New Laptop Advise - Appreciate any advise

merrion123

Hi All,

I have been out of touch in terms of keeping up to date on developments with laptop specs as I have not needed to due to just using my work laptop to do the basics.

I now have an opportunity to purchase a laptop for personal use and would very much be grateful for any advise on buying a new laptop that will offer the best value for money. In terms criteria and budget I have listed below to give a sense of what I would like to achieve with the budget mentioned;


Budget - 1000 to 1200 euro at a max

Screen Size - Min 15 ich

RAM - Min 16GB

Storage : Min 512 SSD hard disk drive

Key Tasks below that I would like to perform : Mix everything if possible :-)

Graphics card - see my description of what I'd like to do below in terms of gaming and video / photo editing

Gaming -
not hard core ulra high settings needed but hey if possible on budget then great - decent FPS at 1080p


Photo / Video editing -
starting to get back in drone footage and landscape photography so need decent CPU and GPU combo to handle 4K video editing and also good processing power photoshop editing also.


Hopefully you can advise on what offers the best value to perform the above given the budget mentioned.

this for £800 probably offers the best value

cpu that will handle 4k video editing

colour accurate screen for video editing (often absent on gaming laptops)

1660ti is a capable graphics card that will give 1080p 60fps on most games

add 8gb ram yourself for £40 or so - if you can change a lightbulb you do it

good build quality and doesn't look too gamery with the keyboard led ligthing turned off

on the same page there are RTX 3060 options for £1k or so but they are sold out - worth considering if you'd like DLSS and Ray-tracing. might come back into stock. but might not for a while

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089BN6TY7/ref=twister_B08TJXJDBL?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

merrion123

glasso wrote: »

this for £800 probably offers the best value

cpu that will handle 4k video editing

colour accurate screen for video editing (often absent on gaming laptops)

1660ti is a capable graphics card that will give 1080p 60fps on most games

add 8gb ram yourself for £40 or so - if you can change a lightbulb you do it

good build quality and doesn't look too gamery with the keyboard led ligthing turned off

on the same page there are RTX 3060 options for £1k or so but they are sold out - worth considering if you'd like DLSS and Ray-tracing. might come back into stock. but might not for a while

Thank you for the feedback and very fast response, very much appreciated.

I have some additional questions following this if that's okay and some of where may be obvious to most people but again I just getting back into this area.

I hear you in terms of getting the additional RAM and like the comparison to changing a lightbulb which gives me some confidence :-) That said what type of RAM do I get to ensure its compatible with the laptop suggested and any links even better :-)

Buying from Amazon UK - Ive never bought electronics outside of Ireland before so just wondering in terms of warranty etc and worst case scenario if there was some failure with the laptop , how easy or otherwise is it to get it returned etc and repaired? Also with Brexit , I think I read in other posts that the additional VAT or custom charges etc will also be included in the check out tray so will be aware of overall cost and not hit with any surprises.

I forgot to add of course given my interest in wanting to take up photography and aerial footage etc I will need a card reader but understand that I can get a usb card reader adaptor. What would be the best option here in terms of transfer speeds of a usb card reader to the laptop?

Thanks again

Amazon have excellent and speedy customer service. support would be better than any B+M shop in Ireland I would say. e.g. free postage return labels to print immediately for return etc.

the ram is ddr4 sodimm 3200mhz

from research think the 8gb as standard is 2 x 4gb so 2 x 8gb to update to 16gb

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0963PN981/ref=twister_B0964JRLS1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

could sell the ram that comes in it for 30 euro maybe.

get a usb 3 compatible card reader for best speed

merrion123

glasso wrote: »

Amazon have excellent and speedy customer service. support would be better than any B+M shop in Ireland I would say. e.g. free postage return labels to print immediately for return etc.

the ram is ddr4 sodimm 3200mhz

from research think the 8gb as standard is 2 x 4gb so 2 x 8gb to update to 16gb



could sell the ram that comes in it for 30 euro maybe.

get a usb 3 compatible card reader for best speed

Thanks again,

Can I also ask in your opinion if I went between the price range upper limit of approx 1200 euro and given I wont be changing this laptop anytime soon which in addition to the original model you suggested would be the best value also taking into account upgrade potential also

Appreciate I listed quite a few but for someone with your expert knowledge I'd imagine you could pick the best one fairly quickly from this lot. I cant post URL links as Im a new member but had added the part details of the laptops URL addresses below and all start with Komplett.ie

/asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fx506iu-bq290t/80056621/product/9645

/lenovo-legion-5-15imh05h-81y60091mh/80056646/product/9645

/msi-gaming-katana-gf76-11sc-012nl/21109926/product/9645

/msi-gaming-gf63-10ud-231nl/21109914/product/9645

/lenovo-legion-5-82b3009qmh/80057789/product/9645

Would be great to see what you think of these also and which for you would stand out

Thanks

none of those links work as links - repost the full links

merrion123

glasso wrote: »

none of those links work as links - repost the full links

Hi glasso,

I am not authorized to give the full link as I get a message saying new members cant post links. I will try again on hopefully the below will come though.

Thanks



https://www.komplett.ie/asus-tuf-gaming-a15-fx506iu-bq290t/80056621/product/9645

https://www.komplett.ie/lenovo-legion-5-15imh05h-81y60091mh/80056646/product/9645

https://www.komplett.ie/msi-gaming-katana-gf76-11sc-012nl/21109926/product/9645

https://www.komplett.ie/msi-gaming-gf63-10ud-231nl/21109914/product/9645

https://www.komplett.ie/lenovo-legion-5-82b3009qmh/80057789/product/9645

none of those are remotely good value at all in terms of components and build quality

for a more powerful graphics card the rtx 3060 (ray-tracing and dlss) and very powerful 5800h cpu there is this

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-5-series/Legion-5-15ACH6H/p/88GMY501582

the €1150 model

still need to upgrade ram to get to 16gb but it's good value

(you might even get a discount by signing up for email newsletter bottom bottom left of page "stay connected")

10% off code emailed, use at checkout, not guaranteed to work on all products

you can get me a coffee after all that!

merrion123

glasso wrote: »

none of those are remotely good value at all in terms of components and build quality

for a more powerful graphics card the rtx 3060 (ray-tracing and dlss) and very powerful 5800h cpu there is this

https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-5-series/Legion-5-15ACH6H/p/88GMY501582

the €1150 model

still need to upgrade ram to get to 16gb but it's good value

(you might even get a discount by signing up for email newsletter bottom bottom left of page "stay connected")

10% off code emailed, use at checkout, not guaranteed to work on all products

you can get me a coffee after all that!

Hi glasso,

I think I'll go for the legion 5 series you referenced for 1150 euro.

I really do appreciate your help and assistance and indeed patience. From looking at the laptop thread you always are happy to advise and help those of us with limited knowledge in this area. I hope the good karma you give comes back to you also.

For sure I'd be delighted to shout you a coffee and indeed in a covid appropriate place even a beer 🺠😀

You are a true gent

merrion123

merrion123 wrote: »

Hi glasso,

I think I'll go for the legion 5 series you referenced for 1150 euro.

I really do appreciate your help and assistance and indeed patience. From looking at the laptop thread you always are happy to advise and help those of us with limited knowledge in this area. I hope the good karma you give comes back to you also.

For sure I'd be delighted to shout you a coffee and indeed in a covid appropriate place even a beer 🺠��

You are a true gent

sign up for the discount as suggested and you may get it for less than that price

wait for discount code to arrive in email (may take a while to arrive)

try to use code at checkout in the promotion code box