Help/advice on a laptop for uni?

Jarvdoge

Estimable
Sep 3, 2015
1
0
4,510
Hi, I'm looking for a laptop for uni. I don't need anything extremely high spec and intend to use it for web browsing, streaming, the occasional bit of light gaming (Hearthstone and possibly some sidescrollers). As far as storage is concerned I'd like an ssd as oppose to a hdd since I don't need the mass storage.

I've narrowed my choices so far down to two: a fanless Asus and a custom one from PC Specialist. I'll leave links below.

Asus: http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/asus-zenbook-ux305-13-3-laptop-black-aluminium-10101095-pdt.html

Custom: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/notebooks/lafite/

The spec of the custom one is what they offer as standard but with the i5, 8gb of ram, the 250gb m.2 ssd and I may upgrade to the Intel Wireless AC-7265. I would add another ssd at some point in the future if I need more storage.

Pricing-wise I am I looking at £585 for the Asus which includes a 10% discount from Currys/PC World, or either £566 or £591 for the custom one depending on what I go for in terms of wireless.

I game on pc but have a decent desktop so I am not too bothered about gaming performance but having a fast machine with minimal lag is quite important to me while not breaking the bank.

I'd really appreciate any second opinions and suggestions of any other similar options in the same price range would help as well.

Thanks for reading.
 
Solution
The UX305 is an excellent choice for productivity, due to good battery life and an amazingly lightweight build for a 13.3" device, but I must warn you - the graphics card is very, very slow. You may actually have to lower the resolution at which you play Hearthstone, lower than the native of 1080p. In addition, the CPU is not at all very fast, which, while you say is not really a consideration, is a problem for future-proofing, or the length of time that a laptop will remain competent for any kind of use.

I'd recommend you get the custom laptop instead, and if you absolutely can stretch the CPU to an i7, take that opportunity.

metalicgeek

Estimable
The UX305 is an excellent choice for productivity, due to good battery life and an amazingly lightweight build for a 13.3" device, but I must warn you - the graphics card is very, very slow. You may actually have to lower the resolution at which you play Hearthstone, lower than the native of 1080p. In addition, the CPU is not at all very fast, which, while you say is not really a consideration, is a problem for future-proofing, or the length of time that a laptop will remain competent for any kind of use.

I'd recommend you get the custom laptop instead, and if you absolutely can stretch the CPU to an i7, take that opportunity.
 
Solution