I got a laptop from Newegg for ~$700-$800 with an i7, nVidia GPU, and Windows license. Installing Linux is easy enough, and dual booting gives you flexibility if you want/need to run apps that refuse to go in Wine.
To be fair, my machine only came with 4GB of RAM and no SSD, but upgrades for those can surely be found for less than the $400-$500 price differential.
And a system with no discrete GPU is crippled if you're a gamer. If I'm paying $1000 plus for a system, you can be sure it'll have a decent GPU.
To be honest there's a lot more that factors in when you're buying a computer for business. It's not just the CPU and GPU that come with it, there's a plethora of other factors that may be important to the buyer, such as:
* Maximum ram upgrade amount (most consumer laptops max out at 8 GB or 16 GB)
* Screen quality (IPS vs TN, glare vs anti-glare, etc)
* Keyboard layout and quality (yes, this matter A LOT if you type all day on the computer)
* Driver compatibility (since Linux is mentioned)
* Weight, roughness (or beat-up factor), portability factors, battery life, modularity, expansion ports... the list goes on.
It's not just "this machine which has a top end Intel i7 CPU and an SSD" for everyone.
For me the screen is the most important thing. Pretty much anything these days is 'fast enough' for what I need if it's got enough memory. I was a bit disappointed, infact, in the HD screens these days - my old one was 1920x1200, rather than the new one with 1920x1080.
> And a system with no discrete GPU is crippled if you're a gamer.
That used to be the case. Intel's caught up. Look at the ASUS UX301LA for example. It's extremely thin and light, with 8 hour battery life and a 2560x1440 screen. Those attributes together wouldn't be possible with discrete graphics, yet the Intel Iris integrated GPU that comes with its i7-4558U is more capable than a discrete Radeon Mobility of 2-3 years ago. It can run mid-level games like Diablo/Starcraft at native resolution (which is very high) and high quality easily, and probably anything released in 2014 smoothly if you just chop the resolution in half (1280x720 not being bad at all).
Hmm. The last machine I bought with an integrated graphics was an Eee PC. That was -- over half a decade ago. Your comment's made me decide my assumption needs to be checked, so I guess I'll be looking at benchmarks before I buy my next laptop. It won't be any time soon though; my current laptop is adequate, so my next machine is going to be a desktop.
I got a laptop from Newegg for ~$700-$800 with an i7, nVidia GPU, and Windows license. Installing Linux is easy enough, and dual booting gives you flexibility if you want/need to run apps that refuse to go in Wine.
To be fair, my machine only came with 4GB of RAM and no SSD, but upgrades for those can surely be found for less than the $400-$500 price differential.
And a system with no discrete GPU is crippled if you're a gamer. If I'm paying $1000 plus for a system, you can be sure it'll have a decent GPU.