As you may know, Malaysia's secondary students have been tackling their final SPM papers these past few weeks. With the end of SPM, many Malaysian youths will start looking for a place to further their education. Many of them will likely choose to enter a local college.
If you plan to study digital art, film-making, 3D Animation or some other form of content creation, you'll definitely need a laptop. But what type of laptop would fit a budding content creator's needs, and what kind of budget can you expect? We've picked up 6 laptops for Malaysian college students in content creation courses, so do read on if you need some ideas.
#1. ASUS Vivobook 16X (K3605ZU)
If your ultimate goal is to spend as little as possible, the ASUS Vivobook 16X is one of the best options you can get. It has an older Intel Core i5-12500H with the older but still solid Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 laptop GPU. It also has 8GB of the older generation DDR4 RAM, a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, and a 16.0-inch WUXGA IPS display.
As you can tell, ASUS went with a mix of older and newer components to keep the price down. At RM3099, it's on the more affordable side for a laptop with a discrete graphics card. It also has a sizable 70WHr battery, Thunderbolt 4 support, SD card reader, and WiFi-6E connectivity. This makes the laptop a solid option for on-site photo editing, video editing, and graphics design.
Links:
Product page | Lazada | Shopee
#2. MSI Thin A15 AI (B8VE)
One step up would be something like the MSI Thin A15 AI. Its AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor is much more powerful, delivering double the CPU cores at a much higher 3.8GHz (vs 2.5GHz) clock speed. If you plan to create videos or do anything involving rendering, this laptop is a good option due to its superior CPU performance.
It also has the more powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, a 512GB NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD, and a 15.6-inch 144Hz IPS display. Honestly, 8GB of RAM and the 52.4Whr battery doesn't feel sufficient in 2024. But overall, it's not a bad option for those who want a video rendering machine for under RM4000 (it's now RM3799).
Links:
Product page | Lazada | Shopee
#3. Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1 (Gen 9)
Don't need a discrete GPU that makes laptops more expensive? How about a touch-screen to make it easier for digital art? If that's your need, consider the Lenovo Yoga 7 2-in-1. This laptop comes with a modest AMD Ryzen 5 8640HS APU with integrated graphics and just 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM. But it makes up for that with its 14-inch WUXGA touch-screen.
It also has a 71Wh battery, a microSD card reader, WiFi-6E support, and two Dolby Atmos-powered speakers to serenade you while you're sketching. Lenovo didn't include a stylus with this laptop, but it's a good deal at its currently discounted price of RM3609. You also get a 2-month Adobe Creative Cloud membership as a bonus.
Links:
#4. Acer Swift 14 AI (SF14-51-716M)
If you're looking for a more colour-accurate screen, you could go for one with an OLED display like the Acer Swift 14 AI. This laptop has an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, integrated Intel ARC 140V GPU, and a whopping 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM. More importantly, it has a 14-inch OLED display with a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut and is DisplayHDR certified.
It also offers advantages in other areas. For instance, a 65Wh battery allows the Swift 14 AI to last for up to 17 hours on a full charge. It also has a privacy shutter for the webcam, WiFi-7 support, a light 1.3kg body, and the PurifiedVoice 2.0 feature for improved conference calls. This laptop had a launch price of RM4999.
Links:
Product page | Lazada | Shopee
#5. ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 OLED (N6506)
If you need a higher-end model and have the cash to splash, an option you can consider is the ASUS Vivobook Pro 15 OLED. It sports an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU, 8GB of onboard DDR5 RAM (with the option to add 16GB DDR5 SO-DIMM), and a sizable 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD.
This laptop's display is even better than the Acer Swift 14 AI above. It's a 15.6-inch OLED screen with 2880 x 1620 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and is Pantone Validated for colour accuracy. In addition, it has a large 75Wh battery and the unique ASUS DialPad for precise control in creative apps. However, the Vivobook Pro 15 OLED is priced at RM7999 so this is more for the big spenders.
Links:
Product page | Lazada | Shopee
#6. Apple MacBook Air (M3)
For Apple fans or students who prefer working on macOS, the Apple MacBook Air is our recommendation. Specifically, the M3-powered 13-inch model. It features an 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16GB of Unified Memory, and a 512GB SSD. The 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display is an LCD panel that offers brighter colours and better contrast.
Performance-wise, the M3 MacBook Air may not seem more powerful than the other Windows laptops. However, many creative apps are better optimised on macOS, so you can expect apps to crash less and perform better on the MacBook Air. This laptop retails in Malaysia from RM5849 with higher prices for variants with more memory.
Links:
Product page | Lazada | Shopee
There you go, 6 laptops we'd recommend to Malaysian college students who want to create digital content. We've done our best to ensure the suggested models are available in Malaysia so you can easily pick them up from their brand stores. You can also find them via e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee, so check the links provided.
So, do these laptops fit your budget and needs? What else are you looking for in a content creation laptop? Let us know in the comments on our Facebook page and stay tuned to TechNave for more articles like this.
COMMENTS