Basically, I'm helping my son's friend try to snag a great EOFY laptop. There "used to be" tonnes of sales but lately, nothing of any real sale nor interesting specs.
Hoping for i7/Ryzen 7, 16-32GB RAM (unsoldered), 1TB NVMe and/or 512GB + extra slot for a 2nd drive, and at least a 3060 GPU. 300 nits minimum. That seems to be where it all falls apart.
Thanks all.
:^)
Have you checked out the laptops from Metabox? - e.g. Alpha-VX (CPU Ryzen AI 7 350, GPU 5060, RAM 16GB (unsoldered/upgradable), Display 16" 2K 400nits) for $2,099? PS - this does not come with any OS, so hopefully you know how to install your desired OS.
I was going to recommend an Asus Zephyrus - I bought one a few years ago for under $2000 and it was an excellent laptop, thin and light. But I just checked the current prices… $4000-$7000? That’s insane!
Light Gaming Laptop
but you didn't list the maximum weight you're looking for?
See if you can grab a ASUS TUF A14 on sale as that seems to tick all your boxes
Edit: The 4050 variant is on sale for exactly $2000 at JW and PLE atm
All of them clear a 3060. For under $2K, you're looking at either an RTX 4050, gimped mobile 4060 (lower TDP), a regular mobile 4060, or a 4070 even, but most of them are in 16" chassis that won't be lightweight (or very well built)