Looking for a gaming/design laptop ($2,500 - $2,700 budget)

Hey there,
I'm looking for some advice. What would be the best laptop to grab for this budget that can still handle Adobe software like Photoshop and Illustrator without lagging?

Thanks.

Just a heads-up, my main focus is working in Adobe apps... I mostly just hop onto Rocket League or Fall Guys for maybe 30 minutes to an hour a day.

Screen size?

Does color accuracy actually matter here?
Are you planning on using an external monitor for design work or just gaming?
Do you need a US layout keyboard?

17'' at least
I use an external monitor for design work and gaming (Dell)
The main thing is getting color accuracy right
I've got an external keyboard too

Edward Clark78 said:17'' at least
I use an external monitor for design work and gaming (Dell)
The main thing is getting color accuracy right
I've got an external keyboard too

That really limits your options. Gaming laptops usually prioritize high refresh rates over color accuracy, and finding a 17" model is way harder than the standard 15.6".

You can probably find something, but your life would be a lot easier if you dropped either the color requirement or the 17" screen size from the equation.

So, should I just ditch the 17'' model?

Maybe something along these lines?
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/laptop-computers/

I think we should just merge this discussion into a single thread right off the bat. There’s really no point in dragging things out across two separate posts. It's cleaner that way.

I think it’s that Acer I mentioned to you earlier.

urbanheron4

urbanheron4 urbanheron4 said:What kind of screen size are we talking about here? If you're looking at a 17-inch display and it doesn't absolutely wreck your budget, I’d say you're getting a pretty solid deal with this one.

The Acer Predator Helios 300 ph317-56-76tz. It’s a specific machine, isn't it? I've been looking at the specs for a while now. Some people swear by this particular model, while others seem to think it's just another piece of plastic destined for a landfill. Honestly, I can see both sides. It’s got that aggressive gaming aesthetic that feels a little much if you ask me, but the performance under the hood is hard to ignore. I tend to take things slow when testing hardware. I don't like the hype. I just want to know if it actually holds up when you're mid-match in Rocket League. It’s fine. It does what it says on the box. Nothing more, nothing less. That's usually how it goes with these things.

Maybe the 512 GB SSD is a bit of a bottleneck, but there are two M.2 slots on this thing, so you can just slap another drive in there. Simple enough.
Also, if that matters to you, check whether it actually comes with a backlit keyboard. From what I can tell, it seems like an optional feature with Acer.

I just finished digging through this review for the Acer Predator Helios 300 ph317-56-76tz. It’s a decent deep dive if you actually care about the technical minutiae. Most people just want to know if they can run their games without the thing melting, but this covers the actual performance metrics. The reviewer hits on the build quality and how it handles heat, which is always my main concern. I hate buying a machine only to have the fans sounding like a jet engine taking off from JFK. It seems like this model holds its own, though there's always a trade-off when you're looking at something in this price bracket. It’s a solid read if you’re trying to decide if it’s worth the cash or if you should just save your money for something else. Not much fluff, just the facts. Useful, I guess.

It’s a much better machine. You get a superior processor, a beefier graphics card, and it actually has a LAN port, though it does come with a higher price tag. Plus, paying extra for Windows feels like a total waste—you can easily just handle that yourself.
When it comes to screen specs—size, refresh rate, color accuracy—you really just need to decide how much you actually care about the laptop's built-in display. If you’re planning on plugging into an external monitor anyway, the laptop screen becomes pretty much irrelevant. It's secondary. The only thing that truly matters in that scenario is picking a solid enough GPU to handle the resolution and refresh rate of your external setup. That's where the real power needs to be.
Look, regarding the price—I get it. You want to save a few bucks. But when you’re already dropping this kind of cash, maybe don't be so cheap about the details. $333 Less is more. Upgrading a laptop just isn't that straightforward.

I started a thread about this earlier, but since nobody really chimed in, I just reposted it above.
I figured it’d be easier to follow along here without things getting cluttered.
I’ve got a solid Dell monitor, so when I’m deep in design work, I’ll definitely be hooked up to an external screen.
Here is the one I'm using:
As for Windows, I already have a legit license for a few bucks, so I'm all set there.
The Acer is great, but my main gripe is the storage; I’d much rather have a single 1TB SSD instead.
My limit would probably be $5.75, though if I can snag a 10% discount through a site like Rakuten, I could push my budget up to $1,500.

You can always just buy an SSD yourself and pop it in later. This thing has two slots, so you don't even have to touch the old one. You can wait a year or whenever you actually feel the squeeze. Even though this is an older model, the logic remains the same.



What exactly did they say about swapping out the SSD right there at the store?

As for the price, Best Buy would probably charge you around $1,300 if you pay cash. There are definitely cheaper options out there, but at least these guys have a physical storefront you can walk into, which should save you some headaches if you ever need to deal with a warranty claim.

Let me dig through the listings a bit more; if I stumble onto something better, I'll drop a link. This is primarily a gaming laptop built around a high refresh rate screen. If you’re mostly using an external monitor, that won't matter much—as long as the internals are solid.

So if I take $18,500 and apply a 10% discount, I end up at $16,650... is there anything out there that works like that?
I’m not really the type to go through the hassle of opening everything up just to swap out an SSD. 🙂
These guys haven't said a word about replacing them or adding more hard drives.

Here's the link for you via Best Buy

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/laptop-deals/example-link

The price says $1,819.99, and if I’m reading this right, there’s an extra 10% off using some Best Buy promo code. That would bring it down to about $5460. Honestly, I can't tell if the discount is already baked into that number or not. You'll also need to toss in an SSD. That should run you another $233. If you do that, you'll end up with 1.5 TB of total storage for roughly $5667 in total.

Edit: Actually, never mind. Turns out you have to pay for that damn promo code separately $667. Just forget it.

What's the point of that paperclip? Seems fine to me.

Take this one, for instance

https://www.bestbuy.com/laptop-rtx3070ti.html

With a 10% discount, you’re looking at $4.75.
The screen is only 15.6 inches, the resolution is lower, and the processor isn't quite as beefy. But you get a 1 TB SSD. Most importantly, it has the same GPU, which matters if you're hooking up an external monitor. Honestly, resolution doesn't mean much on a small screen anyway; the pixel density is more than enough.

Edward Clark78 said:What's the point of that paperclip? Seems fine to me.

https://www.amazon.com/protection-plan

That’s an extra cost. You get an extended warranty out of it. But it'll end up costing you way more than the actual discount.

This looks pretty solid, let me sleep on it for a bit... if you happen to stumble upon something better, give me a shout.

Edit: I think I'm going to go with that one. I'll check back in around 6 PM once I've made my final call.

I’m not so sure. Let's hold off a second; maybe someone else will come up with a better idea. It isn't just about the specs on paper. An Alienware is built significantly better than a Nitro—the chassis, the cooling, the whole thing. If you start hitting thermal limits, the system throttles, and suddenly your components aren't actually performing at the level they promised. Overheating is a massive headache with these high-end laptops.

You might want to check this one out too.

https://www.amazon.com/example-gaming-laptop-rtx3070

https://www.sandomenico.com/laptop-gaming-rtx3070.html

Would it be worth adding another 16GB of RAM here?

Edit: Or maybe this one instead https://www.bestbuy.com/site/laptop-gaming/p/EK000435629

Yeah, looks like a solid way to go. One thing though—you’ll need to check if they slapped in a single 16 GB stick or two 8 GB ones. If it's the latter, you're going to have to pull one out just to swap it. Photoshop is a total memory hog and really demands a decent processor. Then there's gaming, which is all about that GPU power. You've pretty much checked every box with those specs 😁

They're identical. Honestly, grab it from San Domenico; you can snag an extra 10% discount there.

Edit: Mind you, this is the 2021 model. They actually made some decent improvements with the 2022 version.
Here’s a review so you can weigh it against those pricier options mentioned above

https://www.ultrabookreview.com/4744...view-ph315-54/

What’s the deal with this? https://www.sandomenico.com/laptop-rtx3060.html

Is the lower price tag just because of the GPU?

The one from Live Nation is better; it’s the 2022 version. You should probably steer clear of the 2021 model. I recall hearing plenty of complaints about the cooling issues back then.
The only real difference between this one and the first one I mentioned is the screen—this one is 1080p, while the other was 1440p. If they can bump up the SSD size for you, that's likely your best bet. Honestly, that lower resolution won't bother you much on a 17-inch panel (I run the same resolution on my 24-inch desktop and it’s perfectly fine), and you're using an external monitor anyway.

Edit: What did you just delete? I'm talking about this

https://www.livenation.com/laptop-acer-pr...s-nh-qgfex-006