Budget 41-50k WTB Laptop to use as an office desktop

vebk

vebk

Adept
So my office desktop is old and giving way, and my thought process is that it might be a better idea to get a laptop (and use it as a desktop, i.e. non-portable) rather than get into building a new desktop. (Don't intend on gaming, plus with the elevated prices of desktop components, a laptop may just work out to be cheaper).

  • What's your Budget? (e.g. >30K, not more than 50K etc.)
    Not more than 50K

  • What will be your primary usage for the notebook be? (e.g. web surfing/office apps/Casual Gaming)
    - Office apps, minor photo/ video editing (would prefer i5 or above). It will be used as a 'desktop' that will permanently be on my office table. (I already have a Surface Pro for portability/ travel etc).
    - Would like it to boot fast and have Windows 11.
  • What size and weight considerations do you have? (e.g. Do you want a 17" desktop replacement or you want an ultraportable 12" or something in between)
    Size is immaterial. It will sit on the desktop. It will be non-portable. Plus I will connect it to my 34" Ultrawide monitor, as well as a wireless microsoft ergonomic keyboard and mouse, so screen size, weight, keyboard etc is immaterial - whatever gives better bang for the buck.

  • Any brand that you prefer, or any brand that you detest? (e.g some would prefer to stay away from Acer or Dell)
    Prefer to stay away from HP (bad service experience). Open to other brands.

  • Any other considerations? (e.g Battery life; Widescreen/non-widescreen; Glossy/Matte screen etc.)
    - Battery life is immaterial. I already have a UPS, which is connected to the home inverter. More than enough backup. Honestly as long as it has more than 1-2 hours battery life, it's fine.
    - For the display, I don't really need it as my 34" ultrawide is MORE than enough. But if I am paying for a laptop, I could use always use it as a second screen to put on Youtube videos/ music while I work. So a reasonable screen would be fine - would prefer to avoid a bad screen.
    - It should have sufficient number of ports (USB, HDMI, display port) or if you can reommend a dock/ extension that can achieve the same.
    - Should be able to output video with ease (via Displayport preferably or HDMI 3440 x 1440 @ 60Hz)
 
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While I can't fault your logic, there are a few things which hopefully you've taken into account -

1. Laptops life depends on its use case. Based on your described work load, it should not stress the laptop but cooling in a laptop will always be an issue (My estimate would be 5-7 year life if the load isn't much). The CPU itself can take the higher / fluctuating temperatures, but the motherboard components might not.
2. If you're going with a laptop, ensure you aren't charging it to 100% (Default in some laptops range from 80-90%) instead drop it to 60-70%. This will help last your battery, should a need arise for that in future

Lenovo Thinkpads do last longer, but are more expensive (i3 goes for ~40k, i5 was 55k I think), but I'd suggest find the nearest service center in your locality, drop by and ask about pricing.

I would also like to know if you've considered Mini-PCs by either Lenovo / Acer / Intel NUCs. You can provide your own RAM and SSD (For that speedy boot up that you want).

On side note, I was looking for portable Windows machine and Surface are the best options for that (Though my plan would be to use Linux instead of Windows) while cheaper options don't perform as well.
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions - quick update - I have a few people coming to India from the US in the next month or two. So I have the option to get something from there (which usually means higher specs at lesser prices). Any suggestions?
 
vebk said:
Thanks everyone for the suggestions - quick update - I have a few people coming to India from the US in the next month or two. So I have the option to get something from there (which usually means higher specs at lesser prices). Any suggestions?
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Macbook m1? In any case , make sure the warranty support is global for the product.
 
A laptop doesn't make sense in your use case. You should be looking at a Desktop, a mini-PC, or an All-in-One setup.

However, if you insist: At that budget and in your use case where there is no movement, the risk of physical damage due to build-quality issues is not great, consider:
Asus VivoBook series
Acer Aspire series
Lenovo IdeaPad series.

If willing to consider others, Mi laptops look real good, service can be a real PITA, as they are new to this business.

One additional suggestion on mini-PC: with a Mini-PC, you may be able to use a dual monitor set-up that will give you better productivity & large screen pleasure.
 
A much better performing desktop can be assembled in the budget that will outlive the laptop by years. Upgrade path is also present in desktops.

There is nothing wrong going with laptops but it would be more logical to go for a desktop since portability is not needed.
 
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