Question Looking for advice on my computer buying options (desperately).

[JetMike]

[TL;DR I'm looking for a computer for uni classes and gaming and my target computer (Asus TUF Gaming FX505DT) is currently out of stock/inflated. Answers to any of my 5 questions would be greatly appreciated.]

So I have been doing research to buy a new laptop for several weeks now, and had settled somewhat clearly on what I wanted. I mainly do my classwork on my computer, but add to that some programming for data analysis and some gaming (Civ VI, StarCraft, Minecraft, Cities Skylines), so for my 700$ budget, I eventually decided on the Asus TUF Gaming FX505DT as my main option (AMD Ryzen 5 processor, NVIDIA GTX 1650, 8 GB RAM, 256 SSD). I would have it as my main home and work computer and believe it can handle most daily work succesfully as well as provide decent gaming quality.

Some of the features that convinced me over similar-priced products were the general good value for money of the machine, the display (120Hz ISP), the quality of the keyboard and the advertised durability of the product.

Problem is, the laptop is currently not stocked or being overpriced (~750$ on what should be a 650$ machine on those specs, same increase for the higher spec versions) and I'm not sure if I should consider some alternatives.

Firstly, I was also considering the Acer Nitro 5 and the MSI GF63, but the reason they were just barely beat for their equivalent priced specs is that their displays are inferior, the Nitro 5's design I find slightly unnatractive and the MSI's keyboard is not backlit.

Secondly, I was also considering some good non-gaming-optimized alternatives at that price-range, such as the Asus ZenBook 14, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 and the Acer Swift 3, but the lack of discrete graphics cards of the last two, and the somewhat inferior MX350 of the ZenBook made me go for the gaming optimized ones, though I might be overestimating my GPU needs, seeing as I usually play less demanding games (though that could change at some point).

I've put a lot of research into it, but I'm still relatively new to all this and would greatly appreciate the input of more knowledgeable people, if you could answer any (or all) of the following questions:

1. Is there any reason for going for the Nitro 5 or GF63 despite the reasons I listed that made me opt for the Asus? I know the MSI's Intel i5 is often a deciding factor for the higher clock speed and marginally better performance, but I believe the Ryzen 5 would serve me just fine. Maybe I'm wrong.
   
   
2. Should I be aiming for the non-gaming laptops instead? The Zenbook 14, IdeaPad 5 and Swift 3 all have significantly better battery lives, better designs and most crucially, better specs and features (except for GPUs, of course). Maybe I'm overestimating the use I will get out of a GTX graphics card, 120 Hz monitor, beefy thermals and RGB keyboard, maybe I'm not a hardcore enough gamer to warrant investing so much into the gaming aspect for the games I tend to play.
   
   
3. Is it better to get 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD right off the bat? I was planning on getting the 8 GB/256 GB specs and later purchasing extra memory and storage. I also think it's cheaper to manually upgrade, but maybe I'm wrong. 8 GB should be enough for me, right?
   
   
4. Should I just wait for the FX505DT to come back down in price (or buy it as is)? It's not the perfect computer, but I did eventually grow to like what it offers and was frustrated to find that it's mostly out of stock/overpriced. Maybe it's still worth it? I'm in no hurry, I still have an old VivoBook that while extremely slow, gets the job done just fine, for now.
   
   
5. For these six computers I'm considering, how long can I expect them to last? This is the most important one to me. This will be my primary computer and I plan on keeping it for a long time. As long as possible, actually. Upgrades and maintenance aside, how well can I expect to hold up some years from now?. I understand and accept that I won't be triple-A gaming or anything in 3-5 years's time, but I also don't want to have a planned-obsolescence-computer that I will need to change by then.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give and super sorry for the long post. Buying a new laptop is stressful (though exciting) and I tend to overthink.

 

[Atomic77]

In my humble opinion you should pick the one that you think will make you the most happy and be the one that you want. As for planned obsolesence I think it may be unavoidable. all most all technology is outdated the day you get it as there is always something better. good luck with picking your laptop.

 

[BunkerHosting]

Chances are it isn't cheaper to upgrade a laptop, as this can be a pain for someone without experience; nothing like a desktop upgrade. I would say if you plan on using the system for uni AND gaming, you should go with the 512GB ssd, 8GB of RAM is likely fine. Though I am unsure if 512GB will be enough space, games these days are MASSIVE, call of duty warzone for example, is well over 115GB.

I would also say, go for a non-gaming laptop; these things tend to be SUPER overpriced for what you get, not to mention they are more likely to have issues sooner. In a laptop, just aim for the best CPU (Most cores, threads, GHz) and ALWAYS go for the SSD. Personally I would advise against gaming laptops, but maybe I am biased.

 

[Atomic77]

Desktop is probably better than laptop in most things but depending on if you don't have a lot of space or are planning on traveling a lot or don't wanna be stuck in one room then laptop makes more sense.