Question Advice please: High spec laptop

akwa

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Hi

Wonder if anyone could suggest alternatives to my laptop choice. I ordered a ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 2. It was on a lead time of 10 days. It has now been delayed by at least two months so I am considering alternatives.

Key uses: photo collages (lots of high resolution photos being manipulated at the same time) using Affinity Photo; music production using Ableton Live; video editing using Corel VideoStudio. Later I plan to use the laptop to drive an Wacom Cintiq Pro (24 or 32).

Spec I went for: 15.6" UHD (3840x2160) touch screen, Core i9-9880H processor, 64GB memory, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX Max-Q 4GB. Cost was £3055.

Having a large high res screen is important. Likewise a machine that is well built. I'm otherwise open minded about what to go for.

Thank you!
 
Dell XPS 15 the latest series? Got very good reviews regarding the quality for its screen.

I just got one delivered today from work. Build quality I guess it’s relative, it’s nothing to write home about compared to my personal MacBook Pro, but seems to be a very decent machine otherwise.

Mine is the 10th Generation i7 hexacore with 32GB RAM and 1TB disc and I must admit that 15.6” UHD screen is fantastic. Although OS scaling is again not great compared to macOS but as you like Windows 10 regardless I’m sure you will be fine with that. It’s a new experience to me 😂
 
Thank you. So far I've added to my list the XPS 15, also the Precision 5550 and the MacBook Pro 16. Still looking around for other options.
 
MacBook Pro is very nice as well. If you like a big screen Dell also do an XPS17 :)

You may possibly also want to look at Razor.
 
I think HP has some pretty big screen laptops. I have 17-ca1065cl. its screen is 17.3 but Its not really a high spec kinda thing but its pretty decent as far as basic window 10 laptops go.
 
I think HP has some pretty big screen laptops. I have 17-ca1065cl. its screen is 17.3 but Its not really a high spec kinda thing but its pretty decent as far as basic window 10 laptops go.
The dimension of the screen really isn't the issue, dimension in combination with the resolution is what matters. The dimension by itself doesn't mean anything other than dimension. And then there is the quality of the screen that is used, to what standard it can actually provide colour accurately.

I'm sure your machine supports your needs, but it is really at the other end of the spectrum compared to what the OP in this thread is after. And he won't be buying such a machine from Costco either 😁👍
 
I haven't made a decision yet. If it is of interest to others this is the latest list I have:
  • Surface Book 3 - rejected - not good value; don't need a detachable screen
  • MacBook Pro 16 - rejected - not good value; 64GB memory very expensive
  • Dell XPS 15 - considering
  • Dell XPS 17 - considering
  • Dell Precision 5550 - considering
  • ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 - due to be released shortly
  • ThinkPad P15 - due to be released shortly
  • ThinkPad P17 - due to be released shortly
  • ThinkPad P1 Gen 3 - due to be released shortly
  • Razer Blade Studio - considering
 
@Bl4ckGryph0n What do you mean by other end of the spectrum? I think this notebook is pretty good compared to all the ones ive seen that were in my budget,
 
@Atomic77 The laptop you mention doesn't really fit the requirements that I am looking for. One of my key requirements is a high res screen, I mention 3840x2160. The resolution of the 17-ca1065cl is 1600x900. Overall I need a high spec machine for the things I want to do. The one you suggest is a low spec machine. That's what @Bl4ckGryph0n means by the other end of the spectrum.
 
@akwa @Bl4ckGryph0n I guess I will just shut up now as It is obvious you know a lot more about high specs than I do. I do know that at least where I come from in this world. the better specs are always higher priced like $1000 or more.
 
@akwa @Bl4ckGryph0n I guess I will just shut up now as It is obvious you know a lot more about high specs than I do. I do know that at least where I come from in this world. the better specs are always higher priced like $1000 or more.
:) I think you will find that what @akwa is looking for is not just add your estimated $1,000 but then at least double the total amount again.

It is a serious high end machine. But even then it’s not even at what’s called workstation level, but in my experience people who go there do that for different reasons again.

When using it for what the OP is using it for then the quality of the screen is extremely important. But not just that, also how the rest of the machine works together. Any kind of latency between the various components will become frustrating.

BTW Some feedback on the Dell with regards to audio output, bearing in mind that Apple Speakers were amazing. They are really good, until I noticed that that is because there is a heck of a lot of processing going on through various apps. When I switched them off it was like meh. Not great, flat, but different flat than a studio monitor flat. My daughter is a DJ / Producer, mainly uses FL Studio but started with Ableton, and she does t rely on inbuilt speakers anyway. She uses studio monitors when creating the final product. I guess it’s the same for you? But otherwise I’ve chucked a lot at the machine and it’s pretty good, screen is amazing and even the touchpad is pretty decent for a PC.
 
Unless your set on the windows route. Ive heard apple is pretty good for art and design and graphics.
 
Unless your set on the windows route. Ive heard apple is pretty good for art and design and graphics.
@akwa Already cover that in post Question - Advice please: High spec laptop

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