How suitable is a gaming laptop for productivity?

[Dadstar0410]

I really want the Lenovo Y50, the 4K Windows laptop that was announced at CES. However, I didn't know that it is a gaming laptop. However, I'm still really interested in buying a Y50, but more for productivity than gaming, simply because of the amazing products Lenovo seems to produce. Is there a compromised productivity experience on gaming laptops, in general?

 

[Markham Ranja]

This might be overkill, TBH, and being a card-carrying member of the PC Master Race, I would weep at a machine like the Y50 being used to run Excel or whatever. Unless you do really heavy-duty video editing or something similarly intensive like CAD.

That said, no, there will be absolutely nothing you will miss out on. Any Windows machine will run whatever apps you may need. Just that for productivity I prefer a lighter laptop - take a look at the Lenovo X1 Carbon? It's a Thinkpad, there are no better productivity laptops

 

[Laura Knotek]

What specific programs do you plan to run? What do you mean by 'productivity'? Just Office, or something like AutoCAD, PhotoShop?

 

[xratola]

If it supports gaming it can handle everything, for sure

 

[Dadstar0410]

What specific programs do you plan to run? What do you mean by 'productivity'? Just Office, or something like AutoCAD, PhotoShop?

I'll be a college freshman next year, so Office and anything a college student needs to do. Haha couldn't tell ya specifics.

 

[gedzum]

I just took a look at it and it looks really sleek for a gaming laptop. They tend to be bulky but the Y50 looks fab. Not sure what frame rates you can get at that res but I might have to keep this on my wishlist now The tech specs say "coming soon" but I'm sure this laptop will be able to do whatever you need it to do as a student.

 

[skstrials]

I actually advise people away from getting gaming laptops; and I have owned an Asus gaming laptop myself.

1) The high performance graphics cards and CPU give off additional heat, and people want thin laptops which makes cooling even harder. Most gaming laptops cannot cope with that and as a result, they overheat more so that other laptops at a similar price. The dual graphics card Lenovo Y510 is especially known for its overheating as well. And the constant overheating of course reduces the life expectancy of the whole computer as well. Gaming laptops generally last shorter than two years.

2) The high perf specs also consume a lot more battery as well

And lastly, I would advise against the 4K screen as well. The 4K screens just came out to the public, and the reliability as well as other possible performance issues are not known, whereas the trusty 1080p screen has been around for a long time.

I would recommend looking into business laptops (Dell Latitude, Thinkpads, HP Elitebook, etc). They have sturdy hardware, have additional coolings, and will last you a longer time.
Trust me, I bought a gaming laptop when I got into a university and I wish I would have gotten a Thinkpad.