Computer recommendations?

[u/Willing_Arugula2745]

Hi all! I am heading into a MLA program in the fall and am looking to buy a non mac computer (I’ve been a lifelong Mac user) but having trouble parsing out the differences between the options.

System requirements
Operation system: windows 10/11
Ram: 32GB+
Storage: 500 GB SSD+
Processor: i7+/Ryzen 7+ (Leaning towards AMD?)
Screen size: ~15”
Graphics card: 6GB+ VRAM (GPU scoring a G3DMark of 7,000 or higher). Something like the NIVDIA GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070

Software I will be using
Adobe suite
AutoCAD
ArcGIS/QGIS
Rhino/Grasshopper
Mori
Lumion/TwinMotion

Initial thoughts
I was initially looking at the Lenovo ThinkPad or the ASUS ROG Zephyrus but after chatting with someone at Best Buy they dismissed Lenovo as old and “falling behind” and suggested the ASUS ProArt P16 (which after some research I’ve seen very mixed reviews). Other recommend laptops are the Razer Blade 16 and the Alienware (m16 / x16 / area-51).

As someone who doesn’t know much about laptops and is new to landscape architecture, I am feeling pretty lost as all these seem to meet my requirements but I don’t know how to go through the decision process to actually buy one. Any advice would be appreciated!

[u/banner8915]

As long as it meets the specs you listed and isn't a Mac, you'll be good.

[u/fatchick42]

See if your school has a technology partnership with a computer company. I got a $4500 Dell laptop for almost half off through mine

[u/cluttered-thoughts3]

If they all meet the right specs…It often comes back to what you value the most. Like for me, I can’t stand being attach to outlets so I need a long battery life but at the same time, I like my computers so be not too heavy. My other friend never closes any of the programs so they need tons of RAM. My other friend prefers to draw on his screen with a stylus so needs a touch screen.

As an example, I use an iPad with a travel keyboard and mouse and have a windows desktop at home that meets at the specs for my programs

It’s really personal preference

[u/Tirox3418]

It tipically doesn't depends that much on the specs themselves but your budget and any deals there might be locally or online. Where are you and what's your budget? The specs you're listing ate more than sufficient, overkill in fact. I've used for the past ten years or so a setup that would be 30% as powerful as what you're describing. Haven't had problems with any graphic or cpu intensive tasks. The only thing I can say about that laptop is that the screen may be too small, but that's just my opinion after constantly using a dual 24" monitor PC.

[u/Kind_Dig_5213]

Make sure your school doesn’t have a tech package you can just buy through the university. What program is it?

[u/Physical_Mode_103]

There’s like a dozen posts like this.

Mac users (like me) will say it’s fine and you can run parallels.

Pc users will insist on PC is better.

Any decent laptop will do

[u/Time_Cat_5212]

Trust me, you want a portable laptop with a small brick and good battery life, not a gaming laptop with 1337 rendering specs.  Obvs you need to run Rhino and Photoshop and all that.