Laptop Advice Please

[Victor Meldrew]

Hi,

My name is Paul. I Live In The United Kingdom. I Am Looking For Advice On A New Laptop & Would Appreciate Any Advice From The Members On This Forum.

I Have Researched What I Require However My Ambition May Out-Weigh My Budget!

I Will Use The Laptop for Web Design, Mainly Photoshop CS5 Extended (Repousse & 3D), Adobe Flash CS5. Also Some Video Editing But Nothing Major In That Department.

I Am An Absolute No-Goer On CPU, HDD, SSD etc etc. My Head Is Spinning Reading About CPU's, Hard Drives, Graphics Cards etc & I Commend Those Who Know About These Things, So Much Choice And Price Range That Someone Like Me Is Lost!
I Have Read Advice After Advice On The Internet But Whatever One Site Suggests Another Site Contradicts!

I Have Done My Research And Below Is What I Have Come Up With That I THINK Will Suit My Needs For The Next Few Years, But Will It Suit My Budget?

What is your budget? £500-£600 could stretch to £700 At A Push If Absolutely Necessary.

What size laptop do you want? 16"

Do you have resolution requirements? 1280x800

Do you want a matte or glossy (reflective) screen? Matte If Cheaper (Would Rather Spend On Memory/Speed. But Glossy Preferred.)

What will you be using the laptop for? Web Design & Video Editing.

If you will be gaming, what games do you need to play? N/A

How long does the battery need to last? 6hrs Would Be Ideal.

Does it need to be portable? Would Be Great Portable But Can Handle Either....Down To Price!

Do you require Blu-Ray? No

Do you require HDMI output? Yes

Do you have a preferred brand? Not Knowing One Brand Performance From Another I Have No Preferences & Would Willingly Consider Anything Recommended Here.

Are there brands you would prefer to avoid? Not Knowing One Brand Performance From Another I Have No Preferences & Would Willingly Consider Anything Recommended Here.

Would you be happy with a refurbished laptop? Not Really Would Worry About Long Term Reliability. But If I Am Wrong Thinking Like That And It Is Worth While I Would Consider.

Any other details you feel necessary:

Colour: Black but not fussy as long as not pink!
Webcam: No
Good quality speakers: Would Be Nice But Not Important.... Again Would Rather Spend Money On Memory/Speed.

Here's The Mind Boggling Stuff (for me anyway)............

General Spec:

CPU: Intel i7 3GHZ Or More
RAM: Minimum 3GB But Would Like More If Possible.
HDD space: Minimum 200GB But Would Like More If Possible.
SSD: Intel x25-m 80GB
Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64bit.
Wireless: Yes
SD/MS Pro MMC XD Slot Required

Anything else you can think of:

Using A Compaq At The Moment (Which The Wife Is Waiting To Inherit!) The Fingure Pad Buttons Make A Loud 'Clicking' Noise When Pressed So Would Like Buttons That Are Not So Noisey....Petty I Know But It Is Irritating After A Time!

Please forgive my ignorance if any of the above is absured to someone in the know. I want to buy what is best for my budget to do the job I want. I do not want to walk into computer shops to be baffled into buying the wrong thing by a salesmen or women who want to make a sale.

Best Regards
Paul.

 

[dc8900]

Would you be happy with a refurbished laptop? Not Really Would Worry About Long Term Reliability. But If I Am Wrong Thinking Like That And It Is Worth While I Would Consider.
.

A refurb has no impact on long term reliability. Refurbs tend to be product returns (cooling off period), prior generation or a return due to a defective part, that would have been replaced. Thus the laptop would be to the same performance standard as a new one but with the chance of the odd mark or scratch on the lid. Plus a refurb usually comes with the same 12 month warranty. What you do want to avoid is ex-display (which can be worse than 1000th hand! ). For more bang for your buck, check out the Dell Outlet, major deals to be had.

Anyway, had a look around, and with the 16" requirement, I couldn't find any with that screen size, so to start off, here are two Samsungs (both with 17", as I wasn't sure if 15.6" would do):

Samsung RC710 NP-RC710-S01UK

Samsung R780 NP-R780-JT04UK

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Thanks for help dc8900.

I like the RC 710 looks good and has what I need.

I Will go from here & check out Dell.

Not woried about the 15.6 screen thats fine, and now you explained the refurb issue I would be more than happy with one even more so if they carry the 12mth warranty..... For some reason I thought they were revamped second hand units!

Thanks again for taking time out to help.

Paul

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Checked Dell. Only thing near is around the £560+vat mark.

 

[RichardZE2]

Checked Dell. Only thing near is around the £560+vat mark.

The nearest model to the RC 710 spec is the one below at £649, it has a better graphics card than the RC 710 but apart from that very similar - is that the one you were looking at?

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Hi Richard,

It was above the one you mentioned. The one you mention I did notice but with vat & delivery on top it pushes the price right up even though we are vat reg It is still a little more than I idealy would like to pay. Do you think for the better graphics card this should be one to consider as well?

best regards
Paul

 

[richard plumb]

the union Jack XPS on this page Dell XPS 15 Laptop Details | Dell would be a slightly better spec than the samsung as the graphics card will be better. £599 on the store minus a £70 voucher from dmxdimension.com and 6% quidco would mean it'd cost you around £500 all in.

TBH for what you describe you don't particularly need an i5 or dedicated graphics (you do not plan to game on it, right)? In which case you could manage just fine with an i3 which is basically an i5 without the 'turbo boost'

in that case you can look at something like the inspiron on this page New! Inspiron 15R Laptop Details | Dell for a little less.

really I think that XPS with the union jack cover is the best balance of price/performance at the moment (for Dell). and providing you use the vouchers

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Hi Richard,

Many thanks for info. You are right I am not gaming on it but the XPS 15 would do a treat. Good reviews and a good price. only thing is I donot think it has a card reader for digi cam but I will see if one can be added at what cost. One question Richard how do I go about getting the additional 6% quidco discount? Is that a discount offered on a payment option when buying from dmxdimension.com....sorry to be a pain but never heard of quidco.

Best Regards
Paul

 

[richard plumb]

quidco.com is a cashback website. You have to pay a small fee to join, but then when you visit websites from there (like a referral link), you get cashback. Sometimes only small stuff, but for bigger ticket items like a laptop its definitely worth joining. You should get about £30 back from that XPS.

Just make sure to go to Dell from the quidco website so it can track it properly. quidco also have the voucher code you'll need - you want the £70 one for items over £699 (which that is - the 'before' price counts too)

pretty sure it has a card reader along the front edge too - SDHC, MMC, Memory Stick Pro, xD

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Thanks for that Richard. I have joined quidco.com

I have navigated through quidco reedemed code and onto Dell (from quidco). However I cannot see the one XPS 15 suggested. Dell XPS 15 Laptop Details | Dell Do I customise the XPS 15? Even when customising I cannot see the same processor or video card in relevant custom options?

The L502x (£507) Is the nearest with slightly different processor & video card,
but the before price is £669 so I assume makes voucher code invalid.

The 2nd L502x (£649) has a before price £831.67 so qualifies for voucher.

Sorry Richard, not sure If I am missing something obvious on Dell website but would like advice before I go ahead and order. I'm thinking maybe the XPS 15 recommended is not currently or is longer available on Dell's site? In which case shall I opt for the £649......can't get technical details for it at the moment.

Paul.

 

[Noggleboggleman]

I've just ordered this from the Dell home laptop section:

New XPS 15

With £70 off it comes to £559, and then you get about £30 Quidco too, making it around £530.

It's a 15.6 screen with Intel® Core™ i5-2410M and 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M graphics card.

 

[richard plumb]

heh. looks like they updated the site yesterday. When I posted it was there.

edit: the prices are a little lower than they were before - that i3-2310 for £440 looks like a bargain although not the fastest CPU in the world it would do for most people.

Of that new range, I'd be tempted to go for the i7-2630qm at the end. £649 starting price, minus the £70 and quidco would make it around £550 in the end, but that i7 is an amazing processor. Quad core, faster than many quad core desktops, and would be ideal for heavy photoshop work, and last you years to come

or the 17" version with the same processor - larger screen, higher resolution so fit more on the screen, but about £100 more.

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Thanks Richard,

I was tempted to go for that last night but just wanted clarification. I am going to order it now.

Paul

 

[Victor Meldrew]

Thanks Everyone for Input.

Thanks Richard.

Price wise I made a last minute decision to go with the XPS 15 i5 union jack (in aluminium). The i7, although tempting did push the price up a fair bit. I am more than happy with the i5 at £529 - 7%quidco It suits my needs.

Can I just say how greatful I am for the help you & AV forums gave. I reckon I have saved hundreds of pounds that I would of otherwise been talked or baffled into spending if I walked 'blind' into a computer store.

AV forums will definately be recommended.

Thanks once again especially Richard.

Best Regards,

Paul.

 

[Victor Meldrew]

I have revived this post to tell the story of my experience of buying from Dell.

The long and short of it is the laptop was ordered 29 April 2011. It arrived on May 15th 2011 with a faullty optical drive. It took three weeks of phone calls and emails to Dell to arrange an Engineer to come to my home to repair/replace. I took a day off work to receive engineer only to get a phonecall at 11:30am that day by an Indian Dell representative saying (or at least I think she said): engineer did not have required part and would not be attending and could he come the next day instead. After speaking to an British, english speaking manager in India I decided to return the unit.

Another load of phone calls and emails and I was finally refunded my money last Friday! Two months after purchasing!

In my opinion Dell are useless at customer service. I have read lots of reviews on the internet and It is definately a case of buyer beware with Dell if you have a problem with your computer, even if it is delivered faulty they drag their heels! Do as I did and advise the Dell CEO of the standard of service you received. Things were sorted in three days.....funny that.

 

[robinhood1701]

Thanks for that Paul, am on laptop hunt m'self, Lenovo G570 is favourite, agree bout Indian call centres, good English, but robotic n don't understand.