Recommend a Laptop

[TechMonkey]

Can anyone more hardwarely minded give some advice?

 

I have to replace my aged MacBook that has gone to the WEEE recycling plant in the sky after 9 years good service. I'm looking to get something that will last a good while, maybe not that long but a fair while. Has to be a laptop due to space issues but doesn't have to be a teeny svelte thing. Will be looking to run Virtual Machines, some app development, light gaming (Cities:Skylines, Europa Universalis and the like, not too demanding) and general work on it. I don't want a gamer laptop with all the flashy lights and UBER 1337 stylings as it my be pressed into work use sometimes.

 

I've looked at the new MacBooks and they are just too expensive at the moment. I've looked the XPS15 and Inspiron 7000 and tempted but unsure. Effectively I want RAM to either be 16+ or up-gradable to that level, SSD and a graphics card of some sort.

 

£1200 is my budget, hoping to spend less but for the right machine I could squeeze a bit more.

 

What do people think? Am I shooting for the moon with little hope?

[2ilent8cho]

Can you squeeze to another £700? https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/macbook_pro/15 £1909 will get you one of the newer MacBook Pro's and i've ordered lots from the refurb store, they are as good as brand new but cheaper. Only way you can tell is the box is slightly different, it says refurbished on it.

 

If you get another 9 years out of this one it will be £212 a year for a premium laptop. The trackpad on the Mac makes using gestures to flick between VM's a really nice experience.

[synaesthesia]

Nearly £2k..... What planet are some people on???? Get a refurbished anything else with i7, more memory than you can shake a stick at, an SSD big enough to store a mormon's dirty picture collection and enough graphical grunt to make Doom wet its pants, and it wouldn't take much more than 7-800 quid to find one!!!

[TechMonkey]

Nearly £2k..... What planet are some people on???? Get a refurbished anything else with i7, more memory than you can shake a stick at, an SSD big enough to store a mormon's dirty picture collection and enough graphical grunt to make Doom wet its pants, and it wouldn't take much more than 7-800 quid to find one!!!

 

Can you point me in the direction of these devices though? XPS15 start at £1400 and all the other laptops I have found with decent graphics cards have started at around £900 with low memory.

[elsiegee40]

Try the Dell Outlet

 

And try @ICTDirect_Dave

Edited September 25, 2017 by elsiegee40

[synaesthesia]

Aye, sorry I was actually referring to ICT Direct mostly who recently supplied a top end Dell Latitude to a HT locally.

[ICTDirect_Dave]

We could certainly help.

 

I've got a lovely Dell Latitude E6530 here that's in mint condition. Quad core i7 and all the bells & whistles.

 

PM me if you want a full breakdown?

[bald_pig]

I'm sure you can turn the LEDs off!

 

MEDION ERAZER X7847 High Performance Gaming Laptop

 

This company is owned by Lenovo, the laptops are made in Germany.

 

I have an older model at home and it's served me well!

[synaesthesia]

Or get a real one: https://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-legion-y520-80wk0009uk-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-1tb-hdd-128ssd-nvidia-gtx1050-15-6-full-hd-black/p3260960?navAction=jump&_requestid=8486531

[3s-gtech]

What about something like https://hexus.net/tech/reviews/laptop/101743-asus-rog-strix-gl702vm/

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/173-asus-rog-strix-gl702vm-gc003t-fhd-g-sync-i5-6300hq-8gb-ddr4-128gb-m2-sata-ssdplus1tb-hdd-3gb-gtx

 

Little more RAM and it fits the bill (you can mute the colours). The 753VD has much weaker graphics but more RAM and a newer CPU for less money. I wouldn't bother.

Edited September 25, 2017 by 3s-gtech

[Blue_Cookeh]

I just got a Lenovo X270 to replace my 2012 MacBook Pro retina. Absolutely love this little beast of a machine!

 

Also Lenovos are built like tanks and their warranty is awesome.

[hardtailstar]

Go for the XPS15, I have it and its really good.

 

I see you are in the South East @TechMonkey do you work for KCC?

[TechMonkey]

Thanks all. Got a good deal on the Dell Outlet for a device I had been pining for.