Hey all. Midway through my Comp Sci degree, finally working full time, and the three year old Lenovo piece of crap I dual boot linux/windows on isn't cutting it anymore.

• Budget: $1000-2000 , lower end is nice but I plan to use this for a few years so..
  
• More specific use: Pretty much any development tools. Android Studio, VMs, Eclipse, build tools like maven/gradle etc. (No gaming required)
  
• Planned time until purchase: Within 2-3 weeks.
  
• Do you have any specific preferred components?: Intel CPU for certain android hardware acceleration needs.
  
• Do you need a bigger monitor? mouse? full keyboard?: Just the laptop, maybe a nice case? Already got an extra monitor.
  
• Zip code/location? (Shipping costs): USA. ZIP in the range of 22030, micro center is accessible from where I live.
  
• What are your preferences in case style? (lights, flashy, dull, etc): backlit keyboards are nice
  
• Are you planning to use multiple monitors? Yeah I will definitely plug it into a second monitor sometimes
  
• Are you looking for upgrade-ability? Not really. Maybe an expandable SSD later on.
  
• Any preferred brands? Nope. I'm not really sold on the macbook pro (used to windows/linux) but hey if you can convince me. I've also heard good stuff about the XPS 13.
  
• Can you reuse any components from an older build? Nope.
  
• How much hard disk space: I Definitely want an SSD in excess of 256 GB. More is better?
  
• Mail in rebates: Knowing me I will not complete these
  
• I will generally use wireless internet, but wired from time to time
  
• Will I overclock CPU/GPU: If necessary
  
• Style: Something low profile. Neutral colors
  
• Can travel to microcenter: Yes!
  
• Do you need an operating system: I get W10 Pro free from my university so no.
  
• Is there anything else you think we should know? I'm not looking for a laptop bigger than "15.5, and if a 13 inch will suit me, the portability would be nice. I also really like lots of USB ports.

This post was edited by RaveTheGo on May 7 2017 10:24pm

Looks really solid!

It seems very gaming oriented (which I'm not doing on this laptop). Am I paying out the wazoo for the GPU?


wow though

This post was edited by RaveTheGo on May 7 2017 10:29pm

Yes you're paying for the GPU....AND the large SSD.

I didn't "sort" for the GPU.....it just came up. I sorted for the screen size the SSD, the RAM and the 1TB HDD

I get a cheap Sager. Never tried them but heard good things

Xps for sure

Ended up going for this fine piece of work: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Gigabyte-Aero-15-7700HQ-GTX-1060-FHD-Laptop-Review.215364.0.html

I decided gaming is something I'll do on this laptop, I just won't upgrade my desktop.



Nearly as went for this but the aero has a better gpu by far, and the same great battery life.

This post was edited by RaveTheGo on May 18 2017 10:03pm

interesting thing is that thing that you have chosen, kinda like it
(if it were to me i would choose rather something more mainstream had i ever needed spare parts)
have a t430s myself, but use it as a desktop,
the x240 is more on the go thing.
want to try some chromebook some day.

X1 Carbon, MBP or Dell XPS