So, next semester I'll be taking an IT course which eventually includes building my own PC, but since I've been a mac-user all my life where my only real options have always been "the expensive one" or "the more expensive one", I'm pretty clueless when it comes to PCs/windows in terms of both hardware and software

Anyway, I was able to finagle a deal with my parents that this year's christmas gift could be a windows laptop so I could get some practical training while also getting access to all those games I've been wanting to play forever (also want to try getting into creating hypno content in stuff like MMD or honey select, but can't tell my parents that of course.)

So, my budget is approximately $1000 (ideally less but could probably stretch it if the best possible option is just barely above it), and I was wondering if anyone here had insights of a good laptop model to invest in, along with anything like "you should also get a _______ for convienience/safety/etc", since i'm pretty much flying blind here.

Thanks all.

I would not recommend a laptop for gaming in general, they tend to cost more for less power in trade for convenience.

If you have any interest in a desktop PC though, you may find this article both convenient and helpful. www.pcgamer.com/pc-build-guide-budget-gaming-pc/

There are also a number of guides you can find all over for building a PC, it's not really that hard with a guide, don't feel daunted.

Funny timing, because How-To-Geek, which is a very great site by the way, have just released their building a pc guide: www.howtogeek.com/howto/t...part-1-choosing-hardware/
I personally mean that this guide is a pretty good and detailed piece of work. But the one from pc-gamer is good too.
If i had to recommend something, it is that you should get an SSD (solid-state drive). A Samsung Evo for example ,but less will do too. If you want the whole sciency details, you can go search, but basically, an SSD is a faster harddrive, but it does wonders.

Honestly the advice given is already really good. But some good things to remember are...

1. Include keyboard, mouse, monitor, or anything else that it might cost you to get everything together so that it exactly meets your budget. People often forget costs so plan extremely well and try to think of everything you need. When I built my first PC, I forgot I didn't have a desk in my apartment to put it on.

2. Research is your friend. The more information you have, the better your build will be and the less money you will spend. Know what parts are best for you and where you can get the best price will save you money and time in the short and long term. This will also help you get a better understanding of computers in general knowing what a can and will go wrong in your computer

3. Don't ask a sales person for advice. Depending on what store/place you live in, the sales people could be receiving commissions off of certain computer parts. You could get screwed hard by a sales person convincing you to buy a shitty part or something that you plan don't even need.

Have fun!

Oh and if you are getting parts shipped to you, buy package insurance because things like this reddit post can happen [www.reddit.com/r/pcmaster...70_in_perfect_condition/]

I appreciate the advice all, and will definitely need it if/when I reach the computer-building part of my class, but I kinda feel like everyone's missing the point of my post- right now I'm basically just looking for an entry-level windows machine to acclimate to (also why i was initially set on a laptop rather than desktop- I don't think I'll need 2 desktops in a year's time)- I barely know anything OS related more complex than opening a browser and pretty much none of the hardware terminology so i'm trying to take learning it one step at a time

I'm a console gamer at heart too, so I'm less likely to be playing hardware-intensive games like GTA5 or Overwatch and more along the lines of single-player indie games, visual novels and whatever porn games I can dig up

so to reiterate my original question: What's a good "path of least resistance" PC model to get me started with, knowing that in a year's time or so I'll be better equipped to make informed decisions on a more powerful/permanent build

But yeah, not 100% married to the laptop idea, I'll try to research best I can, just don't want to be overwhelmed, ya know?

I don't get it. Why would you want an answer which consists of a -brand- or -model- when you need to build a machine? Except some very very niche and likely expensive brands who made it easier for you to swap RAM/SSD/HDD/BRD from your machine, most of all vendor are prebaked and locked down like Macs. Dive in which components you need and which would fullfill your needs and budget.

Depending on what you're going to do on your new machine, you don't need to spend your whole budget when the use of your pc is browsing/officing. For gaming nowadays a highest-end CPU (like Intel's i7 and i9 or AMD's Ryzen 7 or Ryzen Threadripper) is overkill. A strong CPU like a Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 will do. As long as it has a powerful GPU.

If you're familair enough with OSX's terminal. You could save yourself some money by installing a Linux distribution like Mint. Unfortunately, that makes your system less interesting for gaming. Also please save yourself from steep learning curves and evade Arch. Getting ease with a Linux distro for the first time could be hard enough.

Because building a machine is fucking daunting. The only way I was able to make mine was I had no less than 3 friends give me tech advice and one literally built it for me.

Noting that I already had a monitor and a copy of Windows, my PC was about $400-500 in 2011 and the only thing I've upgraded is that there's now a 2nd HDD for my MikuMikuDance addiction. It's not the most powerful thing in the world, but with your budget you should have some room to upgrade. Some manufacturers may have ways to semi-customize your PC not unlike the car sites. It may be worth looking there. The other question is why can't you just buy a decent non-gaming laptop and put off a full build until you know what you're doing?

(aside: If I had money and labor to burn I'd build the Multibox of Doom)

That's literally what I was initially asking, but I feel like I tend to use too many words to get my point across, which muddies my intentions, and that's why everyone was going to "here's how to build a top-of the line gaming PC"

But yeah, I'm basically just looking for insights so I don't pick a "lemon" PC, and I'm assuming any game I might want to run shouldn't be an issue given the non-mainstream stuff i'm interested in.

The problem with getting a pre-built brand name PC is they're either a) comically overpriced and/or b) comically underpowered, even for the uses you listed. Your best course of action would be to have a half-decently knowledgable relative or friend who can assemble the computer for you (hardware-wise it's quite simple and fast. Software-wise it's simple but less fast.) and send them all the parts for one of those "console buster" builds they have floating around on reddit or wherever. Make sure to actually include the cost of a Windows license. For some stupid reason -- or to make themselves look better -- they usually assume you've already got one. Even if you have to pay for labour and Windows it should still come out well under $1000.

You can probably find a decent deal for late models or open box. I just putzed around on Newegg and found <<www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAEYJ6PS9839|this>> which is probably everything you would want in a baseline computer (DVD Drive!!!) for a good price. While Solid State Drive is preferred, I think it's still overrated vs capacity.

Actually, you were very precise in bringing your point across. The problem is everybody, instead of helping, is pushing their views on you. What they should have done is giving you an answer and then saying stuff like "but you will get more bang for the buck when you go desktop".

So let's look at this: 1000 US$ seems plenty to get a decent Laptop that has some basic gaming capabilities. What you want for editing is Ram, so you'll want probably around 16GB. You'd also want a good display, which you won't get for the money, sorry. You'll have to live with a mediocre 15inch IPS Panel at best. But it'll be enough for the beginning.

You are looking at something like this:

www.amazon.com/gp/product...=A17MC6HOH9AVE6&psc=1

Decent amount of HDD Space for Data/Movies/MP3/Games (1 TB) and 512 GB of SSD Space which is enough for the OS, lots of apps and a decent amount of Games. Dell is known to build pretty good configurations and Displays, but like I said above, do not expect much from the built in Display here - it should be serviceable though. The built in Nvida card isn't anything you would want for 4k gaming, but you'll get 30-60 fps in most games, depending on settings. And since you already said you play on consoles, you are probably used to 30fps anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In direct comparison to the Notebook mentioned above: Better display (though smaller), Higher resolution, more RAM (need a decent amount for graphic/video editing), separate SSD (high speed Hard disk, loading times and overall smoothness when working is a lot better). Around 50% more Space for Data/Games, no CD/DVD drive (you can get an external drive for 20$, I haven't needed a DVD/CD Drive in the past 4 years, you'll probably not use it much). The Graphic Cards on the Laptop I posted is MUCH better. I would not expect to play anything on the HP Laptop and I think the resolution is too low to work comfortably on it.

Invest the remaining 60 $ into a decent mouse (varies) and a bluetooth adapter (10$) if you have a PS4 or XBox One S controller, so you can use it on your Laptop. Maybe get a cheapish Headset (starts at 20$) so you can take part in Discord and other Voice Channels. Install Path of Exile and Warframe (both free and good games). Have fun.

Thanks for the insight, I'm probably going to go with some variation of the Inspiron then- assuming I don't fail at my class next semester, we'll see about getting a proper desktop built some day in the future