New laptop recommendations

D

d7e7r7

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Hi guys,

I'm looking for a laptop to spoil myself for Christmas... been saving up and got a bit of year end bonus...
I'm a photographer so would like to use it for Photoshop. When at home I'd like to hook it up to my Samsung P2350 LCD monitor (it has DVI and VGA inputs, will this be possible?).

I've seen these couple of laptops, any advice on which ones are better than the others?

Dell Inspiron 5547 - http://www.wootware.co.za/dell-insp...-hd-1920x1080-ips-touch-display-notebook.html

MSI GS60 - http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-gs60-...ows-8-1-single-language-64-bit-ultrabook.html

MSI GE60 2PC APACHE - http://www.wootware.co.za/msi-ms-ge...dows-8-1-single-language-64-bit-notebook.html

Asus N550JK - http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-n550...indows-8-single-language-64-bit-notebook.html

Asus G56Jk-CN076H - http://www.wootware.co.za/asus-g56j...0m-2gb-1tb-hdd-windows-8-64-bit-notebook.html

Lenovo Ideapad Y5070 - http://www.wootware.co.za/lenovo-id...dows-8-1-single-language-64-bit-notebook.html

Thanks,
:o
 
Last edited:
Is your main use going to be for Photoshop? If so, I'd rather go with this one if you can stretch your budget to it. Not a fan of the touch display, but it has a hybrid drive (which would work better for editing than a normal spinning disc would).

EDIT: Actually, the Dell you listed is not half bad, if you swap out the HDD for an SSD. May work out cheaper, too.
 
Maverick Jester said:
Is your main use going to be for Photoshop? If so, I'd rather go with this one if you can stretch your budget to it. Not a fan of the touch display, but it has a hybrid drive (which would work better for editing than a normal spinning disc would).

EDIT: Actually, the Dell you listed is not half bad, if you swap out the HDD for an SSD. May work out cheaper, too.
Click to expand...

Well I mainly use the work computers for editing my pics (they are really slow, so this may change though), main use will probably be watching videos, browsing net, etc....
 
d7e7r7 said:
Well I mainly use the work computers for editing my pics (they are really slow, so this may change though), main use will probably be watching videos, browsing net, etc....
Click to expand...

Then I'd go for the Lenovo. Seems to offer the best bang for your buck, and it probably has the best build quality out of the lot. With the savings, get an HDMI to DVI adaptor so that you can output on your external at a better resolution.
 
Maverick Jester said:
Then I'd go for the Lenovo. Seems to offer the best bang for your buck, and it probably has the best build quality out of the lot. With the savings, get an HDMI to DVI adaptor so that you can output on your external at a better resolution.
Click to expand...

Okay thanks. Have you used one?
Anyone else with any other suggestions?
 
+1 for the Lenovo too if you can get stock.

I'd recommend a Macbook though if it was in your list :D
 
d7e7r7 said:
One of the downsides seems to be the 10/100 ethernet port... Is this a biggie in SA?
Click to expand...

Unless you plan on doing large file transfers over LAN it's not really an issue. My Macbook doesn't even have an ethernet port, sucks when you really need to copy something big but I find I very rarely need to.
 
Thanks for all the replies so far, much appreciated...

I'm struggling to decide one of the laptops on the list:

I like the Dell because apparently they are excellent with their after sales support if something goes wrong, 3 years next business day warranty. Comes with 16GB ram while the others all come with 8GB. It has a touch screen IPS display. It's only a dual core processor, while the other options are quad core.

The MSI GS60 is great because it's in ultrabook territory in terms of size and weight.

The Lenovo Y5070 has the best graphics card of the lot.

Decisions, decisions... :(
 
d7e7r7 said:
Thanks for all the replies so far, much appreciated...

I'm struggling to decide one of the laptops on the list:

I like the Dell because apparently they are excellent with their after sales support if something goes wrong, 3 years next business day warranty. Comes with 16GB ram while the others all come with 8GB. It has a touch screen IPS display. It's only a dual core processor, while the other options are quad core.

The MSI GS60 is great because it's in ultrabook territory in terms of size and weight.

The Lenovo Y5070 has the best graphics card of the lot.

Decisions, decisions... :(
Click to expand...

Sorry, missed the rest of this thread yesterday.

The RAM is a trivial thing, really- as you mentioned, the Lenovo has a much better graphics card and far more powerful processor, while being cheaper. Seriously, the Dell is nowhere near to the power of the Lenovo. Have a look at the comparison here. The Dell is closer to being an ultrabook than a pro laptop.

The construction of the Lenovo is also pretty top class- I've not experienced this model, but all other Lenovo's I've dealt with have been excellently built. And I would think that their after-sales support is comparable to Dell's, considering their presence in the country. I can't vouch for that, though. I'm not sure if all the Dell touchscreen models are equally reliable, but I would be cautious of them.

Also- if you can stretch your budget to around R17k, you could add the additional RAM, and SSD and external HDD case for that amount, and have proper laptop that would outlast the Dell in all areas while being equally superior. May not be now, but you'll see far more consistent performance over time from the Lenovo than the Dell, simply because it has a better base to begin with, even if your upgrade pattern is staggered out over time.

Anyway, here are reviews of both the Lenovo and the Dell by Notebook Check. One of the best websites for this sort of thing, IMO.
 
Maverick Jester said:
Sorry, missed the rest of this thread yesterday.

The RAM is a trivial thing, really- as you mentioned, the Lenovo has a much better graphics card and far more powerful processor, while being cheaper. Seriously, the Dell is nowhere near to the power of the Lenovo. Have a look at the comparison here. The Dell is closer to being an ultrabook than a pro laptop.

The construction of the Lenovo is also pretty top class- I've not experienced this model, but all other Lenovo's I've dealt with have been excellently built. And I would think that their after-sales support is comparable to Dell's, considering their presence in the country. I can't vouch for that, though. I'm not sure if all the Dell touchscreen models are equally reliable, but I would be cautious of them.

Also- if you can stretch your budget to around R17k, you could add the additional RAM, and SSD and external HDD case for that amount, and have proper laptop that would outlast the Dell in all areas while being equally superior. May not be now, but you'll see far more consistent performance over time from the Lenovo than the Dell, simply because it has a better base to begin with, even if your upgrade pattern is staggered out over time.

Anyway, here are reviews of both the Lenovo and the Dell by Notebook Check. One of the best websites for this sort of thing, IMO.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your detailed reply. Any opinion on the MSI?
 
d7e7r7 said:
Thanks for your detailed reply. Any opinion on the MSI?
Click to expand...

They're actually quite decent, if a little bit pricier than the other two. They are definitely better than the Dell, though. Crap, now you've got me backtracking on the Lenovo, but I'm not so sure that the MSI's have the same sort of build quality.

PM cerebus for more info on those, I believe that he is an MSI affiliate. Thought the GS60 looks the better bet simply because it's slimmer, and has Thunderbolt ports.
 
Maverick Jester said:
They're actually quite decent, if a little bit pricier than the other two. They are definitely better than the Dell, though. Crap, now you've got me backtracking on the Lenovo, but I'm not so sure that the MSI's have the same sort of build quality.

PM cerebus for more info on those, I believe that he is an MSI affiliate. Thought the GS60 looks the better bet simply because it's slimmer, and has Thunderbolt ports.
Click to expand...

They are all similarly priced at around R15k, check my links in the OP...
 
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