Spec me a laptop please

neocon · 19 Jan 2017 at 12:03

Will be using it to run Visual Studio for .net web development

Think I need
i5
8GB RAM
SSD
15.6 inch display

I have a 1440p monitor that I'd like to connect it to

No DVD required

Budget is £400-500

Found this
HP 250 G5 Core i5-6200U 8GB 256GB SSD 15.6 Inch Windows 10 Laptop for £410

Is a i5-6200U going to struggle to compile code?

SilverFish21 · 19 Jan 2017 at 18:13

How portable should it be? Is weight going to be an issue?

neocon · 19 Jan 2017 at 19:37

It's not really an issue.

Ive seen an Asus vivobook with i5 6300HQ, which is quad core. Bet that's a lot better, but it's £750.

SilverFish21 · 19 Jan 2017 at 20:02

neocon said:
It's not really an issue.
Ive seen an Asus vivobook with i5 6300HQ, which is quad core. Bet that's a lot better, but it's £750.

Yeah, the 6300HQ is a lot faster. There's a nifty CPU benchmark comparison tool on this page (6300HQ vs 6200U).

It really boils down to how much of your working day you're waiting for the VS compiler to finish versus how much you're willing to fork out.

As you might know, VS supports "parallel builds" which takes advantage of all available CPU cores (unless you deliberately lower the number in Projects and Solutions -> Build and Run), so a 4 core CPU would probably be a smart choice in the long run.

SilverFish21 · 19 Jan 2017 at 21:02

It's somewhat challenging to find decent quad core laptops for under £500 but the HP EliteBook 8570w has got a 2.3-3.3 GHz Turbo Quad Core i7-3610QM and costs just under £500.

neocon · 19 Jan 2017 at 21:43

SilverFish21 said:
It's somewhat challenging to find decent quad core laptops for under £500 but the HP EliteBook 8570w has got a 2.3-3.3 GHz Turbo Quad Core i7-3610QM and costs just under £500.

Got a link to that?

SilverFish21 · 19 Jan 2017 at 22:07

Sure, if we're allowed to post links to other shops?

neocon · 20 Jan 2017 at 08:21

SilverFish21 said:
Sure, if we're allowed to post links to other shops?

I think they aren't new are they? Grade or B

Axeboy · 20 Jan 2017 at 08:47

£550ish can get you a "Asus N551JB Intel i7-4720HQ 8Gb 1Tb nVidia GeForce 940M 15.6" 1920x1080 Win 10" manufacturers refurb

edit: Although if you are going refurb, you could just buy something second hand. I reckon something with the older i7 3 series is worth up to £300 second hand and might be an option.

SilverFish21 · 20 Jan 2017 at 20:27

neocon said:
I think they aren't new are they? Grade or B

There are 10 in stock and they're new. Anyway, this is just a random quad core laptop that happened to be within your budget. There's probably others.

neocon · 21 Jan 2017 at 13:51

SilverFish21 said:
There are 10 in stock and they're new. Anyway, this is just a random quad core laptop that happened to be within your budget. There's probably others.

Can't find it

, give us a hint please

SilverFish21 · 21 Jan 2017 at 21:34

You can find it on the .co.uk site of one of the biggest and most well-known online retailers in the world if you search for "HP EliteBook 8570w" - the 2nd result shows a couple of used ones for £475 (albeit with a slightly better CPU), and the 3rd result is the one for £499 (there's currently 10 in stock).

Does that help?

neocon · 21 Jan 2017 at 21:52

SilverFish21 said:
You can find it on the .co.uk site of one of the biggest and most well-known online retailers in the world if you search for "HP EliteBook 8570w" - the 2nd result shows a couple of used ones for £475 (albeit with a slightly better CPU), and the 3rd result is the one for £499 (there's currently 10 in stock).

Does that help?

Cheers

The seller is being dishonest though.
New != Refurbished

New
HP Elitebook 8570W i7-3740QM @2.70GH 16GB 750HD Win 7 Pro - 1 YR Warranty THESE ARE CERTIFIED REFURBISHED WITH 1 YEAR WARRANTY

neocon · 21 Jan 2017 at 22:47

I'm surprised there are £1000+ laptops with U chips in them, the same as £500 laptops.

SilverFish21 · 22 Jan 2017 at 10:29

neocon said:
Cheers

The seller is being dishonest though.
New != Refurbished

New
HP Elitebook 8570W i7-3740QM @2.70GH 16GB 750HD Win 7 Pro - 1 YR Warranty THESE ARE CERTIFIED REFURBISHED WITH 1 YEAR WARRANTY

Yes, that applies to the i7-3740QM version which is listed as an alternative 'new' Elitebook 8570w. But if you look at the i7-3610QM version (the one I mentioned above) they've got 10 in stock and there's no mention of them being refurbished.

That being said, it can't hurt to ask the seller to confirm that they're definitely new. You never know...

Alternatively, just buy a different quad core laptop - I'd be surprised if this is the only option in the £400-500 price bracket... I wonder if Dell might have a similar model on offer.

neocon · 27 Jan 2017 at 12:50

Is this recommended

HP Omen 15-Ax095na Core I5-6300HQ 8GB 1TB + 128GB SSD GeForce GTX 960M 2GB 15.6 Inch Windows 10 Gaming Laptop

£759

Or are there better for this price?

Axeboy · 27 Jan 2017 at 12:52

Seems expensive when the 1050 version is under £800 I think

The 1050 version also comes with the slightly better 7300hq etc:

Latest generation Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ Quad-Core processor
39.6 cm (15.6") diagonal Full-HD (1920 x 1080) display
8GB RAM with 128GB SSD and 1TB storage
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5 dedicated)

edit: Its £829 but there are codes for money off etc to bring it to around £780

neocon · 27 Jan 2017 at 14:32

Axeboy said:
Seems expensive when the 1050 version is under £800 I think

The 1050 version also comes with the slightly better 7300hq etc:

Latest generation Intel® Core™ i5-7300HQ Quad-Core processor
39.6 cm (15.6") diagonal Full-HD (1920 x 1080) display
8GB RAM with 128GB SSD and 1TB storage
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 (2 GB GDDR5 dedicated)

edit: Its £829 but there are codes for money off etc to bring it to around £780

Cheers