this post was submitted on 24 Sep 2023
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I am planning to buy a laptop around ~900$ (equivalent) budget. But I am not sure to recognize good deals. I currently have my eyes locked on a gigabyte one with 3060/11400H.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what to look for? Also gigabyte good at making laptops?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"Gaming"

"Sub $1,000"

My gut reaction is "choose one".

You might be able to get a gaming laptop under $1K but get ready to replace it in 2 years.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

The vast majority of games, even the best ones, won't require a top-of-the-line spec, so there's very little that the OP would be barred from playing.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Can be done, but the timing has to be right. My buddy got a midrange gaming laptop during prime days (from a different retailer) that was regular priced around $1500 at the time for $850. I don't like the one he got but I understand his reasoning.

If OP is looking to buy today, maybe. If they can hold off another couple of weeks then there's a smaller "big sale" going on that they may be able to game to get something sub $1k that would normally be more.

If they don't care about playing the very latest at 4k high then they'll likely be able to get 5 years out of it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I would google model number to look at a few reviews just in case there are glaring problems, especially in regards to heat.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So far the gigabyte is ok. My concern is if it's a ripoff or good one for the price.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Rule number one when buying tech is your always get ripped off. There is always a better deal two weeks from now. You just have to get a feeling when timing is good enough for what you want.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yap, find the deal that fits you. Buy it and don't look back. Accept it that you found it valuable enough to buy it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Check sold ebay listing for used prices. Use camel camel camel to check Amazon price history.

I know it's never fun to wait, but black Friday is typically the lost price of the year for tech

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I literally just bought this laptop for $1k, Eluktronics RP-15 15.6" RTX 4060 Gaming Laptop AMD R7 7840HS 16GB RAM 512GB SSD. It just arrived yesterday, so haven't had much time to test it out yet.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225757899047?epid=23062718349

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Small tips: Look at the gpu. Also make sure the laptop have unused slots for ram so you can upgrade down the road if needed. Placement of fans/airflow matters.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So far all models I consider is good enough, my concern is how to avoid ripoff and find good deals

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I usually look at price history on anything I buy and see where the one I'm interested in place among those. What's the lowest ever price, etc. You can research this a lot. Eventually you will get a feeling what's good and what's not. Black Friday coming up as well. Never a bad idea to see what happens. Only rarely do prices raise after compared to before.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At that price point I'd recommend looking at used or refurbished units that are still in good condition. I like using Swappa for used devices

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Looks like there's Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 units that are below $900. I've heard good things about that line. Make sure to watch/read plenty of reviews before pulling the trigger though

Should probably try to set a few more parameters to narrow your search, like RAM and storage. I'd recommend an SSD and if you like large games opt for 1 TB or more

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I had a gigabyte gaming laptop and overall it was a great value... after I fixed the graphics card drivers and updated the motherboard bios. Nothing worked right out of the box new.

If you're just using the laptop as a browser/ ms office machine for school or something I can't recommend the Microsoft surface tablet line enough. I've used a surface 3 for years for that purpose.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

But gaming is also important

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Do you need an integrated GPU? Could you use an EGPU instead? Yes you sacrifice some performance, and you can only play games where you have your EGPU set up. But it gives you many more options for your laptop itself.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

If this is the way, Ryzen is the way. Better integrated gpus. But sub 1k gets you a good dedicated graphics card.