Help choosing a gaming laptop
Hi! I'm searching for a laptop for both everyday use and gaming, but I'm not really familiar with the Windows brands and what's available in my price range. I currently play on a desktop mac mini that's really underpowered for the Sims after Sims 3 fried my previous desktop PC. I found a Lenovo Ideabook L340 with appropriate specs (i7, 8GB RAM, GTX 1650, 500GB SSD) for under $800, but I'm not sure if it's reliable and will run the game as well as possible. I would really appreciate any help so I don't regret such a big purchase!
My budget is under $1000 (US), though I'm definitely aiming for something less expensive if possible. In terms of what it should handle: Firefox, writing, GIMP, Sims 3 and 4, and games like Civ, Minecraft, Terraria, Stardew Valley, etc. I'd love if it could handle an android emulator and if I could dual boot Linux, but those are not necessities. A solid warranty and return policies are important though.
I would greatly appreciate any advice or links. Thanks!
@hyacinthbunny When I dealt with Best Buy, I don't believe my parents had to pay anything extra for the service. On the other hand, they had a few systems installed and were probably over the minimum for complimentary Geek Squad setup. I wasn't saying Best Buy is great for accidental damage, the kind you'd have to pay for almost anywhere. (Even Apple makes you buy extra coverage.) I was more thinking about if the laptop had some issue that wasn't your fault and should be covered by a standard warranty, in-store repair is usually more efficient.
If the Asus doesn't get good reviews, there will almost certainly be competing laptops released soon enough. Or you could fall back on the higher-end Lenovo, not the one you saw but the Legion line. Last I saw, it was a bit more expensive than the new Asus, but prices will probably drop as this year's models hit the market. The Legion line did have very good reviews when I looked, better than the comparable MSI model, and also better than the one you were considering.
Another option is the higher-end HP Pavilion. Yes, the software can be an issue, but it's easy enough to get rid of it. I know someone who bought a Pavilion with a 9750H and a 1660 ti recently and is very happy with it. But this is also a power user who laughs in the face of meager attempts to impose proprietary software.
I haven't heard much about other new laptops, especially not with the same 4800H CPU. Intel has released its 10th-gen high-end laptop CPUs, as of... this week? So laptops with those processors will be showing up soon enough. You might have to wait a few weeks to see what else is out there, but you'll have options. It looks like the i7-10750H is around 10% slower than teh 4800H, but it's still a beast of a CPU, and probably more power than you'll realistically ever use.
By the way, I know all about Macs and TS3—that's how I started on this site. I had some adventures with the unknown error myself a couple years ago, and various other fun errors as well. We're hoping the 64-bit update (macOS only, as far as we know) takes care of a lot of that, but we'll probably just end up with a whole new set of cryptic error messages to figure out.
