Dear OcUKers,
As the time to travel to Uni approaches, the idea of getting a laptop has been looming for some time. However, recently I've been offered an internship placement that will involve living in uni accomodation for a long period of time, so I thought it was time to get my head down and get some ideas together for some portable tech.
Thing is, I'm not after an all-rounder, I've pretty specific requirements...
1.It needs to be able to easily play 1080p files (encoded to a relatively high level, X264 in matroska etc.) but crutially does not need to have a screen that can any way support this – I'm intending to use a new widescreen monitor from home with it, so don't need the spend the extra cash for it to have a flash screen too.
2.I currently use a PC-amp-stereo speakers setup at home, and I'll be looking to replicate that as best as possible (mainly achieved by shifting large amounts of gear
). As such, I'm after something that has either inbuilt ability to produce output to the quality of at least my current M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or some additional external device that can provide this.
Aside from that I'm essentially looking for something that oozes value from its keys. My budget does have its limits, but I'm hoping I can safely afford something that does the above and not excessively too much more unless it is a no-brainer. Students are as students spend.
If you hadn't guessed, this lappy would be used primarily for student work, movie watching and sound reproduction. I can't see myself having a huge amount of time for gaming.
One last note: I could attempt to survive my internship without a new piece of folding gear IF the gurus on here reckoned there were serious value points to be earnt by holding off a few months to September. If there's no compelling evidence I'll be saving much though I'm inclined to jump in.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
As the time to travel to Uni approaches, the idea of getting a laptop has been looming for some time. However, recently I've been offered an internship placement that will involve living in uni accomodation for a long period of time, so I thought it was time to get my head down and get some ideas together for some portable tech.
Thing is, I'm not after an all-rounder, I've pretty specific requirements...
1.It needs to be able to easily play 1080p files (encoded to a relatively high level, X264 in matroska etc.) but crutially does not need to have a screen that can any way support this – I'm intending to use a new widescreen monitor from home with it, so don't need the spend the extra cash for it to have a flash screen too.
2.I currently use a PC-amp-stereo speakers setup at home, and I'll be looking to replicate that as best as possible (mainly achieved by shifting large amounts of gear
). As such, I'm after something that has either inbuilt ability to produce output to the quality of at least my current M-Audio Audiophile 2496 or some additional external device that can provide this.Aside from that I'm essentially looking for something that oozes value from its keys. My budget does have its limits, but I'm hoping I can safely afford something that does the above and not excessively too much more unless it is a no-brainer. Students are as students spend.
If you hadn't guessed, this lappy would be used primarily for student work, movie watching and sound reproduction. I can't see myself having a huge amount of time for gaming.
One last note: I could attempt to survive my internship without a new piece of folding gear IF the gurus on here reckoned there were serious value points to be earnt by holding off a few months to September. If there's no compelling evidence I'll be saving much though I'm inclined to jump in.
Any thoughts greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
