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My desktop has an i3-4130 along with 4 GB RAM and no dedicated graphics card. I am about to get a laptop, and want to evaluate these three:

Acer Predator Helios 300 - Core i7-9750, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 256 GB SSD, 6 GB GeForce 1660Ti

Asus Zenbook Duo - Core i7-10510U, 16 GB RAM (DDR3), 1 TB SSD, 2 GB GeForce MX250

Asus TUF Gaming A15 - AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 256 GB SSD, 6 GB GeForce 1660Ti

[There's some uncertainity in models of A15]

I'm just a student but I like programming so I do use Android Studio, Visual Studio Code, PyCharm, and some other IDEs which require less resources than how much Android Studio does.

Sometimes I need to create my own assets for my application, so I use PhotoShop.

I do make some videos for YouTube and I wish to use Adobe After Effects which I have actually used once on my desktop and as you will expect it ofcourse took my an hour to render a short video.

Each of the above laptop have some attributes that I like but are confusing me. My first preference is the Predator Helios 300 for sure, except it's battery but this is acceptable because it's just powerful.

Actual confusion arises due to Asus A15 which is launched recently (yet to be launched in India) because the processor as per I've heard is faster than the i7. But again, some people said me that I should go for Intel because it's reliable. I don't know if AMD lasts less than Intel. Should be a Myth just like when people compare Snapdragon and Mediatek. [Asus TUF Gaming F15 has Intel Intel® Core™ i7 10750H but looks like this one will take a long time to arrive especially in India]

Also A15 has a plastic build with 3 heat sinks while Predator is all metal with 4 heat sinks.

Coming to the last one, I definitely wanted the Zenbook Duo for its second screen which indeed is very useful. But, it has DDR3 RAM, weaker graphics, and only 2GB of video RAM. It does have a 10th Generation i7, but it is labelled U, meaning it is low powered.

As I have mentioned earlier I need to use After Effects so I can drop idea of getting the Zenbook Duo.

[Zenbook PRO Duo is way too much expensive than these 3 so that's not an option for me]

TUF Gaming A15 is available with 90Wh battery which could be helpful. There isn't much difference else. But plastic body, can it be less rigid than Predator? That's why I'm confused else Predator is a good choice.

The aggressive gaming style of laptop won't be a problem; the Predator looks nothing less than a beast. I would be mostly home and wrapped around that charger, but even if I'm out, the Predator gives at least 2-3 hours of battery life [on light tasks, anyways won't be gaming outside of course] so shouldn't be an issue.

Which one should I go for? All these laptops are in price range of around 1300-1500 USD [1 - 1.20 lakh INR].

Also I hope it won't affect the performance if the laptop was released 1 year. The Predator, was launched in April 2019.

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  • @K7AAY Not in India, they have SSD only variants in US [512 GB only]. But it's fine for me 1 TB HDD and 256 GB SSD. I have an option to increase the SSD / HDD storage. It has an extra empty slot :-)
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 26, 2020 at 6:02
  • @K7AAY I've visited their official websites a lot of time. But the userbenchmark site shows 1660ti is way much powerful than Mx250. That pretty much eliminates Zenbook from my list [though I'll still consider it while buying my final laptop]. I just saw a Predator 300 [1 year old] vs Asus G14[latest laptop from Asus] review today, and in most of the cases Predator just is ahead. Not much but marginally. I have no problem with the Asus A15 either but only concern is a PLASTIC Build, the dull Design and I'm not a big fan of that TUF logo.Though I can ignore the design but PLASTIC body :-(
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:27
  • @K7AAY maybe you are looking at the Acer US site. Check the Predator here on Flipkart India. I have verified with Acer Official Twitter account and they said this model is legit and I may buy it.
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:29
  • @K7AAY check that flipkart site in my previous comment. Specifications vary by region
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:30
  • @K7AAY there isn't any dedicated Indian site for A15 yet. I'm look that here. Probably the 1660ti version with Ryzen 7 4800H
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:42

2 Answers 2

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Since the Acer Zenbook Duo only has DDR3 RAM, and the inferior MX250 GPU, I'd rule that out.

Your PH315-52-76WX model of the Acer Predator Helios 300 looks like a good buy, but the Model B07S8D3C8J TUF Gaming A15 with 256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, Ryzen 7, and 1660Ti GPU has a faster internal drive and WiFi 6, whereas the Predator only has WiFi 5. Of course, if you will use Ethernet instead of WiFi on large file transfers, that's irrelevant.

The plastic chassis of the TUF may be less of a drawback since it has been tested to meet MIL-STD-810H standards, and its 90 Watt-Hour (8+ hrs of web browsing) battery plus the 144Hz display at 1920x1080 is attractive.

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  • So you have no other reasons to consider TUF A15 over Predator? Anyways not an issue for me. I don't know how the plastic casing may feel. But Predator is good for me. I hope there's no issue in buying 1 year old laptop? I mean that thing is in a box since a long time ..
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:40
  • I'm not sure if the Military Grade does anything superior but prevents some flex on keyboard. Talking of display I had seen a video on YouTube comparing the two and Predator had much better display. Around 90+% sRGB while A15 was less than 80. And then you talked about battery, well yes that's attracting me towards it. Also newer versions of WiFi and Bluetooth. Anyways thank you for sparing your time for helping me. If few people prefer predator or any other. Then it will, you know solve my confusion. There's still time to buy it because its lockdown and Flipkart is delivering essentials only.
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:56
  • Still having trouble finding the configuration you mention with 256 GB SSD and 1660Ti. Lots of versions with the Mobile 2060 which compares better windowscentral.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-2060-vs-gtx-1660-ti
    – K7AAY
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:58
  • Predator has a little drawback. It's fan noise hits 60 dB when the fans are on MAX. Though my friend said you won't be gaming inside a classroom so it wont be noisy in class.
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 15:59
  • Sorry I may have mis-typed it. Because they havent mentioned how much SSD storage you get with the 1660ti. So, I thought it would be 256GB
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 16:00
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Most 4GB laptops can be easily upgraded to 8GB, which might be enough for you if you prefer cheap solutions.

"Gaming Laptop", "office laptop" and the others are mostly bullshit-words to help laymans to choose the product.

AMD is the same in benchmarks like the intel, but it is cheaper. They need to compensate their weaker name with price.

In your case I would first upgrade the RAM to 8GB or more, if it does not work on some reason, then I would buy the AMD.

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  • Yeah, but I have no plans to upgrade my PC yet. Because I need a portable laptop. That's why I've mentioned the 3 too choose from. And I feel 8 GB RAM will be short to use Android Studio along with the emulator and some other stuff. While After Effects has a MINIMUM RAM requirement of 16 GB 🙁
    – Dharmaraj
    Apr 27, 2020 at 3:04

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