New Laptop

[Ash]

Hey guys.

Currently looking at getting a laptop for when I go to University in September. I'm studying Software Engineering so I'd like a laptop then I can take with me to University and to my girlfriend's house if need be.

It doesn't need to be light or easy to carry. I don't live too far from my University.

I would like it to have a decent sized screen, so the 11" option is not an option. I'm leaning towards the 15.6" Enigma IV. I would also like the screen to be Full HD. I've chosen the the AUO 95% Gamut screen as after a small about of research online, I found out that it is better. What exactly is this screen, why is it better? I could always drop this to the regular matte screen.

I've selected an i7-3630QM processor. This is because it is quad-core and I'll likely have multiple programs open at one time. It is only 2.4GHz but the faster options are a lot more expensive.

I've chosen a 120GB Kingston SSD/750GB WD Scorpio Black storage combination. This is to ensure my laptop boots as fast as possible and so I still have a decent amount of storage space.

I've chosen 8GB of Kingston Hyper-X Genesis RAM. I currently have 8GB of Corsair Vengeance 1333MHz RAM in my PC and would like something a bit better.

This laptop comes with a Nvidia 650M which I do not need as I am not going to be doing any graphics production or gaming on this laptop. Is there any way to remove it?

I do not need an operating system. I already have a copy of Windows 8 I purchased when it was cheap.

I'd like to keep the laptop around the same price of the one I have configured (£797).

Chassis & Display
Enigma IV: 15.6" AUO Matte 95% Gamut LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3630QM (2.40GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON V300 SSD, SATA 6 Gb (450MB/R, 450MB/W)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
2nd/3rd HDD HARD DRIVE OPTICAL BAY CADDY

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 3 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC, MS)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
SRS 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA SERIES GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 1.3 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

So what could I change in this spec? Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[steaky360]

This laptop comes with a Nvidia 650M which I do not need as I am not going to be doing any graphics production or gaming on this laptop. Is there any way to remove it?

Not sure if you can remove it, I think its soldered onto the PCB which would make it really irritating to try to get out.

Might be worthwhile going for a different type of laptop if you're not going to be gaming/etc. Although I'm sure the battery life wont suffer too much because of the 650m either (I'm assuming that is why you'd want to remove it?).

 

[Toxophilix]

As steaky360 says, the GPU is soldered to the motherboard on these machines, so I don't think removing it is an option.

You could consider a 15" Ultranote.

 

[Ash]

I thought removing it would save money. It shouldn't drain the battery as the Nvidia Optimus technology should kick in.

I'll take a look at the Ultranote.

 

[Toxophilix]

I'll take a look at the Ultranote.

One thing that might not work for you is that there's only room for one fixed disk, so it would be SSD or HDD. The optical drive can't be co-opted into a second HDD bay as apparently it's a special slimline version.

 

[Ash]

One thing that might not work for you is that there's only room for one fixed disk, so it would be SSD or HDD. The optical drive can't be co-opted into a second HDD bay as apparently it's a special slimline version.

Yeah I noticed that after I tried the configurator. I'm not in a rush to buy it I'll have a mess around and see what I can come up with that'll suit my needs the most.