Which Windows laptop? Budget: €1500

vxdvxvdxvdxvx

Hi, I'm looking to replace my laptop. I've a budget of around €1500. The most intensive tasks I'd use it for would be running music production software and using Photoshop.

Which laptops are the best of class right now (as of August 2019!) for this budget?

if you don't need ultra portability this is a powerful laptop for the money

https://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/GA502DU-AL025T-ASUS-ROG-Zephyrus-G-GA502DU-AL025T_2550156.html

other options

dell xps 15 - 12% off until Aug 14

not as poweful but nicer looking machine and 1.8kg vs 2.2kg

if you need something really portable the xps 13 also 12% off with code on the dell website.

powerful enough for music production and photoshop

vxdvxvdxvdxvx

I'm pretty interested in the Dell XPS 15. Only problem really is that when I go on Dell's website there's an overload of options in terms of which Dell XPS 15 to get. Oh how to navigate the options!

this model with the 4k OLED screen, i7 6-core, 16gb ram offers the best value compared to the other choices

https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/new-xps-15/spd/xps-15-7590-laptop/cn79012

it's €1999 which you can get 12% off until tomorrow with the lucky12 code

that's above your budget but offers more compared to the other options

otherwise go for this one

https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/new-xps-15/spd/xps-15-7590-laptop/CN79004

djan

If it's for productivity I would consider going against 4k on such a small screen. There is still a lot of apps that don't scale well with windows. Regardless I'd recommend an external monitor for proper work as that will make things much easier!

djan

djan wrote: »

If it's for productivity I would consider going against 4k on such a small screen. There is still a lot of apps that don't scale well with windows. Regardless I'd recommend an external monitor for proper work as that will make things much easier!

handy for photoshop for colour accuracy and resolution which OP mentioned and OLED on a laptop is cool and shiny.

plus you can quickly set it to 1080p in a few seconds if needed.

gibgodsman

glasso wrote: »

this model with the 4k OLED screen, i7 6-core, 16gb ram offers the best value compared to the other choices

https://www.dell.com/en-ie/shop/laptops/new-xps-15/spd/xps-15-7590-laptop/cn79012

it's €1999 which you can get 12% off until tomorrow with the lucky12 code

I have to say thats a very poor laptop for the price. 2k and it only has a 1650? 2666Mhz ram, Yeah its nice having a 4k screen, but trying to do anything at 4k on that, ouch.

For what you have said your looking to use it for, there would be far better, cheaper options out there

gibgodsman

gibgodsman wrote: »

I have to say thats a very poor laptop for the price. 2k and it only has a 1650? 2666Mhz ram, Yeah its nice having a 4k screen, but trying to do anything at 4k on that, ouch.

For what you have said your looking to use it for, there would be far better, cheaper options out there

yes I linked a gaming laptop for him that's cheaper with more gpu power but the premium-look productivity laptops like the dell xps 15, lenovo thinkpad extreme etc are expensive.

he said that he was interested in the xps 15...

on the otherhand most gaming laptops have screens with poor colour accuracy and are heavier and not made from materials like the xps 15 which has full metal and carbon keyboard.

a 1650 will be fine for 4k photoshop - not 4k video. but photoshop is not video...

vxdvxvdxvdxvx

I went for the €1,799.00 version of the XPS 15 (with a 10% student discount). That 12% discount wasn't applying to the XPS I don't think. The offer had closed by the time I decided to buy it anyway. What swung my decision was the build quality of it. My last laptop was a Toshiba Satellite that had great specs 5 years ago (came with 1TB storage), but the build quality of it was bad, a plastic thing, one of the hinges broke, just snapped, so i wanted to avoid that experience again. I was looking at Thinkpads as well, but found that they're a bit more pricey than the XPS' for the same specs, and I was already going over budget. The version I got has a 9th gen i7, 16GB memory, 512GB and just the full HD screen, no OLED. I'm already addicted to staring at the screen, don't need it to look even better hah. I didn't realy give thought to go for a gaming laptop because I don't intend to game that much on it. It's an interesting subject though. What gaming laptops could I have got with better specs for the same price, if any gaming laptop enthusiasts want to promote their corner?

tuxy

glasso wrote: »

handy for photoshop for colour accuracy and resolution which OP mentioned and OLED on a laptop is cool and shiny.

plus you can quickly set it to 1080p in a few seconds if needed.

The 4k IPS option is the one with the best colour accuracy. 100% AdobeRGB.
OLED is fantastic for watching video but high quality IPS is still the best for photoshop.

I linked you a more powerful gaming laptop in the first reply.

The XPS 15 is not a gaming laptop even though it has a discrete graphics card / gpu

The card is there to cover off better video editing performance more than being targeted directly at gaming.

It will do gaming of course but you could get much more gpu power for the same money and the thermal design is not good enough for sustained gaming.

But it does have great build quality as you say and that's its main settling point.