RESOLVED: I need to buy a new 'high-spec' laptop for a course I'm doing

[Throbbing Angel]

Beastly!

Indeed, however, I'm unhappy with the all day battery life

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I've been looking at new laptops as a result of this thread - damn you Throbbing Angel

Resisted the urge to spend thousands on a high end machine so far though...

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Maybe spend £3k instead of the measly month's salary (my salary that is) that I spent farmerbarleymow ?!?!

 

[Throbbing Angel]

Maybe spend £3k instead of the measly month's salary (my salary that is) that I spent farmerbarleymow ?!?!

These are only £3k

 

[UnderOpenSky]

These are only £3k

Bonkers. It's a gaming laptop, but unless your some obsessed mobile gamer, why would you spend that much and not want to play on a bigger screen. I'm pretty sure I could build a desktop with similar gaming performance for a bit over a grand.

 

[8ball]

Bonkers. It's a gaming laptop, but unless your some obsessed mobile gamer, why would you spend that much and not want to play on a bigger screen. I'm pretty sure I could build a desktop with similar gaming performance for a bit over a grand.

I’m not sure what the little second screen is for. Seems very fancy if it’s just for a tiny increase in screen real estate.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Maybe spend £3k instead of the measly month's salary (my salary that is) that I spent farmerbarleymow ?!?!

Spotted this one at £4k - looks lovely but I really can't* justify spending that as my current laptops works fine.

Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell UK

Dell provides technology solutions, services & support. Buy Laptops, Touch Screen PCs, Desktops, Servers, Storage, Monitors, Gaming & Accessories

www.dell.com

* can totally justify spending money on a new toy

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Spotted this one at £4k - looks lovely but I really can't* justify spending that as my current laptops works fine.

Computers, Monitors & Technology Solutions | Dell UK

Dell provides technology solutions, services & support. Buy Laptops, Touch Screen PCs, Desktops, Servers, Storage, Monitors, Gaming & Accessories

www.dell.com

* can totally justify spending money on a new toy

Just why?

 

[Magnus McGinty]

I’m not sure what the little second screen is for. Seems very fancy if it’s just for a tiny increase in screen real estate.

Second screens like that have their uses such as for a live render window if modelling on the main screen or any other software really where you want some of the windows you want quick access to out of the way.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Just why?

A new toy is always a sound justification. I won't buy it though - will wait until the current laptop is showing signs of age or it stops getting updates. The previous machine lasted me ten years so hopefully this one will.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

A new toy is always a sound justification. I won't buy it though - will wait until the current laptop is showing signs of age or it stops getting updates. The previous machine lasted me ten years so hopefully this one will.

Without knowing what you use it for, it's hard to advise, but I think you'd be better served buying one much cheaper and replacing it in 5 years.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Without knowing what you use it for, it's hard to advise, but I think you'd be better served buying one much cheaper and replacing it in 5 years.

Your probably right. I've recently spent over a grand on a phone so won't buy any new IT stuff for a while.

 

[two sheds]

I know this is marked RESOLVED but Which? is recommending good, cheap laptops.

Don’t buy a cheap laptop that has an Intel Atom, Celeron or AMD Athlon from more than four years ago. At this point you’re buying a product that was hardly fast when it was launched, and will feel positively ancient in 2024.

(also says used laptops are good if they have decent processor like Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5.

3 reasons why cheap laptops are better than you think - Which? News

We explain what to expect from budget laptops, and the pros and cons of spending less on a computer

www.which.co.uk

Let me know if anyone wants to know their best buys.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

They never should have been sold. God awful things.

 

[Chz]

They never should have been sold. God awful things.

It wasn't so bad. The mrs had a Kaby Lake Pentium that was exactly the same as the i3, minus 200MHz peak speed. It was fine, for the most part. Yes, the 6 core Zen2 that replaced it is better, but it's not massively different.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It wasn't so bad. The mrs had a Kaby Lake Pentium that was exactly the same as the i3, minus 200MHz peak speed. It was fine, for the most part. Yes, the 6 core Zen2 that replaced it is better, but it's not massively different.

Oh. When ever I had the misfortune to be shown one of these things by someone who'd bought one, they were god awful.

 

[Chz]

Oh. When ever I had the misfortune to be shown one of these things by someone who'd bought one, they were god awful.

It depends on what they went with. It tended to be laptops with 768 pixel screens and 4GB of RAM. I made sure it was 1080 and 8GB and that's what made it okay. The previous one was even an old Sandy Bridge Pentium with 6GB and that... well, it wasn't bad.

I will admit that Celeron was a step too far outside of Chromebooks. The Pentiums were quite frequently i3s with a slight knock on clockspeed.