Which laptop do you recommend buying as an incoming Penn freshman?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

Hey everyone!

I am currently browsing for a new laptop that I plan on using for the next four years minimum. I am looking at either getting the Microsoft Surface Book or a Macbook Pro. I want a laptop that can help me get schoolwork done but also has the potential power to play games and render videos if I want to. My current laptop is a Lenovo Y410p and it is fantastic.

Which one would you recommend from either of the two or any other brand? Including specifications would be nice too.

2

Microsoft surface book would be terrible for gaming. Aren’t laptops in general uncomfortable for gaming? If you want a good laptop for schoolwork and basic computer functions, get a MacBook Air. You don’t need pro unless you are doing some heavy programming, editing, etc.

3

Well my Lenovo laptop right now can play most games like Battlefield 1 and Europa Universalis IV.

4

For college laptops I would direct you to the ThinkPads… those are diehard for productivity, great keyboard, great battery life though a tad bit expensive.

From what it looks like you want to do a bit of gaming in college. I would highly recommend you avoid the Surface Book or MacBook Pro as those are both terrible value propositions. In my opinion the XPS 15 (with 4k display, i5 7300HQ and the 1050) is the best not too high priced laptop.

TLDR:
Best work laptop: Thinkpad X270, X1 Carbon, X1 Yoga (Your preference)
Absolute Best Gaming/Productivity: XPS 15, Razer Blade (YES it may make you look like a complete nub but it does have a GTX 1060) Bit expensive though 1600+

Best laptop under 1000 for gaming/work:
Dell Inspiron Gaming
http://deals.dell.com/productdetail/ct8

Its only 850 dollars and it comes with a nice screen, 1050 Ti, plays games at 1080p max settings 60+fps. Very nice

5

Specs on the Inspiron Gaming for 850 dollars is
i5-7300HQ - plenty good quad core
1080p IPS panel - quite nice from what I’ve seen
GTX 1050 Ti, Power efficient and a powerful enough GPU for even games like GTA 5 at Max settings 1080p 60+FPS
80Wh battery?, battery life is long for a gaming laptop

6

Dell XPS touch