Update - Dell outlet/Laptop advice

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Hi Folks,

After trying to speed up my 7 year old medion laptop by deleting various things without success i've decided to buy another. I have seen a lot of people recommend the dell outlet but i'm not sure what i'm after. Everything i look at is either a notebook, netbook or fecking ultrabook. I'm looking for something that can burn discs of photos, had decent memory and can run either photoshop or lightroom without needing a siesta mid way through and i have a budget of £500. Actually i would prefer to spend less but obviously i'd rather buy better than simply cheaper.

As always advice greatly appreciated.

Edit - What about this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DELL-INSP...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item233c37eb04

or this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Toshiba-Sat...e=UTF8&qid=1410643256&sr=1-9&keywords=laptops





Regards

Scott
 
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Hi, No expert but I bought a DELL laptop about 9 or 10 years ago Inspiron 9400 and still use it today, not as a main one but for reading PDF's, listen to music etc.
When I bought it I took out the Dell warranty for 3 years and it did go wrong in the second year, the audio gave up so called Dell and they sent someone round within 24 hours and he fixed it there and then.
Looking at the Dell site there are quite acouple that I would go for but as I said no expert.
Inspiron 17-5748
£499.00
Inspiron 17-5748
£579.00

 
You want something with at least a quad core i5 processor and 8Gb RAM. Assuming you mostly edit on an IPS external monitor the screen isn't such a big deal, but if you don't then you'll need to choose your screen very carefully. The cheaper of the 2 Russell suggested would be OK.
 
I have a Dell Studio 1537. Bought years ago. All I've done is changed the HDD for a WD Black Scorpio (fastest HDD I could find) & loaded win 7 64.
It still feels fast and will run PS & LR together (as long as you don't have too many images open in PS). The DL DVD writer has recently broken. £500 will easily buy a Dell but make sure you get one with a good screen ie. Studio or XPS or Alien. Also consider HP or Asus. From my experience your HDD is the bottle neck to any system. I think a 7200rpm hdd is a must SSDs are ok for programs but poor at shifting large amounts of large data blocks.

Try stretching the budget and get a Dell Precision, the +qhd monitor is the best they do.
 
i got my dell xps from there 17" screen 8gb ram 1tb hard drive and bonus upgrade to RGBLED screen for £420. ( i7 CPU )
really i guess its down to your budget but you will find they sell out very quickly on dell outlet an make a rapid appearane on ebay marked up by a couple of hundred quid within hours.
doesnt look like they have much availble at moment ( i can only see 8 ) but they normally update every week day around 2pm so just keep checking back.
 
Thanks guys. So basically I'm looking for an i5 or i7 processor with maybe 1tb
 
Haha pressed the button too quickly.

Hard drive and 8gb ram? Anything else in particular I should look at?
 
An SSD. Either the boot drive as an SSD or a model that has the mSATA SSD intel cache 32GB drive as well as the traditional drive.
Also, some of the 17" Dells have a spare, empty drive bay for a second SSD which is very handy if you want to add extra storage.
Graphics won't make all that much difference, although PS can use GPU to speed stuff up. I've found the switchable ATI graphics on Dell laptops to be crap though...very picky about driver variants.
 
Thanks. I've read a lot about ssd. Will it be called anything else in description or just state ssd?
 
Its described by Dell as Solid State, at least on servers I've been quoting for recently! Be careful not to confuse it with the SSD hybrid drives :)
 
What does it mean when it says?
  • Back Up Media Not Included

Does it have all the media installed but just no back up discs or is it something i'd need to purchase to?
 
Most likely there is no windows & driver disc in the box. My Dell had the option to create an install disc, which I did immediately.
 
Hi Folks,

I've just spoken to a dell rep who has advised me to go for the machine spec below. It has an SSD but the first thing that stuck out to me anyway was that it's 128gb. Do these devices condense data or something as i'd told him i was looking for a minimum of 750gb and would actually prefer 1tb.

Latitude E7240
Latitude E7240
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4300U (3M Cache, up to 2.90 GHz) with Smart Card Reader
Windows® 8.1 Pro
128 GB Solid State Hard Drive Full mSATA card
8 GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz (2 DIMMs)
12.5 in High Definition LED-Backlit Display (1366X768) with non-Touch Panel
LCD Back Cover (Non Touch)
Back Up Media Not Included
Dell Backup and Recovery Basic 1.6
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
Wireless: Dell Wireless 5570 HSPA+ mobile broadband MiniCard (SIM not included)
Battery : Primary 4-cell 45W/HR
Internal Qwerty Keyboard
Light Sensitive Webcam and Noise Cancelling Digital Array Mic
Palmrest with Fingerprint Reader and Smart Card Reader (Contact and Contactless)


Click here for available options and upgrades
Price: £479.00
Price excl. VAT and delivery
 
Well thats a bummer. Jesus what was she thinking? Oh well back to the drawing board.
 
I never noticed that till a minute ago. Totally unsuitable for my needs then.
 
Somebody wasn't listening to you.

An SSD is nice, but far from essential.
 
Do you guys think this is worth £400 second hand? It's £899 new from amazon.

HP ENVY 6-1202ea Ultrabook Beats Audio, 3rd generation Intel® CoreTM i7-3517U processor, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Microsoft Windows 8, AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)

Product Details
  • Amazon Sales Rank: #146774 in Personal Computer
  • Brand: HP
  • Model: D0X06EA
  • Dimensions: .78" h x 14.72" w x 9.95" l, 4.74 pounds
  • CPU: Core i7 1.9 GHz
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Hard Disk: 500GB
  • Processors: 2
  • Display size: 15.6
Features
  • 3rd generation Intel® CoreTM i7-3517U
  • HP ENVY 6 Ultrabook
  • 8GB RAM
  • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HD Webcam & Microphone
  • AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
 
Spec looks good, although every HP laptop I've had has failed due to overheating, seems HP's design is not cooling friendly, this included DV6000, DV6 and HDX16 models.

Any manufacturer warranty left on it?
 
Well it's just under a year old so it will have some. Hopefully a year and a bit but maybe it's only a year it was bought with. I will check this out before I decide.
 
just looked on dell nothing there at moment otehr than ultrabooks and an 800 gaming rig though might change after 2pm.
the HP above is an ultrabook so its going to be 11 or 12" screen ( i note it doesnt say screen size in the specs.
im assuming minimum requirement would be 15.6 screen?

ah nope its 15.6.. unusual to call a a 15.6 lappy an ultrabook
 
Last edited:
Hi Dean, I Googled the product number and it's the 15 inch screen.
 
My experience with HP is similar to many other - overheating issues although current is a DV6 and still going strong 4 years on - needs a new battery now though......about right I suppose

I am after a Dell i7 win 7 - 64bit machine myself for onsite editing and culling plus other tasks......Outlet has very little at the moment though!
 
yep very quiet on there at moment just 4 ultrabooks... check just after 2pm and hopefully should have more. they go so quick though, took me 4 weeks or more before i finally managed to get mine at my budget but was worth the wait. 3 years on and still going strong
 
Hi Dean, any one in particular? Just got this and I'm on my phone which is pretty poor so taking an age to load that page.
 
Hi Dean,

Never got round to seeing any of them as my phone's mobile data wouldn't load. I was watching the football at my mates who must be the only guy in the world without internet connection and thick bloody walls to boot. I need to get my finger out as i'm not taking photos because i can't view them anywhere other than the lcd on the camera.
 
this ones still available
  • Inspiron 17 - 7737
  • Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-4210U processor (3M Cache, up to 2.7 GHz)
  • Windows® 8.1 Pro
  • 6 GB Memory (1x4GB + 1x2GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
  • 1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
  • 8X DVD +/- RW DRIVE
  • 17.3 inch LED Backlit Touch Display with Truelife and FHD resolution (1920 x 1080)
  • Back Up Media Not Included
  • Windows® 8.1 Pro (64Bit) English
  • Intel® Dual Band Wireless-N 7260 2x2 AGN + Bluetooth 4.0
  • LCD Back Cover : Silver (Touch)
  • Battery : Primary 4 Cell 58WHr
  • Internal Qwerty Backlit KeyboardPrice......
  • ..£439.00 Price Incl. VAT and excl. delivery...
http://outlet.euro.dell.com/Online/....aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfh&cs=ukdfh1&puid=e526ff0f
 
Looks nice Dean. I'll get onto this when I get home. I was looking at one from laptop direct roughly same price but an i7 processor. If I knew how to bloody cut and paste on this phone i could compare them.
 
The Inspiron 7000 series are nice, I use a 7537 - smaller 15" screen than that Dean listed but with the i7. Depends if you need the extra screen area. However the 15" chassis doesn't include an optical drive - you'd need an external disc burner. Battery life is imressive though, knocks the spots off my old Vostro.
 
bonus with alot of 17" laptops is most have dual HDD slots too so easy to upgrade just by adding an extra drive. no doubt though come tomorrow there will be more on dell outlet which may include some i7's
 
I'm going to pick up this one on Friday evening so looks like the search is finally over. I've been waiting to my techie mate to come with me and he's made himself available for Friday. Back to the photography after that. I really appreciate all the advice you've given me.
scottduffy said:
Do you guys think this is worth £400 second hand? It's £899 new from amazon.

HP ENVY 6-1202ea Ultrabook Beats Audio, 3rd generation Intel® CoreTM i7-3517U processor, 8GB RAM, 500GB HDD, Microsoft Windows 8, AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)

Product Details
  • Amazon Sales Rank: #146774 in Personal Computer
  • Brand: HP
  • Model: D0X06EA
  • Dimensions: .78" h x 14.72" w x 9.95" l, 4.74 pounds
  • CPU: Core i7 1.9 GHz
  • Memory: 8GB
  • Hard Disk: 500GB
  • Processors: 2
  • Display size: 15.6
Features
  • 3rd generation Intel® CoreTM i7-3517U
  • HP ENVY 6 Ultrabook
  • 8GB RAM
  • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HD Webcam & Microphone
  • AMD Radeon HD 8750M (2 GB DDR3 dedicated)
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
It did fall through but this one's out of my price range I'm afraid. I'm looking at about 500 max.
 
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