Which laptop for university?

[Swiftz]

My son is deciding between these two custom laptops for university, he will be using it for Virtualbox, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, coding and a little bit of gaming on CSGO, Overwatch and Rocket League when he is on his break and travel as he has a gaming computer at home, which one is the better choice?

Option 1

15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel i7 Quad Core Processor 6700HQ (2.6GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 8GB)
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster Cinema 2
Intel AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BT 4.0
Nvidia GTX 960M - 2GB DDR5
120GB SSD
4x USB 3 ports
Backlit keyboard
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader
DVD drive

Price - £748

Option 2 - Can change CPU to i7 7700HQ for £63 more and/or GPU to 4GB 1050Ti for £51 more

15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel i5 Quad Core Processor 7300HQ (2.5GHz, 3.5GHz Turbo)
16GB HyperX IMPACT 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Intel 2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster Cinema 3
Intel AC-8265 M.2 (867Mbps, 802.11AC) + BT 4.0
Nvidia GTX 1050 - 2GB DDR5
120GB SSD
2x USB 3, 1x USB 2 and 1x USB 3 Type C port
Backlit keyboard
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader

Price - £809

Also, is there better laptops out there with similar price and specs?

 

[Casterina]

I would go for Option 2 as it has better GPU, USB 3 Type C and DDR4 RAM but in the exchange of i5 instead of i7 but wait for some suggestions from others before buying it.

 

[Tr1pp]

go for the second one, photoshop is not particularly optimised for multi core threading and 100mhz higher clock wont make a difference but a 1050 gtx will be a much better investment over the 960m. the second is just a better all rounder

 

[jakspyder]

the Ti is a fair step up too. Another option 2 vote.

 

[Swiftz]

go for the second one, photoshop is not particularly optimised for multi core threading and 100mhz higher clock wont make a difference but a 1050 gtx will be a much better investment over the 960m. the second is just a better all rounder

For his second and final year of university, he is required to use Virtualbox for his assignments/projects, will be running one virtual machine (Windows, Linux, Kali etc) at a time to setup, configure and testing stuff in the OS and maybe more but he will probably won't be using Virtualbox after he graduates so do you think the i5 7300HQ will be enough for his needs and gaming or go for the i7 7700HQ for £63 more, what do you think?

the Ti is a fair step up too. Another option 2 vote.

He doesn't play the latest AAA games, only light gaming on CSGO, Overwatch, Rocket League, Fifa on Medium/High settings when he is on his break, over to his friends house and travel as other heavy games, he can play on his gaming computer at home so I think the 1050 2GB will be enough playing them games on Medium/High settings for the 2 years in university, what do you think?

As, he probably won't be gaming on the laptop often if he finds a job so will just use the laptop for work.

 

[ShivP]

Be aware... a heavy laptop he will not want to carry around a uni campus... it isn't fun carrying a really heavy laptop for quite far distances especially if you are in a rush

 

[Swiftz]

Be aware... a heavy laptop he will not want to carry around a uni campus... it isn't fun carrying a really heavy laptop for quite far distances especially if you are in a rush

He used to have a Macbook that weighs 2.2KG and this laptop is 2.5KG so he is fine with that.

 

[dowie]

Can't he get something portable for lectures/library use and just bring his gaming PC to uni?

Frankly I'd try to get a MacBook Air or a 12 inch MacBook