Need laptop advice

C

crudler

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Hi guys,

I need some laptop advice. I am looking for a decent programming laptop, but all my searching is putting me in the realm of gaming laptops which are heavily overpriced because of the graphics cards (which I will never use). I need some decent muscle (i5 or i7), ram is important (8gb minimum), storage 1tb but for me the 2 most important features are a 17" inscreen and a full keyboard.

looking for about 10-15k

Any assistance will be apppreciated
 
17" are not very mobile and is not popular with programmers I find. Consider a 15" or smaller and if you want a larger screen use an external LCD as secondary screen via HDMI
 
Lenovo Thinkpad, you can grab a really beefy one for cheap second hand. Try out Carbonite.co.za
 
I'm a programmer myself, and I like having a 17" laptop. This seems to meet all of OP's requirements.

- Same i7 as the one in my lappie
- 8GB ram, upgradable
- 1TB HDD, I think you can have up to 2 laptop size HDD's in there, as well as an NVMe SSD

You won't regret something with an OK GPU. 950M isn't what I'd call brilliant but it's quite far from Intel integrated graphics.
 
crudler said:
Hi guys,

I need some laptop advice. I am looking for a decent programming laptop, but all my searching is putting me in the realm of gaming laptops which are heavily overpriced because of the graphics cards (which I will never use). I need some decent muscle (i5 or i7), ram is important (8gb minimum), storage 1tb but for me the 2 most important features are a 17" inscreen and a full keyboard.

looking for about 10-15k

Any assistance will be apppreciated
Click to expand...
Well this is a case of, if you want X then you should get X.

I'd like to point out that I disagree with most of your choice though. I've got both a high end 17" and a high end 12.5" so I feel mildly qualified to comment:
1. i5 is fine
2. 8gb is not enough
3. 1tb storage...I'm guessing you mean HDD at that budget. Thats not OK in my books. Should be smaller SSD else I'd jump of a bridge.
4. 17" laptop is unwieldy. Mine has left my house ONCE thus far. Thats how much they suck in term of mobility. My 12.5" in turn has been to half a dozen countries. Agree with skim's 2nd screen idea
5. Full keyboard is not necessary unless you need a numpad specifically & even then I'd just get a wifi (Logitech n300 is very nice). You'd be surprised how comfortable you can get on a small keyboard (love my 12.5" as I'm so used to it - recently abandoned the idea of getting a full sized stand alone keyboard for it since I'm concerned it would be slower)

Do you have a mate in the US by chance? You can get a brand new latest gen X1 Carbon ultrabook for under 1k USD. this. That would be an epic bargain by crappy ZA pricing standards. Its literally the latest & greatest of their X line: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ThinkPad_X_Series#X1_Carbon_4

Only one catch with the above...left side CTRL & FN key are swopped. Drives me insane. Think you can swop them in BIOS though.
 
Last edited:
crudler said:
Hi guys,

I need some laptop advice. I am looking for a decent programming laptop, but all my searching is putting me in the realm of gaming laptops which are heavily overpriced because of the graphics cards (which I will never use). I need some decent muscle (i5 or i7), ram is important (8gb minimum), storage 1tb but for me the 2 most important features are a 17" inscreen and a full keyboard.

looking for about 10-15k

Any assistance will be apppreciated
Click to expand...


Have a look at this unit there is still 3 units left in Midrand only , it is slightly out of your budget but worth every cent

http://www.esquire.co.za/specials/2016_10_15Spotlight.html

more info on this stunning notebook
http://www.esquire-shop.co.za/ProductDescription.aspx?id=4599324
 
Ive only had 17 inchers so it doesn't bother me. The 2nd screen is the mobility killer for me. Yeah probably right about ram. But that's easily scalable.
 
crudler said:
Ive only had 17 inchers so it doesn't bother me. The 2nd screen is the mobility killer for me. Yeah probably right about ram. But that's easily scalable.
Click to expand...

You know 1080p in 12-14 inches is the same number of pixels as 1080p in 17.3"? :p

Just checking.
 
You're going to have to compromise somewhere...decent machines that you'd be comfortable working on all day are pricey. Is there any chance of getting your employer to chip in or are you self-employed \ consulting?
 
Neoprod said:
You're going to have to compromise somewhere...decent machines that you'd be comfortable working on all day are pricey. Is there any chance of getting your employer to chip in or are you self-employed \ consulting?
Click to expand...

Self employed
 
The dell 5759 suggested above seems good. Currently on a vostro and happy with the keyboard
 
crudler said:
The dell 5759 suggested above seems good. Currently on a vostro and happy with the keyboard
Click to expand...
It does. Just promise me that you'll replace that craptastic 5400 HDD with a respectable SSD....

Perhaps @Esquire can hook you up with something nice. Esquire - for all the flak they get - did sell me a SSD years ago @ good price that is still holding strong.

Personally I'd get a SSD & a External housing. Put the crappy HDD into the external housing & use it for backup & stick the SSD in the laptop.

In terms of perceived speed boost **nothing** beats a HDD > SSD upgrade. Nothing.
 
Also in the same boat. Need to upgrade soon, currently got an i7, 12GB RAM, SSD. Only let down is that my screen isn't full HD.

Looking to beef it up a bit more with 16+GB RAM, needs to be touch screen. Dell XPS is looking like a good option or a Lenovo Yoga, but if I get something without a dedicated GPU I should have a better battery life?
 
DA-LION-619 said:
Also in the same boat. Need to upgrade soon, currently got an i7, 12GB RAM, SSD. Only let down is that my screen isn't full HD.

Looking to beef it up a bit more with 16+GB RAM, needs to be touch screen. Dell XPS is looking like a good option or a Lenovo Yoga, but if I get something without a dedicated GPU I should have a better battery life?
Click to expand...
Doesn't matter to be honest. Most laptops use Optimus, which allows the laptop to use the on board Graphics chip rather than the GPU.
 
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