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New laptop needed - recommendations please

Think price is due to form factor. Just like the gm501 (zeph) you pay more for having a thinner / lighter unit.

When I got the asus the aero was the other contender. I travel a lot so was willing to spend an extra couple of hundred on a thin 15".
 
Doug2507 said:
Think price is due to form factor. Just like the gm501 (zeph) you pay more for having a thinner / lighter unit.

When I got the asus the aero was the other contender. I travel a lot so was willing to spend an extra couple of hundred on a thin 15".
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Ah of course, very good point.
Would you say the Zeph is good/same/better than the Gigabyte Aero? I also travel a lot, so the laptop (sadly) would probably spend more time in my rucksack than on a train table tray for example, with the odd occasion where I'd need to carry it around the office for meetings.
 
Not had the aero in my hands so couldn't really comment tbh. Thinking back, I think I swayed to the asus due to the panel they use, looks/finish and being able to use the usb-c port for ethernet. Haven't been disappointed by the asus and finish on it is really nice.

The only sticking point on these is noise from the fans when gaming. If you use a headset then no problem, if you use the built in speakers then I'd look for a bigger chassis that might have quieter fans. Totally fine / quiet for general tasks but game for a while and you'll know about it.

I carry mine in a Wenger backpack that gets thrown on a chopper every 2 weeks. Not a mark on it.
 
Doug2507 said:
Not had the aero in my hands so couldn't really comment tbh. Thinking back, I think I swayed to the asus due to the panel they use, looks/finish and being able to use the usb-c port for ethernet. Haven't been disappointed by the asus and finish on it is really nice.

The only sticking point on these is noise from the fans when gaming. If you use a headset then no problem, if you use the built in speakers then I'd look for a bigger chassis that might have quieter fans. Totally fine / quiet for general tasks but game for a while and you'll know about it.

I carry mine in a Wenger backpack that gets thrown on a chopper every 2 weeks. Not a mark on it.
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Interesting points - will bear that in mind.
Who knows, maybe either the Asus or the Gigabyte will feature in a massive Cyber Monday sale...but somehow I doubt it and I'll have to get saving and wait for another, bigger price drop (hopefully sometime soon!).
Noise for the most part wouldn't be a problem as for 75% it would be used for work and general tasks...but it's that 25% of gaming and video rendering where the extra grunt would really help.

Thanks for the feedback Doug, much appreciated.
 
Hi all,

So no luck in the Cyber Monday deals so looks like I'll be on the lookout in January.
In the meantime I wanted to ask about the upgrade options for these laptops - how easy is it for example to add a HDD or switch out the SSD (is an HDD addition even possible in the Aero since one isn't even in the original specification, and therefore presumably no slot for it in the first place...)?

Is this the same case with the Zeph as well?

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers!
 
Ssd swap you could do blindfolded. 1st thing I do with any laptop is ram/storage. Most high end chassis these days are a gift for doing that. Max speed hyperX and a Sammy NVMe were in before mine even powered up.

If its single nvme it's a little more of a chore to swap os over but not a big deal. When i had AW they've got dual NVMe slots which was a straight copy, single slot needs original image copied to ssd/external then back to NVMe.

Both the aero and zeph are still flagship models for the size/form. Wouldn't expect much savings right now as they don't have much competition for the market they're aimed at.

Both cpu and gpu gen past 8 series and 10xx haven't really shown any improvement on full fat desktop and will probably be similar when moved to mobile. I'm pretty happy I bought in on 8750h/1070/144hz, should be strong for a few years.
 
Doug2507 said:
I'm pretty happy I bought in on 8750h/1070/144hz, should be strong for a few years.
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Looking at those specs, just dunno if paying the extra buck (well, 500 of them or so) is worth it as I still intend to game "properly" on my desktop. Just want something to keep me company on those long on call weekends away from Mr Desktop :(
 
I used an envy x360 before it. Even with on-board (mx150) you could still play games to some extent, obviously not any AAA latest and greatest but alright to get by with. Absolute rip off though at over a grand. Ended up selling it a few months later due a few niggles.

For casual gaming a 1060 is probably more than enough and a damn sight cheaper, all depends on what games you play I guess! The irony for me with a 144hz screen is most games I play are online and as such are frame capped on server side anyway!
 
I need to keep reminding myself the most "intense" game in my Steam list right now is Witcher 3, so a 1070 would be overkill in that sense. Would be nice to be able to play more modern things on it but, again, need to remember it's just to stop me getting bored when doing on call weekends away from my desktop.
Think I'm mostly hung up on the screen, 15.6 (1060 6gb) vs 17.3 (1070 8gb)
 
Thanks for the feedback about upgrades Doug, I guess most laptops are capable of upgrades these days.

Unfortunately, it seems like it's going to be a waiting game for me.
I've looked into the Gigabyte Aero 15W and although it looks like a great laptop with fantastic specs, there are multiple issues - the keyboard (not taking inputs or recording too many due to a hardware issue), weak hinges and overheating issues (because it's a thinner form factor). The keyboard problems were thought to be originally software-related but now it appears after a number of updates it's all down to the hardware.

The Zeph also appears to suffer from heating issues. When I heard Razer had released a cheaper version of their Blade 15 I thought "great! that'll solve it!" but it turns out that it has heatpipes instead of their "vapor chamber" setup and again because of the slimmer form factor it overheats....everything else about it sounds like it's pretty-well perfect which is a real shame.

What is up with laptops that easily cost £1,000+ and they are still plagued by the same problems you'd expect only the cheapest laptops to suffer from? The companies must be getting returns every day for these issues so how are they actually making any money?

It makes me all the more disappointed that my Dell Inspiron 7677 which is now probably on a scrap-heap somewhere had issues with the screen, since otherwise it appeared to be a perfect laptop (albeit a bit weighty but certainly manageable).

So...any further suggestions please? Good luck with your search by the way Biggilus.
 
Thought about an xps with 1050ti? Lower power draw gpu and probably a lower draw cpu than an 8750h. Should run cooler and the screens are pretty lush.
 
Seems like a lot of gaming laptops suffer heat issues from what I've read here and there. Is that to be expected these days then I guess? Surely not if it gets to the point that BSODs occur without any tinkering to the system? I'm so close to buying https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...-g-sync-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-254-as.html but a small handful of reviews suggest it BSODs too often. I mean if it did that's certainly an RMA job right?
 
Biggilus said:
Seems like a lot of gaming laptops suffer heat issues from what I've read here and there. Is that to be expected these days then I guess? Surely not if it gets to the point that BSODs occur without any tinkering to the system? I'm so close to buying https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...-g-sync-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-254-as.html but a small handful of reviews suggest it BSODs too often. I mean if it did that's certainly an RMA job right?
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Interestingly, that laptop is no longer available - I guess due to new stock coming in?
Over the past few weeks I've been spending a lot of time across many websites, looking at reviews, what's likely to come next and generally just browsing. It really seems like every laptop on the market at the moment has cooling issues, especially offerings from Asus, Gigabyte and Dell. I've also found it's fairly impossible to get a cooler laptop that has a thin bezel - I guess it all comes down to the thing of getting as small a form factor as possible.

Two of my picks at the moment are:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...-g-sync-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-27c-ms.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...4hz-3ms-i7-8750h-gaming-laptop-lt-25r-as.html

I'm still unlikely to pick anything up before Christmas now and will continue to shop around. All companies seem to be keeping tight-lipped about what's coming soon too - hopefully some cooler machines with much thinner bezelled screens!
 
Doug2507 said:
Thought about an xps with 1050ti? Lower power draw gpu and probably a lower draw cpu than an 8750h. Should run cooler and the screens are pretty lush.
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Thanks Doug - I've looked at the XPS offering and to be honest I'd rather get a 1060 or 1070 at this point to future-proof the laptop somewhat. The 1050ti is pretty powerful and will run most of my current games without a problem but who knows what's coming around the corner...
 
David Flett said:
I bought a msi about 6 months ago ( upgrade from my old msi) and I must say I’ve not had any real problems at all, couple software related problems but once the bloatware was off I’m impressed! 1070/i7 7700/120Hz good combination
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Yeah I must admit I'm unsure what the benefit of the 8th Gen processors are over the 7th Gen...any ideas? What is the model number of yours please?
There's a very nice Asus ROG Strix GL503VS Scar Edition going for just under £1,300 on a site that rhymes with ** No Competitors - even in disguise **. It has a 1070, 16GB RAM, 144Hz screen, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD and a i7 7700HQ (large screen bezel).

They also have a Recoil II (with a perfect thin bezel) with 1060, 16GB RAM, 144Hz screen, 512GB SSD, 1TB HDD and an 8th Gen i7 (8750H).
 
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Shoxt3r said:
Thanks Doug - I've looked at the XPS offering and to be honest I'd rather get a 1060 or 1070 at this point to future-proof the laptop somewhat. The 1050ti is pretty powerful and will run most of my current games without a problem but who knows what's coming around the corner...
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In laptop you should look for Thunderbolt port for future proofing.
That allows using external GPU and basically desktop PC graphics cards.
External GPU would also help with cooling by allowing laptop's cooling system to handle only CPU's heat.
 
There is an American based company who have price options to re-tim cpu/gpu heatsinks and also offer zero dead pixel as well.

Trouble is the warranty if anything goes wrong I guess. Shame can't paste links.

I am seriously considering either a Asus or Gigabyte with those options.
 
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