Laptop replacement help

wonderwallet

My son is looking for a new laptop and has a budget of around £450. Will mainly be used for using Photoshop and playing a game called 'Eve' (no more recent games!).

We've seen these and would be grateful for any opinions? Thanks

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acer-Aspire-15-6-inch-1366x768-Notebook/dp/B00NWHVF5C/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425937172&sr=8-2&keywords=acer+aspire+v3-572#productDetails

http://www.ebuyer.com/662401-toshiba-satellite-pro-r50-b-123-laptop-pssg0e-009001en

enfield_freddy

we have discussed laptops before , notice the processor used in those two , I suggest you wander down this list until you see it and check out the power and performance/pound


http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_list.php


you will see that it has less power than a lot of basic i3 processors and is just on par with some of the basic intel pentiums


it sounds good "i5 4210 , but there is a little "u" after it , meaning its a very cut down CPU for a laptop.


I would not recommend this CPU for photoshop or playing games.




when looking at others , use that list to give you an idea of the CPUs power

Fightsback

Have a look here and don't be afraid of some of the Grade A1 refurbs as there are bargains to be had:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/st/laptops-between-400-and-500-pounds?&cnt=81&isort=price+rev

Eve is a reasonably demanding game, if you want a proper gaming laptop I think you are going to have up your budget to one with a separate (not on the cpu die) graphics chip. Add another £100 to your budget.

http://www.ebuyer.com/642076-pc-specialist-cosmos-ii-x15-840-gaming-laptop-pcs-l672514

or a bit cheaper here:

http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/PC_Specialist_Cosmos_II_GT15-840_Core_i3_4th_Gen_8GB_500GB_15.6_inch_Window_PCS-L752863/version.asp


Does it have to be a laptop ? You will get much more bang for your buck with a desktop solution.

Cisco001

If you could uplift the budget to £500, check out Acer at Saveonlaptops

Acer Aspire V3-572G
Intel Core i5-4210U Dual Core Processor
15.6" HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
6GB DDR3 RAM
1000GB HDD
DVD Rewriter
Dedicated GT 840M Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
Upto 8 Hours Battery Life
NX.MNJEK.005

Fightsback

Cisco001 wrote: »

If you could uplift the budget to £500, check out Acer at Saveonlaptops

Acer Aspire V3-572G
Intel Core i5-4210U Dual Core Processor
15.6" HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit
6GB DDR3 RAM
1000GB HDD
DVD Rewriter
Dedicated GT 840M Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth
Upto 8 Hours Battery Life
NX.MNJEK.005

Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series
17 incher at £50 more might be a good choice too.

Edit, on ebay for £500, manufacturer refurb 12 months dell warrenty.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Inspiron-17-5748-Laptop-3-1-i7-8GB-RAM-nVidia-2Gb-GeForce-840M-720p-Win-8-/301376010287

Processor Intel Core i7-4510U Dual Core (2GHz, 4MB Cache, Intel Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) Screen 17.3" (Dell TrueLife, LED Backlit, 1600x900 Resolution) Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit RAM 8GB (DDR3 1600MHZ) Hard Drive 1000GB Optical Drive DVD Rewriter (Records DVDs 8x & CDs 24x & Dual Layer Super Multi) Graphics Dedicated (NVIDIA GeForce GT 840M with 2GB Dedicated Memory) Wireless LAN Wireless (802.11b/g/n Wireless) Network Card 10/100/1000 Gigabit Fast Ethernet Integrated Webcam Integrated HD Webcam with Microphone Card Reader 3-in-1 card reader (SD/SDHC,MMC) USB Ports 2x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0 Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0 Speakers Integrated Sound System Charge Time 2.5 Hours HDMI Port 1 x HDMI Port Warranty 12 Months Dell Collect & Return (View More Information) Battery Life 5-6 Hours (Upto 5 Hour Battery Life) Weight 2-3 Kg (This Model 2.95 Kg) Product Type Notebook Keyboard Type Laptop Keyboard

wonderwallet

Fightsback wrote: »

Dell Inspiron 17 5000 Series
17 incher at £50 more might be a good choice too.

Edit, on ebay for £500, manufacturer refurb 12 months dell warrenty.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-Inspiron-17-5748-Laptop-3-1-i7-8GB-RAM-nVidia-2Gb-GeForce-840M-720p-Win-8-/301376010287

Please forgive my ignorance but is this is on the Dell website for £529 - looks the same but the processor is 5th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz) Is this very different to the one you're recommending?

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-17-5749-laptop/pd?oc=cn74913&model_id=inspiron-17-5749-laptop

Fightsback

wonderwallet wrote: »

Please forgive my ignorance but is this is on the Dell website for £529 - looks the same but the processor is 5th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz) Is this very different to the one you're recommending?

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-17-5749-laptop/pd?oc=cn74913&model_id=inspiron-17-5749-laptop

Next gen chip at £30 more, not much in it really maybe worth the extra £30 and you are also dealing with dell directly.

PS the 17in screen will be better for photoshop and gaming, the downside is less battery life on a 17inch screen.

Cisco001

wonderwallet wrote: »

Please forgive my ignorance but is this is on the Dell website for £529 - looks the same but the processor is 5th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-5500U Processor (4M Cache, up to 3.00 GHz) Is this very different to the one you're recommending?

http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-17-5749-laptop/pd?oc=cn74913&model_id=inspiron-17-5749-laptop

Check dell outlet as well. They have cheaper refurb laptop.

shaun_from_Africa

Fightsback wrote: »

PS the 17in screen will be better for photoshop and gaming, the downside is less battery life on a 17inch screen.

I agree 100% with this.
Given the choice between a bigger screen or a faster processor, I would always go for the bigger screen if the laptop is being used for Photoshop (or similar photo manipulation programs.)


I use Photoshop a lot on my PC which has a 25" monitor and I occasionally do some work on my laptop which has a 15.6" screen. It can be done but some jobs are extremely difficult and require far more time and concentration than doing it on the PC.

[Deleted User]

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Given the choice between a bigger screen or a faster processor, I would always go for the bigger screen if the laptop is being used for Photoshop (or similar photo manipulation programs.)

You can always pick up a cheap monitor from Cash Generator/Converters or the like.