Reddit mentions of ASUS N56 15-Inch Laptop [OLD VERSION]

Take a look at the ASUS N56 series, they have 15 inch/1080p displays, 8GB RAM, atleast a 500GB HDD, and come in several variations of Nvidia chips (620m, 635m, 650m).

• ASUS N56VZ-RH71 with a GT650m (will play your games at high settings without hiccups), ~$1100.
  
• ASUS N56VJ-DH71, has a GT635m, even this one would have no problems with the games you mentioned, ~$980.
  
  Another option would be the Lenovo Y500. It's bulkier than the ASUS models, but provides more performance (has a GT750m, ~20% faster than a GT650m), would be around $850, but only this week.

I bought a laptop similar to this one and have been pretty happy: http://www.amazon.com/N56VJ-DH71-15-6-Inch-Full-HD-1080P-Laptop/dp/B009M2X8OW/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1373586720&sr=1-1&keywords=asus+laptop#productDetails

In my case, mine has a Core i7, 8gb RAM, 750gb HD, backlit keyboard, 1920x1080 matte screen, fairly large touch pad (though I use a mouse out of habit/for gaming), vga and HDMI out, Blu-ray, USB3, ethernet

I found mine for $1049 on Amazon in September last year.

I'm looking right now, and basically the best-of-the-best laptops (Toshiba with i7 clocked at 3.4ghz) are around $1700. This is a bit more affordable at around $1200, and it has some pretty beefy specs. If you're in the sub-$1000 range, you can't go wrong with ASUS. This is great machine for decent money.

Basically, in a laptop, you'll want a good processor (One of the recent gens of i7s or even an i5 will be okay) that has 3+ cores (basically allows for multitasking better, as in different VSTs and such). After that, you'll want a laptop with a lot of ram. Anything over 8 gigs should be sufficient, but more is always better. Look for RAM at a higher clock speed (1433mhz+ ram is good, 1600+ is better).

After that you'll want to look for a good hard drive. These days most hard drives are good enough for tracking. 5400+ RPM drives are good. If you can afford it, I suggest you find a laptop with a Solid State drive (the most expensive two I listed include them). A solid state speeds up your system. Basically, it lets your system find crucial files so much faster than you would if you used a conventional hard drive. The SSD is typically used to hold the operating system, as well as some commonly used software (e.g. throwing pro tools and some vsts on it).

Screen size and battery life are up to you. I suggest getting a laptop cooling tray if you get one of these bad boys, cause they're gonna be putting out a lot of heat and $20 is a great insurance policy to make sure you don't fry out your motherboard.

I have a lenovo y570 as well, but the i5 version and since i found out that it cannot play saints row 4 even in low settings, i figured it's time for an upgrade, right now im trying to decide between

MSI GE60

Samsung Series 7 NP700Z5C

ASUS N56VJ

I have a Asus N56VJ-DH71, it's not a new laptop that just came out but it's still wonderful. I bought it in January 2014.

Amazon Link

• Intel Core i7-3630QM 2.4 GHz
  
• 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM
  
• 1TB 5400RPM HDD
  
• 15.6-Inch 1080P Full-HD LED Screen (Mine is a matte finish, very nice)
  
• Nvidia GeForce GT 635M 2GB DDR3 VRAM Graphics
  
• Windows 8
  
  A few months ago I replaced the harddrive with a 512GB SSD, it's so fast now. It's a worthy upgrade. I might get a hdd caddy to replace the disc drive that I barely use.
  
  Battery life on Power Saver mode and light web use I can get like 3-4 hours or so I think.
  
  Note: The Amazon page says there is a newer version of this laptop, however, it is more expensive for a smaller upgrade.

One potential option is the Dell Inspiron 17R Special Edition. 17.3" 1920x1080 matte display with good contrast/colors, and should be plenty capable of running your software.

Dell Inspiron 17R SE

• http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+Inspiron+17.3%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive/7850052.p
  
• Avoid any models that come with the "900p" (1600x900) display. 1600x900 resolution in a 17.3" display makes things onscreen large, and 17.3" displays that have 1600x900 resolution tend to be low-grade LCD panels with very poor image quality due to low contrast.
  
  Want something a bit more portable?
  
  ASUS N56VZ
  
  
• http://www.abt.com/product/65457/ASUS-N56VZRH71.html?utm_medium=sc
  
  ASUS N56VJ-DH71
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/N56VJ-DH71-15-6-Inch-Full-HD-1080P-Laptop/dp/B009M2X8OW/
  
• http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+N56-Series+15.6%22+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/6904548.p
  
• http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4978350&CatId=4935
  
• http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4978350&CatId=4935
  
  Lenovo IdeaPad Y500
  
  
• Sign up and sign in here: http://shoplenovo.i2.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/na/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/Lenovo:EnterStdAffinity?affinity=barnesnoblegold (Barnes and Noble Gold discount page)
  
• Model #1: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:0000C50A:&category-id=5B0116E237099FA0FCA012D9B20ED2FB
  
• Model #2: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/barnesnoblegold/StdAffinityPortal/en_US/config.workflow:ConfigureMtmAsItem?mtm-item=:000001C9:0000C50D:&category-id=5B0116E237099FA0FCA012D9B20ED2FB ($839, adds 16GB mSATA SSD)
  
• Click the activate coupon button in the cart.
  
• Note: No power-saving NVIDIA Optimus (switchable graphics). But its larger-than-average-capacity battery often makes up for that.
  
• Avoid any variants/models that come with the 1366x768 display instead of the 1920x1080 display.
  
  On the chance you want something with a touchscreen (Note: no dedicated GPU. But that shouldn't be an issue if you don't plan to game.) there's the ASUS Q500A 15.6" 1920x1080 Touch screen model.
  
  ASUS Q500A
  
  
• http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+15.6%26%2334%3B+Touch-Screen+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/6906088.p

That looks beautiful! Ideally I wanted a 15 inch model -- looking around this looks like a good alternative, but I might go with the UX31A just seeing how light it is... Looks really nice :D Thank you!!

Hrm, good question. I would say: Macbook pro's have great screens. If you could slap an SSD and some more ram in yours, and install windows on it, would that do what you needed? It'd be relatively cheap, and if you've got a decent processor, you'd be good to go.

If you are looking for a good quality laptop, though, I've got a Lenovo T430s, and I love it. I went looking around the internet for laptops with good screens, and PC Magazine seems to think that this year's version - the T440s - is the "best business laptop", which is what you're after. Lenovo has another great feature for software development: a keyboard that's actually good to type on, rather than something you just live with.

A quick google turns up this article - "Best photo editing laptops" - which is more or less the same feature set you're looking for, seeing as they focus on fast, modern processors, and high resolution, beautiful IPS monitors, and reasonably fast hard drives. I've looked at a couple of other lists of "best laptops". Macbook Pros are near the top of a lot of these lists.

There are some Asus laptops that score highly - one is this one, the NV56blahblahblah, but Amazon says it's the "old version". It has a good processor and great screen. It also has a video card that you don't need. It recommends the Zenbook, but they're also quite expensive.

Some of the better HP laptops will have good screens, but you have to watch out for shit like this laptop that has a 1600x900 screen that's 17.3 inches - that's absolute schlock.

Hope this helps; I wish I had better answers.

Such a great contest idea!

1. My most expensive item is definitely this laptop
   
2. I've been saving up for a new computer for my fiancee awhile now because she desperately needs an upgrade, and this would perfectly suit our needs.
   
3. I'd physically survive but it would definitely make our lives a lot easier with the laptop than without.
   
   Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds