Need a basic (but reliable) laptop to help run my spouses financials for her business. Would be using QB and Excel, so leaning away from Macbook's but it's not off the table. I'm just not used to using apple shortcuts for excel.

Looking to stay under $700, but don't want a piece of junk I'll have to replace every 2 years. I have some ideas of laptops that could work, but want to get y'alls opinion.

Also:

PS5 or the Xbox Series X? Hardest part is I want to play exclusives on both consoles! What does this board think is the more "all around" console?

The new Spider-Man is definitely testing my resolve lol.

Thanks in Advance, I know this is a silly "google-able" topic.

Screen size she prefers? Portability/weight a concern or staying on a desk 99% of the time? Hooked to power most of the time or on battery alot? Need/want a full numpad on keyboard?


As for console, PS5. The new slim version isnt looking too bad.

Nothing outrageously large. Standard size is fine. I'll be the primary user of the laptop to be honest. Numpad is preferred, but not mandatory. I have a office setup at home for my job, so I could dock there if needed.

I'd recommend a MacBook so can't be too helpful on PC recs.

For the console, I'm much more into single player so have a PS5. The single player exclusives are tough to beat (Uncharted, Spiderman, Last of Us, etc.).

COAg15 said:

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Nothing outrageously large. Standard size is fine. I'll be the primary user of the laptop to be honest. Numpad is preferred, but not mandatory. I have a office setup at home for my job, so I could dock there if needed.

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15.6 size will be what you want then. Something like below should work. The vivobooks are great for size, useability and battery life. The Zen 3 based ryzen 7 5800H will churn through work with 8 cores/16 threads, high base clock 3.2ghz and great boost clock speeds at 4.4ghz at only 45w tdp.

Nice OLED one on sale atm for $584 from $899

ASUS VivoBook 15X OLED Laptop, 15.6" OLED Display, AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU, AMD Radeon GPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 11 Home, Quiet Blue, M1503QA-ES74 https://a.co/d/8k7WcgM

Thank you for the recommendation! Specs look really nice for the price! Is this the best deal? Or is pushing to Black Friday a good gamble?

Thanks again for the help.

Wife asked me for Christmas ideas….do I push for the PS5 lol.

COAg15 said:

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Thank you for the recommendation! Specs look really nice for the price! Is this the best deal? Or is pushing to Black Friday a good gamble?

Thanks again for the help.

Wife asked me for Christmas ideas….do I push for the PS5 lol.

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I dont think you will find anything with those specs on blackfriday for anywhere close to that price. Maby a non OLED version. As far as specs go, i didn't see many non OLED models with those specs for the same price, most were higher. This deal is smoking right now at 320ish off retail.

Edit: it is returnable too per Amazon within 30 days, maby longer due to holiday season. I would snatch this one up and then shop black Friday for a deal too. If you find better, return this one.

Quote:

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Extended Returns Information: For the 2023 holiday season, most of the items (other than Apple brand products) purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2023 can be returned until January 31, 2024. For Apple brand products, items purchased between November 1 and December 31, 2023 can be returned until January 15, 2024.

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...why not both?

fig96 said:

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For the console, I'm much more into single player so have a PS5. The single player exclusives are tough to beat (Uncharted, Spiderman, Last of Us, etc.).

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Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6

MGS said:

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fig96 said:

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For the console, I'm much more into single player so have a PS5. The single player exclusives are tough to beat (Uncharted, Spiderman, Last of Us, etc.).

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Starfield, Elder Scrolls 6

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We'll be on the ps8 by then.

Posting this from a Lenovo Ideapad 5.0 Pro that we got at Costco several months back. I'm happy with it so far.

COAg15 said:

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Thank you for the recommendation! Specs look really nice for the price! Is this the best deal? Or is pushing to Black Friday a good gamble?

Thanks again for the help.

Wife asked me for Christmas ideas….do I push for the PS5 lol.

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Still looking around or did you pick up the oled one and request a ps5? Lol

Laptop now and ask her for a ps5 for Christmas and to buy it on black friday on sale. That's a win-win imo.

Still haven't purchased anything lol! Looking to move forward with the rec above though!

PS5 Spider-Man-2 Bundle is $499 right now which looks pretty enticing…

You could get something like the steam deck OLED and be able to play Xbox games and some Playstation games (Spiderman 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, etc).

You can dock it and play with an external controller as well.

COAg15 said:

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Still haven't purchased anything lol! Looking to move forward with the rec above though!

PS5 Spider-Man-2 Bundle is $499 right now which looks pretty enticing…

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The spiderman bundle is a very hot item. People are scalping them. If you find one retail, grab it asap. The shells on the console look sick and the custom controller is too.