15" Laptop - Shortlist help

[dhutch]

Looking for a laptop, budget is around the £600-800 mark, no dramas required so the ms has ruled out used or refurbished units, usage will be office/pdf, video conf, films, as is or hooked up to a pair of monitors keyboard etc.

Requirements:
- 15" screen,
- 8gb ram
- 256-512gb SDD
- USB type-c
- Not too heavy

Colleague says I should be looking for AMD Ryzen 3000 series. or Intel i5/i7 8000 series
Brands narrowed to; Dell, HP, Lenovo hopefully dictating something solidly made.

Thoughts welcome on the shortlist below.



Inspiron 15 5000 Ryzen 5 4500U 8GB 512GB SSD 1.7kg Black (1yr Col & Rtn upgradable)  £650
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspir...

Inspiron 15 7000 intel i5 10300H 8GB 256GB SSD 1.9kg Silver (1yr Col & Rtn upgradable) £700
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspir...

Lenovo Series 3 15.6" 'Gaming' - Intel i5, GTX 1650, 8GB, 256 GB SSD 2.2kg Black (1 year warranty)   £700
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...

HP EliteBook 850 G6 Core i5-8265U 8GB 256GB SSD  1.8kg Silver (3 yr warranty)  £800
https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-elitebook-850-g...

DELL Inspiron 15 5590 15.6" Laptop - Intel i7, 8GB ,512GB SSD, 1.8kg Silver (1 year warranty)  £850
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...


Daniel

[xeny]

The Elitebook will be best build quality. The Lenovo with a discrete GPU will tend to be a bit plasticky and is as you note heavier than the rest.

Check the Elitebook supports 2 external monitors - it has HDMI out, but the web page only says USB-C, not USB-C with DisplayPort.

If you're buying with only 8GB of RAM, try and make sure it has memory slots rather than memory soldered to the motherboard so you can easily upgrade to 12 or 16GB.

[dhutch]

That's for the reply, I have an 9yo Elitebook and it's stood the test of time well

I will check the Type-C port as twin monitor support is a must. Dedicated GPU is unlikely to be needed I feel.
Presumably if ram is socket based you have to dig around a bit, I'll check as I had forgotten it's going onboard.

My current works laptop is a Dell Precision with 'lightning' usb-c port, but they appear out of budget and I think 32gb ram would be overkill! Partner has a Latitude from work but they appear to have turned into convertibles.

Daniel

[ThunderSpook]

Latitudes have the absolute best build quality, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of HP, but probably out of your budget. The Inspirons are unfortunately not quite in the same league when it comes to build quality.

[biggiles]

dhutch said:

That's for the reply, I have an 9yo Elitebook and it's stood the test of time well

I will check the Type-C port as twin monitor support is a must. Dedicated GPU is unlikely to be needed I feel.
Presumably if ram is socket based you have to dig around a bit, I'll check as I had forgotten it's going onboard.

My current works laptop is a Dell Precision with 'lightning' usb-c port, but they appear out of budget and I think 32gb ram would be overkill! Partner has a Latitude from work but they appear to have turned into convertibles.

Daniel

I have an old Elitebook which is also bombproof!

I'd suggest getting a laptop with the same power plug as your other Dells - all of ours are HP and it saved much angst being able to share power leads.

Ryzen 5 is more than good enough for any office use, IMHO.

[dhutch]

ThunderSpook said:

Latitudes have the absolute best build quality, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of HP, but probably out of your budget. The Inspirons are unfortunately not quite in the same league when it comes to build quality.

Cheers.

And is the the Inspiron build quality ok? Is the HP on par with that?

Latitude 3510 i5-10210U 8GB 256GB SSD black 1.9kg £690 (conventional?)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

Latitude 5511 i5-10300H 8GB 256GB SSD black 1.9kg £850 (convertible w/touchscreen?)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

Looks like we could get the 3510 within budget, seems hard to find out if RAM is soldered or not, but I think the Latitude 3510 and two SO-DIMM slots, one free, maybe?


Sharing power leads is a nice thought, but our two Dells are difference anyway (mines the smaller newer type, partners' is nhs so old as the hills) plus as they are work laptops by no means a given.


Daniel

[dhutch]

Ok, so if we narrow down to the Dell options...

Inspiron 5000 Ryzen 5 4500U 8GB 512GB SSD 1.7kg Black  £650
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspir...

Inspiron 7000 Intel i5 10300H 8GB 256GB SSD 1.9kg Silver £700
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/laptops/new-inspir...

Latitude 3510 Intel i5-10210U 8GB 256GB SSD black 1.9kg £830 (£690 exVAT)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

Latitude 3510 Intel i7-10510U 8GB 256GB SSD black 1.9kg £980 (£819 exVAT)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

Edt: just released the Latitudes are prices exVAT which prices out the i7 one really.

I would then get a Dell USB-C dock too, WD15 or D6000, £60 on ebay

And a copy of office from Software Geeks.


Daniel

Edited by dhutch on Wednesday 23 September 23:35

[Ridealong]

Anyone you know with a Halifax account, they have a cashback offer of £80 when you spend £800 or more on a Dell purchase which expires Sunday 27/09/20.

Also Topcashback has an 8% cashback but don't know when the offer expires.

[Condi]

Check out the Dell outlet (google it). Stock changes often but you can get some decent discounts.

[Pieman68]

3510 definitely has 2 x DIMM slots with one free when configured with 8Gb (i work for an IT reseller and sell this stuff all the time) but the bezel on them is a touch old fashioned and clunky from feedback from customers - they prefer the 5000 series

If laptops don't support dual display via their onboard ports, could be worth looking at something like a port replicator - I've used the Startech ones personally in the past

Be aware, stock levels are starting to tank again like they did back in April - anybody would think there's been an announcement about people having to work from home more again, and this is pushing prices up

[ThunderSpook]

Last time part of the problem was that most components, especially screens, are all made in Wuhan. We shouldn’t have that problem this time so production lines (especially Dell because most things are made to order) should recover stock levels quickly.

[dhutch]

Ok, good information
- Sadly we don't have a Halifax account but will ask parents, we don't use topcashback as life is too short.
- The plan is to get some something ordered this week, so will not leave it longer than required, but good heads up.
- A 5000 Latitude would be lovely, but they appear to be out of budget, starting at £850+vat so well over a grand.


Personally I would get a refurbished 'outlet' Dell all day long, but the ms doesnt want it and it's her laptop.
Link below should be 15" Latitudes, 3000 and 5000 series, with SSD, 'certified refurbished' aka excluding 'scratch and dent'.
Which does appear to show you can get a 5510 about within budget, there doesn't appear to be any 3000 series on atm, but I still think it is out on the count of not being new. She's had a lot of 'used' work laptops that have been craptola so I can understand it, plus while presumably better than 'scratch and dent' they do have cosmetic marks, and you can view picture of the item ahead of purchase.
https://m.dell.com/h5/m/uk/InventorySearch?c=uk&am...

Outlet Latitude 5510 i5-10210U 8gb 512gb ssd £876 (£730 exvat)
https://m.dell.com/h5/m/r/outlet.euro.dell.com/Onl...

Outlet Latitude 5510 i5-10310U 8gb 128gb ssd £888 (£740 exvat)
https://m.dell.com/h5/m/r/outlet.euro.dell.com/Onl...


Also found out last night that after much moaning to IT her ageing in 4gb latitude has been swapped for non other than a 8gb 3510, all be it the 13" model as per the previous one, and heavily locked down to NHS restricted accessness.


Daniel

[Daz68]

Just got this and its great for the price.

HP Slim 15.6in i7 8GB 512GB FHD Laptop & Norton 360

699.00 from Argos.

[dhutch]

dhutch said:

Ok, so if we narrow down to the Dell options...

Latitude 3510 Intel i5-10210U 8GB 256GB SSD black 1.9kg £830 (£690 exVAT)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

The above went out of stock, the came back dropped to £790 (£659 exVAT) but then wouldnt checkout out at it was no longer in-stock, etc. Chat support guy would order it for me, but for delivery in a month which isnt half as fun!

So hunted around quickly again, nearly bought one via Misco, and then ended up with this which has an 'extra £160 off' and is therefore only little bit more. I understand the i5 10310U is slightly faster but uses a chunk more power than the i5-10210U however can't get battery life figures for either and it will almost always be plugged in, so whatever.

Latitude 5510 Intel i5-10310U 8GB 256GB SSD grey 1.8kg £850 (£709 exVAT)
https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptop-comput...

Should arrive tomorrow.

I have also picked up a used WD15 dock for £44 of ebay to go with it and our existing twin monitors, which should also work with her works laptop.

Cheers all for your help.


Daniel