The very best laptop with the very best specs for just under or over £1000 .

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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
Stephen , just one more question - if I were to buy the Defiance 11 which I'm heavily leaning towards , I am completely in the dark as to which ' Wireless & Bluetooth ' section I should choose - should I go with the ' Gigabit Lan & Killer 1525 ' or the default option ?
Many Thanks ,
Peter .
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
OK , Please don't laugh , but our router is the standard BT one , should I buy one of the ones which are recommended - we're out in the sticks in NW Scotland , would another router make any difference or is it down to the BT cable which goes to our local Exchange ?
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
It is down to the telephone line, that will have a maximum speed, although the router will have an effect but only to get the best out of what is available. You will get better advice from someone local who uses computers a lot. Have you though about home plugs, they will be the fastest option.
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
OK , I've found them online , I'll investigate further , I know a gentleman in our community who has had dealings with BT , thanks , Stephen .
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
It is a way of using your house wiring to use a wired connection anywhere. The first is connected to your router and plugged in, the second can be plugged anywhere, as long as it is on the same house circuit as the first, and you connect the PC/Laptop to that. You can get these with your PCS order: http://www.addon-tech.com/new_/product/html/?97.html but is worth shopping around as well.
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
Oh , I see , my son sometimes has trouble with his Xbox connection upstairs and comes down to reset the router on occasion , these might be more use to him actually , thanks , I can almost touch our BT Router from where I sit with my laptop so may not need them , but they're cheap enough and may be worth a try . Thanks !
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
Thanks , Stephen for all of the advice you have given me - just got to take that leap of faith now !
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
I've decided to wait until next year before I buy my next laptop - this will give me a little more time to save some more money , not much , a little - so now it's between the Defiance 11 and the Octane 11 for me [ I think ] .
My Defiance 17.3" configure comes to £1314.00 - i7-6700HQ , 16GB Hyper X , Nvidia 970M , HD1 - 500GB SSD , HD2 - 1TB WD Slim Blue , Arctic-MX-4 , Silver Warranty and Delivery .
I can configure the Octane 17.3" to arrive at a similar price with - i5- 6600 , 16GB Hyper X , Nvidia 970M , HD1 - 250GB SSD , HD2 - 2TB Serial ATA , Arctic MX-4 , Silver Warranty , Delivery comes to £1366.00 - depending on the rate I save , I might be able to give the Octane i7-6700 which comes to £1453.00

Would you go for the Defiance with better specs and costing less or the Octane with good enough specs but with the capability of an upgrade as I went along ? I'm leaning towards the Octane and open to advice as how best to configure it and how to maintain it .
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
If you can get to 1,426, a possibility is the Octane with the 17 6700, 16GB RAM, GTX970M plus a 240GB Kingston SSDNow m2 drive and a 750GB WD Black 7200rpm drive. That is a lot less capacity for storage but the perform boost from the 7200rpm drive will be really noticeable, especially when shunting files about. If you ass a second WD Black it cost 1,472. It would be a bit cheaper with a standard SSD but I went for the m2 to leave two spaces free for storage drives.
I prefer the Octane but would want to get the best CPU I could so would want the i7, if that is possible I much prefer the Octane, although if you are going to stick with 5400rpm drives for storage you are probably better staying with the high spec Defiance.
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
Thanks for your response , Stephen .

The prices are slightly higher for me because of the delivery charge to the Highlands of Scotland , but yes , thanks for your input , I can see what you're doing now .
Two 750GB Hard Drives and the 240GB Kingston in the M.2 SSD would set me back £1489.00 while 1 hard drive with the 750GB and the Kingston in the M.2 SSD Drive would set me back £1443.00 .
It could be as early as January or February when I make my move or it could be April / May time , it depends on how long I can last out without my new toy - the patience of Job springs to mind . :)
 
keynes

keynes

Multiverse Poster
if it will until april next year you may want to wait closer to the date to get some feedback. Prices are likely to change and new components are also likely to be released. Hopefully the gtx 980m will be more affordable later next year.
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
keynes said:
if it will until april next year you may want to wait closer to the date to get some feedback. Prices are likely to change and new components are also likely to be released. Hopefully the gtx 980m will be more affordable later next year.
Click to expand...


Yes , thank you , Keynes , I did think of that - also was there talk / rumour that the Optimus V11 would be having more of a choice of Graphics Card in the future ?
This will be a ' one-off ' situation for me , so I shall have to gather all the advice and think very carefully as what would be the best choice for me .
I have been told by a friend in the Computer Business that what I'm looking at is far too much for my needs and perhaps he's right but I don't drink , I don't smoke and I hardly ever go out so as well as buying a laptop for Photography , watching Films , Browsing , and perhaps the occasional gaming [ Rome Total War has always fascinated me ] I am also buying the very best laptop that I can afford which could possibly be in the region of £1300- £1500 by next April .
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
One more thing , lads - I'm thinking of going for the Octane 11 - i7-6700 , 16GB Hyper X , Nividia 970M , 2 x 750GB 7200rpm and a KingstonNow SSD - The only thing I'm not sure of is the Power Lead and Adaptor , do I go for the 230W or the 330W - The laptop will be used mostly for Photo Editing and some Gaming , would I be ok with the 230W ?
Thanks .
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
The basic unit is fine for your set up, I think the 330W is only needed if you have the GTX 980. If there are any issues there will be a message when you click proceed on the configurator.
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
Aah right , I see - no , it won't be the 980M , too expensive for my needs , thank you once more , Stephen .
 
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PeterW

Bronze Level Poster
I've been having a think [ I'm having re-thinks every day ] whether the Defiance 11 with i7-6700HQ , 16GB Hyper X , Nividia GTX 970M , 2 X 750GB 7200 rpm and a 256 Samsung SM951 MSATA drive for £1341 is better value than the Octane 11 with a desktop processor of i7-600 and the exact same specs which comes to £1590.00 . Is it just the processor we're paying for here , what else makes the Octane 11 a desktop replacement laptop ?
I'm leaning quite heavily towards the Defiance .
What do you think , Guys ?
 
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