Battle Help me to choose gaming laptop

[brambedkar59]

I am gonna buy laptop in 3-4 days if everything goes smoothly (Location India). Budget is 1 lakh Rupees (~$1337). Device will be mostly used for gaming/movies/YT/music/office applications.

What's important: Decent performance/Thermals/build quality/17 inch is preferable as most of the time I am watching content on it.

What's not important: Battery life is not important, it will mostly sit on the desk connected to wall socket.

acer Predator Helios 300 is the only one with 3060 but it's not 17.3 inch, dunno if I should take the smaller 15.6" display for 3060, plus it has Intel i7 10th (14nm, less efficient), which should make more heat compared to ryzen 5000 CPUs. I only play one game War Thunder and it's not that demanding. I can run it @45 FPS on medium preset even with crappy 940mx dGPU and dual core i7-7500U.​

If you have any other laptop suggestions pls do. Also if you own one of these laptops pls do share your experience.

Thank you!

 

[RoboMan]

Ah.. yes, the joy of getting a new computer, I feel you!

Both Acer Predator and ASUS ROG are great series, indeed.

I can talk to you about my experience, since I know an Acer Predator Helios 300 (the version with 16GB RAM, 1060 6GB VRAM, SSD, i7-7700HQ).

PROs

• GREAT build material: this thing is built to last, let me tell you. I've spilled on top of it liquids, food, sticky stuff, my cat urinated it, I dropped it to the floor, I've hit it with enraged League of Legends fury... This thing is still alive after 4 years and working flawlessly. I did manage to deform the metal a bit hehe, but no serious injures were commited.
• GREAT performance. back in '17 it could run EVERYTHING, every possible game, in ULTRA settings. 4 years later, you must change graphics to medium but it still runs every single possible game there is.
• Cosmetic appearence: it's Acer Predator bitc**
• It's portable: all the power of a gaming computer, on the size you can travel with anywhere
• Battery is great, but if you switch to high performance you won't last much
• Support: 24/7 chat support from Acer
• Warranty: I bought from Amazon and got 3-year worldwide warranty for ANYTHING (I broke my laptop keyboard myself, and they replaced it for free, thousand of kilometres away from the place it was bought, another whole country)
• Sound: amazing sound that comes from both lateral sides

CONs

• Yes, it overheats* (but check my comment down below)
• Trackpad: not that great, not a fan of trackpads either but you can't do much with it, you better connect a mouse
• Keyboard: feels good, but it's not awsome. Not even close to a regular keyboard.
• Dust: ventilation of the back and below tends to get dusty as it absorbs any dust of the place

*overheating: you must take into account ALL LAPTOPS OVERHEAT. It's a law, even more on gaming laptops. Due to the lack of space to throw hot air away, and given the fact all hardware pieces are together because of this, laptops will overheat. And specially gaming laptops which are constantly suffering from you playing horribly optimized games. Acer Predator suffers from this too, and will definitely overheat with heavy games. BUT, Acer also provides the software PredatorSense, which lets you change the speed of your fans, and even enable a HIGH MODE which definitely helps A LOT, ending up in the possibility of playing heavy games with no overheating (but a loud noise). Also, you must be sure to enable high mode on the fans before you start gaming in heavy games. Once it's hot, turning the fans on won't take the temperature down. Constant high temperatures will give you BSOD.

Hope this helps!!

 

[brambedkar59]

@RoboMan Ty for sharing such a detailed review/experience. I am leaning towards Helios for now. Really wanted 17" this time though. How much difference does 45% NTSC vs 72% NTSC makes? I am using 45% NTSC right now.

 

[SeriousHoax]

Battery life is not important, it will mostly sit on the desk connected to wall socket.

Why not buy a PC then?

 

[brambedkar59]

Why not buy a PC then?

I would sometimes have to take it out for work, but mostly it would sit on a desk. So desktop is unfortunately a no go. Weight, battery, big size are not an issue. At most it would go from one desk to another with wall socket available.

 

[SeriousHoax]

I would sometimes have to take it out for work, but mostly it would sit on a desk. So desktop is unfortunately a no go. Weight, battery, big size are not an issue. At most it would go from one desk to another with wall socket available.

I see. Okay then. Pre-congratulations

 

[Moonhorse]

You should buy rtx 3060 over 3050 for sure, even it costs more

Legion 5 pro with 3060 is the one i would go with

Or cheaper lenovo legion 5, with the 3060

 

[brambedkar59]

You should buy rtx 3060 over 3050 for sure, even it costs more

Legion 5 pro with 3060 is the one i would go with

Or cheaper lenovo legion 5, with the 3060

At this price point ($1337), I can only find 3050 Lenovo legion 5. One with 3060 costs like $350 more. Kinda out of budget.

I see. Okay then. Pre-congratulations

I am really really excited too. Thank you

 

[RoboMan]

@RoboMan Ty for sharing such a detailed review/experience. I am leaning towards Helios for now. Really wanted 17" this time though. How much difference does 45% NTSC vs 72% NTSC makes? I am using 45% NTSC right now.

Display is fine, the dimension are decent, I have no issue with gaming or streaming (Netflix, Youtube). Quality is great, sun reflection doesn't affect it much if directly hits. Of course it ain't a 2K display nor is it 120Hz, but it works just fine.

 

[Thales]

Very easy. I would avoid the etc 3050 and 3050TI because they have 4GB memory. I would definitely pick the 3060 6GB.

 

[brambedkar59]

Display is fine, the dimension are decent, I have no issue with gaming or streaming (Netflix, Youtube). Quality is great, sun reflection doesn't affect it much if directly hits. Of course it ain't a 2K display nor is it 120Hz, but it works just fine.

This Helios has a 144Hz display. Buying it right now.

Very easy. I would avoid the etc 3050 and 3050TI because they have 4GB memory. I would definitely pick the 3060 6GB.

Yup, going for Helios with 3060.

 

[brambedkar59]

Update: Order cancelled

 

[brambedkar59]

After talking to a friend I changed my mind. I don't even game that much, most of my time spent with laptop I am either browsing web or watching content. A 17.3" screen would serve me better. Also 5800H is considerably better than Intel 10th Gen i7 in terms of raw horsepower and efficiency. Going for Asus ROG, thanks everyone.

 

[show-Zi]

I think your choice to prioritize the size of the display based on your usage was wise.
I am currently using a 27-inch display, but I felt that 24 inches were more advantageous from the point of view of use.