u/agwdevil

I'm planning a trip to a couple midwestern cities this Summer, and I was looking to book a room in Cincinnati/Covington at the very end of July -- but many hotels are sold out, and available rooms are 300-400 a night (instead of half that).

What is going on that weekend? (July 31 - Aug 1)

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE

• Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: US – 2000 USD, can go a little higher. The 2K will include things like extended support
• Are you open to refurbs/used? Yes
• How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life? Battery Life important. Current Dell G15 leaks power even when off, does not hold a charge. My work computer (HP Elitebook) holds a charge for hours. Performance very important, want to spend the money on fast CPU, good video card, lots of RAM
• How important is weight and thinness to you? Weight is Important, thinness not as much. Current laptop is over 5.5 lbs and feels like a brick, work laptop is only 3.3 lbs and feels light.
• Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A. 15-17. Willing to spend money for the larger screen
• Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run. I don’t play games, mostly. The one thing I want the power for is Second Life, which relies more on CPU than GPU. I do all the basic low-level things (spreadsheets, light graphics, word processing, occasionally stream video, email, etc.) Do some podcast recording using Audacity, with a good microphone. Second Life is the only thing that requires significant power.
• If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want? Second Life is CPU dependent, so don’t need to max out GPU. Need great video card, need RAM (32+), need CPU speed. FPS will vary based on where you are, some areas are crowded and laggy which can’t be avoided. Just want max power to play with. Not sure what all the current terms mean (cores, threads, L3 cache, etc) so getting lost reading descriptions.
• Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)? Prefer solid keyboard and mouse buttons, don’t need higher tech inputs (don’t need touch screen, fingerprint, etc). Need USB ports for wireless mouse. Would like an ethernet port (rather than use USB adapter). Helpful to have an SD card slot.
• Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion. I am very tired of my Dell G15. Power cord slips out when I just shift the machine a little. Leaks power even when “off” – I have to keep it plugged in. Feels very heavy to lug around. No mouse buttons, the mousepad is hard to “click”. I’m willing to pay up for more video, RAM and CPU capacity, but don’t need the same specs as someone playing Baldurs Gate (for instance).