£700 laptop build...opinions?

Looking to either build or buy a laptop with a budget of £700. I want the laptop to be an all rounder that can handle gaming as well as being a good general day to day worker and was wondering what you guys would advise to get the best for my money. What would you build or buy if you were in my position?

I'd save up until I could buy a laptop with a GTX 1050 ti in it.

£700 will net you a laptop with a GTX 1050. £800, one with a 1050 ti. The 1050 ti is ~30-35% more powerful. There isn't a less powerful mobile gaming GPU than the 1050 non-ti in modern laptops.

Thus if spending hundreds and hundreds of quid on a laptop it probably makes sense to get something that will last a bit longer before it struggles with playing games you might like in the future.

e.g.



Chassis & Display
Vyper Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 8300H (2.3GHz, 4.0GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 2 in 1 Memory Card Reader (SD, MMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 120W AC Adaptor
Battery
Vyper Series 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 4 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
PER-KEY RGB BACKLIT UK MECHANICAL KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £799.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/vyper-15/KHrnzzD3E5/

Thanks for the quick reply oussebon

I would also like to start programming so i am not sure if that would affect the build at all. Would it be wise to substitute less important components for cheaper parts so that more crucial, more expensive components could be kept? (the budget is quite rigid as it is a gift on fairly short notice). Also could you please offer a "ready to buy" option if possible that would be good quality for the money.

There's literally nothing to substitute in that build. What do you think there is that could be pruned down? :/

You could drop the RAM to 4gb (lol...) and cripple the system. You could drop the HDD to 5400rpm, and also cripple the system. The CPU and GPU are the lowest spec on offer for the chassis.

You could buy a cheaper chassis with a weaker GPU and make the system need replacing much sooner and give lower performance in the meantime.

PCS do have next day systems. These usually cost even more, so you'd get even less value for money. I did have a look at them and I honestly can't recommend you spending money on any of these things.

I'd honestly suggest you give this one some carefully revised thought. What's more important, buying something asap that's junk, or buying something far better for just a little more time?

The budget just isn't enough to make sense to buy anything, so better to not spend a penny tbh.

Oussebon said:

There's literally nothing to substitute in that build. What do you think there is that could be pruned down? :/

You could drop the RAM to 4gb (lol...) and cripple the system. You could drop the HDD to 5400rpm, and also cripple the system. The CPU and GPU are the lowest spec on offer for the chassis.

You could buy a cheaper chassis with a weaker GPU and make the system need replacing much sooner and give lower performance in the meantime.

PCS do have next day systems. These usually cost even more, so you'd get even less value for money. I did have a look at them and I honestly can't recommend you spending money on any of these things.

I'd honestly suggest you give this one some carefully revised thought. What's more important, buying something asap that's junk, or buying something far better for just a little more time?

The budget just isn't enough to make sense to buy anything, so better to not spend a penny tbh.

Click to expand...

well said...

I honestly have no idea what could be pruned down, i am admittedly a novice in this area so apologies if my question was stupid. I am simply trying to get the best i can get for my budget and i appreciate your input.

Gatekeeper said:

I honestly have no idea what could be pruned down, i am admittedly a novice in this area so apologies if my question was stupid. I am simply trying to get the best i can get for my budget and i appreciate your input.

Click to expand...

You're not stupid. Your problem is that your budget is right at the bottom end for a gaming laptop. Whilst I appreciate that you want a laptop now I'd agree with Oussebon that you'll be much happier in the longer term if you hold off and wait until your budget meets your needs.

Just to check, what kind of games would you want to play on it?

Thanks guys, the game that would be of choice would be battlefield but to be honest it will be used for a lot of general uni work also.....i hope (for my nephew). Let's say we change the question and take the focus off gaming and just go for an all rounder that can handle a bit of everything (if that's possible?), could we cap the price at £700 with it still being decent?

They weren't stupid questions, apologies if I suggested that (absolutely wasn't intentional). It was more just surprise as the spec was about as pared down as possible already.

So here's the thing - the focus wasn't on gaming. The focus is on value for money.

For any gaming at all (beyond 2D pixel graphics and some very basic games) you need a graphics card. The 2 cheapest graphics cards are the 1050 and 1050 ti. The 1050 gives maybe 2/3rds to 3/4s of the performance of a 1050 ti, but only saves, what, 12%? A laptop cannot have the GPU upgraded. Therefore when you need to 'upgrade' the laptop you need to buy a new one. So, within reason, you want the best bang for buck possible because otherwise you cost yourself performance now, and mean you need to spend £700 (or whatever) on a new laptop much sooner into the future.

If £700 is a hard cap and you need something capable of gaming, you might be best off getting an off-the-shelf laptop for £620 with a 1050. i.e. the absolutely, utterly cheapest thing you can possibly find with a 1050. Because if buying a laptop with hardware that basic, you don't want to spend a penny more on it than strictly necessary.

If you want to rule out gaming altogether, PCS do have some lighter, thinner options within the price range that are portable and fast, and suitable for general uni work. I could absolutely suggest those in good conscience. But I can't suggest anything cheaper than the Vyper where gaming is involved

No way did you suggest that oussebon, i appreciate your responses but i just know i risk asking nonsensical questions out of pure lack of knowledge lol. I didn't realise that a gaming laptop cost so much to be honest so that's my mistake. If we took the focus off gaming what would you go for as an all rounder?

Actually, one thing occurs to me - can your nephew get Windows licences via his university? Some Unis do offer free MS Office and Windows licences for students.

If so, that would knock ~£90 off the Vyper and make it only just over the £700 mark.

If going for a straight office work type laptop, then something like:



Chassis & Display
UltraNote Series: 14" Matte Full HD IPS 60 Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-8250U (1.60GHz, 3.4GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 40W AC Adaptor
Battery
UltraNote IV Series 44WH Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Sound Card
Realtek 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 1 x USB 3.0 PORT + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
14" ULTRANOTE III SERIES UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £617.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/ultranoteiv-14/4P32cNn5mP/

But this will not run games like battlefield, and there is no way to upgrade it to do so.