$1750CAD - Canada - Laptop for Light Gaming and School
Country: Canada
Budget 1750+/-250CAD (can MAYBE stretch for the right laptop, but would like to stay closer to 1750 though)
Refurbishment: Maybe
Screen Size: 15-16in
Weight: don’t care
Purpose: Light Gaming; School
Type: Standard Clamshell
Intended Use: Light Gaming (Sims 4 w/ all dlc + cc/mods; City Skylines 1/2 w/ all dlc; Phasmophobia; DBD; etc.); school/work (QGIS/GRASS GIS/ArcGIS; Adobe Suite; AutoCAD)
Battery Life: At least 8 hours. I rarely find myself far from a power socket.
Priorities: Performance ->Longevity ->Size -> Battery Life ->Weight
Preferred Specs: 16GB+ RAM; 1TB SSD (have never gone above this on previous laptops); Intel i7+ or AMD RYZEN 7xxx+; NVIDIA RTX 5060+ (not sure I need the 5070)
Notes: Purchased HP Victus c. 2023 and its having the hall effect sensor issue, is basically unusable, and it might just be quicker/cheaper/easier to buy a new one than to be out of commission for weeks waiting for a repair that might break again in a year or two (why would you put a heat-sensitive part RIGHT by one of the hottest parts of your device???). I am very frazzled by it going kaput right at the start of summer classes, so might just be panic-choosing devices. I also have an iPad that I use for daily school stuff like note taking. Unfortunately, I can’t swing a desktop setup right now due to space limitations.
I have several different models and specs that I’m looking at. Thoughts or alternatives I should peek at?