Budget 51-70k Laptop for casual use, light photoshop, light graphics design

S

shreyansh_k

Recruit
I'm in the market for a decent laptop which can serve:
* casual daily use such as web browsing, email, messaging, movies and such
* light Adobe Photoshop/photo editing and graphics design work including Adobe Lightroom, Canva etc
* basic coding work such as html, javascript, css, python etc
* budget preferably around 50k but upto 65k is easily stretchable; can also make 70k work if the laptop is really good

As a starting point, I found the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Gen 8, 14inch (with AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) for 60k. It's on the Lenovo website here: https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/p/lapt...apad-flex-5-gen-8-(14-inch-amd)/82xxcto1wwin1 .

I like this computer because:
* tablet mode and touch screen will be helpful with the graphic design work
* decently accurate and bright display for photoshop and movies
* decent 6-core processor with a slightly better than average gpu
* decent battery life with around 7hrs for mixed casual and work use

I am inviting you to share good alternatives with better cost/value. Thanks in advance.
 
shreyansh_k said:
As a starting point, I found the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 Gen 8, 14inch (with AMD Ryzen 5 7530U) for 60k. It's on the Lenovo website here: https://www.lenovo.com/in/en/p/lapt...apad-flex-5-gen-8-(14-inch-amd)/82xxcto1wwin1
Click to expand...
Some things to note,
- RAM is non-upgradeable. Look for laptops with at least 16GB of RAM. Much better if at least one slot is upgradeable. A lot of Asus notebooks have 8GB soldered + 1 upgradeable RAM slot.
- The color gamut is only 45% NTSC (~62.5% sRGB). I think you should aim for at least 72% NTSC ( ~100% sRGB) even if DCI-P3 is not possible.
- The Ryzen 7530U is basically a 5600U with a slight clockspeed bump. The third digit in AMD's new naming scheme denotes the CPU architecture generation. so Zen 3 in this case. Even the iGPU is based on the aging Vega architecture and not RNDA2. You will miss out on the latest encoder/decoder support. Zen 3+ or 4 would be better. Or 12/13th gen Intel.

I don't think a 2-in-1 which can address these things exists within your budget. I was thinking something like the ASUS Vivobook 14X OLED (2023) would be a better deal if the touchscreen/stylus was not critical. You get a more powerful, higher wattage CPU, More RAM (also upgradeable), a Hi-Res 90Hz OLED with 100% DCI-P3 coverage and a Low wattage RTX 2050 in case you need a bit of CUDA or Ray tracing acceleration for your work.

EDIT: In the Vivobook link, the config I had in mind was (Black, OLED, 12450H, RTX 2050) for 67990
 
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StygianClaw said:
Some things to note,
- Soldered RAM. Look for laptops with at least 16GB of RAM. Much better if at least one slot is upgradeable. A lot of Asus notebooks have 8GB soldered + a free RAM slot.
- Color gamut is only 45% NTSC (~62.5% sRGB). I think you should aim for at least 72% NTSC ( ~100% sRGB) even if DCI-P3 is not possible.
- The Ryzen 7530U is basically a 5600U with a slight clockspeed bump. The third digit in AMD's new naming scheme denotes the CPU architecture generation. so Zen 3 in this case. Even the iGPU is based on the aging Vega architecture and not RNDA2. You will miss out on the latest encoder/decoder support. Zen 3+ or 4 would be better. Or 12/13th gen Intel.

I don't think a 2-in-1 which can address these things exists within your budget. I was thinking something like the ASUS Vivobook 14X OLED (2023) would be a better deal if the touchscreen/stylus was not critical. You get a more powerful, higher wattage CPU, More RAM (also upgradeable), a Hi-Res 90Hz OLED with 100% DCI-P3 coverage, Low wattage RTX 2050 in case you need a bit of CUDA or Ray tracing acceleration for your work.

EDIT: In the Vivobook link, config I had in mind was (Black, OLED, 12450H, RTX 2050) for 67990
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Thinness and lightness of the computer is more important to me over upgradable RAM. Unfortunately, computers with upgradable RAM tend to be chunkier and heavier than soldered ones. Anyway, I have rarely had to upgraded RAM on my previous computers, so, this will probably be true in the future as well. But, I do agree on going with 16 gig minimum. 100 % agree.

Unfortunately, The ASUS Vivobook 14X linked here can't really be considered as 79990/- is a no-go. Anyway, the Vivobooks have significantly worse battery life at around 3 hrs and even the cheaper Vivobooks are at least 65k, while losing tablet mode, touch screen etc.
 
Fair enough. But try to look for something with 100% sRGB if possible. Not only for work, it makes consuming content more enjoyable too.
 
Update: ended the ordering the Lenovo flex 5 14 inch with 16 gb of RAM for 64k but without the sRGB display as no alternative in similar form factor was found around given price range.
 
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