Regretting my Gaming Laptop purchase , I actually bought it in 2024 but later realized that I’m just done with gaming . Once you don’t play games on your gaming laptop you realize just how trash windows / windows laptops in the mid-range are .
Updates that keep causing issues constantly (You can try to disable windows updates all you want but it keeps switching on) . Pathetic build quality , charger cables keep breaking , same goes for the hinges . Everything is now a webapp , so much more memory consumption . Microslop AI integration that doesn’t help and requires payments . I won’t complain about my laptops battery because that is to be expected from a gaming laptop but even for non - gaming laptops in this range the battery is much less than a macbook .
We always blame windows for consumers wanting to switch to macbooks because of how bad windows 11 is but no one talks about the manufacturers and how bad their build quality is compared to a similarly priced macbook .
I’ll personally be switching to a macbook after almost 20 years of using windows and I don’t even care if the operating system is bad , at least the laptop will actually last me a few years without having to worry about carrying massive charging bricks and breaking a hinge every time I open the lid up.
This is somehow the first thing to break, or atleast feel like it’s soon going to break on all laptops under 1 lakh, I just don’t understand it, I recently sold a macbook pro from 2015, and the hinge on that was somehow as good as new!
And if u go the hp route, the hinge will die, that’s for sure, but there’s a very high chance it will destroy the body along with it
I refuse to believe that these companies can’t design a good hinge, just like apple.
Joking aside, Windows laptops don’t need to innovate or to get better. Because they have their own following.
I switched to MacOS (on a MBA M2) for the first time in my life after using Windows for 20 years, and I realized how scammy windows laptops are.
Nope, not just mid-range. My friend has been given a 10L dell precision laptop and let me tell you, it’s super bad. Crap doesn’t even last longer than 2 hours on battery. A mid-level MacBook pro would run circles around this 10L laptop.
MacOS does have its share of issues. Some of the things are pretty silly. But it’s much worse on Windows 11.
Low powered laptops are generally fine. I had bad experience with gaming laptops too, and they tend to be tuned towards higher power usage. Cramped space, dust choked fans, bad paste. Not a good result.
15w cpus, no gpus. Thats what i buy and run linux on them. Lenovo has been fine for me. But i dont use it too roughly and battery limit set to 60%.
Father’s HP gave loads and loads of troubles in contrast. Hinges too.
Gaming laptops are the worst Windows laptops. Yes, they are worse than 35K consumer laptops. They are so hot and heavy, both of which are the most important specs of a laptop, temperature and weight.
So, it’s not really fair to Windows laptops to use gaming laptops as benchmarks. No one should be buying gaming laptops. It is much better to have a PC and a thin and light laptop.
Having said all that, I was a mac hater. But, the experience of using an M1 mac changed me. It is the best computing product of the last 20 years. Nothing comes close. It is instant on just like a phone or ipad. Battery lasts for ever. I have never heard the fan in the last 4 years of having it. I have a M1 pro Macbook pro 16”. There were some quirks that bothered me initially, but having such a solid battery life and instant on. I have never shutdown my mac. I just close the lid and done. Battery lasts about a month on standby. So, it is just excellent portable computing machine in every possible way, except when it isn’t. External monitor support is not great. There is no mixer for changing volume of different apps, which we have had since Vista.
Can relate a lot of this post, I am basically using my laptop as a pc, stationary, cleaning it daily, and maintaining it properly is exhausting, can’t even carry it since it weighs a lot, battery? ofc you know it, if I had to choose again, I would probably go for a thin laptop and maybe a mid range pc
The problem is that these laptops also have heating issues and importantly severe performance issues . Like for simple tasks they are fine but for power users you’ll definitely struggle with them and they’ll overheat (and unlike gaming laptops there are barely enough vents and fans to cool them ).
Lenovo has been fine for me.
My first laptop was lenovo . It worked fine for 3-4 years after which it developed hinge issues and broke down sadly .
Same , using my laptop just like a PC now . The only positive thing about gaming laptops is that you get decent performance . There was this video on twitter where a reviewer opened multiple applications on the macbook neo , and I think a gaming laptop is the only windows laptop where you can recreate that .
The recent U series laptop cpus - Intel’s Lunar lake, Panther lake and AMD’s Hawk point, Strix point have fantastic multi core perf even in sub 30W power envelope and 10-15 hours backup. The issue is if you can get your hands on them.
I have had 0 performance issues for many years now. Almost 2 years with a basic S145 bought in 2020 with some basic i3 it seems. Gave it to family member later and its still getting used. Did have to replace keyboard and had a repair done by local shop previous year.
Currently using Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 with 5700U for more than 4 years now. I run multi threaded code on it in bursts of few seconds few times every minute. No issues. Did not realize 4 years had gone by with this ! Its more than fast enough for my use case and its not slower than day 1.
No heating /Fan issue. But i am also not running it at full load constantly. No issue in general use either.
This is just to run my code for automated work. All of my own work and play is on desktop.
Just for info, which cpus are good for multi core workloads, will compare with my cpu to get an idea.
Ryzen AI 9 (12-core) and Ryzen AI 7 (8-core) U-class parts
From chatgpt Do note this is only U series. The HS series is often 20-40% above in perf but they add to the weight and thickness.
I rock a U series 8 core Ryzen 4800U Thinkpad . A bit old but was able to score it from the used market for 27k. Let me know for any geekbench or any other score.
for everyday use or work related nothing beat mac. not eve pc. they like 999 gold standard. the track pad the keyboard the screen. the sleepmode. everything about it instant fall in love. i only moved to gaming laptop is because i sold my pc
).
Do note this is only U series. The HS series is often 20-40% above in perf but they add to the weight and thickness.