Reddit mentions of Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-BK4 14" Notebook QHD IPS 7th Gen Intel Kabylake i7-7700HQ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB VRAM DDR4 2400 16Gx1 RAM M.2 SATA 512GB SSD HDD Windows 10 Gaming Laptop (Black)

Your best option is probably the Gigabyte Aero 14 for $1700. It comes with a GTX 1060 dGPU which should work really well for some high end gaming. It also has a pretty sleek look, good specs, and a massive 94Wh battery which should last 6-8 hours of light use (the legal max a battery can be is 99Wh). It also weighs in at 4.19 lbs.

If you're looking for something cheaper, maybe look into an entry level Dell XPS 15 9560. You can find models for $1000-$1200 and it comes with a GTX 1050 dGPU. Maybe also look into the HP pavilion 15 for $980 which is pretty sleek looking.

Look into more suggestions to see more possible options and to make further comparisons in my extensive list here: https://www.reddit.com/r/SuggestALaptop/comments/5sh111/2017_best_laptop_recommendations_guide_for/

In the US they're available at Amazon and tend to be in stock every 2 weeks or so: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY2YYKB/

In your budget range and due to the fact that you will want some decent performance power, light weight and good build quality, this Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-BK4 14" Notebook would be your best pick and an excellent pick at that. It has :

• Powerful and new 7th Gen Intel Kabylake i7-7700HQ quad core processor.
  
  
• Powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB dedicated graphics card.
  
  
• 16GB DDR4 RAM
  
  
• Fast M.2 SATA 512 GB SSD
  
  
• Beautiful 14" QHD IPS 2560x1440 Wide Viewing Angle anti-glare display.
  
  
• A solid metal case.
  
  
• Decent cooling system.
  
  
• Very light weighted
  
  
• Very good battery life, thanks to it's amazing 94.24Wh battery.
  
  
• Very light weighted

The razer is decent but are known for quality control issues and have some pretty bad feedback from first hand users/ owners. In that budget range, you could also get this Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-BK4 14" Notebook that has all you are looking for... The performance, the portability, battery life and the build quality you want.

Your budget is big enough for The aero 14 or the aero 15 which would be my main recommendations, as they are light weight, great specs, good price point, small in size, with long battery life.

to get performance in a thin and light laptop I would suggest the Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-BK4 This is a powerful and light laptop with a great build quality. It has the processor to manage the programs you want easily and it has a nice display and a good keyboard. The laptop will last you through college as the build quality is good.

*14" Notebook QHD IPS

• 7th Gen Intel Kabylake i7-7700HQ
  
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB VRAM
  
• DDR4 2400 16Gx1 RAM
  
• M.2 SATA 512GB SSD HDD
  
  The screen is smaller than what you wanted but the lager screens and similar power like the Gigabyte P55Wv7-KL3 is a bit heavier but still good (and cheaper as well)

Gigabyte Aero

specs:

7th Gen Intel Quad Core i7-7700HQ

14" QHD IPS 2560x1440 Wide Viewing Angle anti-glare display

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB

16Gx1 RAM

M.2 SATA 512GB SSD

Windows 10

Weight: 4.19 Ibs

price: $1,699

It comes in with great processing and boot up speed,nice display screen good battery life on regular use high gaming capabilities and a good built quality. For an ultrabook its a bit on the heavier side though due to its size and the power it comes with.

A laptop with great gaming capabilities but not look like one is this powerful Dell XPS9560. it comes with a great

• 7th Generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ Quad Core Processor (6M cache, up to 3.8 GHz)
  
• 16 GB DDR4-2400MHz up to 32GB
  
• 512GB PCIe Solid State Drive
  
• No Optical Drive
  
• 15.6-inch 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) InfinityEdge touch display
  
• 3.9 pounds
  
• Windows 10 Home
  
  Another great option but with a smaller display is this solidly built and powerful Gigabyte Aero. it sports a
  
  
• Intel Kabylake i7-7700HQ cpu
  
• 14" QHD IPS 2560x1440 Wide Viewing Angle anti-glare display LCD.
  
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB VRAM DDR4
  
• 16GB RAM
  
• M.2 SATA 512GB SSD
  
• 4.2 pounds
  
• 94.24Wh Huge Battery Capacity for Full-Day Productivity on regular use.
  
• Windows 10
  

One of my favorite laptops that you might like is the Gigabyte Aero 14 .
A little bit more GPU perfomance than the XPS, which might not be that big of a deal for you, but these have really good quality control considering the reviews. One thing that has been drawing me away from the XPS line (its really my favorite laptop, ive been wanting to get one for a while) is that they have really bad quality control. The reviews on this years model and last year are always 50/50 from the people that get luck and not so lucky. The Gigbyte Aero 14 is really solid, i might look at a video review of it if you want to get a better look at it. (I'd suggest Dave2Lee's video)

If not that one, i'd consider looking at the LG Grams from this year. Interesting laptops, this one will have a number pad, you do lose the GPU performance if you end up playing a game or two, but a lot of people seem to underrate this one. :)

Hello, you may want to check out this review, pretty decent specs QHD IPS, Kabylake i7-7700HQ, GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB, DDR4 16GB, M.2 SATA 512GB SSD. This model is within your budget. Good luck!

I second Gigabyte Aero 15. However it's over your budget if buying in the EU. It's much cheaper in the States. It fits all of the things you need and in general is a very loved and celebrated ultrabook. https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Aero-15W-BK4-i7-7700HQ-GeForce/dp/B07141QMKD/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1504619526&sr=8-7&keywords=gigabyte+aero+14


An affordable alternative would be Gigabyte Aero 14 which has identical specs, however it's a 14 inch screen and only one slot for an SSD. Would have to use an external HDD for extra storage. https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Aero-14Wv7-BK4-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01MY2YYKB/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1504619526&sr=8-3&keywords=gigabyte+aero+14

Those three suggestions are good, though I will say that both Dell and Razer are famous for awful customer support. The 9560 is an incredible device, if you get one that works. If you're doing Tensor Flow, OpenCV, and AAA titles, I'd suggest a 1060 laptop. There is the Aorus X3 Plus v7 and Gigabyte Aero 14 that are both good.

Build quality from best to least would go: Razer > Aorus > Gigabyte

But of course you have to take into consideration price and spec differences as well. If you are willing to take the risk of possibly going through a frustrating customer support adventure, and are willing to pay the Razer premium, the blade is going to be your best bet for build quality.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Aero-14Wv7-BK4-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01MY2YYKB/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1492743877&sr=1-1&keywords=aero+14

http://www.aorus.com/product-detail.php?p=120&t=35&t2=69&t3=70

As someone who went into CE with a laptop not well suited to CE (also cause it's outdated), I must ask: what branch of engineering are you looking at, and what programs are you expecting to use? That will ultimately determine if what you're looking at are even good options without registry edits to get programs like Solidworks functional.

What I'd suggest, for longevity's sake, is to get a laptop with a 1060 or better, ideally a 1070. This can help maximize the overall lifespan of the laptop, but you'll lose battery life while running the dedicated card instead of an integrated card.

All prices are in USD for right now, which means your upper limit in USD is probably around $2000, maybe $2250 in USD.

No gaming laptop will get you all-day battery life. The only close contenders MIGHT be the Gigabyte Aero 14/15, but those only have 1060s and, as I started off with, might not even be suited to your needs. I've heard people get around 6-7 hours out of these, if not a bit more.

If you're going into mechanical or civil engineering (or anything that relies heavily on highly specialized software and stuff like Solidworks), you'll probably want either a really high end GPU (like, 1080 level) or a mid-high end Quadro card, latest generation. The new Dell Precision 7520 with an M2200 Quadro card should suffice (NOT an M1200 card or integrated graphics), but it'll run you around 2000 USD. There aren't a ton of powerful laptops with Quadro cards that are thin or light.

It might be hard to find something with good battery life and a 1060 within your budget.

Can you spend more for the Aero 14?

The Gigabyte Aero 15 seems to have everything you are looking for, plus a huge battery life.
If you want to spend less Gigabyte also offers the 14" version (Aero 14) which has similar specs

Hi,

Here is a side by side comparison of the two: https://noteb.com/?model/comp.php?&conf0=11557195982175000576&conf1=7926230678950508255

To be honest, none of them will be very good in gaming, although the Mac may actually fair a bit better. Not sure how your friends are gaming on the XPS 13.

You should also consider the Gigabyte Aero 14 which will run circles around the Mac and XPS in every way, but it's more expensive at $1700.

This is the one to get in my opinion. Portable, powerful, great battery life.

Rock an amazon warehouse deals model (like new) to save a little more money as well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01MY2YYKB/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/ol/B01MY2YYKB/ref=mw_dp_olp?ie=UTF8&condition=all
Refurbed Aeros here on amazon.

I've looked at MSI before but it seems like they have the same hinge quality / flexible display as the Acer I mentioned. What's your opinion on the Gigabyte Aero 14? It's out of my budget but I might try a used model.

Edit: I just saw that the Aero doesn't have Thunderbolt lol. The 15 does but is way expensive so I guess I have to keep looking.

thanks for the reply! I did look at the MSI, which looks appealing, and also the ASUS (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K1INYD0/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1W7VJMCZRZBUQ) and this one here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY2YYKB/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

The problem is, I don't know any of these manufacturers, having stuck to Macs for 10 years, nor do I really understand the video card and other component distinctions... Thoughts? Advice? Thank you

I'm from Australia, and am in a similar situation. I'd like to buy a laptop here before moving overseas.

This is what I've found:

• The gigabyte website here for Australia says that if the laptop qualifies for online product registration then it should have an international warranty.
  
  
• And then it says that you need to check with the supplier to confirm if international warranty/online product registration is offered.
  
  Not sure if it is the same when purchasing in the US, but it may be worthwhile looking at different suppliers and seeing if they list having an international wareanty. E.g. Amazon says for the Aero 14 that it has a global warranty.

For those who looking, You can back order this laptop from warehouse deals repackaged for $1,486.63.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B01MY2YYKB/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

While its on the upper edge of your budget, this is apparently a very good laptop and meets the specifications you just set out, apart from the Rgb keyboard:

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Aero-14Wv7-BK4-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01MY2YYKB

Cheers for that video dude, I'm gonna go ahead do that and report back.
Would you mind clarifying what you mean by config? I got the standard one from amazon per this link.

https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Aero-14Wv7-BK4-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01MY2YYKB/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501893396&sr=8-3&keywords=gigabyte+aero+14

It's a great panel, 1440p, bright and colourful. The latency is noticeably better than the XPS 15, so games not only look sharper from the higher res but also smoother. The XPS panel does have noticeable ghosting, some people can live with it some can't. If it was a 15" screen I would have been happy with it.

Gigabyte has since released an aero 15, which in theory solves that problem, with a nice 15" screen. I still ended up picking up an XPS mostly because I prefer the keyboard/touchpad, and also I actually find the 1050 a nice card for mobile on-my-lap gaming. I'll probably look at selling my Aero 14. Since the XPS is less powerful I can game a bit longer and it doesn't heat up as much meaning I can play on my lap comfortably without a cooler.

Looks like amazon has the Aero 14" for $1700, and the 15" for $1900. These specs include a 512 ssd and 16GB ram. I think the ssd's are SATA though, (still m2) iirc. Also the 15" has a 2nd m2 slot, so that's nice. The Aero 14 used to in the previous model but they ditched it in the current model.

Is it good, yes. Is it the best, depends. There are definitely better choices for the same hardware that are going to be way cheaper. The Predator Helios 300 has the exact same specs for $1000 less, but it lacks build quality, form factor, and general sex appeal. The Gigabyte Aero meets them both in the middle in terms of pros and cons.
But if you don't mind dropping some extra dosh on the table for a sexy laptop that will handle any 1080p gaming while looking like a Macbook's badass older brother, then go for it.

Heres one of the ones I was looking at, for some reason it wont let me edit the post on mobile Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-BK4 14" Notebook QHD IPS 7th Gen Intel Kabylake i7-7700HQ NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5 6GB VRAM DDR4 2400 16Gx1 RAM M.2 SATA 512GB SSD HDD Windows 10 Gaming Laptop (Black) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY2YYKB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_B6Sjzb1MXYMJ3

If you don't care about battery life I would recommend you get a 120hz screen and a GTX 1070 like in the Eluktronics Pro-X P950HR or if you want battery life I would go with the aero 14 it got around 7 Hrs. of battery life .

Ehhh, not sure if it’s the specs you want, and it’s used but with a warranty via amazon;
https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Aero-14Wv7-BK4-Notebook-i7-7700HQ/dp/B01MY2YYKB