Top Gaming/Editing Laptops Under $1000
If you are looking for a laptop that can handle both gaming and video editing, you might think that you need to spend a fortune on a high-end machine. However, that is not necessarily the case. There are some affordable laptops that can offer decent performance for both tasks, as long as you are willing…
If you are looking for a laptop that can handle both gaming and video editing, you might think that you need to spend a fortune on a high-end machine. However, that is not necessarily the case. There are some affordable laptops that can offer decent performance for both tasks, as long as you are willing to compromise on some features and settings. In this article, we will review some of the best gaming/editing laptops under $1000 that you can buy in 2023.
What to look for in a gaming/editing laptop under $1000?
When choosing a laptop for gaming and video editing, there are some key factors that you should consider, such as:
- CPU: The processor is the brain of your laptop, and it determines how fast it can run multiple programs and tasks. For gaming and video editing, you want a CPU that has at least four cores and a high clock speed (above 3 GHz). Some of the best options in this price range are the Intel Core i7-13620H and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H, which can boost up to 4.8 GHz and 4.4 GHz respectively.
- GPU: The graphics card is the muscle of your laptop, and it determines how well it can render graphics and effects. For gaming and video editing, you want a GPU that has at least 4 GB of dedicated memory (VRAM) and supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. Some of the best options in this price range are the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, which can deliver smooth gameplay and fast rendering at 1080p resolution.
- RAM: The memory is the short-term storage of your laptop, and it determines how much data it can access quickly. For gaming and video editing, you want at least 16 GB of RAM, preferably in dual-channel mode, which can improve performance by up to 20%. You should also look for DDR4 or DDR5 RAM, which have higher speeds and lower power consumption than DDR3 RAM.
- Storage: The storage is the long-term storage of your laptop, and it determines how much data it can store permanently. For gaming and video editing, you want at least 512 GB of storage, preferably in SSD form, which can offer faster loading times and better reliability than HDDs. You should also look for NVMe SSDs, which have higher speeds and lower latency than SATA SSDs.
- Display: The display is the screen of your laptop, and it determines how well you can see the graphics and colors. For gaming and video editing, you want a display that has at least a 1080p resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), a high refresh rate (above 120 Hz), and a good color accuracy (above 90% sRGB). You should also look for IPS or OLED panels, which have wider viewing angles and better contrast than TN or VA panels.
- Battery life: The battery life is the duration of your laptop’s operation on a single charge, and it determines how portable it is. For gaming and video editing, you want a battery life that can last at least four hours on moderate use, which is rare in this price range. You should also look for fast-charging features, which can replenish your battery in a short time.
Top gaming/editing laptops under $1000
Based on these criteria, here are some of the best gaming/editing laptops under $1000 that you can buy in 2023:
HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″
Best Video Editing Laptop Under $1000
- 16 Inch IPS 120HZ Display
- Intel 13th gen i5-13500H CPU
- Intel ARC A370M Graphics Card
- DDR5 RAM & fast NVMe SSD
If you are looking for a laptop that can handle your creative workloads, deliver stunning visuals, and offer a sleek design, you might want to check out the HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″. This laptop is part of the HP ENVY 16 series, which was released in May 2023¹. It features a 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, an Intel® Core™ i5-13500H processor, an Intel® Arc™ A370M graphics card, 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. In this article, we will review the main features and specifications of this laptop and see how it compares to other models in the same series.
Display
One of the most attractive features of the HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ is its display. It has a 40.64 cm (16.0 in) diagonal, WQXGA, multitouch-enabled, 48-120 Hz, IPS, edge-to-edge glass, micro-edge, Low Blue Light, 400 nits, 100% sRGB Variable Refresh Rate support (2560 x 1600) display². This means that it has a high resolution, a wide color gamut, a fast refresh rate, and a low blue light mode to reduce eye strain. The display also supports touch input, which can be useful for some creative tasks. The display has a thin bezel and covers almost the entire lid of the laptop, giving it a modern and elegant look.
The display of the HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ is also TUV certified with Eyesafe® Display for Low Blue Light². This means that it has been tested and verified to reduce harmful blue light emissions and protect your eyes from digital eye strain. The display also has an anti-glare coating to prevent reflections and improve visibility in bright environments.
Processor and Graphics
The HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ is powered by an Intel® Core™ i5-13500H processor (up to 4.7 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 18 MB L3 cache, 12 cores, 16 threads)³. This is a high-performance processor that can handle multitasking, video editing, gaming, and other demanding applications. The processor also supports Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, which allows each core to run two threads simultaneously and improve performance and efficiency.
The graphics card of the HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ is an Intel® Arc™ A370M Graphics (4 GB GDDR6 dedicated)³. This is a new generation of graphics cards from Intel that are designed to deliver high-quality graphics for gaming and content creation. The graphics card supports DirectX® 12 Ultimate, ray tracing, variable rate shading, mesh shading, sampler feedback, and other advanced features⁴. The graphics card also has a dedicated memory of 4 GB GDDR6 that can improve performance and reduce latency.
Memory and Storage
The HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ comes with 16 GB DDR5-5200 MHz RAM (2 x 8 GB)³. This is a large amount of memory that can help you run multiple applications smoothly and without lag. The memory also has a high speed of 5200 MHz that can boost the performance of your system. The memory is dual channel supported, which means that it can operate in two parallel channels and increase the bandwidth and speed of data transfer.
The storage option of the HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ is a 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ TLC M.2 SSD (4×4 SSD)³. This is a solid-state drive that can offer fast boot times, quick file transfers, and reliable performance. The SSD also has a PCIe® Gen 4.0 x4 interface that can deliver up to four times the bandwidth of PCIe® Gen 3.0 x4. The SSD also has a TLC (triple-level cell) technology that can store three bits per cell and increase the capacity and durability of the drive.
Design and Battery
The HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ has a sleek and stylish design that can impress anyone. It has an aluminum chassis that is durable and lightweight. It has a natural silver color that gives it a premium look. It has a backlit keyboard that can help you type in dim environments. It has a fingerprint reader that can help you log in securely and conveniently. It has a 5 MP camera with Auto Frame and AI Noise Reduction that can help you look and sound your best on video calls. It also has a privacy shutter that can help you protect your privacy and prevent unwanted access to your camera.
The HP ENVY Laptop 16t-h1000, 16.1″ has a 4-cell, 83 Wh Li-ion polymer battery that can last up to 11 hours and 30 minutes on mixed usage. This is a long battery life that can help you work and play without worrying about running out of power. The laptop also supports fast charging, which can charge the battery up to 50% in 45 minutes.
Pros
- Sharp & big 120Hz IPS Display
- Intel ARC A370m 4GB dedicated Graphics Card
- Fast NVMe SSD & DDR5 5200MHz RAM
- Fast Charging Support
Cons
- Dedicated GPU produce heats & noise in heavy tasks
- Heavy weight laptop
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
Pros
- Great Performance with Intel CPU & Nvidia GPU
- Good looking OLED Display
- 180 degree rotatable
Cons
- Fingerprint placement on touchpad
- 720p webcam
- Touchpad needs to improve
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Legion Slim 5 Gen 8
Best Slim Laptop Under $1000
- Ryzen 5 7640HS with RTX 4050
- Slim & light design
- IPS 144Hz Gaming Display
- WiFi 6E & Bluetooth 5.1
Design and Build Quality
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 has a minimalist and elegant design that does not scream gaming. It has an anodized aluminum lid with the Legion logo on the corner, and a hard plastic chassis with a storm gray finish. The laptop is fairly thin and light for a gaming laptop, measuring 0.92 inch thick and weighing 5.17 pounds. It also has narrow bezels around the screen, giving it a modern look.
The hinge is smooth and allows opening the laptop with one hand. The laptop has a good selection of ports, including two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports (one with DisplayPort support), an HDMI 2.1 port, an Ethernet port, a headphone/microphone combo jack, and a Kensington lock slot. However, it does not have USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 support, which might limit its connectivity options in the future.
Display and Audio
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 has a stunning display that is ideal for gaming and multimedia. It has a 16-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS panel with anti-glare coating, 300 nits of brightness, and a 144Hz refresh rate. The display offers sharp and vivid colors, wide viewing angles, and smooth motion. It also supports Nvidia G-Sync technology, which synchronizes the display’s refresh rate with the GPU’s frame rate to eliminate screen tearing and stuttering.
The laptop’s audio system is decent but not exceptional. It has two bottom-firing speakers with Dolby Atmos software enhancement. The speakers produce clear and loud sound, but lack bass and depth. For a better audio experience, you might want to use headphones or external speakers.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 has an excellent keyboard that is comfortable and responsive. The keys have ample travel, tactile feedback, and white backlighting (with four-zone RGB option). The keyboard also has an anti-ghosting feature that prevents missed keystrokes when pressing multiple keys simultaneously.
The touchpad is also good but not great. It is large and smooth, with Windows Precision drivers for accurate gestures. However, it is slightly off-center to the left, which might cause accidental clicks when typing. The touchpad also has integrated buttons that are somewhat stiff and noisy.
Performance and Battery Life
The Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 delivers impressive performance for its price range. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS processor, which is a quad-core chip with a base clock of 3 GHz and a boost clock of up to 5 GHz. The processor is paired with 16 GB of DDR5-5600MHz memory (upgradable to 32 GB) and a 512 GB SSD M.2 PCIe Gen4 TLC storage (upgradable to 1 TB).
The laptop also has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU with 6 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which is one of the latest graphics cards from Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 40 Series. This GPU offers excellent performance for gaming at high settings and resolutions, as well as for content creation tasks such as video editing and rendering.
The laptop’s cooling system is also well-designed for its thickness. It has dual fans with four heat pipes that dissipate heat efficiently through the rear vents. The laptop does not get too hot or noisy under heavy load, thanks to its intelligent thermal management feature that adjusts the fan speed and power consumption according to the usage scenario.
The battery life of the Lenovo Legion Slim 5 Gen 8 is average for a gaming laptop. It has an integrated 80 Wh battery that can last for about six hours of mixed usage on a single charge¹. However, if you are gaming or using demanding applications, you will need to plug in the power adapter to get the best performance.
Pros
- Thin and light design that does not compromise on performance
- Stunning display with high resolution, refresh rate, aspect ratio, color accuracy, contrast, and HDR support
- Powerful processor and graphics card that can handle most modern games at high settings and resolutions
- Fast storage system that offers fast boot times, load times, and file transfers
- Good keyboard with comfortable key travel and feedback and customizable RGB backlight
- Good cooling system that keeps the temperature and noise levels under control
Cons
- Plastic chassis that feels less premium than some of its competitors
- Dim display that might struggle in bright outdoor environments
- Lack of per-key RGB lighting that might disappoint some users who expect more premium features from a gaming laptop
- Bloatware that might affect the performance and storage space of the laptop
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Conclusion
These are some of the best gaming/editing laptops under $1000 that you can buy in 2023. They all have powerful CPUs, decent GPUs, large RAMs, fast SSDs, and good displays. They also have some drawbacks, such as boring aesthetics, unimpressive webcams, unreliable fingerprint scanners, poor port selections, bulky sizes, loud fans, dim screens, mediocre speakers, heavy weights, plastic chassis, warm temperatures, and poor color accuracy. However, these are minor issues compared to the performance and features that they offer. If you are looking for a laptop that can handle both gaming and video editing without breaking the bank, you should consider one of these options.
