Laptop for work/programming

[KvN161]

Howdy,

I'm in the market for a new laptop which will be used exclusively for work activities and programming in Java/C#.

This machine will not be used for gaming.

The main things i'm looking for are a i7 and 16BG of RAM, as well as plenty of storage for running virtual machines.

After looking around. I specced up the below machine based on the LAFITÉ III 15.6.

How does it look? Is there anything that i've overlooked? I didn't want to pay extra for a GPU that i'd never use in the other chassis. But please suggest something else if it is better. I intend for this laptop to last me a few years

Chassis & Display
Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-8565U (1.80GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
128GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1640MB/sR | 650MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 65W AC Adaptor
Battery
Lafité Series 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (36WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Sound Card
Intel 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 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" LAFITÉ SERIES MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD (RED)
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD 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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £960.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[ubuysa]

It looks pretty good to me (but I'm not the hardware expert here).

If you plan on running virtual machines you might want to up the RAM. You'll likely be dedicating 4GB of RAM to each guest VM....

 

[Oussebon]

If it doesn't need to be absolutely as light and thin as possible, the Cosmos chassis offer much more powerful CPUs.

Also:

1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
128GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 1640MB/sR | 650MB/sW)

Why this storage setup? It may be better to get a single 1TB NVMe SSD like the WD Black or 970 Evo whichy will be many times faster than the budget QVO drive, and indeed the Intel 760p.

 

[KvN161]

If it doesn't need to be absolutely as light and thin as possible, the Cosmos chassis offer much more powerful CPUs.

Also:

Why this storage setup? It may be better to get a single 1TB NVMe SSD like the WD Black or 970 Evo whichy will be many times faster than the budget QVO drive, and indeed the Intel 760p.

Thanks for the reply

The Cosmos lists it screen as 45% NTSC, vs 70% NTSC on the LAFITÉ.

I believe this is detail relates to the brightness of the screen? I'm not sure how this relates to real world results.

The reason for the two drives was one to be dedicated to the O/S & system apps. And the other dedicated to storage of user files etc.

However now thinking about it. I can always perform an upgrade later on down the line if required.

 

[Oussebon]

No, it relates to the colours. It's relevant for photo editing.

If you are just storing user files, an HDD is a much more economical way of doing it. You'll want your VMs to be on a fast SSD, as well as the OS and user files

 

[cheesefish]

I have similar requirements to you OP. I had actually ordered a 15.6" LAFITÉ III but just cancelled it and ordered the 15.6" RECOIL III GTX with the IPS 72% NTSC screen. It's more money but the H series processors are a lot more powerful than the U in the LAFITÉ. I'll also be using mine on a desk everyday plugged in to the mains, so mobility was not a factor.