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I know you said you are from india but If you want take advantage of black friday’s sales then I would recommend this Acer Predator Helios 300 2019 version because it comes with everything you need, great value for money, 144Hz screen which is great for fast paced games, easily upgradeable, Latest CPU and GPU, Very good heat management, and here is a more detailed review :

• The top of the laptop plus the keyboard and palm area are metal.
  
• Screen bright enough for using outside in the shade but not in direct sunlight.
  
• GPU is powerful.
  
• Here is benchmark for the GPU performance.
  
• Laptop comes with Optimus to conserve battery.
  
• Keyboard is great, quiet, and have a nice feel.
  
• Keyboard has a numpad but narrower than the rest of the keyboard, and the arrow buttons shifted.
  
• Speakers are at the bottom and kinda muffed so a headset is recommended for when you are gaming.
  
  ***
  
  If you prefer better screen quality, then I would recommend this Eluktronics mech g2 because it has great combination between value for money, weight, battery life, and performance.
  
• It comes with GTX 1660Ti GPU, You can check the below link to see how the GTX 1660Ti
  
• GPU (scroll down for the FPs and settings expected or ctrl+f then type the name of your game).
  https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1660-Ti-Laptop-Graphics-Card.386426.0.html
  
• Comes with 9th gen, i7 hexa core CPU which is powerful for your usage.
  
• Very good sRGB coverage which is suitable for photo editing.
  
  
• The outer shell is made almost entirely out of metal.
  
• Keyboard is mechanical with RGB backlit.
  
• It has 3 USB type A, Ethernet, and mic and headphone jack and on the back an HDMI, and USB type C.
  
  
• Screen is IPS with 144Hz refresh rate, with impressively small bezels, and a professional design.
  
  
• Lid can't be open with one hand.
  
  
• Fans get loud under intensive work, but that is normal with every good gaming laptop.
  
  
• Plenty of upgrade options as the chassis supports up to 32GB of ram, and 2 SSDs and 1 HDD.
  
• Heat management is great, it can get hot but it gets cool again pretty quickly once the fans kick in.
  
  
• Main con of the laptop is the trackpad, it is mediocre at best when you compare it to other laptops in the price range.
  
  
• Battery life during normal usage is around 3.5-4.5 hours and 1.5 hour during gaming.
  
  
• Speakers are down facing so during gaming, it is best to wear headphone since the fan gets loud during gaming as well.
  
  If you are looking for more Black Friday Deals make sure to check my mega thread of black friday laptop deals here

Not even sure what's up with your form:

> Do you prefer a 2 in 1 form factor, good battery life or best specifications to your requirements for the money? Pick or include any that apply.

>Best Requirements

Wtaf man. GET IT TOGETHER CHARLIE.

> Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.

>Look at last question

Last question says you prefer Windows..

I get the feeling this question is a troll but nevertheless, I'm going to give you a nice answer.

Programming doesn't usually require a hardware intensive machine, it doesn't need a GPU or a penisvery powerful CPU but since you asked for such a high budget laptop in which weight doesn't matter I'm going to offer you a high-budget laptop and a low-budget laptop. The high budget lappy will last you approx 6 years and the low budget will last you 4 years approx.

I shall, from this point onwards, assign nicknames to the laptops:

1500 USD ASUS ROG G751JY-VS71(WX) shall now be called "That popular fat guy in college"

The 800 USD Dell Inspiron 15 7599 shall be called "good guy greg" because it's great value.

Processor: Both of these guys have incredibly powerful processors but note that a high end notebook processor is equal to a mid-range gaming processor. The fatty can easily spit out 2.6 GHz with it's i7-4720HQ however the good guy can push out a very respectable 2.3 GHz with it's powerful i5 6300HQ.

I want to give you a tip, NEVER buy a laptop based on it's processor solely. Most people are fooled buy the fact that one processor is an i7 and the other is an i5, well here's a fact, the most powerful model of the i7 can push out only 3% more than the most powerful i5.

Both of these processors can run heavily processor intensive games like "Total war: Warhammer" and can compile code equally fast because the algorithm is usually bottle-necked.

Graphics Card: They both have very powerful graphics cards but the fatty wins this battle hands down. It comes with a Nvidia GTX 980M which has 1536 CUDA cores, versus the good guy which only has approx 640 CUDA cores, respectable but the 960M is no match. VRAM is not a limiting factor, in either of them, the only game that requires more than 4 GB of VRAM is The Witcher 3, which can still be run at high and only consumes about 3 GB. Even GTA V only requires 3.8 GB at it's highest settings. Both of these can run Overwatch at max with 50-60 FPS, though the 980M can probably push out 80 FPS.

The fatty is definitely much better in this regard if you plan on doing very hardcore gaming.

Storage: I know for a fact that coders lover SSD's, the good guy comes with a pre-installed 256 GB M.2 SSD, M.2 SSD's are some of the most powerful SSD's and 256 GB is more than enough. The ASUS (popular fatty) has an optional SSD slot, goes upto 512 GB in both of the laptops. You can get a 256 GB M.2 SSD for 200 USD or a 512 GB M.2 SSD for 320 USD.

When getting an SSD only opt for Samsung, they make the best SSD's with 0 flaws.

Other than that they both have 1000 GB HDD's (no, not 1024) but that should be plenty.

RAM: NEVER BUY A LAPTOP BASED ON RAM YOU FUCKING DIMWIT, IT'S UP-GRADABLE. JESUS CHRIST.

But yeah they both have DDR3 RAM. The ASUS has 16 GB while the Dell has 8 GB

Screen size: Coders ALWAYS prefer large screens so I got the ASUS with it's 17.3 inch 1080p display, you know the ladies love a big screen ;), though the dell has a comfortable 15.6 inch 1080p screen. But as a coder I think you will prefer a large display.

Extra: The dell has thunderbolt 3

Sorry if I hurt your feelings during the review. Pansy.

Youtube videos you should watch:

[SSD's vs HDD's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQEjGKYXjw8)


[CPU vs GPU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kypaBjJ-pg)

[i3 vs i5 vs i7**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLSPub4ydiM)

Good luck.

honestly for your usage that’s a very big budget especially if you’re not gaming.If I were you i would find a nice thinkpad (T lineup) or an asus zenbook of high specs.I’m not a programmer but I think .NET and visual studio code are what you’re using? And I think they are light even an I5 cpu would do the trick or an I7 of you want the extra power.Since you won’t be compiling a lot just choose any machine with the following:

1)I5 8th gen or i7 8th gen even the U series should do well.Those are available from every manufacturer.Don’t go for 7th gen u cpu’s they are just dated by this point and the difference is huge.Also if you are an amd fan the new ryzen 2500u + 2700u are great options with good graphics power and linux compatibility.

2)16 gb of ram or 8gb + an empty slot.Again every manufacturer has a model of those.
3)an ssd or an ssd empty slot are NECESSARY as you will want an ssd no matter what,Having an hdd plus the ssd is a welcome extra space but not an hdd alone.
Ideally go for 512ssd or 256ssd+hdd.

4)please stay away from nvidia cards under linux they are just so much work.

5)from this point on if my choices doesn’t fit your taste you know what specs to look for as nobody can tell you what the keyboard feels like and that is something you have to try yourself and is important because you will type A LOT.
Some options :

1. pricey option : ASUS ZenBook 13 UX331UAL
   
   Looks like perfect for you but the battery life which I can’t judge.
   
   2)this laptop from asus that you can upgrade with an ssd and extra ram(no idea about battery or keyboard quality): https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0762S8PYM/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1524137187&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=asus%2Bzenbook&th=1&psc=1
   
   3)lenovo’s thinkpad lineup configurable via their website and all have great keyboards and nice battery life and supposedly great linux compatibility out of the box with all distros.
   
   4)dell xps 13 which is pretty much the standard In laptop recommendations for work. configurable In the dell website.
   
   5)the x1 carbon from lenovo is a rugged option.
   
   6)hp elitebook 830 G5 customized from hp’s website seems like a damn great 13inches option but is a bit pricey around 1850$ for a full configured I5 model and it has only a 50wh battery so I can’t judge the battery life.
   
   
2. the hp envy 13t looks like a nice option too,here is a review of it from laptop mag :
   https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-envy-13t
   
   There are some other options that I can’t think of right now and I may have stretched it with the pricing but you have a generous budget.A word of advice would be to find an option In the 1500$ range and save those 1000$ for upgrades as even top of the line notebooks will get old fast or don’t upgrade and by that time ~3 years you would have saved another 500$ or so and by a new notebook.Hope that helps have a nice day :)

HP Pavilion 15

• Don't be fooled by the Core i7 processor label. This is a dual-core U-series near-negligibly faster than i5 U-series chips of the same generation, and actually slightly slower than i5 U-series chips of the current generation (that's how little the difference is). If you need CPU performance, you need HQ series, i5-HQ or i7-HQ. If you don't, i5-U is pretty much just as good as i7-U. This CPU branding is misleading to the point that it has warranted a section in the sidebar on this sub.
  
• 12GB RAM... higher than some, but it's $30 to DIY-upgrade most 8GB RAM laptops to 12GB.
  
• No SSD is also a bit disappointing.
  
• Screen is IPS and touch, however be aware it's the less-good glossy-touch-layer-over-matte-LCD type, which gives you all the reflections of glossy, without the "popping" colors/contrast.
  
• No dedicated GPU, if you were going to game or use GPU-bound software.
  
  Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro
  
  
• Not bad. Good GPU, good display. No SSD, but there's a great deal on one at Microcenter for the same price but with a dedicated 512GB SSD. http://www.microcenter.com/product/475414/Aspire_V15_Nitro_Black_Edition_VN7-593G-70U4_156_Gaming_Laptop_Computer_-_Slate_Black
  
• This one's also great: https://www.amazon.com/Eluktronics-P650HP6-Premium-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01MT7P0QJ/
  
• And this if the greater thickness won't be an issue: https://www.amazon.com/MSI-Computer-GT62VR-Dominator-027-i7-6700HQ/dp/B01K00YHMG/
  
  Dell Inspiron 15
  
  
• Some Inspiron 15 models are good; not this one. This Costco Inspiron 15 is saddled with the low quality TN display with poor contrast and viewing angles. Pretty freaking awful for $1150 IMO, regardless of SSD size. It looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/Sajajqc.jpg
  
• The good Inspiron Gaming 15 is the 7000 series, not the 5000 series... more specifically the 7567 with the IPS screen upgrade
  
• http://www.bestbuy.com/site/dell-inspiron-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti-256gb-solid-state-drive-black/5872507.p (Includes IPS)
  
• http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/inspiron-15-7567-laptop/fncwf514s?selectionState=eyJGUHJpY2UiOjg5MC45OSwiT0MiOiJmbmN3ZjUxNHMiLCJRdHkiOjEsIk1vZHMiOlt7IklkIjo3NjAsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRkhETlQiLCJQcmljZSI6NDkuNX1dfSx7IklkIjo1NzIsIk9wdHMiOlt7IklkIjoiRkcwMDI4In1dfV19 (IPS upgrade auto-selected)
  
• If you would like the 512GB SSD, you can choose the 4K model if you don't mind gaming in non-native res, and making sure apps scale correctly. Good deals in the Dell Outlet usually, but none right now.
  
• Or you could choose the 7700HQ + 1TB model on Dell.com, pick the IPS upgrade on the config page, add a 512GB SSD yourself, and maybe also upgrade the RAM yourself.
  
• Or you can choose the Eluktronics N850HK1 model with the 512GB SSD for $1049. Even better type of IPS display.
  
• https://www.amazon.com/Eluktronics-N850HK1-Premium-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B01N7YTLD0/
  
• Note that may not apply to you anyway: There's an offered 4K model but it's PenTile (RG/BW) not-true-4K. I would choose the Inspiron 7567 4K model if you wanted 4K, since that is a true 4K display.
  
  Lenovo Legion Y520
  
  
• Not bad. Massive storage specs, however you may not need those, and the battery life is rather mediocre at under four hours.
  
• I'll usually recommend the Inspiron 7567 (IPS configs) and Eluktronics N850HK1 over this.
  
• Screen is fine, but I think the Inspiron 7567 IPS is slightly better, and the Eluktronics N850HK1 is definitely better.
  
  Lenovo Ideapad Y700
  
  
• It's not awful but the GPU is a 960M and you can easily get a 1050 or 1050 Ti at this price. Actually you can get a GTX 1060 / GTX 1060 for this price if you'll take advantage of it, but if not I might look at other options.
  
• Screens are IPS but none of these are as good as the Eluktronics' and Acer VN7-593G displays when it comes to color saturation. I wouldn't recommend the Y720 configs above $1150 or so; there are better options. (General exception that may not even apply to you: if you want 4K and are buying it specifically for that. Also applies to the Y700).
  
  Thinkpad P51s
  
  
• Thinkpads (T/P/X series) are great for durability and longevity. But, if you get this, don't pay to upgrade the CPU. They're all U-series. If you need CPU performance, I would choose the regular P51 with the HQ CPU. Link with Lenovo's 'Perks' discount. If you don't, cheapest i5-U is just as good as the rest, for all practical purposes.
  
• dGPU is also better in the P51 than the P51s, if you need that.

This infographic could help you start with your research to see what is available in different price ranges. You could look to see if some of the more expensive laptops on this list are on sale this weekend for the sales for Black Friday/Cyber Monday if you would like to take advantage of those sale prices. In terms of suggestions:

Acer Helios 300 is a solid choice but does look a lot like a gaming laptop if you have issues with that for college. It is not on sale for the weekend so you would be able to take your time on that one.

Razer Blade stealth looks great and is a great laptop but may not be great for gaming (due to the lack of a nice GPU) unless you plan on buying something like the Razer Blade Core to add an external GPU later. But obviously that will add a lot to the price and not make it too price efficient.

I personally have the ASUS Fx502vm and love it. It is very powerful and looks a little more professional (than other "Gaming laptops"). It is currently on sale for $1000 so you would probably have to buy it quickly to take advantage of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals but I got it for 1250 and still think it was a great buy.

My brother recently bought the Lenovo Y720 and loves it and it is on sale from $1300 to $1050 for Black Friday weekend.

Overall there are a lot of good deals online this weekend you could take advantage of this weekend or you could take your time and do research and find the best laptop that fits you. $1000 to $1200 is a great price range because you can start to get some powerful laptops for a good price. I think you should try to buy a laptop with a NVIDIA GPU if you are paying that much for a GPU but if a graphics card isn't a high priority, the Razer Blade Stealth is a good option especially for below $1000.

I have one last question if you wouldn't mind answering it for me. I've spent a lot of time researching more on the laptop models that the comments have suggested for me, as well as doing my own research on some I like, and I am very close to making a decision. I was just wondering on whether or not you would be able to tell me which one you think would be the best path to follow. I'm asking both you and u/shopineer since your usernames tend to pop up a lot in the subreddit and you both seem like you know what you're doing.

1. The Acer Aspire E15 - In doing my own research, I'll admit that I really like the sound of this one. The price tag and value you get for this model is incredible, and it looks like this is a positively reviewed laptop on both here as well as Amazon. The general design is a bit bulky but I thoroughly enjoy it for some reason, I'm just not sure how much upgrading it would cost. RAM isn't too much from what I've read but to add an SSD to it rather than rely on the HDD within, that could be a bit costly.
   
   
2. The Acer Spin 5 - This one is also one that I enjoy, but with a somewhat heftier price tag. The 2-in-1 form factor is definitely cool and the SSD included is definitely a boost over standard HDD. My main concern here is whether or not that 2-in-1 form factor would be best used in my hands, seeing as it's still a somewhat large rectangle in tablet mode and I'm not exactly going to take notes or likely draw with it anytime soon. I'm unsure on whether or not this can be easily upgraded (it seems like the RAM is from the reviews I read, which also favor this device, but I can't find anything on SSD upgrades) and the bigger price tag makes me a bit hesitant if the previous option would be better overall.
   
   I ultimately decided against the HP models that were suggested to me in this thread because they didn't seem to have very good reviews upon closer inspection. They're beautiful pieces of machinery but I don't think they're the correct fit for me. The same goes for the Acer Swift 3, since the reviews point to possible bad experiences in comparison to the laptops I've narrowed it down to. Even now I'm hesitant to purchase a used or refurbished unit, hence why I won't attempt to go after a refurbished Surface 2 or 3, and while this Acer Aspire E15 model is tempting, I'm still a bit squeamish since it seems like a very hit-or-miss sort of ordeal.
   
   The main question now is whether it's a better choice to go with an Aspire E15 that can be upgraded, which could serve as something to gain experience from, or whether it would still be the better choice to opt for a Spin 5. Any advice you can give me is greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to help everyone here. A lot of us would more than likely be lost without helpful users like you.

Not sure what your budget is but you can run Fallout 4 on the Acer Predator Helios 300. I did a review on it a few days ago so it might be helpful to you

​

The Acer Predator Helios 300 was always known to be one of the best budget gaming laptops and now that the 2018 model has dropped in price it might be worth getting now in 2019.

Who is this laptop for?

The design is not professional by any means as it has a black metal lid (plastic body) with the predator logo in the middle and two red stripes running vertically. As for students, it is not ideal as it weighs about 6 pounds which is not ideal for bringing around and its limited battery life adds to its lack of portability. But for gamers and creators, Acer Predator Helios 300 finds its home.

Ports

• Full size Ethernet jack

• USB type-c

• Full-sized HDMI

• USB 3.0

• Full size SD card

• Two USB 2.0 ports

• Audio jack

Upgrades & Maintenance

Just like all other versions of the Helios 300 upgrading is easy. There is a slot for a 2.5 inch hard drive which and the RAM is easily accessible by taking off 2 screws if you want to get. The m.2 nvme SSD can also be upgraded but you have to do a little more work. There are a lot of screws to remove in order to get to the CPU & GPU if you want to repaste.

Battery Life

The battery is 48 watt hours which is quite small for a laptop this powerful so don't expect to get a lot of gaming out of this when it's off the charger. Even when you are just browsing or watching a few videos you will be limited to around three hours of use so if you are gaming it is best you to keep it plugged in the entire time.

Display

The display in this model has an 98% srgb rating which is ideal for people who want to edit photos and are videos. With over 300 nits of brightness this laptop is able to game outdoors reasonably well. The 144 Hz screen will give a nice and smooth gameplay but unfortunately, it doesn't have G sync.

Others

· The 720p webcam is placed at the top of the device and it is not of the best quality, it is grainy and not ideal for conference calls.

· The speakers are placed at the bottom and they are bang average. Nothing special but not terrible either

· The keyboard has a nice rubber feel which makes it nice to game and type on

Performance

This version of the Helios comes with Intel's 8th gen coffee-like processor, which has six cores that means you can game comfortably at 1080p with settings at high and stream at the same time without any bottlenecking its GPU. This laptop will comfortably run new titles or any modern titles and will be able to do so with its settings set to high.

Gaming performance is only bottlenecked by thermal throttling. The Helios falls short in the heating department. The keyboard reaches around 53 degrees Celsius, which is a few degrees higher than what is acceptable. Additionally, after extended gaming periods there is noticeable thermal throttling. The CPU temperatures start spiking and there are frame drops while you are playing.

There are methods that will help with the throttling if you don't want any frames to drop and you want a good experience.

Firstly, don't let the system determine the fan rotations, set it to max and leave it on max all the time with cool boost enabled. This will keep the CPU temps around 80 degrees. If you want to get the laptop even cooler you can undervolt the CPU and GPU and also repaste

Conclusion:

The Acer Predator Helios 300 still offers a lot of value for the money especially that is on sale. The display is great for gaming and most importantly it is color accurate for creators who want a gaming laptop

Most gaming laptops do not have a good battery life so that’s no big deal. The only real downside of this laptop is its heat management but that can be handled with a few tweaks.

Working with large data sets would certainly be more CPU intensive. And the games you are looking to play are not incredibly demanding, but if you're looking to keep the machine for 4 years, its probably worth getting high end specs just to ensure it stays modern for years.


If you're looking for a bit more power, it may be worth pushing your budget up a bit to get the Acer Predator Helios 300 for $1050. It is more powerful than your other options with a GTX 1060 dedicated graphics card. It also has a Quad core i7, 16gb of ram and a 256gb SSD. There is another storage slot inside to add a 1TB HDD which I think would be an excellent choice if you need more storage. It has a 1080p IPS display as well, and is known to have pretty good cooling.

If you want a bit better build quality, maybe look into the Eluktronics N850 for $950 which comes with a Quad Core i7-7700HQ and a GTX 1050Ti. It also has 8gb of ram and a 128gb SSD. There is another storage slot to add a SATA Hard drive, and a ram slot to upgrade the ram in the future if you would like. It's known for it's well built chassis and excellent cooling.

You can buy a 1TB 2.5'' SATA HDD for just under $50, or a 2TB SATA SSHD for $85. SSHD's have similar speeds to HDD's but have no moving parts. Make sure to buy a 2.5'' SATA drive for a laptop.

If you're looking for more suggestions or are interested in getting a better idea of options on the market, I suggest taking a look at my Laptop Suggestion Guide. Best of luck!