Laptop - biggest screen with smallest footprint?

[anxious_ant]

Hopefully the collective wisdom of PH can recommend me the best laptop available

Basically I need a portable laptop with the biggest screen possible. Below are the must haves:

• Runs W10
• Built in fingerprint sensor
• SSD/M.2 with min 250GB as need to boot up quickly
• Long battery life + lightweight + not bulky

Nice to have : Illuminated keyboard

Budget of around £500.

I mostly run SaaS stuff on it with basic Office stuff.

Reason for big screen is that it's easier for me to code. Currently run 14" Acer Swift 3 which does the job except for screen real estate and I suppose to a degree battery life

[Murph7355]

I think you need to decide what size screen you want, and to better define "portability", then work from there by the sound of it.

The other criteria, apart from price (!), won't be an issue.

For decent portability, however, going much over 14" is going to be stretching things IMO.

[The_Jackal]

The footprint is the same as the lid which houses the screen, so they shouldnt vary.
Your biggest problem will be getting the spec you want at that price.

[ArsE82]

Refurb X1 Carbon?

[GlenMH]

Light, not bulky, quick hard drive and big screen is generally incompatible with low price!

Dell XPS15 but you are going to need to hunt a refurb/2nd hand one for that price.

[ReallyReallyGood]

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...

[anxious_ant]

Thanks all. The Acer Swift 3 I'm using currently has a 14" FHD screen. I'm thinking of going 15" FHD. I think 17" is definitely going to be too large and not really portable.

By chance a supplier at work pointed me in the direction of HP Elitebooks. I realise they are over budget but does seem to have all the features I want.

I will alsp have a look at the linked laptop.

[NorthDave]

Any reason why you can't keep the existing laptop and use an external monitor when coding?

I do something similar and laptop screen +1 makes things easier.

[anonymous-user]

I got a HP 15" SSD i5 touchscreen laptop for around £550 in the black Friday sales a coup!e of years ago so it can be achieved.

[Bibbs]

NorthDave said:

Any reason why you can't keep the existing laptop and use an external monitor when coding?

I do something similar and laptop screen +1 makes things easier.

I have a laptop and when combined with an old iPad and the Duet app, a simple 2 screen display when traveling.

[TameRacingDriver]

Second hand XPS 15 is about the best option I can think of. Very small bezels on those things.

[anxious_ant]

Right, need some opinion please.

I'm almost decided on the HP 850 G6 laptop : https://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id...
however found a Dell with much better spec that's cheaper : https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptops/new-i...

Which one would you go for?

edit: Dell also offer 12 months interest free credit via Paypal. So tempted but not favorable reviews with Dell.

Edited by anxious_ant on Thursday 16th January 19:20

[anxious_ant]

NorthDave said:

Any reason why you can't keep the existing laptop and use an external monitor when coding?

I do something similar and laptop screen +1 makes things easier.

When I'm working from home I usually use the laptop docked with an external monitor. However I travel a lot to client sites etc and not every client could supply a monitor.

Edited by anxious_ant on Thursday 16th January 19:22

[TameRacingDriver]

anxious_ant said:

When I'm working from home I usually use the laptop docked with an external monitor. However I travel a lot to client sites etc and not every client could supply a monitor.

If you have an iPad you can use that as a second screen.

[Mr Pointy]

I'd go for the Dell but do you need a graphics card & is 8Gb enough? Look at adding 3 years on site support for £98 as well.

[anxious_ant]

Mr Pointy said:

I'd go for the Dell but do you need a graphics card & is 8Gb enough? Look at adding 3 years on site support for £98 as well.

There's a cheaper model without the graphics card (https://www.dell.com/en-uk/work/shop/laptops/new-inspiron-15-5000/spd/inspiron-15-5593-laptop/bn59304)

However for about £40 I thought it's worth considering. Although a graphics card could shorten the battery life.
8GB should be enough as most work via SaaS or remote desktops.
Shame no option to upgrade RAM for Dell.

Leaning heavily towards Dell however not too sure about build quality.
The HP looks better built but the specs are miles off the Dell.
I seem to recall HP business laptops are pretty well built, just no experience with Dell.

edit: I think the price on Dell is showing as Ex Vat however even with VAT still cheaper than the HP.

Edited by anxious_ant on Thursday 16th January 19:46

Edited by anxious_ant on Thursday 16th January 19:53

[anxious_ant]

TameRacingDriver said:

If you have an iPad you can use that as a second screen.

No iPad I'm afraid however pretty novel idea though.

[Some Guy]

Dell are good, but you want a Latitude, (business grade) not an Inspiron (home grade).

[anxious_ant]

Some Guy said:

Dell are good, but you want a Latitude, (business grade) not an Inspiron (home grade).

Ah, I see. Looking at the Latitudes and the spec and prices are falling inline with HP.

[anonymous-user]

What happened to your budget.? :-)

No fingerprint sensor, though I could not find it on your hp selection.

£399

https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/la...