Buy model not brand, every brand has good and bad models. Lenovo Ideapad 320s 14 with 8250U+920MX D5+52Wh battery fits your budget, just need to add RAM and SSD.

The only option that fits all your requirements is HP Probook 430 G5 (which requires RAM and SSD upgrade after purchase). Very hard to find a laptop that can meet all your requirements since most options comes with 4/8GB RAM and many of them don't have RAM upgrade path.

There are options that's slightly heavier than 1.5kg but meets your requirements, also requires RAM and SSD upgrade after purchase:
Lenovo Thinkpad E480 no dGPU (customizable in Lenovo website)
HP Probook 440 G5
Lenovo Yoga 520 14

If you don't mind import stuffs you can also consider Xiaomi Notebook Pro 15.

All options above come with KBL-R CPU. FYI i5 and i7 don't have much performance difference in ULVs due to cooling and TDP limitations. 8250U is enough.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 9 2018, 06:22 PM

Specs is important but as well as build quality. Here are some good picks, all need RAM and SSD upgrade:
1. Lenovo Ideapad 320s 14 with 8250U+920MX D5
2. Acer Aspire 5 with 8250U+MX150, need undervolting and possibly repaste since cooling is OKish, TN panel

Generally, Asus Vivobook, HP Pavilion and Dell Inspiron 3000/5000 series laptops have mediocre/OKish build quality and battery life. I'll avoid them personally.

Brand is less relevant in laptops, choose model not brand. The best options I think is Clevo P750/P775/P870TM from Illegear. But delid and LM paste are required for unlocked K CPUs. N950TP6 from Level51 also not bad. Choose LGA CPU instead of BGA at this budget.

Also consider workstations like Lenovo Thinkpad P71/P70 and Dell Precision 7720, they usually have the best reliability, however you might want to wait them to be refreshed with CFL-H CPUs.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 9 2018, 06:51 PM

Yup but based on your usage, you might need 16GB RAM

Asus UX430UA with i5 8250U. Keep in mind that most Ultrabooks don't have good max volume and bass for the speakers. Also consider 13 inch options like Asus UX331UN and HP Envy 13.

Lenovo Y520 with RAM and SSD upgrade. Or Dell 7577 but slightly heavier. You might want to wait for CFL-H laptops too.

Hmm no no, OKish build quality and mediocre battery life. If you need long battery life and portability, Acer Swift 3 15 or Acer Spin 5 13. Check my whitelist in my signature.

Source? That Vostro also has a poor TN panel. Buy model not brand, every brand has good and bad models. Not every 15 inch laptop is heavy, depends on model too. Poor Wifi connection is probably due to wireless card speed not driver, maybe it only supports wireless N which limits max internet speed (56Mbps if not mistaken) or 1x1 antenna causes line drops in far distance.

What's your budget? You can also consider:
1. Lenovo Yoga 520 14 with 8250U, 940MX GDDR5 and 256GB SSD. 4GB RAM needs upgrade. 2 in 1.
2. HP Probook 430/440 G5 with 8250U. 4GB RAM needs upgrade as well as SSD upgrade for the 500GB HDD.
3. Lenovo Ideapad 320s 14 (not to be confused with 320s 13) with 8250U and 920MX GDDR5. 4GB RAM needs upgrade as well as SSD upgrade for the 1TB HDD.

The best choice I think is the new Acer Spin 5 13 with 8250U, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. It has one of the best display among all <RM3500 laptops with KBL-R CPU. Also has 2 in 1 functionality which saves space IMO. You can check the review here: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Acer-Spin-5-S...w.266660.0.html

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 12 2018, 10:20 AM

If it's for pictures and videos then you might want a bigger SSD.

But Dell Malaysia uses TN panel

Long battery life? Not quite, just OK-good. E15 has reliability problem from what I know, no internal design change for years. The DVD drive sacrifices battery life and cooling, add noise too under load. Also plastic hinge. Aspire 5 is better, I have a review to those who're interested.

Don't Google 'laptop with long battery life'. Look for reviews of different models.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 13 2018, 09:41 AM

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/897726...i5-8250u-mx150/

Yeah they have QC issues for a long time but this depends on luck. Nevertheless Aspire 5 is still one of the best budget laptops, other models at the same price range all have mediocre build quality.

Ideapad 320 non S have mediocre build quality and battery life. Same goes to other options like Asus Vivobook A/S/other series and HP Pavilions.

You may need a mobile workstation with Quadro GPU since you're doing professional work. However they are expensive and above your budget.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 13 2018, 03:32 PM

Mediocre build quality and OKish thermals. Plus poor TN panel (94% sRGB is just a marketing). Personally I'll avoid.

Also Y520 for 1050TI laptops.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 13 2018, 04:05 PM

It's still better than the TN panels used in MSI GL,GP series. I'm comparing with MSI GL,GP not Dell 7577. It's only slightly worse than the IPS panel in 7577. 7577 has higher contrast but still low sRGB. UHD model is another story.

Agreed

For new KBL-R ULVs no problem. 4c8t. Just need some undervolting and maybe repaste if you want.

The options you selected are not the best choices. If you need a decent dGPU in a portable package then the only good choice in your budget is Acer Aspire 5, however 2.2kg may sound heavy for some ppl. I have a review on that in LTT forums. If you can bump to RM4000, there are better options like Asus UX331UN (8250U+MX150 8W), Acer Swift 3 15 (8250U+MX150 25W) and Xiaomi Mi Air (if you can accept import stuffs, 8250U+MX150 8W). HP Pavilion and Asus Vivobook generally have mediocre build quality and battery life. Lenovo 320s 13 has mediocre battery life and poor cooling.

This post has been edited by ZM Fong: Apr 14 2018, 12:24 AM