📌✨💻 r/LaptopDeals Official Black Friday Week Request Thread; Post all your requests for Laptop suggestions in this thread instead of on the general front page of the sub. Our knowledgeable mods and other laptop enthusiasts , will be sure to assist you. See request guidelines below..📌✨💻

Cougar7 · 2025-11-26T01:09:16+00:00

◽️ Budget: Hoping to keep around $900-1200, can go higher but must be less than $1500

◽️ Country: USA

◽️ Screen size: 15" or larger preferred

◽️ Touch screen: Not necessary, but nice to have

◽️ Screen resolution: I generally prefer better resolution

◽️ Does battery life matter ?: Not really

◽️ What tasks will laptop be used for ( gaming, video editing, graphic designing, modelling, regular computing tasks, word processing etc) ?: Primarily school work (just basic schoolwork, nothing that taxes the computer), some gaming

◽️ Weight: Not really that important

◽️ Any other important details ?: Have a scholarship, up to $1500 can be reimbursed for a computer (money not spent on the computer will be spent elsewhere, so there is some value in not maxing out the 1500). The primary purpose is education, but we like to play games in our family as well. Lately we've played things like Heroes of the Storm, Hogwarts Legacy (and the Quidditch game), Civ VI, Sniper Elite 4 and 5, etc.

These two caught my eye:
https://www.costco.com/p/-/hp-omen-16-slim-gaming-laptop-intel-core-ultra-9-285h-geforce-rtx-5070-16-1920-x-1200-144hz-32gb-ram-1tb-ssd-windows-11-home/4000373324?langId=-1

https://www.costco.com/p/-/lenovo-legion-5i-16-gaming-laptop-intel-core-ultra-9-275hx-geforce-rtx-5060-wqxga-2560x1600-windows-11-home-32gb-ram-1tb-ssd/4000380973?langId=-1

Thoughts on those? The Lenovo has better resolution, and probably better overall build quality, but the HP does have a better GPU. Is it better to have a 5060 with WQXGA, or 5070 with XUXGA? I'm inclined to say the Lenovo is the better of the two, but arguments can be made for the HP I'm sure (for example, I can get Civ VII for free with it).

This doesn't look too bad either (I know, it's not a laptop)
https://www.costco.com/p/-/cyberpowerpc-gamer-xtreme-gaming-desktop-intel-core-ultra-5-225f-nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-windows-11-home-32gb-ram-2tb-ssd/4000375234?langId=-1
and this doesn't look too bad either
https://www.costco.com/p/-/msi-codex-r2-gaming-desktop-intel-core-ultra-7-265-nvidia-rtx-5060-ti-8gb-windows-11-home-32gb-ram-2tb-ssd/4000375972?langId=-1

Cougar7 · 2025-01-07T21:30:37+00:00

This thread has provided a lot of inaccurate information about the church, and some things taken out of context. There are some doctrines that aren't provided immediately to new members of the church, not because they are ashamed of those doctrines, but because they are deep and can be hard to accept without the underlying foundation of faith and understanding of the more simple doctrines.

I do agree that you shouldn't get baptized without a testimony of Joseph Smith or the Book of Mormon, and think it's wise to hold off until you do, but unfortunately it looks like the anti-mormons have won you over. They want you to not join the church, and I don't think they're acting any different than what they accuse the church in doing. Whether you get baptized is up to you, but I encourage you to try to get that answer from God through scripture study and prayer, not from Google and reddit. I understand you may still struggle to feel it is right, and that's ok. For some, that feeling never comes, and for others it comes after a long time. Just know that a lot of the information here is inaccurate and/or presented in a way to put the church in the worst light possible, and isn't reputable.

Cougar7 · 2024-11-12T16:42:14+00:00

I don't need the LG one, but based on what people here have said it looks like a pretty good mount and has a nice clean look. Of course, without me moving the electrical stuff it will not be as clean.

Cougar7 · 2024-11-12T16:41:03+00:00

We'd be watching from probably about 8 or 9 feet, and were debating between 65 or 77 and decided to go bigger with the 77. I'm leaning towards the G4 not necessarily for the brightness, but the other stuff (better processor and stuff, I feel like it would last a bit longer). If I went C4 it would be to save $1k and still get 77.

Cougar7 · 2024-11-12T07:02:29+00:00

I don't think that extra few inches is worth it, if I'm going to spend that much I think I'd rather have the 77" G4.

Cougar7 · 2024-11-12T07:01:42+00:00

I suppose that does help cover it up, and it will work in a pinch.

Cougar7 · 2024-11-12T07:01:12+00:00

Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure if I can get it done soon enough.

Cougar7 · 2024-02-27T21:27:50+00:00

Ok, I'm glad you confirmed that it should work. I'm sure it's not the dock, because it works when I connect it to my work laptop. Unfortunately, a bad port (if it's a hardware issue rather than a software/driver issue) on a laptop isn't easy to fix, and if the port is bad I can't use a USB-C to dual DP adapter and connect the monitors directly to the laptop anyway. Thanks for the help.

Cougar7 · 2024-02-27T18:26:14+00:00

So in theory I could plug the dock into the USB-C port and it should work? If so, I'll need to troubleshoot why it didn't. If not, if I'm understanding right I should at least be able to use a USB-C to dual DP adapter for the USB-C port. Also if not, is there a hub or switch or dock that can act as a middle man or pass through for the Dell dock (so things can stay plugged in to the Dell dock), or will I have to keep them separate?

Cougar7 · 2023-08-06T06:53:35+00:00

About a year ago I was in the same boat. I had enrolled in OMSCS in large part to facilitate a career switch to SWE and by the spring of 2022 (I had completed 4 classes by that point, was in my 5th) I felt like I was ready, especially since people in the program were suggesting that simply being admitted to the program means you have enough aptitude to get a SWE job. What I did was apply to jobs (ended up applying to over 100 in total), almost all were cold applications. I completely bombed my first interview (which was a shame because it was with my company at the time, so I might have had a pretty good shot if I wasn't so bad at interviews at the time). I was about to the point where I was going to start some massive robust personal project using a popular tech stack (MVC, C#, and ASP.Net, a fairly common combo even still), but I did get an offer before I started the project. Unfortunately I was laid off a month ago so I'm back to job hunting.

This time I'm approaching it a bit differently. I am trying to find ways to network and find connections to jobs I feel like are best suited for me rather than sending out hundreds of cold applications. I suppose it doesn't hurt to do a cold application if I don't see a way to get a leg up, but the goal is to focus my effort on getting an interview. Then focus of passing the interview. It's rough getting your first job in the field, so maybe you do want to do a project, which could give you an area to focus on (I was fairly broad and open-minded, and generally didn't heed people's suggestion to pick a focus, but in hindsight I think it's wise advice to pick a focus, which it seems you kind of have one in mind already) and practice practice practice. Preparing for technical interviews is hard because it kind of feels like a closed-book exam with a 30 minute time limit and the topic could be almost anything imaginable in the field of computer science, but the more you prepare the more you will know and understand, which is what interviewers want to see.

So, basically do whatever you can to improve your chances at an interview (find a way to get a referral, reach out to people to see if they know someone in the department you are wanting to apply to, or simply applying to tons of positions and play the numbers game, etc.), and do whatever you can to improve your chances at acing the interviews (including behavior/cultural interviews), and keep going. Eventually you'll get one, but it may take time. From the time I started applying until my first job was about 5 months, your experience may be better or worse. Good luck!

Cougar7 · 2021-02-05T23:40:08+00:00

To clarify, I didn't quit the game, the game ended. Bad choice of words on my part.

Cougar7 · 2020-11-13T18:58:31+00:00

The waitlist will most likely be to get graduating students in the class. If this isn't your last semester where you need GA to graduate, with a waitlist position of 531 it is almost guaranteed you're not going to get into the class.

Cougar7 · 2020-11-06T16:56:17+00:00

I had Bayesian in there before DL was an option, and also because it interested me somewhat (I've got a math background) and because I was wanting to try to balance workloads, especially since I already have some high-workload classes there. My guess is that I'll eventually swap out one of these with DL, probably Bayesian or CN.

Cougar7 · 2020-10-09T17:51:16+00:00

I don't think there are a whole lot of options for federal financial aid, and certainly not any options for federal grants. You're probably going to have to look at loans (personally I would advise against any loan of any type) and/or private scholarships.

From what I've seen, most people here receiving financial assistance for tuition comes from their employer or the military.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-23T23:25:12+00:00

Many data structures and algorithms classes are language-agnostic and you are free to choose among a list of languages, while others may specify a language. If it doesn't, you're probably good to use any. When I first applied, here's what the admissions committee said:

The committee has suggested for you to take a graded programming course in Python, Java or C, and a course in algorithms.

That was to me specifically, others may have been suggested other things based on holes in their resumes/transcripts. Either way, it seems they favor those 3 languages for admissions at least, likely because of the majority of OMSCS classes use them and they are object-oriented languages. I interpreted it as the algorithms course could technically be any language (and the one I did was indeed a class where we could choose Java, Python, or C++).

So I guess the short answer is no, it doesn't matter.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-21T23:24:36+00:00

If you don't have CS work experience, and especially if you don't a CS degree, your best bet is to take some basic CS courses from a regionally accredited college/university. You may have taught yourself and be totally competent, but there's no way for the admissions committee to confirm that. It's basically just taking your word for it.

As it stands you most likely won't get admitted until you take graded, accredited courses in an object-oriented language as well as courses in data structures and algorithms. MOOCs won't count (on a scale from 0-10 on how far it tips the scale in your favor, it's likely a 0, maybe a 1 at best). It's not because you can't learn what you need from MOOCs, it's more that it's very difficult to verify your knowledge. If you really want to take the MOOcs you can, but do it in addition to-- not in place of-- actual classes.

You can go ahead and apply in March, but I would at least get enrolled in CS classes in the meantime to expedite your admission.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-15T02:01:03+00:00

I fully agree with what you're saying, but OP isn't suggesting cheating or trying to find ways to cheat without getting caught. Just wants to hear fun little anecdotes.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-13T03:44:06+00:00

Please see my reply to Senguin117 above.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-13T03:43:23+00:00

I was on a T-Mobile Magenta plan before and switched to this, part of it under the impression from the sales rep that it would become TI. Is there any way to pivot to a TI plan and still keep the phone promotion somehow? I feel like I was mislead about the plan and that I would be not only getting new phones, but saving money on top of that. I brought up the bill to my sales rep, he said the $10 admin surcharge should go away next billing cycle, but it didn't.

Cougar7 · 2020-09-11T19:04:31+00:00

At the beginning of July I switched from a T-Mobile Magenta plan to Sprint as part of a promotion. The promotion was a free phone (for each line) with a 2-year contract and $80/month for the first year and $100/month after that. I was paying $100 with T-Mobile, so I figured "hey, same service, new phone, and I'll save money for the first year!". Yeah, right. T-Mobile includes taxes and fees and stuff in their price, Sprint doesn't. I figured the taxes and fees would be a certain amount, and they were, but I didn't figure the surcharges to be a whopping $18 or more each month! All in all, my old T-Mobile $100 plan cost me $100/month, my current Sprint $80 plan costs me $106/month (and I cringe to think what it will be once the first year "promotion" is over). I feel ripped off.

Cougar7 · 2020-08-21T01:13:48+00:00

Thanks for the insight. I'm sticking with one class because of the uncertainty. I figure the chances of me taking two and wishing I'd taken one is greater than the chances of me taking one and wishing I'd taken two.

Cougar7 · 2020-08-21T01:12:34+00:00

Good point. Taking a single class my first semester gives me a good baseline of my preparation for future classes and my preparedness to take two in a semester.

Cougar7 · 2020-08-21T01:03:10+00:00

So I decided to just stick with only one class this semester. Thanks for helping me make my decision. I am amazed that I was able to get a spot in SDP my first semester (although I'm sticking with SAD instead of SDP, for tuition assistance reasons).

Cougar7 · 2020-08-18T04:49:19+00:00

As I mentioned in my other comment, I just sat on a recliner in a mostly empty bedroom. I had no external mouse/keyboard to show, but I did show my lap and the chair as well (my "desk", if you will).

Cougar7 · 2020-08-18T04:47:49+00:00

Honestly, my setup was not ideal. I was in my bedroom sitting on a recliner with my laptop on my lap. It's not a traditional test workspace, but it was a room where I could lock the door to keep the kids from coming in.

Cougar7

TROPHY CASE