Ready to buy laptop NOW (finally!) - Thoughts

[Thuie]

Hi Brian,

Happy New Year!

I've read through many posts and comments and I am finally able to buy a laptop right now with my budget of ($3.5k)

I narrowed it down to these two. I'm leaning towards the ASUS purely because its a bigger screen. Both laptops looks like it ticks all the boxes. What are your thoughts? If both are not worth the $, happy for your recommendation.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1745684-REG/lenovo_82wq002tus_16_legion_pro_7.html

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1762238-REG/asus_g733pz_xs96_17_3_republic_of_gamers.html

 

Thank you kindly,

Thu

[Brian]

The RTX 4090 is a bit overkill for Photoshop, and Photoshop really won't take advantage of it. (You only have a 5-ish% performance boost with a 4090 vs a 4070, so if you are just running PS, it's not worth the extra money.) Either a NVIDIA 4070 or 4080 is fine. So a better comparison would be the model below what you linked to:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1745683-REG/lenovo_82wq002rus_16_legion_pro_7.html

Which is the Lenovo for $2749.

Now for the real answer to your question: EITHER.

Personally, I have had excellent luck with Lenovo Laptops, but the larger screen and more video memory with the Asus ROG is also a plus. The Asus also has a 2.5Gb Ethernet as well. So going by specs only, the Asus edges out the Lenovo by a small margin. That said, both are excellent.

Final Verdict from the Judge:

• Asus ROG - 51%
• Lenovo - 49%

...but really, you can't go wrong with either.