Please recommend me a new laptop... Help!!!

flash77uk

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Hi everyone, I need to borrow your brains. I'm looking for a new laptop. It has to be a desktop replacement laptop due to personal circumstances. I reckon I can manage up to about £800. Obviously I want it to do the everyday kind of stuff but I'm still learning this photography stuff and would like a machine that can last me a few years as my skills grow in editing etc. I currently own a Sony a58 with a few bits of glass but am thinking of trading brands and going to canon with a 700d or two 750d.

I looked at a HP Envy 15 as050na in Currys today which I liked the look of but am still pretty clueless with all the technical details. Any help would be fantastic. Thanks in advance
 
I haven't physically had my hands on a recent HP Laptop so I can't really comment on build quality or ergonomics.
The CPU looks a bit under par for running Lightroom or Photoshop (It's a dual-core ultra mobile CPU, so I suspect it's engineered for long battery life and mobility)

I'd take a look at the Dell XPS range.. the i5 in the XPS 15 is quad core (i5-6300HQ as oppose to i5-6260U). Other than that, an SSD is desirable as is 16 GB ram.
 
I would say that if it is a desktop replacement machine you'd want;

At least 15" screen with minimum of full hd resolution; you would want a figure of at least 1920x1080
I would also suggest that the processor should be at least an Intel Core i5, I would not take anything less than that
Memory I think 8GB will be absolutely fine, I run it with several virtual machines and there is nothing wrong with that
Unlike afasoas I would say an SSD is essential. These days I would seriously stay away from laptops with HDD in them. Definitely look in the specs for an SSD or Solid State Drive. It is one of the largest speed improvements you can have.

As much as I love the Dell XPS range, you'd be hard pushed to get one for the budget that is set aside. However as you are looking for a desktop replacement laptop I would imagine that it is not something you carry with you all the time outside the house. That means you could look for model that are not as thin, and light, and therefore a lot cheaper. Otherwise I would fully agree on the Dell XPS range.

Don't forget vendors like pcspecialist, especially if you don't need an ultra light design it could be quite good. Good luck, hope you find something.
 
I would say that if it is a desktop replacement machine you'd want;

Unlike afasoas I would say an SSD is essential. These days I would seriously stay away from laptops with HDD in them. Definitely look in the specs for an SSD or Solid State Drive. It is one of the largest speed improvements you can have.

As much as I love the Dell XPS range, you'd be hard pushed to get one for the budget that is set aside. However as you are looking for a desktop replacement laptop I would imagine that it is not something you carry with you all the time outside the house. That means you could look for model that are not as thin, and light, and therefore a lot cheaper. Otherwise I would fully agree on the Dell XPS range.

I suggested the XPS range because the panels cover the full Adobe RGB color gammut. They are really nice panels too. (And all but the i5 version are SSD)
I suppose I was thinking that it's reasonably easy to swap an HDD for an SSD further down the line, if on a tighter budget (whilst potentially invalidating the warranty). But yes, an SSD does make a huge difference.

The Dell Outlet Store is always worth a look too.

The PC Specialist machine looks like good value for money, but I can't find a review that mentions anything in particular about the quality of the display ... which means it's probably neither bad nor good.
 
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I don't disagree, just wanting to keep it within budget :)
 
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