Another laptop recommendation needed!

Associate
Joined
19 Nov 2018
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Hi all,

For those that have been following and replying to my posts, you may remember I've been through 2 laptops now where the same screen fault appeared - a Dell in 2018 and now an Asus this year. After a long battle getting them to replace the laptop, Asus have finally backed down and said that my laptop is irrepairable and I'm now receiving a full refund.

The Asus originally went in for the same problem I had three times with the Dell - a white spot appearing on the LCD screen. However, when I received the laptop back from Asus the laptop wouldn't boot up - it just got stuck after a couple of seconds and then shut itself off. After sending it back in for repair the next day I've been told by the repair company for about a month that the Motherboard (twice!), LCD screen, Keyboard and AC Power Supply have all had to be replaced...and lots of technical advice sourced from Asus themselves. And now, the laptop is completely kaputt.

So, now I have a budget of about £850-1,000 to get a laptop of a similar specification to my Dell 7577 or Asus FX505GM. I'm really not going to trust a standard LCD screen now so I need something with a really robust screen that doesn't have any reported issues.

The laptop again will be used for Photoshop work, website development and some video editing so high RAM and processor specifications are pretty much essential.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Soldato
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@Shoxt3r

Slightly difficult budget but had a look. You'll also benefit from a semi-decent GPU these days.

MSI GF63 9SC-418UK Core i7-9750H 8GB 1TB HDD + 128GB SSD 15.6 Inch GeForce GTX 1650 4GB Windows 10 Home Gaming Laptop

On sale from somewhere for £1.1K right now.

Would just add another 8GB DDR4 2666 260-pin stick for about £35, to make it 16GB. Or if you find a good deal for 2x16GB for close to £100, go for it.

Review which also shows it's a simple job to access the RAM slots and M.2 slot for any future SSD upgrade etc:


It's got the same specs as some of the new DELL XPS 15 (2019) models but is considerably cheaper. Have not used it myself so am not recommending you buy it, just to look into it.

 
Associate
OP
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Thanks Soldato!
I had a look on OCUK and spotted these two likely candidates - one's an i5 and the other is a Ryzen 7 - will I see much difference between those and a i7 9750 which seems to be bundled with everything these days?
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...0hz-fhd-i5-9300h-gaming-laptop-lt-2a6-ms.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...0hz-amd-r7-3750h-gaming-laptop-lt-27r-as.html

As I say the main thing is getting a decent screen. Most laptops only come with a warranty of a year which given the amount of problems I've had is a little short than I'd like...

Thoughts?
 
Soldato
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Those have 4 core CPUs and I wouldn't be buying into that for the usage you indicated. I'd look for a solid laptop CPU like 9750H and then the best accompanying GPU. Also look at RAM and SSD upgradability because some come with soldered versions which can't be swapped.

The MSI GF63 I mentioned is now £999 somewhere and has 2 year warranty.

Also spotted a Dell G3 for £999 somewhere which looks even better, spec-wise.

Dell G3 15 3000 15.6-inch FHD Anti-Glare LED Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-9750H, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti with 6 GB GDDR6, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home

 
Associate
OP
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Those have 4 core CPUs and I wouldn't be buying into that for the usage you indicated. I'd look for a solid laptop CPU like 9750H and then the best accompanying GPU. Also look at RAM and SSD upgradability because some come with soldered versions which can't be swapped.
Ah I thought as much! Ok that gives me a great starting point. My thought was to go with the 1660ti anyway which at this price point is the Max-Q but should be more than sufficient. Good shout about upgradability - how would I be able to get more information as to whether RAM or SSDs are soldered? I assume Nvme SSDs aren't upgradable?
The MSI GF63 I mentioned is now £999 somewhere and has 2 year warranty.
Cool thanks - why do some come with 2 years and others only a year for the same laptop?

Also spotted a Dell G3 for £999 somewhere which looks even better, spec-wise.

Dell G3 15 3000 15.6-inch FHD Anti-Glare LED Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-9750H, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD + 1 TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti with 6 GB GDDR6, Fingerprint Reader, Windows 10 Home


Thanks! Have been considering that one as well. There's also a 512GB SSD version available for the same price.

Pushing the budget up to around the £1150 mark and the latest MSI Prestige seems to be available. That has double the RAM and it seems a hugely improved screen - average graphics with the 1650 though. Any thoughts on getting that?
 
Soldato
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Actually been looking at the MSI Prestige Creator 15 over the past few weeks as a cheaper alternative to Dell XPS for a friend. Looks good value for money. Skipped mentioning it here as it was over budget but if you're pushing then I'd definitely consider it.

NVME SSDs are upgradable if not soldered. You just need to find videos showing the laptop in question being opened and the reviewer pointing out whether it can be exchanged or not. The Prestige doesn't have them soldered, and in fact has 2 M.2 slots so one is free.

And you're right about its screen (MSI Prestige Creator), the display has more sRGB coverage etc than the others listed in this thread so far. If gaming is not important, or less important than the tasks you mentioned, then the better screen might tip the balance in its favour.


The Prestige has a slightly newer CPU (not the 9750H but very similar). Have seen benchmarks and it does well if you push power limit up a bit, or runs cooler if you don't.

Warranty = they either know something about certain components not lasting very long, or they are just typically stingy, like LG are very stingy with monitor warranty for example.
 
Associate
OP
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NVME SSDs are upgradable if not soldered. You just need to find videos showing the laptop in question being opened and the reviewer pointing out whether it can be exchanged or not. The Prestige doesn't have them soldered, and in fact has 2 M.2 slots so one is free.

Thanks for the heads-up, I ended up finding the same video you posted actually which confirmed this haha.

And you're right about its screen (MSI Prestige Creator), the display has more sRGB coverage etc than the others listed in this thread so far. If gaming is not important, or less important than the tasks you mentioned, then the better screen might tip the balance in its favour.

Ah interesting. This is now the complication as I've found a Dell with a better graphics card, large HDD and average size SSD and generally an all-rounder for about £200 less (£999) than I've found the Prestige for (£1,165). Some deals have even thrown in a 3 year extended warranty for the Dell for the same price as the Prestige.

Going to be a difficult decision!!

Warranty = they either know something about certain components not lasting very long, or they are just typically stingy, like LG are very stingy with monitor warranty for example.
Yeah this is what I hate about standard warranties, seem to all be a year even for the most expensive tech!
 
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