Stop gap arrangement in such difficult time

[rahullele]

Brian, 

I'm big fan of, spend once and spend right thinking however current desperate time are forcing me to look at desperate measures. My current MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2013) is not holding up to photoshop anymore. To add to that, we are most certainly looking to move out of country within 1 year. That is limiting my budget and making "easy to move" point higher up on priority. 

I was planning to go for iMac this year. (Hoping it'd release.) with good budget of $3000 but given above points, I'm looking for stop gap arrangement for 2 years. 

Also, confinement due to current COVID situation is forcing me towards gaming.  I did check recommendation is windows laptop section but recent release of AMD 4th gen processor is very lucrative. Can you please provide input on this laptop.

https://www.costco.com/asus-rog-zephyrus-g15-laptop---amd-ryzen-7---geforce-gtx-1660-ti---144hz-1080p.product.100655382.html 

Costco got really good return policy and that's the only reason i'm entertaining this thought. I'm not able to figure out if the display is IPS or not multiple sites are reporting different display type. B&H says IPS and CNEt Says LED. Can this be color calibrated ? 

https://www.cnet.com/products/asus-rog-zephyrus-g15-ga502iu-es76-15-6-ryzen-7-4800hs-16-gb-ram-1-tb-ssd/ 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1558019-REG/asus_ga502iu_es76_rog_zephyrus_gaming_laptop.html/specs 

Also the display specification says 45% NTSC color gamut, 62.5% sRGB color gamut, i do not know how that compares with my existing system or acceptable for photography work. If it is not useful for photography then i don't want to buy it.

Sorry for inconvenience and appreciate your input as always. 

Thanks,

Rahul

[rahullele]

waves of AMD powered laptop coming. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/g-series-15-5505-laptop/gn5505dymms#features_section 

Costco launched another one https://www.costco.com/asus-rog-zephyrus-g15-laptop---amd-ryzen-7---geforce-gtx-1660-ti---144hz-1080p.product.100655382.html 

https://www.costco.com/asus-tuf-gaming-a15-laptop---amd-ryzen-7---geforce-gtx-1660-ti---144hz-1080p.product.100579408.html 

Again no idea if display type is IPS or if it can be color calibrated.  

[Brian]

IPS is the screen type. LED is the of back-light that illuminates the display. They are two different things. It seems that there are two versions of the screen, one that is 240Hz and one that is 144Hz. you want the 240Hz model for $100 more. Take a look at Asus' website for the details: https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ROG-Zephyrus-G15/Tech-Specs/

As you can see, the model that contains the 15.6-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 240Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB, Pantone^® is the one you want to get. The dead give away is the 240Hz refresh rate. Also, that model has a better video card. So this one at B&H, the ASUS 15.6" Republic of Gamers Zephyrus G15 GA502IV for $1399.99 is the one you want to purchase. Let's keep things simple, if I had to personally buy a laptop, if I was in your situation, that model at B&H would be the one to get.

That laptop has 16GB of RAM, 8GB on-board and a slot that has a 8GB stick. It is up-gradable to 24GB. I'd just go ahead and purchase a 16GB stick to max it out at 24GB. As for which one to buy, I'm not sure as the laptop hasn't been released yet, but I'm thinking the Crucial.com scanning tool will be able to figure it out. So buy the laptop at B&H and get yourself setup. Then upgrade the RAM. The other things I like about that laptop is the 1TB of storage. I'm so glad that laptop doesn't have a stupid 256GB Main Drive.

Unfortunately, as I write this, Costco's website is having issues and I can't search for the laptop. If you do purchase from them, DOUBLE-CHECK THE SCREEN REFRESH RATE OF THE MODEL. Chances are, Costco might be selling the 144Hz version in their version-do not buy that version. Again, the one at B&H that I linked to above has the 240Hz screen.

Keep in mind, Color Calibration IS NOT A ONE TIME THING. Sure, factory calibration usually is decent out of the box and that's meant for VIDEO GAMES. Not photo-editing. I don't care if whatever you buy is "Certified" or "Calibrated" to _________ fancy organization specifications...you are still going to need to purchase a Calibration Tool, if you don't have one already, such as a SpyderX Pro or SpyderX Elite. Then you will have to match your screen to a set of prints.  Plan on calibrating every 4-6 weeks for the best results. Screens do change over time as they get broken in, that's why you never assume that things are "fine" until you physically check. As to which one? With a laptop and if you are going to use an external display, either. The difference between the two is software and the SpyderX Elite has all the features turned on. With a fancy Windows Laptop, such as an Asus ROG, I'd be more inclined to get a SpyderX Elite. With a Mac Laptop, since you can only change brightness, the SpyderX Pro tool is fine.

[rahullele]

Thank you as always Brian !! I

Costco has only 144Hz version. Even the dell has 144Hz only. Amazon got 240Hz version but return policy is bad. If apple doesn't release something compact affordable on 22nd June (which would easily fit it bag.) , i'll buy this on 23rd. 

[Brian]

I figured as much. There is a reason that Costco's stuff is cheap. While they sell good stuff, you have to read the fine-print as often they carry the "Basic" models. Just keep an eye on it at B&H. I can not stress enough just how quickly Windows Laptop Models change. By the time July rolls around, this "Brand New Model" will be scheduled for replacement. That said, COVID19 might have changed things a bit. So who knows?