i need advice on building the best laptop with a budget of £1000

A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
im looking to build a "High End Multimedia" system. so, lots of HD/3D Movies and downloads. i discovered this site and found that you get a lot more value for money than buying from the high street shops. im not exactly whatyou might call a "techy" person, so the more info provided, the better understanding i may gain. if someone could please point me in the right direction as to which specifications i should be looking out for that would be great. any help is much appreciated. thank you :)
 
CEUOTC

CEUOTC

Enthusiast
ArcticMonkey said:
im looking to build a "High End Multimedia" system. so, lots of HD/3D Movies and downloads. i discovered this site and found that you get a lot more value for money than buying from the high street shops. im not exactly whatyou might call a "techy" person, so the more info provided, the better understanding i may gain. if someone could please point me in the right direction as to which specifications i should be looking out for that would be great. any help is much appreciated. thank you :)
Click to expand...

Vertex III 15" £1,062.00 inc VAT.

17.3" SkyFire II £1,002.00 inc VAT.

The 17.3" Optimus III £779.00 inc VAT.

I would say the above Advertised Laptops should do.

Regards.

C.
 
P

PlasticTastic

Bronze Level Poster
I would recommend:

Chassis & Display
SkyFire:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670M - 1.5GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader (SDXC/MMC/MS/XD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
SkyFire Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence
Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,035.00
 
CEUOTC

CEUOTC

Enthusiast
Hey there sure, goto the main pcspecialist website and on the top bar select Quick Navigation --> Advertised Laptops --> And select what laptop to look at.

Regards.

C.
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
thanks a lot guys. very helpful. i have made one myself, i'd love your opinion's on my configuration below. also just wondering whether you guys think buying from this site is the better option to buying from say curry's or somewhere like that??

£1166.00 including VAT and Delivery.

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

2nd Graphics Card
NONE

Memory - 1st Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

2nd Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLUE WD7500BPVT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 8MB CACHE (5400 rpm)

1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ HD-Audiophile-Grade Sound External (£82)

Network Facilities
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® ULTIMATE-N 6300 (450Mbps)

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Upgrade to 62.16WH 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (£39)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Laptop Cooling Stands
NONE

Carry Case
NONE

Monitor
NONE

Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Speakers
NONE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Headsets (VOIP)
NONE

Surge Protection
NONE

Printer
NONE

External Hard Drive
NONE

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

Home Installation
NONE

Dead Pixel Guarantee
NONE

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Data Recovery
NONE

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

Charity Calendar
NONE

Quantity:
1
 
P

PlasticTastic

Bronze Level Poster
I. Wouldn't recommend going for the 2.6ghz i7, as it is a lot pricier but not much better than the 2.3ghz. I would put that money towards a Matte screen :)
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
1) go for the 3610QM processor instead, there isn't much difference.
2) use 1333MHz RAM instead of 1600MHz RAM, there also isn't much difference.
3) a decent pair of headphones will do the same job as an external sound card unless you want it for professional use.
4) the wireless card is only as fast as your wireless connection. unless you have a 450mbps connection, you wont be getting 450mbps with that card. drop it to the 150mbps (18.75MBps) as that is more than enough to match most internet speeds.
5) for a budget of over £1000 you should really be looking at the really high-end laptops like the Skyfire or Vortex to get the most bang for your buck :)

for under £1000 you could try this:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" AUO Matte Full HD Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

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

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£971 inc VAT and Delivery.
 
Last edited:
A

Adli

Enthusiast
ArcticMonkey said:
I'll bare that in mind. thank you! why is the matte screen £89 more? is it actually worth it?
Click to expand...

the AUO Matte screen is the best screen available, Matte means that there is an anti-reflective coating on the screen. you'll see less distracting reflections when you are using it compared to a glossy screen. so the AUO Matte screen is a good screen that you wont see your own face in often :)
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
Adli said:
1) go for the 3610QM processor instead, there isn't much difference.
2) use 1333MHz RAM instead of 1600MHz RAM, there also isn't much difference.
3) a decent pair of headphones will do the same job as an external sound card unless you want it for professional use.
4) the wireless card is only as fast as your wireless connection. unless you have a 450mbps connection, you wont be getting 450mbps with that card. drop it to the 150mbps (18.75MBps) as that is more than enough to match most internet speeds.
5) for a budget of over £1000 you should really be looking at the really high-end laptops like the Skyfire or Vortex to get the most bang for your buck :)

for under £1000 you could try this:

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" AUO Matte Full HD Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
SONY BC-5550H 4x BLURAY COMBO DRIVE & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE (£49)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

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

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

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

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£971 inc VAT and Delivery.
Click to expand...

thank you Adil! very helpful.

i have a few questions for you:

would there be much of a difference if i was to connect a laptop with a sound card to external speakers when watching a movie - to doing the same thing with a laptop without a decent sound card?

the blueray player will hardly ever be used to play blueray movies.would you still recommend me adding it, as i will still be using the drive?

will a decent wireless card give me a better range? for example, would i be able to sit further away from the router? (60Mb virgin media)

is the thermal paste necessary?

also, im willing to push my budget to £1100, if it means big improvements.

thanks again Adil, appreciate it:)
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
ArcticMonkey said:
thank you Adil! very helpful.

i have a few questions for you:

would there be much of a difference if i was to connect a laptop with a sound card to external speakers when watching a movie - to doing the same thing with a laptop without a decent sound card?

the blueray player will hardly ever be used to play blueray movies.would you still recommend me adding it, as i will still be using the drive?

will a decent wireless card give me a better range? for example, would i be able to sit further away from the router? (60Mb virgin media)

is the thermal paste necessary?

also, im willing to push my budget to £1100, if it means big improvements.

thanks again Adil, appreciate it:)
Click to expand...

1) if the speakers have their own sound processing, then probably not. best to ask PCS though :)
2) no point in getting the BR drive if you dont use it, feel free to swap to the regular disk drive out to save money.
3) no, it will just increase the maximum amount of data it can process per second.
4) the better thermal paste is not necessary as such, but it is a very good idea for laptops as heat dissipation is harder than in desktops
5) the Vortex/Skyfire chassis will give big improvements for Graphics if you want to push the budget a little, but other than the GPU, the Optimus can match them :)
 
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A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
Adli said:
1) if the speakers have their own sound processing, then probably not. best to ask PCS though :)
2) no point in getting the BR drive if you dont use it, feel free to swap to the regular disk drive out to save money.
3) no, it will just increase the maximum amount of data it can process per second.
4) the better thermal paste is not necessary as such, but it is a very good idea for laptops as heat dissipation is harder than in desktops
5) the Vortex/Skyfire chassis will give big improvements if you want to push the budget a little :)
Click to expand...

Brilliant! thanks a lot Adil. top lad :)
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
are you planning to watch more movies and videos than you are playing games? if so the Optimus spec i posted will be better, as the main advantage of the Vortex/Skyfire is the increased gaming performance of the better graphics cards.
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
Adli said:
1) if the speakers have their own sound processing, then probably not. best to ask PCS though :)
2) no point in getting the BR drive if you dont use it, feel free to swap to the regular disk drive out to save money.
3) no, it will just increase the maximum amount of data it can process per second.
4) the better thermal paste is not necessary as such, but it is a very good idea for laptops as heat dissipation is harder than in desktops
5) the Vortex/Skyfire chassis will give big improvements for Graphics if you want to push the budget a little, but other than the GPU, the Optimus can match them :)
Click to expand...

any chance you could configure another laptop for me baring in mind i dont need a wireless card or a br drive with a new budget of £1100?

i'am forever grateful bro! :)
 
A

ArcticMonkey

Bronze Level Poster
Adli said:
are you planning to watch more movies and videos than you are playing games? if so the Optimus spec i posted will be better, as the main advantage of the Vortex/Skyfire is the increased gaming performance of the better graphics cards.
Click to expand...

i'll be doing pretty much no gaming bro. mainly movies, music, lots of internet use and downloading, collage work etc. basically i want a top spec laptop that i will be using a lot. :)
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
ArcticMonkey said:
any chance you could configure another laptop for me baring in mind i dont need a wireless card or a br drive with a new budget of £1100?

i'am forever grateful bro! :)
Click to expand...

you could use the Optimus i posted without the BR drive, for £938, or a Skyfire:

Chassis & Display
SkyFire:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Integrated 4 in 1 Card Reader (SDXC/MMC/MS/XD)

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

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & INTEL WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
SkyFire Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 720P 30 FPS HD WEBCAM

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

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

£1,141.00

this build has the GTX 675m, meaning it is £41 over the new budget, but if you choose a GTX 670m it comes to £1,081.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-670M.72197.0.html
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-675M.70785.0.html

the GTX 675m is better than the GTX670m, but both cards are very powerful so if you want to stay under £1100 the 670m will be just fine :D
 
A

Adli

Enthusiast
ArcticMonkey said:
i'll be doing pretty much no gaming bro. mainly movies, music, lots of internet use and downloading, collage work etc. basically i want a top spec laptop that i will be using a lot. :)
Click to expand...

get the optimus without the BR drive and wireless then, it has the better screen for cheaper. the main improvement of the Vortex and Skyfire is gaming, so stick with the Optimus if you just want movies and such :D

Chassis & Display
Optimus Series: 17.3" AUO Matte Full HD Widescreen (1920x1080) (£85)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3610QM (2.30GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

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

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

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH

USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD

Battery
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

£1002 inc VAT and Delivery.

i added the Gold Warranty with the money saved by dropping the BR drive :)
 
Last edited:
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