Laptop for design < £600

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 10:20

Hi all,

I'm looking for a decently specced laptop that can run photoshop, ideally Core i5 / i7 (is the i7 worth the extra?) 6Gb RAM and must have an SSD.

I spotted the Eurocom Fox 4.0 but that blows the budget when I add an OS & SSD.

Can anyone recommend something along these lines?

Disco Boy · 15 Aug 2012 at 10:24

Your desires are too great for your budget. An SSD isn't going to happen for your budget I am afraid. In answer to your question, you'd be better off with an i5 because it leaves money for the gpu and SSD.

My advice would be to get something from the DELL outlet & add your own SSD.

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 10:32

ok, good to know. Will have a look at the Outlet. thanks.

drakioned · 15 Aug 2012 at 10:55

i5 with 6gb RAM and SSD for £600 doesn't sound so unrealistic to me...

Disco Boy · 15 Aug 2012 at 12:59

drakioned said:
i5 with 6gb RAM and SSD for £600 doesn't sound so unrealistic to me...

Maybe I spoke a little soon, but, you're looking at £80 for a 128gb SSD, so that leaves you with £520 for a laptop. For around that money you are looking at things like (and this isn't a recommendation, I just looked to see what there is):
LENOVO Ideapad Z750 15.6" with:
i5-2450
6GB RAM
GT 630M 1GB
1366 x 768

So yes it is doable... But that laptop has a hateful 1366x768 screen which would be pants for photo editing.

Basically you can't beat the DELL outlet for value. Remember to look at about 3.30 every day

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 15:21

Disco Boy said:
Basically you can't beat the DELL outlet for value. Remember to look at about 3.30 every day

3.30 ay? That's the magic number - I've got 10 mins then, thanks!

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 15:45

This does look pretty good actually, £643.00

XPS 15z
Processor: Intel Core i7-2640M (2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz)(2GB Graphics)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
256 GB Dell Mobility Solid State Hard Drive, 1.7MM
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Display: 15 inches FHD WLED True-Life (1920X1080) with 1.3 Mega Pixel Integrated Camera
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
Back Up Media Not Included
Wireless: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (2x2 b/g/+ Bluetooth Combo Card)
LCD Bezel: Silver
Battery : Primary 8-cell 56W/HR LI-ION
Internal Qwerty Backlit Keyboard

Disco Boy · 15 Aug 2012 at 15:47

Looks pretty awesome to me!

I don't know how good DELL's SSDs are, so it might be worth getting a cheaper one with HDD and installing your own SSD. But obviously it depends on what is available.

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 15:52

Just out of curiosity, how do Dell laptops compare to other brands in terms of build quality. HP, Toshiba, Asus etc...

Disco Boy · 15 Aug 2012 at 15:59

I've not used a 15z so can't comment myself. But generally consumer grade laptops are much of a muchness.

I bought my laptop, a latitude E6520, from the business outlet and the build quality is excellent. SO you could perhaps look on the business outlet to see what is available there.

Here's a review of the 15z:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/laptop/3325646/dell-xps-15z-p12f-review/?tab=verdictTab#top

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 16:09

The E6520 looks great too. I notice there are 2 choices for the screen:

Display : 15.6in UltraSharp FHD(1920x1080) Wide View LED-backlit
Display: 15.6 in HD (1366x768) Anti-Glare LED-backlit LCD

Which one did you get?

Disco Boy · 15 Aug 2012 at 16:46

There is actually a resolution in between I think.

I got the 1080p one. 1366x768 is really low for 15" imo. It took some time to get used to text etc. being fairly small, but now I love my screen.

I bought mine about this time last year, here are the specs:

DELL Latitude E6520
Intel Core i5-2540M (2.60GHz, 3MB cache, Dual Core)
15.6in UltraSharp FHD(1920x1080)
512MB NVIDIA NVS 4200M Discrete Graphics
8 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
500 GB HDD 7200 RPM
Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205
Dell 375 Bluetooth Card
Windows 7 Professional 64 BIT

picked up from the outlet for £573 + £22 delivery + £23 for additional 4gb of RAM (came with 1x4gb)

I chose a latitude over an inspiron/xps for the build quality and 3 year warranty. I don't game so the gpu is powerful enough for me.

dmx07 · 15 Aug 2012 at 20:27

Good price for that spec from what I've seen so far. Thanks for the info, it's been a great help.

dmx07 · 18 Aug 2012 at 17:32

Doh, just realised (of course) the prices on the business outlet are ex VAT.. so I'd be looking at £780 for that spec..

bells · 18 Aug 2012 at 20:55

How about this sony one SONY VAIO E Series SVE1511W1E

Disco Boy · 19 Aug 2012 at 00:25

dmx07 said:
Doh, just realised (of course) the prices on the business outlet are ex VAT.. so I'd be looking at £780 for that spec..

That was what I paid including VAT

I think that the retail outlet also lists prices excl VAT?

dmx07 · 19 Aug 2012 at 09:34

That was a fantastic price u managed to get then! I've found an xps 15, core i7 2.2, 6gb ram, 750gb HD, Blu ray & 1980 x 1080 res for £600 flat. Although I'd have preferred an e6520 I can't argue with the price and specs, will hopefully serve me well!

Disco Boy · 19 Aug 2012 at 11:42

dmx07 said:
That was a fantastic price u managed to get then! I've found an xps 15, core i7 2.2, 6gb ram, 750gb HD, Blu ray & 1980 x 1080 res for £600 flat. Although I'd have preferred an e6520 I can't argue with the price and specs, will hopefully serve me well!

That's an awesome spec. Great buy.