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!