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Pokde Laptop Recommendation Guide 2016 v1
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Pokde Laptop Recommendation Guide 2016 v1

by Muhammad FirdausJanuary 5, 2016
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I would like to start 2016 with a new Pokde laptop recommendation guide as I frequently see people asking for help in choosing a laptop for themselves or family members on Facebook. I read ton of replies from the community and sometimes I just don’t agree at all with some suggestions. Actually the main consideration when getting a laptop is what you want to do with it, and also your budget.

Laptop is a pretty complex machine, far more complex if compared against a custom built desktop. The most common question we get with laptops is regarding its reliability. Specification also rank high when choosing the right laptop, as you must determine the hardware requirements of whatever you plan on doing with your laptop, and also make the best compromises based on your budget. A laptop that will be used for gaming will of course require more powerful hardware than a laptop used for office work, also meaning they will be in a different price range altogether.

Which laptop processor is the best?

I do agree with some people said you don’t need to get the latest processors if you are just going to do office work, but after some consideration and study I found that the latest processor will offer you more power efficiency thus better battery life and lower operating temperatures which theoretically should result in a longer lifespan for your laptop. I mainly picked laptops powered by the latest Intel Skylake processors. I wouldn’t recommend you to get any laptop powered by a processor lower than the Intel Core i3 as I have experienced unacceptably sluggish user experience with them. I also picked some AMD-based laptop; you might think that it not an ideal choice but I did some Google search and found that several members of the latest AMD FX APU series are generally better in terms of performance than the ever popular Intel Core i5-6200U. Given the affordable prices of laptops packing the AMD FX APUs, its hard to not do a double take at AMD’s mobile efforts.

Which graphic is the best?

While AMD’s mobile CPUs may be able to hold themselves against Intel’s lower end parts, AMD’s mobile dGPUs are quite far behind NVIDIA’s dGPUs. Currently the best mobile graphics processors we can get are the NVIDIA Maxwell parts. They offers a reasonable boost in performance and power efficiency over their predecessors and competition, all while performing at levels close to their own mainstream Maxwell desktop graphics cards, especially in the case of the NVIDIA GTX 970M and GTX 980M graphics. The performance level brought by NVIDIA Maxwell mobile GPUs are unprecedented.

Which screen size is sufficient?

Laptop comes in varying screen sizes, ranging from 11 inch to whooping 18 inch. It is difficult to say which size is ideal, as each user has different requirements. Having a big screen will give you more viewing space when working or gaming but it’s really not recommended if you have to move from one place to another frequently. Usually a bigger screen size will also mean a heavier weight; personally for me weight is not a problem, but then I don’t use laptops on the go.

How much storage is needed?

A terabyte of storage on a laptop used to be a rare sight back then. Today a terabyte of HDD storage is commonly found in most laptops. For normal usage, 500GB should be sufficient and a 1TB HDD is good enough for gamers with a reasonable game library. A SSD in a laptop will boost your laptop’s responsiveness immensely, so if you’re looking for faster boot and game load times then you might consider upgrading your conventional HDD to a SSD. In fact most recent laptops are held back by their storage instead of a weak processor. If you plan on upgrading to a SSD later after purchasing your laptop, you might want to take into consideration whether the laptop supports multiple storage solutions or you will have to outright replace the HDD with a SSD. If your laptop has an integrated optical drive, you should have the option of swapping out your installed HDD for a SSD, and using a caddy to fit the old HDD in the optical drive bay.

How much memory is needed?

The most common part that consumers will upgrade after getting their new laptops to make it run “faster”. More RAM will not making your laptop faster but it allows you to run more programs at the same time and also make the system becoming more responsive. For smooth daily usage and typing, 4GB of RAM is sufficient, but you should consider getting 8GB or more if you are going to use your laptop for gaming and demanding software like Adobe Premiere. If the laptop comes with 2GB of RAM, I strongly suggest that you add a stick of 4GB RAM for smoother usage.

How about warranty and customer service?

Having long manufacturer warranty is a blessing, most mainstream laptops come only with 1 year warranty while mid-range and high-end laptops tend to have up to 5 years warranty. But having a long warranty doesn’t mean a thing if the brand offers terrible after-sales service. Some laptops might be pricier than other laptops with similar specifications, with the promise of better customer service. So you decide whether you want to pay a premium for better after-sales service.

How I’m going to recommend?

I categorized the laptops into four categories and each category is further split into two sub-categories, “Superior” and “Alternative”. Laptops recommended in the Superior category offer good aesthetics value, a richer feature set or great customer support compared to the competition, albeit with a bigger price tag, of course. Essentially its what we think is the best-in-class. Meanwhile “Alternative” is our best suggestion after taking into consideration tighter budgets, but without skimping specifications-wise.

If you’re looking for a mobile workstation for video editing or 3D render, the High-end Gaming and Mid-range Gaming suggestions should be suitable for your usage.

 

High End Gaming

The crème de la crème of laptops, these laptops pack some of the most powerful hardware out there for the best gaming performance, while still maintaining a certain level of portability. Expect smooth framerates in almost every game out there.

Superior

MSI GT72

Model MSI GT72 6QE
Processor Intel Core i7 6820HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX980M
RAM 16GB DDR4
SSD 256GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 17.3 inch IPS, 1920x1080p/3840x2160p
Price MYR 12499

 

ASUS G752VY

Model ASUS G752VY GC192T
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX980M
RAM 16GB DDR4
SSD 128GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 17.3 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 8999

 

Alternative

ACER Predator 17 G9

Model ACER Predator 17 G9-591-70LU
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX980M
RAM 16GB DDR4
SSD 256GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 17.3 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 7999

 

ACER Predator 15 G9

Model ACER Predator 15 G9-791-771C
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX970M
RAM 16GB DDR4
SSD 128GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 6999

 

Midrange Gaming

These laptops are a step down from the high end gaming laptops, but will still offer a satisfactory gaming experience, albeit with certain settings toned down a notch or two.

Superior

ALIENWARE A15FHD

Model ALIENWARE A15FHD-70813G-W1
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX970M
RAM 8GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 6999

 

MSI GE62 Apache Pro 6QF

Model MSI GE62 Apache Pro 6QF
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX970M
RAM 8GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 5999

 

Alternative

Acer Nitro VN7

Model Acer Nitro VN7-592G-7226
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX960M
RAM 8GB DDR4
SSD 128GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 4699

 

ASUS GL552VW

Model ASUS GL552VW-DM136T
Processor Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX960M
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD 128GB
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 4399

 

Entry Gaming

These laptops are for the gamers on a budget. Gamers who play games like DotA 2, CS:GO will be served well by these recommended laptops. More intensive titles will be playable at reduced graphics settings.

Superior

DELL Pandora 7559

Model DELL Pandora 7559-30414G-W10-FHD
Processor Intel Core i5 6300HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX960M
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch 1920x1080p
Price MYR 3699

 

HP Pavilion Gaming Notebook 15

Model HP Pavilion Gaming 15-ak031tx
Processor Intel Core i5 6300HQ
Graphics NVIDIA GTX950M 4GB
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch 1920x1080p
Price MYR 3499

 

Alternative

Acer Nitro VN7-572G

Model Acer Nitro VN7-572G-57N0
Processor Intel Core i5 6200U
Graphics NVIDIA GTX950M 4GB
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch IPS, 1920x1080p
Price MYR 3499

 

HP Pavilion – 14

HP-Pavilion-Notebook---14-ab111tx

Model HP Pavilion – 14-AB111TX
Processor Intel Core i5 6200U
Graphics NVIDIA GT940M 4GB
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 14 inch 1366x768p
Price MYR 3499

 

 

Office & Multimedia

Not recommended for gamers, these laptops are meant for work on the go and students who need a laptop to actually do work. These are really mainstream laptops that are best suited for office work.

Superior

Acer E5-552G

Model Acer E5-552G-F4DA
Processor AMD FX-8800P
Graphics AMD R7 365DX 2GB
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD 128GB
HDD
Screen size 15.6 inch 1366x768p
Price MYR 2499

 

ASUS X550ZE

Model ASUS X550ZE-XX066H
Processor AMD FX-7600P
Graphics AMD R5 230 2GB
RAM 4GB DDR4
SSD
HDD 500GB
Screen size 15.6 inch 1920x1080p
Price MYR 2199

 

Alternative

Acer E5 574G

Model Acer E5 574G-52UX/54DV
Processor Intel Core i5-6200U
Graphics NVIDIA GT920M
RAM 4GB DDR3
SSD
HDD 1TB
Screen size 15.6 inch 1366x768p
Price MYR 2199

HP Pavilion 15

HP-Pavilion-15-AF005AX

Model HP Pavilion 15-AF005AX
Processor AMD A8-7410
Graphics AMD R5 M330
RAM 2GB DDR3
SSD
HDD 500GB
Screen size 15.6 inch 1366×768
Price MYR 1499

 

We do not dare to consider this guide to be the definitive laptop buying guide. You may find an Alternative category laptop more appealing even when you have the budget for a laptop recommended in the Superior category. Do tell us in the comments section below if you think there are any laptops that offer similar performance but at an even lower price tag than the ones we listed here. We are always happy to receive feedback!

About The Author
Muhammad Firdaus
I love technology, so I love AMD.
2 Comments
  • MatthewObiwan
    March 2, 2016 at 11:43 pm

    What do you think of the 7559’s little older brother, the inspiron 14 7447?

    • Vyncent Chan
      March 3, 2016 at 12:52 am

      Hi, it seems like the 7447 has been phased out, as we can no longer find it on Dell’s website. If I am not mistaken, it sports an i7 4720HQ and a GeForce GTX 850M 2GB GDDR3?
      If you are talking about raw CPU performance, I believe the i7 4720HQ will be better than the i5 6300HQ, hands down. However if we take the weaker GPU of the 7447 into consideration, gaming performance of the 7447 may be worse than the 7559. You can check out our review of the MSI GP62 Leopard Pro, in which we found that the DDR3 VRAM bottlenecks the GPU performance. The 7559’s CPU is also going to be less power hungry, thanks to the smaller manufacturing process and architectural improvements, which will translate to better battery life. The DDR3 RAM in the 7447 will be cheaper than the faster DDR4 RAM in the 7559, which will mean less costly upgrades if you find the need for more RAM in the near future.

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