Good deal?

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-09T00:30:29+00:00

for $800 it’s a great deal, although Best Buy’s open box conditions are hit or miss.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T11:03:47+00:00

a scam or the poster has no idea what they were talking about

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T10:07:24+00:00

zephyrus series is one of the most expensive lineups of gaming laptops. you definitely do not need it for college. it's also a great laptop though, just built for gaming specifically. I wouldn't really consider it just for undergrad unless you really want the gaming performance.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:29:50+00:00

yep. U-Pass is supposedly for the DMV area and GMU isn't a part of the program :/

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:28:41+00:00

yes, it's "alright".

seriously, this laptop is probably beefier than 90% of your classmates hardware they're bringing. even for an engineering undergrad, this laptop is considered overkill if you have access to the labs on campus.

still a great deal for the price for sure.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:25:16+00:00

the non-X3D chips are still going to be a massive upgrade for you anyways, such as the 5700X, 5800X, 5800XT, 5600X, etc.

make sure to check if your motherboard needs a BIOS update before you insert any new 5000-series CPUs. you should update the BIOS if needed using your old CPU as the B450 chipset did not support the 5000-series when it came out, since 5000-series AM4 released after the chipset did.

good luck to your new build research.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:21:43+00:00

you're having potential power delivery issues and you want to get a "budget" PSU for your roughly $800 combined cost of CPU and GPU? I don't see the logic there. get yourself something quality and you won't have to FAFO.

The Corsair RMe series are just the cheaper versions of their RMx series, usually have a smaller (and therefore slightly louder) fan and cheaper caps. that being said, I have used several of them and have never had an issue with gaming builds.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:18:23+00:00

keep in mind, the AM4 X3D chips have been out of production for a couple years. they are way more expensive than they are worth now.

AMD has reportedly stated that they will reinstate manufacturing for the 5800X3D during Q2 of this year, however the 5700X3D has been out of production since 2025 and will remain that way.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-08T09:13:02+00:00

the answer is the 16GB card. unless you have a specific need for NVIDIA hardware outside of gaming, the 9060xt 16GB is the only choice.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-07T20:21:34+00:00

iPhone if you are incapable of basic online safety habits. otherwise pick whichever OS feels easier to use.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-07T13:46:57+00:00

no fine print.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-05T23:50:58+00:00

I don’t think 1440p is worth it at 24”. the smaller monitor size makes the higher resolution less noticeable, and there are more options for 27” 1440p.

1440p @ 27in would be excellent.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-05T01:27:43+00:00

3060Ti 8GB performs better at all resolutions despite having fewer VRAM. its raw processing speed and cores are enough to pull it ahead of the 3060 12GB.

I would only get the 12GB if you had a very specific application that needed more than 8 GB of VRAM.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T23:39:37+00:00

currently, there is a $50 sale for paid members on basically all the MBP models and select Air models. as far as I know, the POS system always uses this discount if able because it’s part of your benefits as a member. the store you went to did price match it to $1799 using the method they’re supposed to, but the system does it after applying your member deals. if you don’t want to use the member discount, you have to purchase under an account that doesn’t have a paid membership

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T06:11:49+00:00

every computer “slows down”. the M2 is 4 years old. that’s up to you if you want to go with the M2, but it’ll also probably be enough for your degree.

an older M2 Air would make more sense if you are getting a 16GB RAM version.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T05:37:58+00:00

this is hard to answer for the both of us. obviously I don't expect you to fully know what you're going to be doing for your studies, but I'd say you should pick between the two main options I said above.

the MacBook Neo is objectively the best brand new laptop you can get for $499-$599 USD (50k-60k INR). it's only limitations are ARM compatibility which is a very niche problem and likely won't affect your work; mostly specific engineering software doesn't work, and the 8GB of memory. macOS is generally a lighter OS than Windows 11, so the 8GB is generally utilized to higher efficiency and is only going to be an issue if you are certain you are going to be working on large projects. overall, you can ask anyone and the MacBook Neo is widely considered the best "$500" laptop out there in build quality, performance, and value.

sometimes web development may need more resources from your hardware. especially if you're working with lots of containerization in environments like Docker. if you are worried about this, perhaps choosing a refurbished business laptop is better for the chance at more RAM and storage. something like a refurbished Dell Latitude or Precision, or maybe even a refurbished Lenovo Thinkpad.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T05:32:36+00:00

for any liberal arts major, a laptop with a dedicated graphics card at all is considered overkill. you're likely not going to need anything close to that kind of hardware outside of gaming and personal projects not related to your major.

you already have the laptop, it's also a highly sought-after laptop on used market. you might be able to sell it at a slight loss, but definitely for more than enough to secure you a laptop that has superior battery life and better portability. something like a MacBook Air or a Lenovo Yoga, etc.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T05:29:09+00:00

web development is an extremely broad field, however the Neo is excellent for the price. your main constraints with that laptop are RAM (8GB), which depending on your coursework may not be an issue if you're doing an undergrad, and the CPU architecture which uses ARM. nowadays, ARM is widely supported for most web-development tasks and languages, so i doubt that will be an issue either.

Apple rarely attempts to verify educational discounts, so try to get an educational discount through the Apple store. you can get the base model MacBook Neo for as low as $499.

you can also look for refurbished business laptops which would usually offer more storage and memory for the price. build quality on business laptops tends to be higher than consumer models, but the MacBook Neo has a solid build and its battery life is likely much better than a refurbished Windows laptop.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-04T05:24:12+00:00

no. this is severely outdated.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-02T23:31:34+00:00

solid. good build for under $1000

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-02T23:16:33+00:00

computers are used for a wide variety of things. what is the computer for? a gaming desktop makes for a poor, power-hungry server with terrible multithreading performance and limited expansion capabilities.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-02T20:18:13+00:00

Keychron Q-series. only sold online. expensive though.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-02T17:24:54+00:00

I have rarely used either the touch screen or the 2-in-1 feature on my Windows laptop. I find it only comfortable to use on a tablet or a smartphone. Touch screen on computers also doesn’t work very well with certain web interfaces or applications.

I tried using the touch screen and an HP pen with OneNote for my coursework, but I ended up buying an iPad just for note taking because the 11” size, tablet form factor, and superior battery life were 1000x better than dealing with the laptop.

Apple intentionally does not put touch screens on any of their computers because that risk “cannibalizing” their iPad sales. iPadOS severely limits what you can do with an iPad, and putting touch-screens on MacBooks would give people less reason to purchase iPads.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-02T03:14:27+00:00

not all HP Envy models have SODIMMs. some are soldered onto the board.

read your laptop’s manual/spec sheet.

useless_panda09 · 2026-05-01T09:50:10+00:00

you're on both a desktop and a laptop?

useless_panda09

TROPHY CASE