Reddit mentions of Acer Nitro 5 Spin Gaming Laptop, 15.6" Full HD Touch, Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce GTX 1050, 8GB DDR4, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD, NP515-51-56DL, Ultra Thin Metal Chassis

Having done several projects in both image classification and NLP, I can offer some advice:

In long term, owning a GPU is cheaper because there is little cost over time.
For short-term projects renting GPUs (e.g. AWS) is cheaper because there's no upfront cost.

I personally own 2 GTX 1080s with 8GB VRAM each.

For some of the bigger models you will need 6-8GB of VRAM, you can get 12 if you have money for a TITAN.
Much less will severely limit your work in my experience, since Batch Sizes below 8/16 become a lot less stable.

Renting Compute Power

If you have a short project, or are just getting into it, AWS (or Google Cloud) can be a useful resource, but managing VMs is an overhead you have to consider. I have no first-hand experience with AWS/GC (I heard drivers are a pain), but i've worked with MS Azure in the past.
Working with VMs is okay, but you have a little more immediate feedback loops when working on a local machine using jupyter or something similar.
Also, for me working with pay-per-time instances is unnerving because I know my money is ticking down somewhere in the background and it hinders me from experimenting some more. Your mileage may vary.

Building a Desktop Machine

This is the route I personally went with. I have a Desktop machine at home, that I can boot (Wake-on-Lan with RasPi) and control (Jupyter/RDP) remotely from my laptop, or just use directly when I'm at home.
One of the benefits is not having to transfer/synchronize Code and Data between different devices, along with others mentioned before.
Just about any good "Gaming" PC will do very well for Deep learning applications, provided you have a CUDA-capable (i.e. Nvidia) GPU.
The downside to this approach are as follows:

1. You have to build/conceptualize it yourself. The folks at /r/buildapc and /r/buildapcforme can be helpful, and if you don't know what you're doing you can buy a pre-built system. I heard NZXT's gaming-focused Prebuilt service is pretty cheap compared to the current market.
   
2. The current PC hardware market is bad for building a PC right now because a) GPUs are expensive due to Cryptocurrency miners. b) RAM is expensive due to industry shortages.
   
   Also some notes for building a system:
   
   

• Make sure you have enough RAM, or fast storage for your Datasets. If you can fit your Data into ram, slow hard drives are fine, but if you need to load data continuously, invest in a good (ideally NVME/Optane) SSD or your I/O might take up 90% of training time.
  
• If going with a multi GPU setup, or planning to add a second GPU later, make sure your Power supply can handle it. Rule of thumb: 300W for the system +250W per GPU should be more than enough. on a related note, make sure you have enough PCIE lanes for the GPUs (+ some for storage)
  
• "Gaming" branded GPUs are good as well. Doesn't need to be a Founders Edition or Titan (because they are usually more expensive)
  
  

  Using a Laptop
  

  This is an option some people choose, It's not my preferred one.
  Basically you have to choose between two options:
  
  

• small, portable, long battery life, but very bad performance due to none or low-end GPU. Examples: Asus, Acer
  
• bulky, heavy, short battery life. ~80% performance of a desktop system with similar parts (mainly for cooling reasons). Needs a power cord at all times. Basically a Desktop you can carry around. Usually very expensive. Examples: Gigabyte Laptop with 2 GTX 1070, Asus Version with 1 GTX 1080
  
  
  
  Edit: This is my first gold, wow! So this is what it feels like. Many thanks to the generous stranger!

If you prefer 2 in 1 laptop, I would recommend this [Lenovo Yoga 720] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072M22XK8/?tag=bkadamos_alltest-20) because it comes with everything you need, 7th generation, i7 quad core CPU which is one of the best in the market and great for your usage, 16GB of ram for smooth multitasking, good SSD storage of 512GB for faster boot up and loading, 15.6 inch 4K UHD IPS touch screen which is a must have for this price range, high build quality, backlit keyboard, supports pen, thunderbolt port, and it’s within your budget.
I thought I would give you a little more in-depth review, so here it goes:

• It’s equipped with Intel Core i7-7700HQ which is commonly used in gaming laptops, most convertibles use low powered dual core processors. The processor of capable of delivering enough power for most of work’s intensive tasks and gaming.
  
  
• Full HD (IPS) 15.6 4K Touchscreen, which is very rare for this budget range and great for watching movies/videos. With color range of 90 % sRGB and 59% Adobe RGB it’s one of the best for this price and it’s suitable for average/mid content creators. Viewing angles are great with the IPS panel but with its glossy finish it’s not the best choice for outside usage.
  
  
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2 G is one of the most common GPUs for mid prices gaming laptops.
  It will run most Games with variant settings depending on the game requirements with good FPS
  
• Heat management isn’t the best as the device heats up under load and CPU throttles to maintain reasonable temperatures, but it doesn’t reach the point of hurting the internal components
  
  
• Good upgrades available, can go to 32 GB of ram, and even change the SSD. It’s relatively easily upgradable which isn’t the case for most convertibles.
  
  
• It’s good on connectivity with 2 X USB 3.0 ports and a Thunderbolt 3.
  
  
• Battery life is from 7 to 8 hours of normal non-gaming usage.
  
• Minimal bloat-ware, speakers have excellent quality but not so loud, Keyboard is excellent as you would expect from Lenovo keyboards, Trackpad aren’t much different with windows precision driver, It has fingerprint scanner which is fast and accurate, The body is sturdy and feels premium as it’s all aluminum.
  
  And there is also this [Acer Nitro 5 Spin] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RGSF13/?tag=bkadamos_alltest-20) because it comes with everything you need, 8th generation, i5 quad core CPU which is one of the best in the market and great for your usage, 8GB of ram for smooth multitasking, good SSD storage of 256GB for faster boot up and loading, 1TB HDD, 15.6 inch Full HD IPS touch screen which is a must have for this price range, long battery life, high build quality, and it’s within your budget.
  

How about this Acer Nitro 5 Spin ? It has just about all you are looking for..It has a new quad core 8th gen i5 processor, 8 GB RAM which can be upgraded to 16, in addition to a large storage ( an SSD + HDD) and that 1050 graphics card.. The great thing about this laptop is that it has a 2- in 1 feature you will like as well as a solid all metal chassis in addition to a great 10 hours battery life.

For school and gaming in this price range I would advise you to check one of those laptops

laptop name | ASUS UX550GE Zenbook Pro | Lenovo Yoga 720 | Acer Nitro 5 Spin
--- |---- |---- |----
CPU | Hexa core 8th Gen I7-8750HK | Quad core 7th Gen I7-7700HQ | Quad core 8th Gen I5-8250U
GPU | GTX 1050 Ti | GTX 1050 | GTX 1050
Screen "| 15.6"" 4K Multi-Touch IPS" "| 15.6"" 4K Multi-Touch IPS" "| 15.6"" FHD Multi-Touch IPS"
Ram | 16 GB | 16 GB | 8 GB
SSD | 512 GB | 512 GB | 256 GB
HDD | 0 | 0 | 1 TB
Weight | 4.2 Lbs. | 4.41 Lbs. | 4.85 Lbs.
Battery life | 7 Hrs. | 6 Hrs. | 7 Hrs.
Price | 1750~1850$ | 1300~1400$ | 950~1150$
Pros | A great UHD screen with perfect for photo and video editing and a nice game play . | light . | One of the best bang for the money 2 in 1 in the market with a dedacted GPU.
Pros | Very light . | The GTX 1050 should be enough for CAD work and good gaming exprince . | The GTX 1050 should be enough for CAD work and good gaming exprince .
Pros | Great battery life . | A great UHD screen with perfect for photo and video editing . | Great battery life .

Hi,

From my point of view if you're photo editing as a hobby that laptop is OK - if you're doing it professionally it's not ok because it has a Led Ips display with 60% sRGB (color reproduction) - see here: Asus ROG FX503VD-EH73 - just press on the arrow down for details under display - for photo editing I'd recommend a Led IPS display with sRGB over 80%.

If you want to see other options check this noteb search out. All have good led ips with sRGB over 80%.

You can see and change the search parameters using the "Refine results" button in the upper-left part of the search results page. You can also click on the laptops for more information.

I won't go for this one : Asus ROG GL503VD because it's the budget class from Asus - so budget quality... but this one might be good for you: Acer Aspire Nitro 5 Spin NP515-51 - I think this one mixes pretty good power with a good display. I hope you can find it in budget.

LE: the one I found was another model - keep searching :) - found it - but it's expensive :( amazon

There are two laptops you can look at

• Lenovo Yoga 720 2-in-1
  
  
• Acer Nitro 5 Spin
  
  Both are good laptops with the Yoga 720 being the better and more expensive of the two

Hey,

How about the Acer Nitro 5 Spin? It has:

• i5-8250U 4-core processor
  
  
• 8 GB of RAM
  
  
• 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD storage
  
  
• 1080p 15.6" touchscreen display
  
  
• GTX 1050 4 GB graphics card
  
  
• Weight of 2.2kg and battery life up to 10 hours
  
  The laptop runs Windows 10 Home. The GTX 1050 graphics card should be fine for your games. It will be great for regular use as well.

I would recommend Acer Nitro 5 Spin as it comes with: -

CPU: i5-8250U

GPU: GeForce GTX 1050

RAM: 8

Display: FHD 15.6 Touch IPS screen

Storage: 256 GB SSD,1 TB HDD

Average battery life

It is a great choice because of its good heat management system and high build quality, along with its specifications makes it the best option for your usage and it is within your budget.

The Acer Nitro 5 Spin is probably the closest you'll get at that price range:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RGSF13

Acer Nitro 5 Spin Gaming Laptop - $999.00

• 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8250U Processor (Up to 3.4GHz)
  
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 with 4 GB of dedicated GDDR5 VRAM
  
• 15.6" Full HD (1920 x 1080) widescreen IPS Multi-Touch Display
  
• 8GB DDR4 Memory, 256GB SSD & 1TB 5400RPM HDD

Acer Nitro 5 Spin Gaming laptop https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075RGSF13/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_nnh7AbKXG34NF
This is the laptop that im currently looking to get and it seems it might be a good fit for you too

Links for compare:

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Laptop-Touch-i7-8550U-GeForce/dp/B0756TSZCT?

https://www.amazon.com/Acer-i5-8250U-GeForce-NP515-51-56DL-Chassis/dp/B075RGSF13?

What kind of performance can I get out of something like that? Would I have issues running games with tons of mods? Minecraft (it can be a huge resource hog with mods), Skyrim/Oblivion, etc?

edit: Can you tell me the difference between the graphics card options on this page?