WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:08.800 i wanted to make a back to school laptop guide but if i say the hp nv14 is sweet 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.880 it'll go from sweet to sold out in about 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:16.080 30 minutes so instead you guys are getting something even better a start to 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:19.359 finish laptop buyers guide so you can make your own decision 00:00:17.680 --> 00:00:24.640 also it will include some honorable mentions like the aforementioned nv14 it 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:28.800 really is pretty sweet so if you want one move fast 00:00:26.640 --> 00:00:34.079 and move fast to check out our sponsor MSI's clutch gm41 lightweight wireless 00:00:31.679 --> 00:00:38.559 gaming mouse is only 74 grams has a pixart 3370 sensor and features up to 80 00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:42.480 hours of battery life check it out at the link down below right out of the 00:00:40.399 --> 00:00:46.640 gate the dell xps 15 is the benchmark for Windows laptops it excels in 00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:52.800 performance build quality and battery life the only small problem is that it 00:00:49.120 --> 00:00:54.399 costs over 2 000 us dollars now i think 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:58.000 dell might have financing options available if you need them but before 00:00:56.079 --> 00:01:02.320 you lock into an agreement like that i should tell you that it is possible to 00:00:59.680 --> 00:01:07.280 find something with more power a longer lasting battery or something much 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:11.200 lighter for less than half the price the first and most important thing you 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:15.600 need to decide is how much performance you actually need as well as your budget 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:20.560 because these two factors will determine what type of laptop you're looking at be 00:01:18.240 --> 00:01:26.720 honest with yourself if you don't really need a top of the line rtx 3080 GPU 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:31.600 sacrificing some FPS could either save you a ton of money or get you a better 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:35.280 built machine that's more comfortable to daily drive 00:01:32.880 --> 00:01:39.680 with that said if performance is your top priority you're probably going to 00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:43.920 want a gaming laptop generally speaking they have the best cooling they feature 00:01:41.520 --> 00:01:47.680 the fastest processors and they're cheaper than equally powerful laptops 00:01:45.759 --> 00:01:50.560 that are marketed at professional creators 00:01:48.960 --> 00:01:55.280 if you primarily want a laptop for school or work that has enough grunt to 00:01:53.360 --> 00:02:00.799 game on your brakes you'll be perfectly fine with either a gtx 1650 or an rtx 00:01:58.799 --> 00:02:04.799 3050. here are a couple of budget friendly options any of these should 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:09.119 serve you very well so i would personally go with whatever's on sale 00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:12.480 and then return it and try again if i end up hating it if you're looking for 00:02:10.959 --> 00:02:17.040 something powerful enough to really crank the details in aaa games at 1080p 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:22.000 or if you want to drive a high refresh rate panel for smoother animations the 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:27.599 rtx 3060 mobile delivers nearly a 40 bump in FPS over the 3050 ti and comes 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:32.720 highly recommended especially in ASUS zephyrus g14 and we've also seen some 00:02:30.239 --> 00:02:37.360 really nice fire sales on last gen 2000 series rtx models 00:02:34.720 --> 00:02:40.560 above that however things start to get a little complicated 00:02:39.040 --> 00:02:45.760 a lot complicated in many cases the model of GPU that you 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:49.519 choose and that you pay for can have less of an impact on real world 00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:55.200 performance than the cooling and the power delivery of the overall laptop 00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:59.360 there's honestly way too much to cover here so instead we made a playlist that 00:02:57.440 --> 00:03:04.080 you can watch called buying a gaming laptop in 2021 is way more complicated 00:03:01.840 --> 00:03:07.760 than it should be also get subscribed because i'm sure that the shenanigans 00:03:05.920 --> 00:03:12.560 are far from over moving on then if gaming for you means 00:03:10.640 --> 00:03:17.840 playing text twist in your browser or the occasional round of rocket league 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:20.640 great news integrated or igpus have 00:03:17.840 --> 00:03:25.519 gotten shockingly good so you want to avoid a laptop that has low end 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:29.200 dedicated graphics like these ones in my opinion they just aren't enough of an 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:33.200 upgrade over modern integrated gpus to be worth the extra power draw and heat 00:03:31.120 --> 00:03:38.959 output your emulated playstation 2 classics are gonna run fine without them 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:43.599 as for cpus AMD keeps things pretty simple the bigger the number the more 00:03:41.280 --> 00:03:49.120 faster it goes and i can easily recommend both the ryzen 4000 and 5000 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:53.680 series processors on mobile they have exceptional efficiency which means great 00:03:51.280 --> 00:03:56.799 performance in compact or lower priced machines that typically end up with 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:01.760 smaller batteries i would hesitate however to go for ryzen 00:03:59.040 --> 00:04:06.159 3000 the name seems to suggest that these are based on AMD's zen 2 cores but 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:10.480 they are actually based on an older design that is significantly slower and 00:04:08.799 --> 00:04:14.400 less power efficient as for Intel 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:19.440 oh if it's got five numbers followed by an 00:04:16.639 --> 00:04:25.199 h like this that means it's a faster model with more cores and if it ends in 00:04:21.759 --> 00:04:28.000 hk like this one it's a super fast boy 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:33.360 and is generally capable of overclocking if instead it's got four numbers 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:35.680 followed by g4 or g7 like this 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:39.360 that means it'll have at most four cores and is intended to be snappy and power 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:42.560 efficient rather than capable of handling heavy workloads now for most 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:49.680 people only 4 CPU cores isn't going to be a problem but if you plan on running fluid 00:04:46.880 --> 00:04:54.880 simulations or editing 4k video an h series processor or ideally an 8 core 00:04:52.320 --> 00:04:58.720 from AMD would be the better choice something to note though is that for 00:04:56.320 --> 00:05:03.520 Intel their latest 11th gen processors were a significant upgrade they finally 00:05:01.440 --> 00:05:07.600 switched from 14 nanometer to 10 nanometer so if the latest and greatest 00:05:05.919 --> 00:05:11.600 isn't within your budget you can't assume that last year's model will be 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:15.199 same same but slightly worse the good 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:19.360 news however is that in the few years prior to that Intel was basically 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:23.120 rehashing the same designs so you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference 00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:27.840 between an 8th gen processor and a 10th gen one i'd only go 7th gen and older 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:32.880 though if the price was very compelling on a used device 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:34.720 fortunately RAM is simple get 16 gigs if 00:05:32.880 --> 00:05:38.720 you can Windows and chrome are going to make quick work of 8 gigs and if 8 gigs 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:43.759 of RAM is all that meets your budget make sure you choose a machine that can be upgraded down the line with slots 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:47.680 that look like these ones even if you're not tech savvy ifixit has excellent 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.960 teardowns that can both help you choose an appropriate model and perform the 00:05:49.919 --> 00:05:56.160 surgery framework by the way gets an honorable mention here for their outstanding 00:05:54.479 --> 00:06:00.720 attention to the upgradability of their machines they even go as far as making 00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:04.639 the integrated ports swappable storage is a similar story to RAM you're 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:09.280 probably going to want at least 500 gigs for your SSD but if a 256gb one is all 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:13.280 that you can fit in your budget just make sure that the laptop you're considering can be upgraded down the 00:06:12.319 --> 00:06:18.160 road something you might have realized by now though is that since Intel didn't do a 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:22.720 whole lot to improve their laptops between 8th and 10th generations it is 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:27.440 entirely possible that someone might think that their old laptop is slow but 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:31.039 it actually just needs a little bit more storage or RAM 00:06:29.360 --> 00:06:35.280 neither of them is super expensive these days so trucking 16 gigs of RAM into a 00:06:33.440 --> 00:06:38.639 three-year-old laptop maybe with a battery refresh that can usually be 00:06:36.880 --> 00:06:42.720 found with a quick part number search on ebay could give it a whole new lease on 00:06:40.960 --> 00:06:47.360 life while you're in there by the way make sure to blow out the cooling system 00:06:44.240 --> 00:06:50.000 because overheating is the biggest cause 00:06:47.360 --> 00:06:53.919 of premature laptop failure now to address the elephant in the room 00:06:51.840 --> 00:07:00.400 AMD and Intel aren't the only options for cpus anymore bringing us to the 00:06:56.560 --> 00:07:02.560 apple m1 the macbook air and pro m1s are 00:07:00.400 --> 00:07:07.039 in almost every way the best thin and lights on the market they're extremely 00:07:04.479 --> 00:07:10.800 snappy feel great to use have excellent screens and the battery life is 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:15.599 unmatched by anything that shows this logo on boot up 00:07:12.639 --> 00:07:19.759 but they aren't perfect the m1 chip has only been out for a year so there are 00:07:17.280 --> 00:07:23.360 some growing pains for instance our mac guy jonathan has to use teams in a 00:07:21.599 --> 00:07:27.919 chrome window since there's no native app yet and there's no way to install 00:07:25.919 --> 00:07:31.759 full x86 Windows as for us the inability to run 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:37.120 professional programs like solidworks and altium not to mention games makes 00:07:34.080 --> 00:07:38.080 the m1 mac a complete no-go so beautiful 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:43.199 machine much better keyboard than the old ones just make sure that everything you're 00:07:41.520 --> 00:07:46.960 going to need will run on it and chromebooks are a similar story if 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:51.520 you're on a budget or you already have access to a powerful desktop 95 of the 00:07:50.080 --> 00:07:55.759 time a chromebook is going to do everything you need it to do but if a 00:07:53.440 --> 00:07:59.680 chromebook is your only computer your professor or your boss could easily 00:07:57.599 --> 00:08:03.440 provide you with some mandatory piece of software that you either can't run or 00:08:01.680 --> 00:08:07.120 are going to have to install in a hacky time-consuming way and at that point 00:08:05.520 --> 00:08:09.840 you'll probably wish that you'd saved up another 100 bucks and got a Windows 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:14.319 device or spent the same amount and gotten a 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:18.800 used thinkpad like this one having the fastest laptop around though 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:22.960 means nothing if the screen sucks how do you appreciate all the new t-shirt 00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:25.680 designs on ltteststore.com but seriously 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:29.919 the screen is the thing you'll interact with most on your laptop so it really 00:08:27.840 --> 00:08:36.080 makes sense to skimp on it there are three main panel types the tn 00:08:33.039 --> 00:08:38.240 ips type and OLED and only one that you 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:42.479 should choose tn looks terrible by today's standards and should basically 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:46.399 be avoided at all times OLED panels look amazing with crisp blacks and vibrant 00:08:44.560 --> 00:08:49.920 colors and incredible saturation but they're normally not super bright which 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:53.519 kind of matters if you're taking this thing into bright areas like 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:59.200 outside they struggle with reflections and they're terrible for battery life 00:08:55.440 --> 00:09:03.040 which leaves us with ips and ips type 00:08:59.200 --> 00:09:04.480 panels since lg trademarked ips so other 00:09:03.040 --> 00:09:09.040 brands have to use different names for the same tech once you know the panel 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:12.480 type is okay the color space is the next key thing this describes how many 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:16.800 different colors your monitor can produce it can get a bit confusing since there 00:09:14.959 --> 00:09:23.040 are a bunch of different standards but unless you know you need something else 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:24.959 aim for near 100 coverage of srgb pretty 00:09:23.040 --> 00:09:29.120 basic the vast majority of applications web pages and games are tuned for srgb 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:35.040 so unless you're doing professional color work going beyond that to adobe 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:37.440 RGB or a dc ip3 is not a requirement 00:09:35.040 --> 00:09:40.880 more expensive machines may come factory calibrated to account for the slight 00:09:38.880 --> 00:09:44.560 differences from one panel to the next but there are quick and dirty ways to 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:49.440 calibrate it yourself using test patterns that are good enough if you're 00:09:47.040 --> 00:09:53.839 not doing color critical work something you cannot change after the 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:58.880 fact is your panel's brightness it's tough to recommend a single brightness 00:09:56.240 --> 00:10:03.760 number since 250 nits might be fine on a matte display while 400 nits might not 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:07.360 feel like enough on a glossy one but what i can say is that if you're going 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.279 to be in a bright environment more is generally better finally if you 00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:14.320 plan on gaming throw out most of what i just said 00:10:12.800 --> 00:10:18.880 because the single most important thing for you is the refresh rate of your 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:23.360 panel a high refresh rate display paired with a good CPU and GPU will allow you 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:27.519 to see much smoother animations on the screen and make your gaming experience 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:32.640 feel more responsive and immersive we proved outright that going from 60hz to 00:10:30.040 --> 00:10:37.040 144hz results in a real world competitive advantage and while 240 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:41.680 hertz and above definitely starts to succumb to the law of dimensioning 00:10:38.560 --> 00:10:43.680 returns it's safe to say that more is 00:10:41.680 --> 00:10:47.279 more better at least for competitive gamers if sightseeing games are more 00:10:45.760 --> 00:10:56.160 your thing though looking at you with your three players a 1440p 120 or 144 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:57.600 hertz ips type is the perfect sweet spot 00:10:56.160 --> 00:11:01.600 chef's kiss speaking of which you might have noticed 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:05.120 that i've hardly touched on resolution that's because despite it being one of 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:08.959 the big highlights on a typical manufacturer's web page for the most 00:11:06.880 --> 00:11:14.000 part it doesn't really matter unless the laptop is extremely cheap or small 00:11:11.839 --> 00:11:18.160 it will have at least 1080p resolution and since laptops are pretty small in 00:11:15.839 --> 00:11:22.079 general 1080p is enough for the image to look pretty darn good in our opinion 00:11:20.160 --> 00:11:28.000 pushing to a 4k display is basically just a waste of battery life unless the 00:11:24.160 --> 00:11:30.399 1080p option is a really bad panel a far 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:35.600 more important aspect of the display is the ratio of horizontal to vertical 00:11:32.880 --> 00:11:40.000 pixels for professionals in particular a 16 by 10 or 3x2 display gives you more 00:11:38.560 --> 00:11:44.160 vertical space to work with for scrolling long documents or editing 00:11:41.920 --> 00:11:49.839 complex video timelines some laptops with great screens are the surface 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:54.399 laptop hpn v14 dell xps ASUS zephyrus 00:11:49.839 --> 00:11:55.680 m16 and g15 and the lenovo legion pro 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:00.480 they're good oh and yeah we like touch screens you 00:11:57.920 --> 00:12:03.120 might not so hey it's up to you unless you buy a mac then it's up to 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:09.120 apple a really important part of a laptop that you can't evaluate from the spec sheet 00:12:06.560 --> 00:12:11.760 alone is the keyboard and trackpad given these are the bits that you'll 00:12:10.079 --> 00:12:15.839 physically be touching every time you use it you'll want them to be really 00:12:13.839 --> 00:12:19.440 good the easiest way to figure out if a keyboard and trackpad are good is to 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:23.680 watch some reviews find a host who has some overlapping experience with yours 00:12:21.839 --> 00:12:27.760 see if you like the same kind of things then find out their most recent opinion 00:12:25.839 --> 00:12:31.040 on whatever machine you're considering we've got heaps of unboxings over on 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:34.560 ShortCircuit like this one right here and i think this one too so if you're 00:12:32.880 --> 00:12:38.639 lucky we've already taken a look at what you want and if you're not so lucky well 00:12:37.040 --> 00:12:42.720 i guess it's time to head over to a local big box store like best buy or 00:12:40.560 --> 00:12:46.320 somewhere and just try some out first thing to do is make sure hands 00:12:44.160 --> 00:12:50.000 physically fit if they're falling off the edge kind of like this you need a 00:12:48.560 --> 00:12:55.040 bigger laptop the typefast consistency is the key the 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.920 more confidence your fingers have the better 00:12:56.160 --> 00:13:03.120 so kind of just press around the keyboard if the whole thing flexes a bit 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:07.680 that can be fine but uneven squishiness can throw off your typing feel around 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:12.240 the j and k keys specifically this tends to be a soft spot on some laptops if the 00:13:10.560 --> 00:13:16.800 deck flex is good then you can evaluate the keys themselves press around the 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:20.160 corners to check the stability if the corner 00:13:17.839 --> 00:13:22.800 kind of dips below the chassis before it actuates 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:26.560 don't buy it finally give the keys a press to see how 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:31.200 consistent the force required to push them is if some of them take more effort 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:35.760 than others keep looking unless you're a hunt and peck typist for you you 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:39.519 probably wouldn't notice the difference but if you want to improve your typing 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:44.000 in the future maybe you know invest in something that's good our keyboard 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.440 standouts are the ASUS zephyrus lineup basically any alienware laptop but 00:13:46.160 --> 00:13:52.079 especially this one with the cherry switches any 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:56.079 surface device dell's xps 15 and pretty much anything from hp's envy or spectre 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:59.120 lineups while you're tooling around with the keyboard it's a good time to 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:03.120 evaluate the palm rejection of the trackpad if the mouse accidentally 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:07.680 clicks or moves around while you're typing real bad if none of those things 00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:11.600 happened try to use the keyboard and then slowly move to touching the 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:15.519 trackpad what you're looking for is to see if the trackpad doesn't immediately 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:19.120 start working oems will do this to make sure that your palms don't actually 00:14:16.959 --> 00:14:23.600 trigger it but if it's too aggressive it can make the trackpad feel unresponsive 00:14:21.760 --> 00:14:29.600 after that check if the trackpad uses Windows precision drivers if it doesn't 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:31.920 just don't get the laptop in 2021 no one 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:36.240 needs snapdick's drunken drivers from there i personally don't like trackpads 00:14:33.839 --> 00:14:41.199 with high latency but depending on what panel you have and your personal 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:45.680 sensitivity to it you might not notice the difference so it kind of just comes 00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:50.320 down to trying as many as possible in person and hopefully you can figure out 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:57.279 what you like our standout trackpad champs are of course the macbooks xps 15 00:14:53.279 --> 00:14:59.120 once again and the zephyrus g15 and m16 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:03.680 the last big ones that we haven't mentioned are weight and battery weight 00:15:01.839 --> 00:15:08.240 is pretty simple since it's just a function of performance and how much you 00:15:06.160 --> 00:15:11.600 want to spend this one's real light made of magnesium 00:15:09.839 --> 00:15:16.160 not cheap but the battery's a lot more complex i 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:19.839 wish i could just say something like get an 85 watt hour battery and you'll be 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.560 good but like these two both have 55 watt hour 00:15:21.519 --> 00:15:27.600 batteries this one's four hours this one 00:15:25.440 --> 00:15:32.560 doesn't really work like that because depending on the CPU GPU display and 00:15:30.160 --> 00:15:37.440 even the tuning of all those things the battery life is just 00:15:34.639 --> 00:15:41.760 willy-nilly and will vary wildly your only real choice is to find a reviewer 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:45.839 who has tested the config you like or something close to it in an industry 00:15:43.680 --> 00:15:50.560 standard test like the pcmark battery life test anything over about six and a 00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:55.519 half hours will be serviceable with anything over 11 being pretty darn solid 00:15:53.040 --> 00:15:59.360 for all-day use big thanks to drop for sponsoring this video with drop you can 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:03.360 bring home the battle that changed the marvel cinematic universe forever with 00:16:01.440 --> 00:16:08.160 their infinity war keycaps that they made in collaboration with marvel 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:12.240 they've got purple alphas and modifiers representing the reign of thanos while 00:16:10.079 --> 00:16:16.959 bright blue legends and several heroic novelties add welcome contrast they're 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:20.320 sculpted and drop signature mt3 profile which means the keys are scooped and 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:26.079 they feature double shot abs construction and the whole set includes 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:28.399 160 keycaps including a full numpad and 00:16:26.079 --> 00:16:32.160 extra modifiers for different layouts so why wait turn your battle station into a 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:36.160 battlefield and order your infinity war keycaps today at the link in the video 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:41.040 description if you still want to know more check out our playlist buying game 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:45.519 laptops and 2021 is way more complicated than it should be it's 00:16:42.880 --> 00:16:50.320 it's so stupid all the things that you need to know to make an informed 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:53.040 decision to buy like a gaming laptop 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:53.040 ridiculous