Looking for recommendations / suggestions on a hybrid gaming / work laptop

Question

Wondering if anyone could help me filter down the ridiculous array of options available. I'll be using this laptop about 50% for work and 50% for gaming. For work, I need the RAM since I'll be running SQL Server, SSMS, and several copies of Visual Studio simultaneously. For gaming, my requirements are bit less strict, I mostly do single-player games, and I don't really mind having to turn video settings down if need be. I don't have a huge number of specific requirements, but I'll list the ones I do have:

• PC only (no mac/linux/etc)
• Needs to have a webcam
• Minimum 16GB of RAM
• Maximum $2,000 CAD

I found a few options that looked interesting, so if one of these is the right pick, let me know, and if not, if you have any other recommendations, they're definitely appreciated!

• Acer Nitro 5
• Lenovo Legion 5
• ASUS TUF
• ASUS ROG Strix

Answer 1

That Lenovo looks the best, it has a 3050, more than enough for full HD gaming and a Ryzen 5 5600H, which can run lots of programs at once. It can get between 8 and 32 GB of RAM (16GB is indeed ideal) and an SSD up to 2 TB. If your games are small, I would ask for the 1TB option. It supports the two mayor PC operating systems (Windows and Linux) and if you install Linux, you can even ask back your Windows lisence costs (but I will warn you, Visual Studio does not run on Linux from my experience)