Advice buying ultrabook/business laptop

adamjonesuk1

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Oct 7, 2014
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Hi.
Recently built a new desktop but then got a job in Australia for the next year, (currently in UK) and the pc is not going to travel! Hence, looking for a laptop.

Was looking to spend around £500-800 ($800-1200)

This will NOT be for gaming, but will be used for music production which is ram and cpu heavy. Also need a few usb slots but could use a hub.

I have been looking at 13"-15".

Not Mac. Had a bad laptop from ACER previously so would be hesitant to go back.

People have told me that 'business' laptops i.e thinkpads and the like are reliable for music etc if you aren't to worried by aesthetic (I'm not). Have also been looking at various ultrabooks. This laptop will mostly be used at home but will evry so often be taken travelling, so battery life, weight, thickness etc are nice but not priorities.

Would really appreciate your suggestions. Thanks
 
Solution
Basically you are looking for an i7 HQ, MQ, or MX processor for the most potential performance. 16GB of DDR3L memory. More then likely any computer with that class of hardware will have discrete video, which is always a plus.

This might take you a little over budget from what I am seeing. If 8GB is enough memory, then there a few options.

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-7548-laptop/pd?oc=bn75808&model_id=inspiron-15-7548-laptop

http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/?menu-id=thinkpad_laptops#facet-1=4&facet-2=3

For even more CPU horsepower, you'll have to drop back a generation I think. 5th Gen non-ultrabook chips haven't gotten released in any laptop as far as I know...

Eximo

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Basically you are looking for an i7 HQ, MQ, or MX processor for the most potential performance. 16GB of DDR3L memory. More then likely any computer with that class of hardware will have discrete video, which is always a plus.

This might take you a little over budget from what I am seeing. If 8GB is enough memory, then there a few options.

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/inspiron-15-7548-laptop/pd?oc=bn75808&model_id=inspiron-15-7548-laptop

http://shop.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/thinkpad/?menu-id=thinkpad_laptops#facet-1=4&facet-2=3

For even more CPU horsepower, you'll have to drop back a generation I think. 5th Gen non-ultrabook chips haven't gotten released in any laptop as far as I know.

http://www.dell.com/uk/business/p/precision-m2800-workstation/pd?oc=cu001m2800mumws&variant=6:AMDFPE~8:500G72~11:539572~16:DVDRW~146:I74710~760:HDE&model_id=precision-m2800-workstation

 
Solution
Not Mac. Had a bad laptop from ACER previously so would be hesitant to go back.
Acer does not produce Mac's. Apple does. And your budget almost excludes Apple Macs (although they might be more suitable for your music).

"CPU heavy" does not bond well with portability.

An important factor these days is whether to go with SSD (expensive, fast, small capacity) or with HDD (cheap, slowish, high capacity). Music production tends to go with large files.
 

Eximo

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Herald


Those were separate sentences. The user doesn't want a Mac, and had a bad experience with Acer.

Budget more or less excludes an SSD from the factory. Though swapping a 2.5" hard drive out for an SSD at a later date is more preferable anyway.

Plenty of 15 inch laptops with full speed processors.

I have an Lenovo Y410p with an i7-4700MQ, 8GB of memory, and a GTX740m in a 15" form factor. At the time I bought it came to $880 US, added a Samsung 840 240GB for another $100 or so.

UK pricing is a little harsh (Though Australia is much worse, so buy before you go) But SSD laptops from the factory are almost always above 1000 pounds and are mostly ultrabooks that use U and Y class processors that are often dual cores.