HP Laptop 256GB SSD €399 DID.ie

Charlie19

Looks to be a good price for the specs.

Pavilion.
15.6" Screen.
AMD A6 CPU. (I have no experience with AMD chip-sets.)
4 GB Ram. (Not sure if this can be increased)
256GB SSD.
Display Resolution 1366 x 768.
Windows 10.
9 Hours Battery.

http://www.did.ie/hp-pavilion-4gb-256gb-ssd-15-6-laptop-15-aw002na-prd

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Pretty rubbish processor and terrible display. 256gb ssd ain't bad but other than that no bargain here really!

Charlie19

Curb Your Enthusiasm wrote: »

Pretty rubbish processor and terrible display. 256gb ssd ain't bad but other than that no bargain here really!

I just checked out the processor on cpubenchmark and its scores less than the I3 in my current machine.

The search continues.

AS1890

I'm looking for a new laptop too. Are the specs on this one good? General browsing and a bit of streaming is all it will be used for. Used URL shortener as Argos links can fail to work sometimes

https://goo.gl/Y79KwV

The_Conductor

I know its not a 1080p screen- but in all honesty- you don't need a HD screen in a 15.6" laptop- you quite simply won't appreciate the realestate.

The processor in this laptop is crap. There isn't any other word for it- its quite appalling.

4Gb RAM will run Windows 10- but most people insist on 8Gb

The other specs- are actually very decent for the price point- a 256Gb SSD obviously being the highlight.

At the end of the day- it depends entirely on what you intend to use the laptop for- if its for a little bit of coursework- Word/Excel/Access- alongside some web browsing- its perfectly fine. If you intend to go gaming- don't bother.

If you're not going to be gaming and just want a laptop for a bit of course work alongside some internet browsing- even playing media files (video etc)- this is fine- anything more heavy duty- move on........

Unless you're planning on gaming- buy it.

Slutmonkey57b

Anyone doing coursework which involves word,excel or access would definitely appreciate more resolution vertical resolution is king in those apps.

RossieMan

The thread of laptops that aren't bargains continues.

Can we make a thread in pcs for them perhaps? Then when an actual bargain comes up it can get a thread.

dodzy

RossieMan wrote: »

The thread of laptops that aren't bargains continues.

Can we make a thread in pcs for them perhaps? Then when an actual bargain comes up it can get a thread.

Thoughts on this lads ? Hunting for a colleague. Nothing intensive planned for it.

RossieMan

Have bought one of those. solid machine for a light user. Space might be an issue though for movie lovers.

GBX

Charlie19 wrote: »

Looks to be a good price for the specs.

Pavilion.
15.6" Screen.
AMD A6 CPU. (I have no experience with AMD chip-sets.)
4 GB Ram. (Not sure if this can be increased)
256GB SSD.
Display Resolution 1366 x 768.
Windows 10.
9 Hours Battery.

http://www.did.ie/hp-pavilion-4gb-256gb-ssd-15-6-laptop-15-aw002na-prd

dodzy wrote: »

Thoughts on this lads ? Hunting for a colleague. Nothing intensive planned for it.

RossieMan wrote: »

Have bought one of those. solid machine for a light user. Space might be an issue though for movie lovers.

@Rossieman, which one are you referring to the one in the original post or what dodzy linked to?

TerrorFirmer

To be fair the laptop is the OP is a good deal considering it's a bricks and mortar offer. Processor is fine for casual use and it would be a very fast laptop due to the SSD. You could do a lot worse for the money buying in a shop.

The_Conductor

dodzy wrote: »

Thoughts on this lads ? Hunting for a colleague. Nothing intensive planned for it.

Depends entirely on the person...... but-

1. 4Gb of RAM isn't really acceptable
2. 128Gb SSD- unless they are judicious with their cleaning regime- will be filled by Microsoft updates alone- within a few week (much less anything they might install on it themselves)
3. Screen resolution is same as HP earlier in the thread
4. Processor is a 2Ghz dual core- fine for general stuff- but hardly earth shattering. It runs cool and is efficient. The built in graphics are ok for general stuff- but nothing special.
5. The processor in the HP (above in first post) is significantly better than this one (2.4Ghz versus 2Ghz and 2Mb L1 cache versus 512kb in the i3)- also its graphics run at twice the speed as the Intel graphics (600Mhz versus 300Mhz).

I.e. everything else being equal- the laptop in the first post on thread- is the beat of this one.

Longboard

Not amazing, but at €149 . . . .

DID tech services Toshiba C50-B-185 ex display

(Link dead. Product gone from DID webpage)

Link to Lenovo ideapad i3/4gb/1TB/15" for €250 tho

djan

The_Conductor wrote: »

Depends entirely on the person...... but-

1. 4Gb of RAM isn't really acceptable
2. 128Gb SSD- unless they are judicious with their cleaning regime- will be filled by Microsoft updates alone- within a few week (much less anything they might install on it themselves)
3. Screen resolution is same as HP earlier in the thread
4. Processor is a 2Ghz dual core- fine for general stuff- but hardly earth shattering. It runs cool and is efficient. The built in graphics are ok for general stuff- but nothing special.
5. The processor in the HP (above in first post) is significantly better than this one (2.4Ghz versus 2Ghz and 2Mb L1 cache versus 512kb in the i3)- also its graphics run at twice the speed as the Intel graphics (600Mhz versus 300Mhz).

I.e. everything else being equal- the laptop in the first post on thread- is the beat of this one.

How about having a look at this one for 373 EUR http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/hp-250-core-i3-5005u-4gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-laptop-x0q79es/version.asp, ticks all the boxes but sadly looks like it is not a Full HD screen. (Ordered some for black friday and with the same product code it came with a Full HD screen but now the description has been changed to just HD screen so not sure which it is now. Still worth consideration without the extra resolution screen)

Overall, if you can stretch the budget go for an Intel i3 processor ideally 5005u upwards, 256gb SSD, 4GB+ RAM and a Full HD Screen for the best price you can get

378 EUR http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/grade-a1-hp-250-g5-core-i3-5005u-2ghz-4gb-256gb-ssd-dvd-rw-15.6-inch-wind-77291207-2-w4q18ea/version.asp this is a refurbished model that ticks all the boxes. In work so cant dig around too much but these should help you out!

Laptops direct also do 20 GBP off when you sign up for free trial of Which!? that you can cancel any time and also provide a year warranty for refursb for 30 EUR AFAIK.


Just to clarify,

1. 4GB of ram is more than enough for office/student "work" check your average ram usage in windows and you will be surprised how little Win10 uses in non demanding tasks which would be done on a laptop of this price range. Ram is also easily expandable if you decide to go that way...

2. 128GB isn't much allright but can be solved with an external HDD which is a good option for students anyway to back up their work so you dont have projects dissapearing at due date. (Note laptop I linked has 256GB SSD)

3. Would definitely reccomend a Full HD screen if possible for any text based work as the vertical resolution will help greatly in productivity.

4. The i3 proccessor is faster and more efficient than the AMD chip. Due to their vastly different internal infrastructure they can't be compared like that. the i3 performs better by about 25% although the AMD graphics are slightly faster but any gaming other than older titles are out of question in this price range.

AS1890

Anyone have any advice on this one? I reserved it already and will purchase it just not 100% on specs:

https://goo.gl/Y79KwV

TerrorFirmer

The_Conductor wrote: »

Depends entirely on the person...... but-

1. 4Gb of RAM isn't really acceptable
2. 128Gb SSD- unless they are judicious with their cleaning regime- will be filled by Microsoft updates alone- within a few week (much less anything they might install on it themselves)
3. Screen resolution is same as HP earlier in the thread
4. Processor is a 2Ghz dual core- fine for general stuff- but hardly earth shattering. It runs cool and is efficient. The built in graphics are ok for general stuff- but nothing special.
5. The processor in the HP (above in first post) is significantly better than this one (2.4Ghz versus 2Ghz and 2Mb L1 cache versus 512kb in the i3)- also its graphics run at twice the speed as the Intel graphics (600Mhz versus 300Mhz).

I.e. everything else being equal- the laptop in the first post on thread- is the beat of this one.

No offence but pretty much every point you've made there is totally untrue and extremely misleading.

1. For the vast majority of people 4GB is plenty - for browsing, media, office, general day to day use it's more than enough.

2. Not sure where this idea is coming from but it's not true. My parents have had a 128GB SSD on Win10 for the past 2 years and never go above about 40gb usage as they only use it for office/watching movies/browsing.

3. Yes....full HD is preferable but for most people not strictly necessary especially at the lower end of the budget.

4. The i3-5005u is a very fast processor for casual use. In fact ULV 'U' model i5's are identical to the i3, just with a turbo-boost function. It's a better processor than the A9-9410 in the HP in the OP.

5. No, it's not, it's miles behind. While I'm not postive about the exact performance of the R5 in the A9-9410, it's either on-par with the integrated HD5500 of the i3-5005u or possibly slower - not twice as fast as you've claimed.

Nemeses2050

AS1890 wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on this one? I reserved it already and will purchase it just not 100% on specs:

https://goo.gl/Y79KwV

That looks decent 5th Gen i5, 8GB RAM and 1TB HD....but it says it was on sale for € 20 lesser.

ahlookit

AS1890 wrote: »

Anyone have any advice on this one? I reserved it already and will purchase it just not 100% on specs:

https://goo.gl/Y79KwV

It depends what you want it for... I got the cheaper model for a friend last week. They wanted one for internet, bit of word processing, etc. This has a lesser processor than the one you are looking at, but will do basic tasks fine

http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10152&catalogId=14551&langId=111&searchTerms=5499317&authToken=


As an aside, they both come with decent branded lenovo backpacks and wireless mouse, which are on sale for €45 and €30 respectively in Argos at the moment.

djan

AS1890 wrote:

Anyone have any advice on this one? I reserved it already and will purchase it just not 100% on specs:

I would strongly advise staying away from a laptop with a physical HDD I'd aim to get an SSD even if it's just 128GB you can always upgrade it and the speed improvement is much more drastic than any processor.

Cocoon

I bought this one last week,

http://www.currys.ie/Product/lenovo-yoga-510-14-full-hd-2-in-1-with-faster-ssd-storage-black/341931/409.4

very nice little laptop with full HD touch screen SSD etc.

slave1

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Anyone doing coursework which involves word,excel or access would definitely appreciate more resolution vertical resolution is king in those apps.

and if you're presenting off your laptop a 1080 laptop screen to synch what you see on your laptop to the (most likely) 1080 TV/projector screen is a must

djan

slave1 wrote: »

and if you're presenting off your laptop a 1080 laptop screen to synch what you see on your laptop to the (most likely) 1080 TV/projector screen is a must

Resolution of the laptop makes no difference as the laptop can output Full HD through a HDMI cable etc.. the 1080p is more for productivity.

As an aside from my experience, most projectors are around 720p. In general I wouldn't worry about screen resolution for presenting...

wiz569

dodzy wrote: »

Thoughts on this lads ? Hunting for a colleague. Nothing intensive planned for it.

Its a grand machine m8,bought one for the son for christmas and he uses it for his college project,if you need more space the dvd drive can be removed and a HD fitted instead,needs an adaptor obviously.

beauf

The_Conductor wrote: »

Depends entirely on the person...... but-

1. 4Gb of RAM isn't really acceptable
2. 128Gb SSD- unless they are judicious with their cleaning regime- will be filled by Microsoft updates alone- within a few week (much less anything they might install on it themselves)..

Odd I've been using a few laptops with 2~3GB of ram and 128GB SSD and none of that has happened. That said if I was buying a machine as my only machine for the next few years I'd over spec it. That A6 processor will not cut it for long.

if you are planning on buying a laptop and ever plan on watching media on it I'd really recommend getting one with an IPS screen.

http://www.tnpanel.com/tn-vs-ips-va/

Colour reproduction is WAY better which makes viewing much more pleasant. It's night and day.
Resolution is less important. Most IPS screens will be 1080p anyway these days.
But a 720p IPS screen would beat a 1080p TN screen - it's more about colour than resolution.

Cocoon

Cocoon wrote: »

I bought this one last week,

http://www.currys.ie/Product/lenovo-yoga-510-14-full-hd-2-in-1-with-faster-ssd-storage-black/341931/409.4

very nice little laptop with full HD touch screen SSD etc.

imo, this is a very decent price for a B&M shop. at 450 euro it's infinitely better than paying 399 for the laptop in the original post.

IPS (in-plane-switching) 1080p screen and an SSD (albeit a small one). but people should get out of the habit of storing lots of movies etc on a laptop tbh.
i3 processor is more than enough for most people.
14 inch is a nice balance between portability (e.g. not going to bother you with it in a backpack for college etc compared to a 15.6 laptop) and being big enough to do things like for example excel on it.
4gb ram also fine for most things for running win10 . if you want to upgrade it will cost you as it only has 1 ram slot so you'd need to buy a 1 x 8gb ram piece which is more expensive than getting 2 x 4gb ones.
You're not going to be running the newest games on this but it's not a gaming laptop in any case. But you could actually run some games on it.
The screen is also touchscreen which I actually find useful for scrolling up and down a webpage using your thumb.
It's also convertible so you can use the useful "tent mode" for having the screen nearer to you for watching movies etc (no keyboard in the way) or for showing presentations etc..
Admittedly, tablet mode is not that useful as it's too heavy to be comfortably used as a tablet and I personally don't like windows tablet mode.

beauf

I was looking at the 510. The main disadvantage on that machine is that the screen adds a lot of weight because its touch screen. Its also has underwhelming battery life for that class of machine. Otherwise it was on my shortlist. I'd prefer the Idea Pad 510s which is 14" and no touch screen but its 200 more and then too expensive. Theres also the Ideapad 510 which is 15" short battery life for the size also. But decent bang for buck IMO. Probably the LENOVO YOGA 510 14" is the best compromise.

beauf

beauf wrote: »

I was looking at the 510. The main disadvantage on that machine is that the screen adds a lot of weight because its touch screen. Its also has underwhelming battery life for that class of machine. Otherwise it was on my shortlist. I'd prefer the Idea Pad 510s which is 14" and no touch screen but its 200 more and then too expensive. Theres also the Ideapad 510 which is 15" short battery life for the size also. But decent bang for buck IMO. Probably the LENOVO YOGA 510 14" is the best compromise.

says up to 8 hours battery life which means that even with exaggerated claims you should get 6 anyway. I think that an older model had worse battery life.
1.8kg is not bad. the ideapad 510s 14 weighs 1.7kg so hardly a big difference.
for the money it's very good.

phobia2011

Any opinions on this

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-6-laptop-with-the-latest-7th-gen-intel-core-i5-processor-blue-10151832-pdt.html?awc=1598_1484253053_828d01e3333d8dbb40f311c5e248a7bf&srcid=369&xtor=AL-11&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC~47868&awid=47868

Charlie19

I5 CPU and 8GB of Ram would be a big advantage.

But for that money, I'd also like a SSD hard drive.

Search for those specs in Saveonlaptops or laptopsdirect, I'd say you'll find a cheaper machine.

_Kaiser_

phobia2011 wrote: »

Any opinions on this

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-6-laptop-with-the-latest-7th-gen-intel-core-i5-processor-blue-10151832-pdt.html?awc=1598_1484253053_828d01e3333d8dbb40f311c5e248a7bf&srcid=369&xtor=AL-11&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC~47868&awid=47868

- Low resolution screen (1366x768) rather than Full HD (1920x1080)
- Slow (5400rpm) physical hard drive rather than an SSD
- 10/100 Ethernet rather than 1000/GB .. though it does have AC wireless
- Doesn't say what Graphics chipset but I'm guessing Intel HD which wouldn't be much use if you plan to play games

phobia2011

phobia2011 wrote: »

Any opinions on this

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-6-laptop-with-the-latest-7th-gen-intel-core-i5-processor-blue-10151832-pdt.html?awc=1598_1484253053_828d01e3333d8dbb40f311c5e248a7bf&srcid=369&xtor=AL-11&cmpid=aff~HotUKDeals~Communities%20%26%20UGC~47868&awid=47868

bog standard TN display, and low res. that's what you'd be looking at all the time. for general computing you won't really notice the difference between i5 8gb and i3 4gb.
recent games won't run well on either i5 or i3 well without discrete graphics really so unless you do a lot of video editing or something (which you wouldn't be doing on such a crap display) it doesn't make much difference. the 14 inch lenovo yoga 510 linked by the other poster is still a better deal. which has ssd and a hd ips display. touchscreen too.

The_Conductor

In all fairness- expecting full HD, a SSD, Gigabit internet or dedicated graphics- at that price point- is a bit of an ask.

Personally- its not a laptop I'd buy for myself- I'd probably get a reasonably spec'ed second hand machine and get as much bang as I could for my buck- of course thats not what you're trying to do.

For £400- its a reasonable machine for someone who isn't a gamer and isn't going to be trying to get the maximum performance they can get.

As some of the others have rightly pointed out- you'll get better specs for less on saveonlaptops or laptopsdirect (or indeed, this actual model for less).

Are you looking for rock bottom price- or specs?

A reasonable rock bottom priced laptop (from HP) here

A reasonably spec'ed end-of line / open box laptop- in the price range you're currently looking at

Etnies

I got this for €270 on the Dell outlet for a present just before Xmas, swapped out the HDD for SSD I had spare. Some of them suggestions people posted are ridiculous.

Inspiron 15 - 3542 Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8X DVD+/- RW Drive
Dell Wireless-N 1705 + Bluetooth 4.0
Power Supply + Power Cord : 65W AC Adapter
Processor: Intel® Core™ i3-4005U processor (3M Cache 1.7GHz)
Hard Drive : 500GB 2.5" Serial ATA (5400RPM)
15.6 inch LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1366 x 768)
Battery: Primary 4-cell 40W/HR
LCD Back Cover - Black (Non-Touch Screen)
Software Drivers (No Media)
Memory : 4 GB (1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3
Software
Windows 10 Home (64bit)

phobia2011

The_Conductor wrote: »

In all fairness- expecting full HD, a SSD, Gigabit internet or dedicated graphics- at that price point- is a bit of an ask.

Personally- its not a laptop I'd buy for myself- I'd probably get a reasonably spec'ed second hand machine and get as much bang as I could for my buck- of course thats not what you're trying to do.

For £400- its a reasonable machine for someone who isn't a gamer and isn't going to be trying to get the maximum performance they can get.

As some of the others have rightly pointed out- you'll get better specs for less on saveonlaptops or laptopsdirect (or indeed, this actual model for less).

Are you looking for rock bottom price- or specs?

A reasonable rock bottom priced laptop (from HP) here

A reasonably spec'ed end-of line / open box laptop- in the price range you're currently looking at

Thanks for replies,

I'm only looking for the laptop for basic browsing and photo organising,maybe video organising,maybe the odd invoice, it will sit idle most days. We have iPads for browsing. The hp one might be just what I need at a great price point. Would 4g ram be more than enough for what I'm doing. Thanks again.

Doodah7

phobia2011 wrote: »

Thanks for replies,

I'm only looking for the laptop for basic browsing and photo organising,maybe video organising,maybe the odd invoice, it will sit idle most days. We have iPads for browsing. The hp one might be just what I need at a great price point. Would 4g ram be more than enough for what I'm doing. Thanks again.

This will be perfect for your needs. Don't mind the so-called experts who expect a state-of-the-art PC for €5 and change for an ice-cream on the way home.

phobia2011

phobia2011 wrote: »

Thanks for replies,

I'm only looking for the laptop for basic browsing and photo organising,maybe video organising,maybe the odd invoice, it will sit idle most days. We have iPads for browsing. The hp one might be just what I need at a great price point. Would 4g ram be more than enough for what I'm doing. Thanks again.

still think that it's worth paying €100 more for the yoga one (€450 euro vs £299 sterling) before that offer ends.
4gb is fine for your needs. ms office, browsing, watching movies (up to 1080p codecs should be fine), managing photos etc. the typical stuff.
You get a lot for the €100 over the other laptop imo.

http://www.currys.ie/Product/lenovo-yoga-510-14-full-hd-2-in-1-with-faster-ssd-storage-black/341931/409.4

TerrorFirmer

The_Conductor wrote: »

A reasonable rock bottom priced laptop (from HP) here

300 pounds for an extremely low-end pentium is not what I'd call 'rock bottom' pricing to be fair. You can get i3 based laptops for less than that!

What I'd consider a rock bottom priced new i3 laptop for £279 - here.

Here's a Lenovo i3 with a 128GB SSD for £319

Both miles faster than the Pentium in that HP.

That Curry's one seems fine to me as well for the price considering it's a bricks and mortar offer - you can't judge a price a rip-off or bad value based on online prices. I also agree that the Yoga is a great offer and well worth it.

_Kaiser_

tallpaul wrote: »

This will be perfect for your needs. Don't mind the so-called experts who expect a state-of-the-art PC for €5 and change for an ice-cream on the way home.

The point being made that it's still a fair bit of money for a pretty poor spec by modern standards. THe better value option would be to spend a little more for a better model, or go the second hand route.

You can get better laptops on Adverts cheaper than that HP.. just pick the right seller and do your research - I'd start with say a DELL Latitude E6430/E6440 or maybe a Lenovo T430/T440. They'll not be full HD but the rest of the spec will be far better, and probably better built as well.

beauf

Etnies wrote: »

I got this for €270 on the Dell outlet for a present just before Xmas, ...

How did you get it from the UK Parcel Motel?

enfant terrible

glasso wrote: »

for general computing you won't really notice the difference between i5 8gb and i3 4gb.

My brother is looking for a laptop to play football manager.

Would an i5 processor be the best option in this case?

enfant terrible

enfant terrible wrote: »

My brother is looking for a laptop to play football manager.

Would an i5 processor be the best option in this case?

football manager is a game that does not require much in terms of pc requirements as it's not graphically very intense.

it will run fine on a core i3 even. (maybe not at the highest graphics settings). more ram than the basic 4gb might help a bit in this case, but is probably not essential.

a graphically intensive game on the other hand like the witcher 3 would not run at a playable experience without a decent additional graphics card (separate to the on-chip/integrated intel graphics that comes with the intel i3/i5/i7 built in).

GBX

I need to get a laptop - photoshop to run well is a priority. Would any of the linked machines be sufficient to run it?

GBX

GBX wrote: »

I need to get a laptop - photoshop to run well is a priority. Would any of the linked machines be sufficient to run it?

if you're going to be doing 1080p video editing or especially 4k video in photoshop you'll need a strong laptop - at least an i5 with 8gb ram.

for photos alone you can run it on a core i3, more than 4gb ram could be advisable for smooth running especially if you have lots of pics open at the same time. if you're connecting to a high res monitor (like 4k res) off the laptop you'll definitely need more than 4gb ram but if just using a 1080p laptop screen you should be ok.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/system-requirements.html

is the min requirements spec.

the €450 yoga 510 with the decent ips screen would be ideal to actually see the correct colours. a tn screen won't reproduce colours correctly for you.

GBX

glasso wrote: »

if you're going to be doing 1080p video editing or especially 4k video in photoshop you'll need a strong laptop - at least an i5 with 8gb ram.

for photos alone you can run it on a core i3, more than 4gb ram could be advisable for smooth running especially if you have lots of pics open at the same time. if you're connecting to a high res monitor (like 4k res) off the laptop you'll definitely need more than 4gb ram but if just using a 1080p laptop screen you should be ok.

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/system-requirements.html

is the min requirements spec.

the €450 yoga 510 with the decent ips screen would be ideal to actually see the correct colours. a tn screen won't reproduce colours correctly for you.

Thanks for that. Video editing is not on my radar just photos.

_Kaiser_

RAM is fairly cheap really. Go for 8GB whenever you can, or at least ensure that the machine you get can be upgraded later (many newer models - especially 2-in-1's and ultrabooks - have soldered the RAM to the motherboard so you're stuck with whatever it came with).

For Photoshop I'd say an i5 and 8GB minimum.. with a 1080p/Full HD screen very much preferred.

_Kaiser_

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

RAM is fairly cheap really. Go for 8GB whenever you can, or at least ensure that the machine you get can be upgraded later (many newer models - especially 2-in-1's and ultrabooks - have soldered the RAM to the motherboard so you're stuck with whatever it came with).

For Photoshop I'd say an i5 and 8GB minimum.. with a 1080p/Full HD screen very much preferred.

there's not a lot of difference between core i3 and core i5 on mobile on the u processors which most laptops will have. unlike on desktop where the i5 might have 4 cores. mobile/laptop i5 only have 2.

e.g. current main mobile i3 vs i5
http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-6200U-vs-Intel-Core-i3-6100U

only the turbo-boost feature for higher mhz on the i5 is the difference really. it's a bit of a branding scam by Intel really!

would agree about 8gb ram definitely preferable

Hespy

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/a1-refurbished-toshiba-satellite-p50-c-18k-intel-core-i5-6200u-2ghz-16gb-25-a1-pspt2e-00y00wen/version.asp
Bought one of these before Christmas. Full HD, i5, 16GB RAM. Has a dedicated nvidia card too. Lovely metallic finish too. A little bit more than the machines discussed, but more than worth the extra few quid. I always go for refurbs, it's like buying a car with 1000km on the clock!

biebiebie

Hespy wrote: »

http://www.laptopsdirect.ie/a1-refurbished-toshiba-satellite-p50-c-18k-intel-core-i5-6200u-2ghz-16gb-25-a1-pspt2e-00y00wen/version.asp
Bought one of these before Christmas. Full HD, i5, 16GB RAM. Has a dedicated nvidia card too. Lovely metallic finish too. A little bit more than the machines discussed, but more than worth the extra few quid. I always go for refurbs, it's like buying a car with 1000km on the clock!

Nice price.
Although important to point out that it only has 3 Month Warranty.

Personally speaking I'd rather buy from the Dell UK outlet and have full 12 months warranty.
Anyhow just another option to consider!

The_Conductor

The_Conductor wrote: »

I know its not a 1080p screen- but in all honesty- you don't need a HD screen in a 15.6" laptop- you quite simply won't appreciate the realestate.
.

I'd disagree on that. The difference better my 13 inch Macbook Pro retina and a Mac air is night and day. I actually wanted an air but the screen is almost blurry when you compare it to retina and I couldn't live with buying something with an inferior screen.

Similar at work I have a newer versions of a laptop compared to a workmate. Exact same laptop except mine has a Hd screen and you can tell straight away that the screen is of much poorer quality in his than mine.