Budget 31-40k Laptop for Comp Sci student

xkcd0137

Adept
I have to get a laptop for my younger sis who is a comp sci student. Budget is <35k and I will be making the purchase during upcoming Big Billion Day sale in late September (..or should I wait till Diwali Sale). Use case is typical of a Tier-2 college CS student though she won't be gaming on it.

Processor -
I am squarely aiming at laptops with Core i3 10th Gen or Ryzen 5 3500u. Which one should I prefer among the two?

Processor - Ci3 10110u (+10%) > R5 3500u
Graphics - Vega 8 (+60%) >> UHD630

Will she ever need the better graphics of R5 as a CS student? Also, are Ryzen 5 laptops reliable/durable enough? Asking since initially there were some reports of driver compatibility issues. Have they been completely sorted out?

Brand -
I have had a bad experience with a 2008 HP Pavilion dv2000 laptop which is unusable since 2015 due to graphics card issue. I am currently using a 2010 Dell Inspiron N5110 which is still going strong. But I can only buy a Vostro model in my budget and not any Inspiron model. I bought an Asus Vivobook Ci5 8th gen in March last year, which is good performance wise. But it was at the service centre for past 1 month because its mobo had failed and the laptop was neither booting nor charging. Also it is flimsily built with poor plastic quality and the hinge has already started to show its age. I think Asus' durability game isn't really strong. Though their service support was good and they replaced the mobo even when the laptop was 3 months out of warranty (Though I did complain to Consumer Helpline and excuse of lockdown due to Covid helped too).

4-5 hours of Battery life.
IPS Panel must. More Color accurate the better.
Good Service support must.
Good Build Quality must.
Laptop should last atleast 5 years.
Lighter the better.

I am okay with a 4GB RAM or no SSD config as long as its cheaper. I can add an SSD or RAM later as per my convenience.

PS - I know R5 4xxx series blows everything out of the water.. but they are too expensive at the moment. Cheapest R5 4xxx laptop is selling for 60k and that too is from Acer which has pretty bad service support reviews. I can stretch my budget till 45k for 4xxx laptops but nothing more. I can also wait (till her college reopens) if any cheaper R5 4xxx laptops are expected to be launched later this year.
 

Can't go wrong with a Thinkpad. The E14 is available in both Intel and Ryzen CPUs.

4-5 hours of Battery life.
The E14 will be able to provide a steady backup.
IPS Panel must. More Color accurate the better.
You can customize and select the IPS panel option instead of the regular FHD TN Panel.
Good Service support must.
This depends on your regional service centers but haven't heard of issues about Lenovo service from anyone that I personally know.
Good Build Quality must.
While the other Thinkpad series are even more robust. The E series holds its own in the build quality department.
Laptop should last atleast 5 years.
Thinkpads are built to last. Discrete GPUs may cause problems but the E14 comes with APUs unless you add the AMD Radeon RX 640 Graphics (2GB GDDR5) during customization.
Lighter the better.
The E14's heaviest model is around 1.77 KG.

Here's a Thinkpad E14 specifications PDF directly from the Lenovo website with all the available customization and general features.
 
Can't go wrong with a Thinkpad. The E14 is available in both Intel and Ryzen CPUs.

Couldn't find any with Ryzen on their site or FK or Amazon. Also, all the models for <40k on their site are all out of stock and have TN display model. Luckily Amazon and FK are selling single IPS display model each for cheaper. I'll wait and see how cheap I can buy it for during sale and read some reviews till then.

..but I think a Thinkpad would be a too bland and boring option for her.
 
but I think a Thinkpad would be a too bland and boring option for her.
There's the Acer Swift 3 and Asus VivoBook series with better looks than the Thinkpad E14.
 
I have to get a laptop for my younger sis who is a comp sci student. Budget is <35k and I will be making the purchase during upcoming Big Billion Day sale in late September (..or should I wait

PS - I know R5 4xxx series blows everything out of the water.. but they are too expensive at the moment. Cheapest R5 4xxx laptop is selling for 60k and that too is from Acer which has pretty bad service support reviews. I can stretch my budget till 45k for 4xxx laptops but nothing more. I can also wait (till her college reopens) if any cheaper R5 4xxx laptops are expected to be launched later this year.

You can have a Vivobook Flip with the 7nm 4300u for about 50k if the budget is flexible, which should be a an ideal fit for her. More options might open up if you wait for longer but I don't see things change too much by the end of September. If 50k is not possible, I suggest you stick to the lower end of your budget (35-40k range) as you will not regret the purchase even if those cheaper 4000 series laptops do eventually show up.
 
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