Cha, I got this baby on their interest-free payment plan a few months ago.

Instead of having to save up the lump sum, I was able to reap the enormous benefits(I use it mostly for software engineering, funnily enough. i mean look at the specs!) 4 months before I would have. That's 4 months of development I would not have had before.

If you are looking for a gaming laptop in general then this would be more affordable: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-i7-7700HQ-1060-6GB-G3-571-77QK/dp/B06Y4GZS9C/

But if your budget is around $1600 then I guess Asus ROG GL502VS-WS71 is your best bet if you want most bang for your buck.

For a more budget friendly laptop in general then perhaps this one: https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-i5-8250U-GeForce-E5-576G-5762/dp/B075FLBJV7/

I would just build a desktop PC though :)

I would recommend the Dell Inspiron because it comes with everything you need , i5 quad core CPU which is one of the best in the market and great for your usage, 8GB of ram for smooth multitasking, Good SSD storage of 256 GB for faster boot up and loading, Full HD IPS screen which is a must have for this price range, high build quality, very good heat management, 1060 GPU which is one of the best you will get under 1k another viable option would be this Acer Predator Helios 300