Which laptop?

Dh6

Hi, I am looking for a new laptop.

I will need to access it to use QuickBooks online and Microsoft excel.

It will also be used for my sons 3d printer and maybe some light gaming along with his school work.

I know nothing at all about techie stuff so would appreciate some easy to digest recommendations if possible please.

Many thanks DH

MattMattMattUK

Pretty much anything will be fine with Quickbooks and Excel, especially using the free browser version of Excel. The 3D printer's software probably has pretty low requirements unless he is using the prosumer or small business machines, in which case he would already know what he needed. Light gaming can range from browser games to Fortnite, essentially things get more expensive as one goes up the stack, you could probably get away with £500-1,500 depending on what exactly it needs to do, or you could spend £8,000.

Do you have a budget in mind, can you let us know what 3D printer he uses (and what he currently runs the software on), any idea of what games he is playing?

Dh6

Thank you for your input. I will find out the answers to your questions when I get back from work and let you know.

flaneurs_lobster

FWIW I've just bought my first laptop for 5 years, main criteria were 14", good screen, light, decent build.

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/lenovo-yoga-slim-7-14.5-laptop-copilot-pc-snapdragon-x-plus-1-tb-ssd-cosmic-blue-10283956.html?

Currently £595 with the discount code shown.

Happy so far.

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82054071#Comment_82054071

So just a quick note, that is running Windows on Arm, whilst the translation layer is much better than it was and generally good for a lot of things and mainstream apps, it sometimes does not play nice with more specialist software (production level stuff, 3D printing, CNC, laser engravers etc.) and it is usually not performant in gaming. The flip side of that is for general usage and standard programs it is perfectly good and generally has better battery life, sometimes much better.

Edit to add: For that specific laptop the battery life is 45% longer than a similarly performant laptop when using office programs, web browsing, video etc. About 30% longer when running the native Windows on Arm versions of the the Adobe Creative Cloud programs which are intensive power hungry programs, and getting an OLED screen at that price is pretty incredible, they are normally only in much more expensive laptops.

sheenas

I have quite a few laptops which I use for my business. Hard core apple user until recently, simply far too expensive these days and no advantages any more.

My favourite is the Microsoft surface with a 15inch screen. Great keyboard and screen and is solid. It relatively expensive, but it's worth it. Dells are average build and expensive for what you get. Asus Vivobook are very good value for money, super fast and average build. Check the keyboard first thu, not the best.

Processor wise Amd or Intel to avoid limitation and issues.

Vitor

-

 maybe some light gaming 

-

Most games will give you a minimum specification to work from.

flaneurs_lobster

and getting an OLED screen at that price is pretty incredible, they are normally only in much more expensive laptops.

Yep, the screen is what swayed the purchase. The resolution & brightness are quite the thing.

Not obvious unless you dig (and not a big factor for me) it's a touchscreen too.

MattMattMattUK

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82054316#Comment_82054316

I could never go back to older display technology now having used OLED regularly, it really is a dealbreaker now. Touchscreen on a laptop I just not see the point of, all it really does is make the laptop heavier and thicker, my last two laptops have had it and it is an entirely pointless addition.

flaneurs_lobster

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82054437#Comment_82054437

Maybe the screen tech has moved a bit, this Yoga has a screen that is thinner than my last 'normal' Acer Swift and the whole thing is only 1.3kg.

'Buyer bias' probably, but it's a nice box. Keyboard is a serious upgrade too.

Cisco001

You need to state what game your son playing such that we can make recommendation