Cracked My Laptop. Travelling Soon. Please Send Suggestions.

Managed to crack my laptop casing open. Might be able to repair it but I'm traveling again soon and I can't really have it dying on me. Figured I might as well upgrade while I'm at it.

I suck at keeping up to date with hardware so I'd appreciate suggestions from anyone who knows what's out there. If you have an affiliate link for Amazon UK I'm happy to give you the commission if it's decent.

Currently on and HP Envy 13. i7-8565U, 8GB RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GPU. 13.3" touch screen.

The CPU and RAM are enough but it's probably time to upgrade a bit. I don't want to give up a dedicated GPU since it helps Adobe Premiere to encode video but I can do without the touch-screen since I barely use it. Ideally looking for something as close to the 13.3" range as I can get. Decent enough to work on without getting too bulky. Something a bit sturdy is probably a plus since I have a bad record now of cracking them open.

Looked at a couple so far.

• The ASUS ZenBook Duo with the extra screen looks fantastic but the reviews slate the performance.
• The ACER ConceptD should have its own Tinder profile but the fans and battery don't sound great so I don't know if it'd suit frequent travel.
• There's the newer HP Envy but I feel like if I shell out $1,400 and I break the case again I've nobody to blame but myself.

Please send help. Or duct tape.

if you have nothing against apple or prefer windows, I would mention Apple MacBook Air M1.

I switched from Lenovo Laptop with Linux after many years to the new MacBook and I love it so far.
Everything is smooth, battery life is amazing.

And I think for video editing is it also good.

SEOMadHatter said:

Currently on and HP Envy 13. i7-8565U, 8GB RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GPU. 13.3" touch screen.

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No way dude... This one?



I've got 16 GB ram but I believe the rest is the same lol.

dabenore said:

if you have nothing against apple or prefer windows, I would mention Apple MacBook Air M1.

I switched from Lenovo Laptop with Linux after many years to the new MacBook and I love it so far.
Everything is smooth, battery life is amazing.

And I think for video editing is it also good.

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Oh, snap. I hadn't even considered Apple but I do love my new iPad and I don't think I use much Windows-only software these days. I know their battery life is meant to be good and I've had good experiences with their AppleCare in the past.

Size and weight looks about the same if the GPU is about the same that might be the answer. The only pain is I don't think they have traditional USB ports but I have a little USB-C hub around here somewhere.

Much appreciated. Might pop into the Apple store tomorrow.

bojanpeic said:

No way dude... This one?

View attachment 203967

I've got 16 GB ram but I believe the rest is the same lol.

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Got mine a few weeks before COVID kicked off and since I was just sitting about I didn't bother moving everything over to it. Within a few months of finally using it, I take it on a short trip and the entire back pops off when I lift the screen up.

Otherwise, it's been a great machine. Super quiet, a good battery and the keyboard/mouse are great to work with. It's still running fine now I'm just a little wary of it breaking down while I'm on the move.

I'm a big fan of MSI... if you do an Amazon search for MSI gaming laptop, you'll find some great deals.

SEOMadHatter said:

Got mine a few weeks before COVID kicked off and since I was just sitting about I didn't bother moving everything over to it. Within a few months of finally using it, I take it on a short trip and the entire back pops off when I lift the screen up.

Otherwise, it's been a great machine. Super quiet, a good battery and the keyboard/mouse are great to work with. It's still running fine now I'm just a little wary of it breaking down while I'm on the move.

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Too bad you didn't get to use it. It's an amazing machine! I'm using mine for around 3 years, still works like a charm. The battery got a bit swollen but it's on me since I keep it on the charger for too long sometimes.

I'm not hardware savvy so I cannot recommend you a laptop, but the Envy series really did it for me.

get a MacBook you'll never want to go back.

I wouldn't buy another laptop. Mini PCs FTW. Unless you go in the wilderness you are never far from an external screen in most places including hotel rooms and bigger screens and a full sized keyboard are much better to work on anyway than a tiny ass laptop.

Cheers for the suggestions folks.

metaph said:

I'm a big fan of MSI... if you do an Amazon search for MSI gaming laptop, you'll find some great deals.

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My memory of the brand is big heavy gaming machines. Their E14 seems to be a 14" but the reviews don't sound great.

bojanpeic said:

Too bad you didn't get to use it. It's an amazing machine! I'm using mine for around 3 years, still works like a charm. The battery got a bit swollen but it's on me since I keep it on the charger for too long sometimes.

I'm not hardware savvy so I cannot recommend you a laptop, but the Envy series really did it for me.

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Definitely one of the best I've had.

I'm tempted by their newer HP ENVY x360 is solid-looking and since the screen flips backward I probably won't have the same issue as this one. Only thing it's missing is a dedicated GPU. If I shift away from encoding on the laptop it would do the trick but it's nice to have the choice.

Fussballgott said:

get a MacBook you'll never want to go back.

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Integrates natively with the iPad as a second screen without a third-party app and the reviews are screaming in its favor.

The only downside is the screen bezel and the fact I'll never hear the end of it from my girlfriend.

The Oracle said:

I wouldn't buy another laptop. Mini PCs FTW. Unless you go in the wilderness you are never far from an external screen in most places including hotel rooms and bigger screens and a full sized keyboard are much better to work on anyway than a tiny ass laptop.

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Appreciate the suggestion but the tradeoff wouldn't be worth a bit of a better spec. I'm packing my life back into a single backpack, I've worked from tents and I'm generally just used to working on a small laptop. If I have a separate screen that's a bonus and I just hook the laptop up to it.

SEOMadHatter said:

Appreciate the suggestion but the tradeoff wouldn't be worth a bit of a better spec. I'm packing my life back into a single backpack, I've worked from tents and I'm generally just used to working on a small laptop. If I have a separate screen that's a bonus and I just hook the laptop up to it.

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I am an ultralight one bag style of traveler too. A mini PC is objectively smaller and lighter than a full sized laptop. Anyway I can not be productive from a tiny laptop anymore. For tent and constant moving situations okay a laptop may make sense. But if you have a base at all or spend more than a week in each city, just buy a new screen wherever you go. It's cheap enough these days. The benefit is you get a big screen and a good workstation! A full sized nice keyboard can fit in most backpacks, and if not a 60% surely can too.

The Oracle said:

I am an ultralight one bag style of traveler too. A mini PC is objectively smaller and lighter than a full sized laptop. Anyway I can not be productive from a tiny laptop anymore. For tent and constant moving situations okay a laptop may make sense. But if you have a base at all or spend more than a week in each city, just buy a new screen wherever you go. It's cheap enough these days. The benefit is you get a big screen and a good workstation! A full sized nice keyboard can fit in most backpacks, and if not a 60% surely can too.

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Hadn't really considered this one before. The specs are higher than I would have expected and the prices are a lot lower.

I've carried a laptop stand with a keyboard/mouse combo and left a few monitors around the place... I like the option of not needing them though. Don't think the trade-off would suit me.

Cool idea though.

Went with the 14" M1.

Bit of a learning curve to get used to and still working on porting some things over to the new laptop but definitely like it.

SEOMadHatter said:

Went with the 14" M1.

Bit of a learning curve to get used to and still working on porting some things over to the new laptop but definitely like it.

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Congratulations, good selection