New Laptop

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tlombard
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New Laptop

Post by tlombard »

I decided to stop in Microcenter today and walked out with a new laptop. I haven't had a personal computer or laptop (other than tablets) for years because I had the laptop from work but I caved and changed that.

I picked up an Asus Zenbook Pro UX581 (if I remember the model number correctly) and it is like nothing I've ever seen before. It has the standard stuff you expect in a laptop but what I've never seen before is a trackpad on the side that also doubles as a number pad and it has not just the one normal touchscreen but TWO of them. The normal screen on the lid is there but then the bottom is half keyboard/trackpad/number pad and half touch screen. I can now browse GRB while checking out something else and not have to flip back and forth between windows!

I ended up with the open box display model but that knocked $700 off the price and it still came with everything including the stylus/pen thing and the wrist wrest that is standard and makes a big difference.

It's big and heavy which a lot of reviewers complained about but I don't care about that. For what I need, it is way more than I need and it's awesome!

I also made sure to get Microsoft Access and other Office products for a few years because I have some ideas of stuff that I want to start working on in my spare time and would like to not have to use the work laptop.

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docellis
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Re: New Laptop

Post by docellis »

Man I googled that laptop and it looks totally badass. I want it.

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Famous Mortimer
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Re: New Laptop

Post by Famous Mortimer »

I'm putting a few dollars a paycheck aside to buy myself a gaming laptop (probably around my next birthday). I'm trying not to look at what's available now, just in case I see something really good and put it on my credit card. No more interest payments unless I can't avoid it.

tlombard
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Re: New Laptop

Post by tlombard »

docellis wrote:
August 15 20, 9:36 pm
Man I googled that laptop and it looks totally badass. I want it.
I've been away from here for a bit (nothing bad) and just saw this. It is a beast and I love it still. I'm currently watching the Cards game on the big screen and browsing GRB on the smaller one now that I finally got my password reset and can get back in here!

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CardsofSTL
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Re: New Laptop

Post by CardsofSTL »

tlombard wrote:
September 4 20, 6:28 pm

I've been away from here for a bit (nothing bad) and just saw this. It is a beast and I love it still. I'm currently watching the Cards game on the big screen and browsing GRB on the smaller one now that I finally got my password reset and can get back in here!
Good to see you tlombard...don't disappear on us like that.

tlombard
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Re: New Laptop

Post by tlombard »

CardsofSTL wrote:
September 4 20, 6:33 pm
tlombard wrote:
September 4 20, 6:28 pm

I've been away from here for a bit (nothing bad) and just saw this. It is a beast and I love it still. I'm currently watching the Cards game on the big screen and browsing GRB on the smaller one now that I finally got my password reset and can get back in here!
Good to see you tlombard...don't disappear on us like that.
i upgraded my setup for home a bunch more today so I'm finally at the point where I can comfortably watch the game and be on here without having to hold a laptop on my lap or flip around between screens.

It was annoying driving all over town but it was worth it. First I picked up a gaming chair from Sam's Club on Lemay. I didn't really need a gaming chair but it was only about $30 more than the other office chairs they had so I went with it. So far I'm loving the speakers at head level on each side and the "sub" which is really just a motor that vibrates with bass but it does give the illusion of actual bass which makes the experience of watching TV/movies or playing games more enjoyable a little. And the speakers are way better than the built in laptop ones. I do have Bluetooth earbuds paired with the laptop which do sound better and block out other sounds to get more immersed in the games/watching but it is nice to not have to constantly be draining the batteries in them while just casually sitting at home.

Then after going to Best Buy and Microcenter and not finding a deal on a monitor that I was happy with, I went to the Sam's Club on Hanley and found my monitor. I saw it on a bottom shelf but there was no price information anywhere so I used the Sam's Club app to scan the bar code and when it came back with a price of $109.98, I added it to my cart, checked out through the app and ran out of there like I was stealing it. It isn't the fanciest monitor but it is a Samsung 32" curved with 1080p which is just fine for me. It is massive sitting on my dining room table! Gives a great picture streaming YouTube TV though and I can still play around with Fallout Shelter on the main laptop screen and browse GRB on the bottom screen of the laptop.

The last thing I plan on doing tomorrow is finding something either around the apartment to raise the new monitor up about six inches so I can keep the laptop right in front of it without blocking part of the screen or else maybe buying some type of monitor stand. We'll see what happens.

What really got me motivated to start upgrading was realizing yesterday that I can actually play real games on this laptop and simply plugging in an old XBox controller to the USB port instantly gave me a real controller instead of trying to use the mouse and keyboard. I downloaded Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and it plays great with the video settings on high. I haven't tried Ultra yet. Then I started downloading all kinds of other games that are free with the MIcrosoft/Xbox game pass.

So far I have the flight simulator downloaded, Saints Row IV, Fallout Shelter for random time killing, Forza 4 Horizons is downloading now. And then a few more games that I can't really remember since I just started downloading everything that looked interesting.

I'm really impressed with this laptop. I can do three things at once now and the 4k displays are awesome. At least I think both are. I know the main display is. I'll have to check on that.

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