Laptop for student

[bozwero]

Hi all,

I am looking to get a laptop for my son who is starting sixth form next week and would love some recommendations please.

He wont be doing any gaming and is not doing any kind of graphic design, but will be multi-tasking and using office software.

He would like something fairly light and fast.

Budget is £800, could stretch to £1000 max.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[Paul1964]

Something like this. It's within your budget and will exceed your requirements. It's also the only AMD option in the thin and light category at PCSpecialist.

I've increased the RAM to 16GB and gone for a 512GB SSD rather than the 256GB. These are recommended minimums these days. 8GB RAM and 256GB storage will not cut it.

The reason an AMD processor is recommended is there are serious issues at Intel right now with accelerated degradation of their CPUs and so far it seems they have not properly got to the bottom of the problem.

Chassis & Display
Lafite Series: 14" Matte WQXGA+ 120Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2880x1800)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 7 Eight Core Processor 8845HS (3.8GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo, 16 AI TOPS)
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO SODIMM DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
Integrated AMD® Radeon™ 780M
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 100W USB-C PD Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Lafité Series Integrated 80WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
Nahimic by SteelSeries 2 Channel HD Audio
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS AMD Wi-Fi 6E AW-XB591N (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.2
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 4.0 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) 3 x USB-A PORTS
Keyboard Language
14" LAFITÉ SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED IR+FHD Hybrid Webcam
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Chassis
TongFang GX4HRXL (R7-8845HS, AW-XB591N, QHD+ 120Hz sRGB 100%, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £759.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/lafite-pro-IV-14M/C08zCr!KNC/

 

[bozwero]

Thanks Paul! This is a great spec, appreciate the advice.

 

[Ekans2011]

Thanks Paul! This is a great spec, appreciate the advice.

In laptops, it's very iimportant to have an extended warranty and dead pixels.

Given a maximum budget of £1000, I would modify Paul's good build by include the two warranties, a faster OS M.2 (P44 PRO) , and higher-quality RAM (Corsair). Total: £982.

At a later stage, I would consider adding another M.2 (P41+) as the main drive to avoid having everything on one drive.

Chassis & Display
Lafite Series: 14" Matte WQXGA+ 120Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2880x1800)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen™ 7 Eight Core Processor 8845HS (3.8GHz, 5.1GHz Turbo, 16 AI TOPS)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 5600MHz SODIMM DDR5 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
Integrated AMD® Radeon™ 780M
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
AC Adaptor
1 x 100W USB-C PD Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Lafité Series Integrated 80WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
Nahimic by SteelSeries 2 Channel HD Audio
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS AMD Wi-Fi 6E AW-XB591N (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.2
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 4.0 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) 3 x USB-A PORTS
Keyboard Language
14" LAFITÉ SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED IR+FHD Hybrid Webcam
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
1 Year Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Chassis
TongFang GX4HRXL (R7-8845HS, AW-XB591N, QHD+ 120Hz sRGB 100%, Blank KB)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £982.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/lafite-pro-IV-14M/MFYqQ9y5Za/

 

[bozwero]

thanks very much @Ekans2011 , again really helpful advice! I’ll carefully consider the options.

 

[ThyThy]

Hello,
I mostly agree with the recommandation overall, except about the RAM. You really do not need 32GB for the tasks you mentioned.

On a side note, I would personally not recommend a gamed-focus laptop for purposes which are not gaming or intensive loads. In my opinion, it makes absolutly no sense at all to get a laptop for such other "office" purposes with so high a resolution and refresh rates. The hit on the battery life and cost is just not worth it.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

On a side note, I would personally not recommend a gamed-focus laptop for purposes which are not gaming or intensive loads. In my opinion, it makes absolutly no sense at all to get a laptop for such other "office" purposes with so high a resolution and refresh rates. The hit on the battery life and cost is just not worth it.

I would absolutely agree. It’s also the unnecessary thermals and noise from the high power gpu ahich also hugely increases cost for no benefit.

 

[Ekans2011]

I mostly agree with the recommandation overall, except about the RAM. You really do not need 32GB for the tasks you mentioned.

Yes, this is very true. 32GB is an useless amount for the purpose, but I don't see valid alternatives such as 16GB kits available: just PCS-branded ones, which I personally ignore and would never want on my laptop. A 16GB Corsair kit or similar would undoubtedly be a better option.

The OP could go with the cheaper 8 GB RAM stick and then purchase a higher-quality kit separately.