I need advice on a sturdy laptop

[[email protected]]

Had a PC Specialist laptop for a several years now, but it's starting to show signs of wear and tear. Certain keys don't work, camera has stopped, corners have chipped off, fan is temperamental, but to be honest over the years it has taken a licking and owes me nothing. I'm a journalist so it has come with me through all sorts of being bashed about. But If I was looking to get a replacement, what should I be looking for to give it a little more sturdiness this time around?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Had a PC Specialist laptop for a several years now, but it's starting to show signs of wear and tear. Certain keys don't work, camera has stopped, corners have chipped off, fan is temperamental, but to be honest over the years it has taken a licking and owes me nothing. I'm a journalist so it has come with me through all sorts of being bashed about. But If I was looking to get a replacement, what should I be looking for to give it a little more sturdiness this time around?

Perhaps an aluminium chassis which should be a lot more durable, something like the Fusion:

PCSPECIALIST - Custom Computers and Laptops Built to Order

PCSpecialist is a manufacturer of high quality custom computers and laptops. Configure your ideal computer in just a few simple steps with a broad range available.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Or the Lafite IV:

PCSPECIALIST - Custom Computers and Laptops Built to Order

PCSpecialist is a manufacturer of high quality custom computers and laptops. Configure your ideal computer in just a few simple steps with a broad range available.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

There are 14” variants as well, depends what you’re after.

Regarding the camera, it may just be disabled, there’s a function key combination to enable and disable it.

 

[[email protected]]

Hah, no it was smashed, gives a very strange image

Okay folks, for a professional journalist on the go with a big backpack and a need to write, edit video, upload and type 10,000 words a day how is this looking?


Chassis & Display
Fusion Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-10510U (1.8GHz, 4.9GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX250 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
AC Adaptor
1 x 65W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Fusion Series Integrated 91WH Lithium Ion Battery
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
FUSION SERIES SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS M400 USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

 

[[email protected]]

As opposed to option B...


Chassis & Display
Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-10510U (1.8GHz, 4.9GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
4GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SU800 M.2 2280 (560 MB/R, 520 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 65W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
1 x Lafité Battery 54WH
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless/Wired Networking
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x THUNDERBOLT PORT (USB-C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" LAFITÉ SERIES MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS M400 USB OPTICAL MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just so you're aware the Lafite one is missing RAM, you'll want fastest possible 16GB.

The benefit to the Lafite is that it has Thunderbolt 3 which opens up quite a few doors for you regarding GPU power (which could be useful for your image processing) and has an option for a bigger battery (the Fusion does have this also). Those two combined could increase the lifetime of the laptop by quite a margin.

With Thunderbolt, it opens up being able to fit an external GPU or eGPU like this:

Razer Core X - Thunderbolt™ 3 eGPU | Razer United Kingdom

Now compatible with Mac and Windows laptops, featuring 3-slot PCI-Express desktop graphic cards, 650W power supply, and charges via USB-C.

www.razer.com

In that you can fit whatever desktop GPU you like and this can be utilised for GPU accelerated processing of images.

Aside from that, thunderbolt can be handy for external docks, daisychaining external monitors, or external hard drives, soundcards etc etc. It's a very useful port to have.

This is the lafite with extended battery:

PCSPECIALIST - Custom Computers and Laptops Built to Order

PCSpecialist is a manufacturer of high quality custom computers and laptops. Configure your ideal computer in just a few simple steps with a broad range available.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[[email protected]]

Thank you so much...