here are my criteria;

1. USD 1,000 or less

2. no touchscreen (don't want to increase the cost unnecessarily)

3. office use, not a creator (multiple tabs of internet browser, Microsoft Office and video calls/meetings simultaneously)

4. 16GB RAM

5. Thin and light

6. Relatively powerful for performance headroom and long battery life

7. OLED, 120hz refresh panel (optional)

8. premium build (optional)

Anyone of you who have owned 1 or more of the above laptops? What are they like? Long term use? Brand's product longevity and durability? Anything you can tell me?

Macbook Air 13 M2 has been a touch and go for me as the first choice, as I'm massively put off by Apple's "RAM scam" and stubborn price tags. Aside from their RAM antics and absence of high refresh rate OLED panels, the entry M2 Air is still an enticing option for me. Is 8GB enough for the workflow I described above?

HP Pavilion Plus 14 ticks most of the boxes; no touchscreen, high refresh rate OLED panel, powerful enough, build is simple and okay, thin and light, fair I/O ports (although it would be great to have USB 4) and the most affordable of this bunch. Though, I have seen people saying HP aren't good with their products' longevity; dying battery after only a couple years of use and wouldn't hold change for more than 5 minutes and so on.

As for other manufacturers, I heard Asus are terrible with the quality control. Their laptops are affordable with those specs for a reason; they cheap out on components, and durability suffers. Is this true?

I'm not sure if these are isolated cases, or they happen en masse. So anyone who has had experiences with the aforementioned laptops or brands, please let me know if they are worth looking into, and your recommendations. Thanks!

Hello, I’m looking for some advice. I need a new laptop the laptop I have now currently it’s starting to give me issues. It’s an HP. It’s a bit older and it’s at the point where I can’t update anymore. I am a full-time college student, but I also like to play games on my laptop occasionally, but this laptop I was looking to just use for School and use my old laptop for gaming so what is the best options? I don’t wanna spend an arm and leg like I said this is only going to be used for School and I only have about two more years left in college. Any suggestions?

I've had two XPS, and they've both had power port problems. I am ready to start the new year with a laptop that works. Had Apples back in a different life. If you search for "Best Laptop" lists they are compromised by sponsors... Lenovo, Hp, Dell are usually on the lists. So I come to reddit and its expert-users: what is the best laptop not only for 2024 but for the future. I am skeptical of the "A.I. ready" stuff. Snapdragon? Also, what ports are important... different reviews have contradictory advice. I await your wisdom(s).

Hello everyone! Figured that I have some time and it’s time to write an update to https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/17ykkmu/a_not_so_short_laptop_purchasing_guide/ as it’s been over a year meaning that some changes have occured since.

First – who is this guide for?

Answer is – non-professionals. Hobbyists, beginner indie developers, students etc. I will also be assuming that you need a laptop. As in – an all rounder device you can bring with you everyday. If that’s not the case and you are in the market for a desktop replacement – look elsewhere. Same if you need 5+ laptops for your whole studio – in which case I would look at Dell Precision or equivalents with next day business warranty.

Let’s look at some laptops then. This time around I will be going from the cheapest to most expensive new laptops. As I am writing this – it’s January 1st, 2025 so prices might have shifted a bit since if you are viewing it at a later date.

1. $300 - HP EliteBook 840 G8 - https://www.newegg.com/hp-840-g8-14-0-intel-core-i5-1145g7-16gb-intel-iris-xe-graphics-256-gb/p/N82E16834841920

CPU performance: 100%

GPU performance: 100%

Let’s start our list with this $300 laptop. It’s an older device which positively affects the total price tag. It’s not a powerhouse but it offers a decent screen, good keyboard and an okay iGPU. In terms of pure performance – it can handle Witcher 3 level visuals (at low settings and like 720p however). Meaning that it’s honestly a decent pick for lighter 2D games using Unity or Godot… but don’t try to use it for Unreal 5. It does not have dedicated video card but it does have Thunderbolt 4 port meaning it’s possible to add one later (although it will cost more than this whole notebook).

Overall it’s a solid pick for it’s price if your budget is low.

2. $550 - Acer Laptop Aspire 5 Intel Core i7-1355U - https://www.newegg.com/acer-a515-58m-78jl-15-6-intel-core-i7-1355u-16gb-intel-iris-xe-graphics-512-gb-pcie/p/N82E16834360267?Item=N82E16834360267

CPU performance: 170% (multi core), 132% (single core)

GPU performance: 132%.

Our next stop is Acer Aspire 5. For the biggest part it fits the same niche as HP EliteBook – no GPU, light & portable device. Primary difference is that it’s much newer and offers 512GB storage rather than 256GB – a huge difference considering that game dev is quite storage heavy (a 10GB finished game can be a 100 when developing it). We have also moved from 4 cores to 10 and our iGPU is also a fair bit faster (somewhat comparable to Steam Deck). So overall – still mostly usable for 2D games / simpler 3D but it will offer a smoother, more reliable experience.

3. $800 - MSI Cyborg Gaming Laptop - https://www.newegg.com/p/34-156-692

CPU performance: 307% (multi core), 126% (single core)

GPU performance: 706%

I am generally speaking not a huge fan of gaming laptops. They don’t like being moved around too much often, they rarely have good screens, battery life is lackluster and general build quality leaves a lot to be desired. What they do offer in exchange however is (sometimes) a very good price. This is one such example - $800 gets us a laptop with effectively up to date components. We get Core Ultra 7 155h, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and an RTX 4050.

This is the first truly 3D game dev capable laptop on our list. It runs latest games at smooth play rates, there is raytracing + CUDA available (something you will come to appreciate both in Photoshop and Blender). It still falls short of Unreal Engine 5 recommended requirements (we need more RAM) but if all you have is $800 it makes for a very enticing option overall. It's biggest caveat is a disappointing screen - you will need to buy a separate one for color accurate work as it doesn't even cover sRGB in full.

4. $1240 - HP Envy 16" Touchscreen - https://www.newegg.com/p/1TS-000D-1M7C5?Item=9SIBPMFK9P3248

CPU performance: 318% (multi core), 135% (single core)

GPU performance: 872%

$1240 looks like a sweatspot when it comes to laptop’s capabilities to it’s price right now. HP Envy is a prosumer tier device when it comes to build quality. This one comes equipped with Core i7-13700H, 32GB RAM, RTX 4060 and a 2560x1600 touchscreen. There's a lot to like about this device.

It's also first laptop on our list that can properly run Unreal Engine without running out of memory instantly and that honestly would meet most studios requirements. It can run newest games well meaning it can also be used to make visually demanding titles. And for the first time there’s also a display good enough to work on color accurate tasks (say, marketing materials for your game).

5. $1970 - Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Premium - https://www.newegg.com/p/1TS-000E-1BK65

CPU performance: 522% (multi core), 153 (single core)

GPU performance: 1020%

And finally, a solid contender in $2000 budget. A significant price increase over the previous one but… frankly that’s what it takes to be really worth it, $1500-1600 is pretty much the same parts as a $1200. This laptop is still technically gaming oriented but unlike 2-3 years ago it’s actually decently built. We also get pretty much as good specs as you can in a laptop – 14700HX, 64GB RAM, 2TB SSD and a mobile RTX 4070.

6. $2000 - MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio - https://www.newegg.com/msi-stealth-16-ai-studio-a1vhg-027us-16-0-intel-core-ultra-9-185h-64gb-geforce-rtx-4080-1tb-pcie/p/N82E16834156601?Item=N82E16834156601

CPU performance: 375% (multi core), 138% (single core)

GPU performance: 1320%

An alternative to the Lenovo Legion. It's a thinner and lighter design compared to it but it also comes with a mobile RTX 4080 (which is slightly power limited but still significantly more powerful than RTX 4070). It weighs just under 2kg, offers best display in it's class by far (4k miniLED with HDR1000 support meaning it can also be used to produce HDR content) and comes with 1TB of storage that can be expanded (there is an extra slot inside). CPU is a bit less powerful than in the previous option but in exchange it's more power efficient at idle.

Personally I would NOT spend more than this on a laptop at this point in time. This may change by the end of Q1 2025 once RTX 5000 series GPUs are out – they are going to be stupidly expensive on release but they also might offer 40-50% higher performance at similar power draw.

Still, heres an alternative in case you want something smaller but similarly performant, might come in handy if you like walking around with your laptop:

7. $2200-2500 – Asus Rog Zephyrus G14 / Razer Blade 14 / HP Omen 14 - https://www.newegg.com/white-asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-ga403ui-gaming-entertainment/p/2WC-000N-0EHN0 / https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/Razer-Blade-14/RZ09-0508VED3-R3U1 / https://www.newegg.com/p/2WC-0001-05808

3 very similar laptops, all at 14”, all with RTX 4060-4070. Generally speaking – Razer Blade 14 is overall fastest, you can expand RAM in it and comes with an IPS panel. Zephyrus and Omen come with OLED and soldered RAM. So it's a bit of personal decision on what you do prefer. Here's a review of Zephyrus and Blade if you can't decide:

https://youtu.be/gbxGWjQsws8

Q: What about business laptops like Dell XPS? You recommended them last year.

Yes, last year. Latest generation of Dell XPS sadly disappoints, a lot. There is a significantly worse keyboard (entire top row replaced by a touchbar), they are extremely power throttled and prices are utterly insane. I can’t recommend a $3600 laptop with a power throttled RTX 4060 (and not by just a bit, we are talking scores 30% below other similarly equipped laptops) and 32GB RAM. In general gaming and creator grade laptops are a bit better now whereas business grade has ventured into the land of insanity price wise.

Q: What about Macbooks?

Macbooks got a lot better at the end of last year – Apple has finally moved to 16GB RAM in a minimum configuration and 24GB for a Pro, a VERY welcome change.

If you are planning to make games for iOS or MacOS – you don’t have a choice, you need a Mac (although rather than going full Macbook you might consider a base spec Mac Mini, it offers a very good value for it's price overall). But if that’s not your goal – stick with Windows. While better than before Macs still make up a very small part of the game market.

If you are determined to get one anyway - personally I would be looking at 14” M4 Pro variant (24GB RAM, M4 Pro CPU, possibly with RAM expansion to 48GB if you want to play around with some AI or larger 3D scenes). It’s a good laptop – screen is excellent, single threaded performance is on par with top of the line Windows machines… only GPU could be a bit better (this $2000 Macbook is still only as good as $800 Windows laptop in this regard). At this point biggest blocker is software, not hardware.

Q: What about Windows ARM laptops, with Snapdragon?

Stay away from them. Let others be beta testers. There is a long list of applications that currently do not work and in programming world you sometimes will be looking for obscure tools. Not to mention that GPU performance wise we are talking iGPU tier and frankly you need more than that for more complex projects. What these laptops have going for it is good battery life but... if that's what you want there are either Macbooks or a plethora of Intel Lunar Lake (200 series) laptops, they also can keep going for an entire day.

Hey everyone, I'm trying to find the best laptop in 2025 to buy and I'm overwhelmed by all the options out there. It seems like every company from Apple to Dell is releasing a bunch of new stuff, and honestly, I could really use some help from people who actually own a newer laptop.

I've been looking at the new MacBook Air with the M4 chip, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, and some of the new Dell XPS and Lenovo ThinkPads. Any thoughts on those or other laptops you love would be a huge help.

As always thanks in advance!

This question is being asked a lot recently so today I'm gonna share you guys some tips for buying a laptop for college task and list the top options worth buying now at every price below.

- If you are in an engineering or desgin school, a gaming (performance) laptop would be highly reccomened as you will have no issue running software such as those under the Autodesk and Adobe family. These are laptops with a dedicated graphics card. Gaming laptops should be seen more as high-performance laptops rather than just for gaming.

- For other schools like accounting, business, sciences, or media, for the most part, you should get a office (productivity) laptop. Something light and portable would be best, though sometimes you pay more for a light laptop than a performance laptop. Dont make the mistake of settling for a less powerful laptop simply because it is lighter. When I was in an engineering school and some of my classmates went for such laptops because they were much lighter. They had problems with certain software, sometimes not being able to run them at all which is a major headache for them.

Righty ho here's the rundown of everything (most things) you should consider when buying a laptop

• RAM. Needless to say you should consider RAM when buying a laptop:

-8GB - suitable for some light web browsing

-16GB - web browsing, typical work applications as well as suitability for some lighter games

-32GB - Better for gaming and content creation, you will be able to comfortably do some heavier coding and such.

-64GB+ - pretty overkill and is typically reserved for the best of the best, this is typically paired with laptops such as workstation in order to run intensive programs.

as well as this you should check if the RAM in your laptops is upgradable. RAM also runs across multiple generations, you have older laptops running DDR4 memory and others running DDR5 which is faster

On top of this you should consider if the RAM is dual channel, this will significantly increase memory bandwidth and as a result performance

• Storage. This is an important one you should consider what kind of files and data will be stored on the device.

-128GB or less - this is the ideal amount if you dont store much of your data on device, for example most files are stored on a NAS or on the cloud

-256GB - pretty much the same story as 128GB, you don’t intend to store too many file locally but will need them

-512GB - this tends to hit the sweet spot in terms of storage, there is enough of it to store larger applications and some games

-1TB+ - ideal for storing high definition audio and video files as well as some bulkier pieces of software

Like RAM you should check if the storage is upgradeable

On top of this you should check what type of storage it is. General rule of thumb if it is an SSD avoid EMMC drives, instead opt for NVME ones instead, you don’t really find any recent laptops with HDDs. Those can be cheaper but are slower than SSDs.

• CPU. The type of CPU can determine what kind of software you can and can’t run, it is arguably one of, if not, the most important part of a laptop

Architectures:

X86 - this is the architecture most CPUs use and so has the best software compatibility.

RISC - - this is the architecture ARM bases CPUs use

Brands: AMD - big name in the CPU industry, these tend to be more power conservant and efficient. These can struggle with Linux so keep this in mind. INTEL - Great performance and software compatibility , tend to be more power hungry

Snapdragon X - A new generate of ARM CPUs designed for windows and provides competition for Apple

M series - Super efficient and super powerful chips that are exclusive to Apple MacBooks and other Mac devices

the number of threads, the clock speed, core count, and cache should also be considered, the higher the better.

• Graphics. This can greatly improve you devices ability to render images and models as well as improving the compiling of heavier code.

Types:

-Integrated - part of the CPU best for light tasks

-Dedicated/Discreet - GPUs that are separate from the CPU, best for creators and gamers as well as those who are running heavier programs . The most common in laptops are NVIDIA graphics cards. Keep in mind that these are mobile variants of the GPU and so will be less powerful that their desktop counterparts

• Battery

this one should be pretty self explanatory. Bigger battery means (usually) better battery life. Software can also optimise this.

These are the most important factors that I can think of off the top of my head, and now take a look at these options.

Best Laptops for College On The Market Today

Top companies of the list have to be apple.com, asus.com, lenovo.com and hp.com. There are also other reliable choices like Acer and Microsoft.

Their "BEST" models for "COLLEGE STUDENTS" at ever price range that are widely picked today:

• Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M4, 2024) and ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) GA403 - Go with these high-end options if you are willing to pay.

• ​Apple MacBook Air 13 M4, 2025

• Lenovo ThinkPad X9

• ​​ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 Window 11

• ​Microsoft Surface Laptop 13”

• Acer Aspire 3

• Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook Plus

Thanks for reading and good luck!

I hope it's ok to ask here.

I am in need of purchasing a new laptop after my very old one died.

It is for home use only - word, Excel etc. Internet browsing etc. So not after anything fancy.

I really don't even know what to look for or where to begin so some pointers would be greatly appreciated 😊

I'm based in Australia if that makes any difference to options.

Thank you!

Please vote for the best brand for gaming laptops

I've been struggling to find the "perfect" MacBook-comparable Windows laptop for college. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

• <$2,000

• 14"-15.6"

• portable, light, slim

• battery efficient

• relatively powerful

• Light gaming is a plus, not a huge priority

• Used for mostly work/school, And streaming

Some that stood out were the Surface 7, the Lenovo Slim 9i, the Asus Zenbook, Dell Xps maybe but they each have some downsides