Hi all, my son is 11 and a gamer. He does a lot of Roblox (yeah, I know) but also has gaming interests outside of Roblox. He is getting into more robust games. He also likes to record and make YouTube videos of his gaming.
He had a Razer Blade 15 and it crapped out after a year (RMA says motherboard). I had the extended warranty and they are giving me a cash settlement (check) for what I paid for the computer because Razer apparently said they cannot replace the part as it’s not available anymore.
So, did I just have bad luck with the Blade and should I go for another in the Blade series OR go with a different gaming laptop replacement?
I’m researching on my own, but also looking for recommendations from people that have knowledge in this area.
Thank you!
Edit 1: Yes, it should be a laptop. My child likes to switch environments and space is also an issue. Eventually we will consider a desktop, but I am looking for laptop suggestions.
If it’s a Razer, it was probably pretty expensive. Is a Framework (https://frame.work/) in the budget? If so, he’ll have a great work machine capable of gaming, and upgradeable too.
Another option is a lower-spec laptop supplemented with a GeForce Now subscription for demanding games. If you have a decent internet connection, the service actually works really well - far better than earlier services which tried to sell gaming on the cloud. You can try it for a day for $4 (or $8, for the top-tier hardware) to see how you go with it on your home connection.
It’s expensive, but I also got it on a sale probably because it was an older model.
I’m not familiar with Framework. What is customer service like and warranty on parts/units?
Framework are standouts in customer service and warranty; I recommend them because their ethos is repairability and re-use. They design their products for maximum interoperability of parts - so for example of you got one of the original laptops, you could upgrade the internals to new framework parts and buy (or build, or 3d-print) an enclosure for the original parts that still work, and turn it into a file server or whatever. You won’t run into this situation you have now, where you can’t get a part a few years later because the company themselves can’t get one. And, it’s all open source, so you can build and modify as you like… and equally if not more importantly, so can everyone else. Robust ecosystems are nice to have!
Very interesting. I’ll have to look more into this company. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
A bit pricey and possibly overkill, but I can recommend Lenovo Legion. Bought one for myself last year, and I’m really satisfied with it.
That’s one I’ve been looking at. My wife had a Lenovo Thinkpad for work and hated it which is all that’s making me hesitate. However, she’s not a tech nerd and a thinkpad is a totally different beast than the Legion series.
Thoughts on the Legion Pro 5 (AMD), 5i (Intel), or 7i (Intel)? If I were to choose, I’d probably lean toward the 5 for the AMD over the Intels.
Thinkpads are workhorses, but come in many flavors and can be burdened by decisions they make like buying the cheapest models or loading it up with security software.
I manage Lenovo thinkpads and like them. I bought a legion slim 7i and like it.
If I were to do it over I’d make sure that I was getting the latest cpu. While it’s plenty fast for my needs the intel cpu I bought was lesser to the amd at the time. The most recent intel CPUs are about equal in performance to amd but are more efficient. The amd CPUs have better multithreading performance but are not as efficient.
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This is very true about the thinkpads. She’s in academia, so probably had a specific budget that didn’t quite cover what she wanted.
If I were in the market for a laptop today, the only brand I currently seriously consider worth a hoot is Framework. They may not offer the “top of the line” GPUs but they are supremely repairable and actually upgradable, so they make for a better long-term investment than most.
I adore Asus’s ROG lineup. Their cooling blows the Razers (and to be blunt, Frameworks) out of the water, and if you’re in the US, you can often find them for deep discounts at Best Buy, specifically. Repairability is reasonable.
I also adore by old Razer Phone, but I’d never buy a laptop from them, heh…
I just wish they had a AMD Strix Halo laptop bigger than a tablet… But almost no one has these, yet.
I’ve seen ROG mentioned, but I’ve also seen people say that they feel cheaply built and there are mobo issues? Is that your experience?
Not at all. My 2020 G14 is still kicking, and from what I’ve seen in the ROG-linux community, their construction has only gotten better, with even beefier heatsinks crammed in, more shared heatpipes between the sides and liquid metal TIM. Look up their teardowns on notebookcheck; they’re crazy.
I dunno about mobo issues. Our Asus laptops had no problems, but I haven’t used them for desktop in a long time.
Best to check on individual models before pulling the trigger, of course. I know there was some bad history with the Intel ones specifically.
Nice! Thank you for the info. I’ll keep looking into them as I keep seeing the ROG and Legion battle online via Reddit and forums.
I’ve had ASUS in the past myself. My current desktop mobo is ASUS and has lasted for years. It’s a budget mobo but it’s taken a lot of what I’ve thrown at it. I think it’s from 2012? 😂
FYI laptops from the Asus (or TUF) brands are much more mixed, especially in terms of their cooling hardware.
I highly recommend Lenovo. They make laptops that are sturdy, upgradable, and some even support Linux. Right now I have the Legion Slim 5 and I liked it so much I got one for my daughter.