Dropping €1250 on a Laptop - Advice Needed!

Drew P. Wiener

Hi Folks,


I'm in the market for a new laptop. I was hoping to invest a bit of money into a good one, and have set myself a budget of max €1500.

I'm returning to University this year as an undergraduate, so the laptop will need to be small and portable enough for daily transport and use, yet powerful enough as it may potentially have to run some Windows based design programs in the future.

I've had my eye on the XPS 13 up until this point, mainly because of the reviews I've read about it across the web; also being a student I qualify for a 10% discount from the Dell website.

At present, Dell are offering the XPS 13 with i7-8565U Processor, 16gb RAM, and 512GB SSD for €1399.99. My student discount brings that down to €1259.99. (Im going to try chance my arm with Quidco and get their 6% cashback on that, which would potentially bring the price down to under €1185)

Is there anything else on the market for a similar price I should consider before pulling the trigger on this? Im aware that Dell will be releasing the XPS 13 with the new 10th gen Intel Processors at some stage in the coming weeks/months, but I need the laptop over the next fortnight, so cant sit and wait around for dell. I also have no interest in upgrading to the UHD screen as I'm unsure how much I'd notice it on a 13" screen. On that note, would a 15" screen be too big to carry to University everyday?

Thanks in Advance,

Drew P Weiner

for 600 sterling you could get xps thinness, ligthness and similar specs (quad-core i5)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-i5-8250U-HarmanKardon-Speakers-Illuminated/dp/B07QJ6LWYX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=N5KQBWN3ZA61&keywords=asus+zenbook+s+ux391&qid=1567037252&s=gateway&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&sprefix=asus+z%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-3

great deal. there is less than 10% perf between the i5 and i7 u chips in the 8th gen. they are both quad-core. the refresh version in the i5 did not add much over the 8250u

the ram is not up-gradable from 8gb so there is that but 8gb is fine for most things outside video editing on 4k rez and will be for the forseeable future.

but it's super light and has thunderbolt 3 if you even want / need to add and external gpu.

for 15.6 inch there are a couple of light options like the lg gram 15 but they are pricey over in Europe.

comprehensive review of the Asus

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-S-UX391U-Core-i7-FHD-Laptop-Review.331490.0.html

Drew P. Wiener

glasso wrote: »

for 600 sterling you could get xps thinness, ligthness and similar specs (quad-core i5)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-i5-8250U-HarmanKardon-Speakers-Illuminated/dp/B07QJ6LWYX/ref=sr_1_3?crid=N5KQBWN3ZA61&keywords=asus+zenbook+s+ux391&qid=1567037252&s=gateway&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&sprefix=asus+z%2Caps%2C190&sr=8-3

great deal. there is less than 10% perf between the i5 and i7 u chips in the 8th gen. they are both quad-core. the refresh version in the i5 did not add much over the 8250u

the ram is not up-gradable from 8gb so there is that but 8gb is fine for most things outside video editing on 4k rez and will be for the forseeable future.

but it's super light and has thunderbolt 3 if you even want / need to add and external gpu.

for 15.6 inch there are a couple of light options like the lg gram 15 but they are pricey over in Europe.

comprehensive review of the Asus

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-ZenBook-S-UX391U-Core-i7-FHD-Laptop-Review.331490.0.html

I had come across the zenbook in my limited research, and was wondering how the build quality is in comparison to Dell?

Asus's top-end stuff is excellent.

Drew P. Wiener

Im thinking of going for the ThinkPad t490 because of its nice mix of portability and upgradability. Somewhat future proof. Any reason I shouldn't?

solid quality laptop but a bit expensive for what you get imo

review of model with high-end options here

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-T490-i7-MX250-Low-Power-FHD-Laptop-Review.421150.0.html

this offers reasonable value in the lenovo range for a similar style of laptop. non-soldered ram and could change ssd also

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/s-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14IWL/p/88IPS501190

_Kaiser_

Drew P. Wiener wrote: »

Im thinking of going for the ThinkPad t490 because of its nice mix of portability and upgradability. Somewhat future proof. Any reason I shouldn't?

I'd be wary of the upgradability - the T480 I have for work is a massive pain to even open never mind do anything with (although you can upgrade the RAM). Many newer laptops now solder the RAM onboard too so all you can change is the SSD really.

That aside, if in that price range/segment I'd be looking at the DELL XPS or Latitudes myself. Not a fan of some of the Thinkpad quirks (like how the Fn and Ctrl key are swapped and how the keyboard backlight doesn't just come on unless you activate it every time).

Drew P. Wiener

Jaysus I'm in multiple minds on what to commit to now. I thought the thinkpad was a safe, decently priced choice, even if it is boring, but just went on their website and picked all I want and it comes to mad money. I suppose it wouldn't be worth my while trying to pick up a second hand t480/t490 on GeeBay and lob 32gb or ram and big ssd into it?


At this rate I'm considering just living on porridge and onions to scrap together the extra sheckles and go for the XPS 15. Upgradable Ram and SSD.

glasso

glasso wrote: »

this offers reasonable value in the lenovo range for a similar style of laptop. non-soldered ram and could change / upgrade ssd also for a lot less than an xps 15 (and it's lighter)

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/ideapad/s-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-14IWL/p/88IPS501190

this 14 inch ideapad has upgradable ram (4gb soldered in and 1 slot upgradable so up to 20gb ram -> 4 + 16) , ssd (can change out if desired for bigger size), premium build and a discrete nvidia mx250 graphics card and is still nice and light.

just buy a cheap 8gb ddr4 sodimm and you already have 12gb. or a 16gb stick to bring you up to 20gb ram.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-IdeaPad-S540-Laptop-Review-AMD-or-Intel-Lenovo-gives-consumers-the-choice-and-we-compare-both.427167.0.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPQtPTMeq4k