Laptop for our cramped apartment?

JosephEK

Cable-Tie Ninja
Original poster
Mar 6, 2017
175
84
Not a lot of room for desk space for me and my family. As it is we hooked up one of our desktops to the TV as an HTPC because we can't find room for a desk to use it at.

I hate having to share a PC and ask my siblings to use it as well. So a laptop seems like the ideal solution. Modern integrated graphics like Intel HD 620 should be enough to play most of my games albeit at low settings: Minecraft, Runescape, World of Tanks, Rocket League, Stardew Valley, Pokemon fan-made games etc.

I've heard good things about Lenovo Thinkpads so how about something like this?:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...60&cm_re=core_i5_7200u-_-34-332-360-_-Product

Not sure, hopefully I would get used to the lower resolution, but other than that it looks pretty good. I'll slap my SSD in it and get an extra 8GB stick of RAM and then I should be cooking with fire.
 

XiCynx

Cable Smoosher
New User
Sep 25, 2017
9
2
Lenovo's aren't bad laptops, I had a T460s at my last job. But let me tell you one thing, they do not handle games that good at all. Now granted it only had the Intel 520 and not the 620, but even trying to play something like Hearthstone on low was a bit of a struggle. All the effects on the screen seemed to really just take a toll on it.

If you aren't completely stuck in the $500 range, I would suggest this one as just a step up so get a 1920x1080 resolution for modern browsing and have 8GB of RAM as you will see that you will run out of 4GB quick quickly these days.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1CZ5G08977
 

Soul_Est

SFF Guru
SFFn Staff
Feb 12, 2016
1,531
1,926
Not a lot of room for desk space for me and my family. As it is we hooked up one of our desktops to the TV as an HTPC because we can't find room for a desk to use it at.

I hate having to share a PC and ask my siblings to use it as well. So a laptop seems like the ideal solution. Modern integrated graphics like Intel HD 620 should be enough to play most of my games albeit at low settings: Minecraft, Runescape, World of Tanks, Rocket League, Stardew Valley, Pokemon fan-made games etc.

I've heard good things about Lenovo Thinkpads so how about something like this?:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...60&cm_re=core_i5_7200u-_-34-332-360-_-Product

Not sure, hopefully I would get used to the lower resolution, but other than that it looks pretty good. I'll slap my SSD in it and get an extra 8GB stick of RAM and then I should be cooking with fire.
I own and use a ThinkPad X201 but a ThinkPad is meant for work, not gaming. I do sometimes play games on mine such as Monaco, Hammerwatch, CrossCode, or Towerfall. You can forget about Rocket League though.
 

jtd871

SFF Guru
Jun 22, 2015
1,166
851
You used to be able to get a business-oriented dGPU in Thinkpads, but it was a bit on the pricey side. Don't know if they still offer...
 

jtd871

SFF Guru
Jun 22, 2015
1,166
851
Yeah, I had a Quadro NVS140M in my t41p? or was it t61p? until I bought an iBuyPower gaming laptop.
 

msystems

King of Cable Management
Apr 28, 2017
781
1,366
I second an Acer Aspire. Lenovo is great but you are paying a premium for their portability and super rugged build quality which doesn't really matter for something that is just going to be in the home. You can get a discrete GPU on an Acer and it is a higher value for you.
 
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coughlanio

Typical Gaijin
Aug 22, 2017
17
24
I second an Acer Aspire. Lenovo is great but you are paying a premium for their portability and super rugged build quality which doesn't really matter for something that is just going to be in the home. You can get a discrete GPU on an Acer and it is a higher value for you.

Exactly, and the SSD and extra 4GB of RAM will be a huge benefit. The Acer looks like it has a decent enough build quality though, albeit mostly plastic, and a 7 hour battery life isn't terrible. Worst case you can always disable the dGPU in the BIOS if you need a little extra battery.
 
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