Question Which Laptop and Blu-Ray External recordable drive to purchase please?

[lunazero]

Hello

Hope someone can advise me on a laptop that meets the following requirements:

• Budget - maximum £1000 (however for the right laptop willing to pay a little more than this)
• 14" or 15" screen ideally with a number pad although considering Asus 'screenpad'
• 1920 x 1080 minimum resolution (I think I read 4K resolution eats up battery life??)
• Minimum 8GB RAM
• Minimum 256 GB SSD hard drive
• Intel i7 or i8 processor?? Sorry not too knowledgeable about this
• Glossy screen
• NOT for gaming - mainly browsing, Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint and burning video files to Blu Ray recordable disc
• Minimum 8 hours battery
• Maximum weight 2.5 kg but lighter the better
• HDMI and Ethernet ports
• USB 3.0 and/or USB-C if possible (minimum of 2 x USB ideally 4 would be great!)
• Webcam
• Wi-fi - 802.11a/c/n or whichever is the fastest?
• Bluetooth & Headphone jack
• Windows 10 (not Windows S)
• Microsoft Office 2010+ installed or any advice on where I can purchase separately (do not want a 365 subscription)
• SD card input would be handy but not essential

Brands -- considering Asus, HP, Dell or LG but open to any other suggestions,

Also would really appreciate any recommendations for a reliable external USB 3.0 optical drive - must burn CD, DVD and Blu-Ray discs.
One I am consdering is Pioneer BDR-XD07TB but open to any other good quality drives.

Many thanks in advance with any help with this!!

 

[EndlessWaves]

Office 2019 is the current standalone version.

802.11ax ('wifi 6') is the latest standard, but 802.11ac ('wifi 5') is the current norm. The latest one is only just coming onto the market, so it'll restrict your options severely if you can find it at all.

Intel don't use the i8 branding. If you're unsure about what the branding signifies it might be better to restate your processor criteria in terms that have more meaning to you.

Windows S is long extinct. Some smaller laptops are sold in 'S mode' as default, but the normal windows 10 mode can be switched to if desired.

A lot of lighter laptops are dropping the ethernet port so that's going to restrict your choice. Would a USB Ethernet device by suitable for your use?

 

[lunazero]

Intel don't use the i8 branding. If you're unsure about what the branding signifies it might be better to restate your processor criteria in terms that have more meaning to you.

A lot of lighter laptops are dropping the ethernet port so that's going to restrict your choice. Would a USB Ethernet device by suitable for your use?

Thanks for the advice - will look for i5 or i7 with 9th or 10th generation which I think uses ‘U’ and ‘H’ suffix?

USB Ethernet - have to admit not heard of this. Assume there is a cable to connect to an Ethernet port on a router?

Any laptops or brands to avoid please?

What do you think of the Pioneer external BR drive?

 

[EndlessWaves]

Thanks for the advice - will look for i5 or i7 with 9th or 10th generation which I think uses ‘U’ and ‘H’ suffix?

U and H are the power/heat levels that the CPUs run at (or at least the categories they fall within, they're not all identical). Y is below 10W, U is between 10W and 30W and H is 35W to 50-ish watts. There's also 65W B-suffix models at the moment.

More power use/heat output means more computational power, but shorter battery life and a larger and heavier cooling system.

Or is was, Intel's newest design has dumped then and replaced them with the integrated graphics model instead (G1/G4/G7). Whether that's permanent or not we shall see.

The 'generations' terminology has also got very snarled up with the last couple of releases with multiple designs of different ages being considered a single generation. Many of the '9th generation' models are identical in design to the 8th generation ones, and almost identical to the 7th.

Are you after anything in particular in the CPU?

USB Ethernet - have to admit not heard of this. Assume there is a cable to connect to an Ethernet port on a router?

It's like the Ethernet cards you used to get for desktops but connected via USB instead of PCI, and a lot smaller. It acts exactly the same as the built in Ethernet device and you just plug a standard Ethernet cable into it.

Any laptops or brands to avoid please?

Most of the business models tend to have rougher anti-glare coatings so if you're after a smoother (glossy) one then there won't be many models in those ranges that suit.

 

[lunazero]

Thanks - this is all very helpful!

CPU -not after anything in particular but one that runs smoothly. Battery life is not a huge issue as it will be plugged into mains 70% of the time.

So any there any laptops which meet above requirements that you recommend please?

And sorry to ask again - but any advice on the external BR recordable drive?