Convincing my parents to buy a laptop (with dGPU) over building a PC

Laptops Suggest a Laptop
1

I’ve been looking for a new laptop ever since the start of 2025, to replace my old (MSI GF63 8RC) laptop with a broken hinge and dead battery:

PXL_20250922_194247068
PXL_20250922_1942470681080×1440 101 KB

As primarily a graphic designer, I really do need a new laptop (with dedicated GPU), because my old machine just refuses to install the newer apps like Affinity or Davinci Resolve.

Title Card Epilogue2
Title Card Epilogue21000×1000 169 KB

But because of how the unemployment situation in my country right now, I still cannot find a job, therefore I still live on my parents house and solely rely on their money to get the new laptop.

Yet at this point, I’ve missed multiple sales, and many, many sellers underpricing used laptops, because my parents keep insisting that I should build a PC instead

….even after explaining them multiple times that when I do get a job, I would need to bring the laptop over for work

So how would you guys here convince your parents that a laptop is worth it over a PC?

2

Just tell them that- with a laptop you get portability, and since your future job would demand work on the go you cannot rely on a PC and hence need a laptop for your work. Since my work is related to graphic designing i need a dgpu in my laptop for the performance.

P.S- most companies give office laptops to thier employees, even if they are freshers.

3

well, that is if I can even convince my parents that I’ll even get a job in the first place…

4

Tell them for the same specs- a laptop would be cheaper compared to a full fledged PC with a monitor, keyboard, etc.:+1:

5

Mention the various advantages of laptops, namely the integration, the battery and the portability. The inclusion of KVM is underrated too.

6

whats a KVM? ive never heard of it b4

7

Keyboard Video Mouse. A laptop has all three (well trackpad or Thinkpad nipple) in a comfortable layout, compared to the detached ones of a desktop, which will be extra cost.

If you price-match you’ll have to get a shoddy membrane desktop keyboard that bends as mich as any laptop.

8

i think the core issue rn is that my parents see how pre-built PCs with RTX 5060 on online stores are cheaper than RTX 5060 laptops, and thats that

9

Tell your parents that your future job and income relies on you having this laptop, once they become aware that having this laptop is esssential for your stability and your ability to generate income and can help the household they should be able to understand and help you out.

10

What I think you need is a portable but powerful laptop that lets you perform these tasks, I would suggest to look for the Asus tuf A14 Or A16, Gigabyte aero x16 or Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 16 with RTX 5050

11

Well I just told them that, but they think every company or workplace will just give you either a work laptop or already have their own rendering PC….

12

YES

That’s the whole reason I’ve been looking for (sub 2kg) laptops with dedicated GPU in the first place

But my parents also told me that a PC’s performance can “last longer” up to 8 years, while a laptop only lasts 5 years…

Is that true?

13

IT depends on the laptop model, how you take care of it the maintenance that you do to it over the years.

14

Work providing a PC-

Since you are in graphic design I think this is less likely. Many artists are expected to work as contractors, especially if you find a job outside of your country which is more likely. This means you bring your own rig. Having a personal computer separate from your work one is still a good idea for many reasons, even if you are later provided with one.

Desktops last longer/ are more cost effective-

This is somewhat true. Since desktops come in parts, you can replace one part without replacing the whole thing. Over time, this is more cost effective than a laptop and will help it last longer. It sometimes costs more up front, though. It depends on what specs you want. If you can get a budget laptop like the Legion 5i or Omen Slim, you might be spending less on a laptop for the same performance as equivalent desktop parts. You can sometimes replace parts on laptops but it’s not guaranteed. Definitely check reviews if this is something you want. At least replaceable ram and storage is nice to have on a laptop with a dGPU.

Assuming cost is about the same with peripherals included, 5060 vs 5060 like you said, you will always be getting better performance from a desktop. This is why many people prefer them. With better cooling solutions and higher power delivery, a desktop is capable of performing much better than a laptop. If portability/travelling with it matters more to you than having the maximum possible performance, then get a laptop. I don’t think you’ve told us in this thread how much performance you need. If it’s on the lower end, you may find a great deal on a laptop with a 4050/5050 or something.

The most important factor with computers is what are you comfortable with/how technical you are. Laptops have a lower barrier to entry, as you don’t technically need to understand the hardware aspects at all. It’s plug and play. If you are not comfortable taking care of a desktop (updates, drivers, component replacement, cleaning it frequently enough, moving it safely) then it is my opinion that you should get a laptop. You are less likely to need to do those things, although I would still recommend updating, cleaning and replacing parts as needed.

15

Since you are in graphic design I think this is less likely. Many artists are expected to work as contractors, especially if you find a job outside of your country which is more likely. This means you bring your own rig. Having a personal computer separate from your work one is still a good idea for many reasons, even if you are later provided with one.

If portability/travelling with it matters more to you than having the maximum possible performance, then get a laptop.

That’s a big part of my parents’s logic, if I got a desk job then the company would already have a office desktop, but if I doing commission/freelance work, then I would just be working from home anyways.

so my parents don’t think I actually need the portability of a laptop.

But we all know that sitting around in one place all day is unhealthy, so a lowkey reason I want a laptop is to be able to actually move around while still working, even if its just moving around my house.

I don’t think you’ve told us in this thread how much performance you need. If it’s on the lower end, you may find a great deal on a laptop with a 4050/5050 or something.

I’ve made threads before mentioning that I want a laptop thats under 2 kg/4.4lb (so even the new Legion 5 counts, as thats only 1.9kg!)

But yea I’ve never mentioned this before, but my absolute bare minimum is RTX 4060-tier performance (and also at least 8GB vRAM!), and I need either replacable memory or 32GB on-board RAM.

And my budget would be $1200 if I lived in the US… but I don’t live in the US, I live in Indonesia, where deals are much scarcer.

While the best RTX 4060 laptops I’ve found that I fancy are used 2023 flagships (I found a used 2023 ROG Zephyrus G14 and 2023 Yoga Pro 9 for $1200! both with RTX 4060 & 32GB RAM),

but my parents really dislike buying used products (they think the only reason people would sell their used laptop is either because that laptop has a defect, or they’re trying to pawn off a stolen laptop)

So I think the best new laptop on my budget would be the Lenovo Legion 5 with RTX 5060 & Ryzen 7 260; but I’m waiting for Black Friday & 12/12 sale before making a final decision.

Screenshot_20251118_145801
Screenshot_20251118_1458011080×1185 139 KB

The most important factor with computers is what are you comfortable with/how technical you are. Laptops have a lower barrier to entry, as you don’t technically need to understand the hardware aspects at all. It’s plug and play. If you are not comfortable taking care of a desktop (updates, drivers, component replacement, cleaning it frequently enough, moving it safely) then it is my opinion that you should get a laptop. You are less likely to need to do those things, although I would still recommend updating, cleaning and replacing parts as needed

With how high the parts bill for my old laptop was over the 8 years I’ve used it, which I had to replace myself:

  • 2x battery replacement
  • fan replacement
  • keyboard replacement
  • SSD replacement (because the SATA hard drive my old laptop came with got broken)
  • Added an extra 16GB DDR4 RAM
  • many, many repastes

I think I already got experience on taking care of desktop parts :grin:

1 Like