Up to 1500 to spend on a 15"+ laptop

My 2011 15" Macbook Pro has finally died so I'm looking for a replacement. I have up to 1500 to spend, although if I could get away with spending 1000 I certainly wouldn't complain!

I was originally thinking of getting a retina Macbook Pro but it occurs to me that 1500 is a lot to spend on a machine that was released in May 2015. So, I'm looking at alternatives.

My requirements are:

4k / high res screen
SSD or the ability to easily fit one
Decent speakers would be nice
At least 15" screen size
Something that won't feel cheap coming from a MBP (tried an MSI gaming laptop and the build quality felt terrible)
At least vaguely professional looking (no Alienware type stuff)

It won't be used for anything particularly intensive so I don't need gaming performance or anything like that. I don't have a TV at home and like watching HD movies, TV shows etc so screen quality is very important.

So far I've been looking at the HP Spectre X360 15" (maybe a bit expensive for the spec?) and the Asus UX501VW (not sure if it would feel premium enough?)

Does anyone have any other recommendations?

Thanks

My recommendation for what you may be looking for is the Dell XPS 15 9550. Brilliant build quality and way up there and in the same league as the Macbook Pro's in my opinion, fantastic performance & specs for the money and a beautiful 4K screen. I've owned one for a few months and will be sad to see it go due to moving back to the Desktop scene, mine is the 4K / 512GB SSD / 16GB / GTX 960M 2GB & the 84WHr battery configuration.

This 4K model in question at the moment is around £1600 new from Dell but keep a close eye on the website for when they run special offers occasionally where you can knock £100 off. You can also chat live to a Dell agent through the website to bargain them down on the retail price which appears to work in most cases, and lastly - also check out the Dell outlet for returned / refurbished units as another way to keep the cost down.

I was also closely looking at the Asus UX501VW months ago when looking for a new laptop and was torn between it and the Dell due to the significant price differences, but from what I read online that even though the build quality of the Asus is somewhat comparable, after a few months the plastic on the screen hinges are prone to break and the 4K screen isn't as good as Dell's in terms of colour and brightness - I'm glad I went for the Dell in the end.

Liam.

That's a great suggestion, thanks. I actually had a first gen Dell XPS 15 and was really impressed with it so assuming it's a natural evolution from that model it should be great.

Can I ask if you've sold yours yet? Depending on price/condition etc, may be interested in buying it - you can PM me in trust with details.

geekman said:

That's a great suggestion, thanks. I actually had a first gen Dell XPS 15 and was really impressed with it so assuming it's a natural evolution from that model it should be great.

Can I ask if you've sold yours yet? Depending on price/condition etc, may be interested in buying it - you can PM me in trust with details.

Click to expand...

No problem

I knew you were going to ask that question and now I'm kind of kicking myself for it haha, and yep I sold it on the bay last night - if only I knew of this beforehand !! It's still in excellent condition throughout and I got a fair price for it so I'm still happy about that - I'm just hoping it gets to the buyer in one piece after I've sent it off.

Keep checking around on eBay though as I kept an eye out on it for days checking out the sold prices of them, there were some other good used examples with plenty of photos & a detailed description to back up the condition but be very cautious if you go down that route for obvious reasons.

Liam.

Ah shame - never mind! I'll have a look online and see what prices I can find them for.