Spec Me a Good All-rounder!

petridish · 9 Feb 2022 at 13:35

Hello OCUKers!

Looking for a bit of advice from those more knowledgeable than me. I'm in the market for a new laptop and don't really know where to start. Desktops I'm ok with but laptops are out of my comfort zone.

I'm after something that my wife and I can use as a general work horse and that'll last us a good number of years. Mostly just the usual browsing/word processing/mail etc but with some light photo, drawing and design work. If it needs a dedicated GPU for that stuff then I'll no doubt do some light gaming as well, but that's an after thought. I'd say lightweight, portable and lasting build quality would definitely be a priority over the gaming aspect.

Budget £600 ish (happy to go up or down maybe 50% if it turns out the intended usage needs more/less). Also have access to various student portals so if there's a bargain to be had then even better.

Having had a quick browse of HUKD I spotted a good student price on a Lenovo ideapad gaming 3 gen 6 with a Ryzen 5 5600H and RTX 3060 more or less on budget (sorry for vagueness, hopefully this fits within competitor rules). Anything else comparable that I need to look into? Thanks in advance.

petridish · 9 Feb 2022 at 14:34

radderfire said:
Re laptop spec, an i5 will do you, don't skimp on memory, so 8GB+. Also, check it has all the ports you need.

Thanks for the reply. Good point on the ram, forgot that a lot of laptops are soldered with no upgrade options. I'm guessing our use will need a fair amount

petridish · 9 Feb 2022 at 20:30

sHo0sH said:
With the design uses I dont think you would go far wrong with a macbook Air...

Interesting, it had crossed my mind to look at Apple but neither of us have anything in the ecosystem to know how we'd get on with it. I'd also assumed there'd be a heavy markup for similar specs. Is the Air limited to get it as light and thin as possible or still fully equipped? Perhaps worth a trip to the nearest Apple store this weekend as much as I hate them.

petridish · 10 Feb 2022 at 14:26

Some interesting options thanks both. Been drawn to Lenovo for the student discount options but their website is terrible to navigate and compare on mobile. Need to try and find the ideapad pro on my desktop later.

Last laptop I bought was a Dell back in 2009/10 maybe? It was ok but very much an entry level one so never really amazed me. I'm sure the higher spec machines are nicer to use though so I'll take a look. Any particular models worth considering?

LG gram looks very nice. Think I need to evaluate all my priorities and decide what's most important, weight and form factor or performance

petridish · 10 Feb 2022 at 15:14

sHo0sH said:
@petridish Apple also do a student discount via unidays just google the apple store for education

I'm possibly missing something, but checking the edu prices the air is coming up as from 898.80?

Edit. Just checked and standard pricing is from 999 so I guess it's slightly more than I thought.

petridish · 10 Feb 2022 at 16:36

I don't unfortunately, really should by now but I'm a major lurker. That sounds like a great deal!

petridish · 13 Feb 2022 at 20:28

Ok talked it over with the wife and changed thoughts a little. Requirements now are:

- Good for the digital art stuff. This is probably going to be the main performance requirement and also means a good screen is a must. I've no idea how demanding these kind of programs are but assume the more RAM the better.

- I'll drop any requirements for gaming for me. I think I'll look at the Steam Deck once that's released as it's more likely to cover my kind of gaming and means this laptop can be a bit lighter.

- That also means slightly lower budget, around £600 as the top end ideally to leave me with some legroom for the Steam Deck down the line.

- All round build quality and user experience. Metal build would be preferred. Light, thin and quiet all pluses but don't need them over good internals. Just generally something nice to use on the sofa as well as at a desk.

- We've decided to stay away from Apple. I think the drop in budget takes that out of consideration anyway.

So with that in mind are there any good options to look into? Sorry to start over again but I think we've got a better understand of what we need it for now.