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About 5 years ago I asked on here a question about this and got some good help, so I'm hoping for more of the same.
I'm a contractor and prefer my tech kit to be not slow. So I ended up with a Dell outlet G5 i7 8th gen, it's got 12gb and a couple of SSDs. It gets used for general office stuff mainly. I am in a mobile role so do use it out and about.
I also use it for some mild gaming like GTA5 and Half Life Alyx which just about runs on my gtx1060.
Recently it's started to play up and I had to open the case and disconnect the trackpad. It's also making a weird noise like a stuck key 🤷
So I think it's time to upgrade. Looking at i7 12th gen or newer; 16gb+; 3060+
But, reliable and trustworthy! I may also need to up the screen size to 17 as I'm getting old.
Last one was about £1k and has done me for 5 years which ain't bad.
What brands are decent? Dell is still on my radar but less of a gaming form factor as it's a big old thing. I've had a Lenovo in the past which was a bit plasticky but it was an ideapad.
Will I benefit from a better-than HD screen? Normally plugged into a 34" monitor so it's only for mobile use.
Brands cropping up in my socials include MSI and Chillblast which I've no knowledge of.
Looking to spend around the 1k level again as that seems to work for me.
Help me Obi Wan.
My work colleague has just bought this
although it was without the bag and sub-£1000 only last week. Looks like it'll do the trick. They have a 1080p version for £999 if you can put up with the lower resolution screen.
That looks just the job! Any opinions about MSI?
Can't really run to to the XPS as the ones with enough graphics are about 2 grand. It'd be an Inspiron.
MSI was considered a budget brand back when I dealt with them in the 1990s. Today I couldn't say. I wouldn't expect them to be inherently bad because they've been going for some time now, but I get twitchy in the laptop arena when moving away from the big names because you start potentially hitting future problems with drivers and support.
If I were buying a laptop tomorrow I wouldn't entertain anything other than Dell or IBM. And if I wanted a gaming laptop I'd either buy a desktop of a console.
Apple. Well, somebody had to say it.
If you want a laptop that lasts, a refurb professional grade laptop is normally the best bet.
They rarely come with fancy graphics but could something like this with an external graphics card fit the bill?
Can only take recommend what I have - XPS 17, but it was £2.5k. Makes every other laptop I've had before it seem like they were made by Fisher Price though....
Hmmm, thanks for the pointers. I'd love an XPS but just too spendy. The thought of an external graphics card again takes the price up significantly, but I'm also wondering whether a "home" computer and a second lightweight"working away" laptop might be worth a ponder.