You could look at the Dell Inspiron 17" Laptops with the UHD Screens. Around a grand they could fit your needs. I'd steer clear of macbooks for Pro work. They used to offer very good value for money (I have had 2 macbook pros) but now I feel they are designed for hipsters who want style over substance (I know that this will incense the apple fanbois who will issue a fatois on my head).
The reason I chose PC Specialist, was I use my pictures & videos to produce AV shows which need a good spec graphics card to take care of animation. Since I suggested them I tried a trial build to my spec'the basic price went from £650ish on the 17inch version to over £1400 with all my bells & whistles. What I like about them is the service & when building your quote, they tell you before you plunge if it will be OK.
Just did a trial build to the nearest spec' to my PC specialist version on the Dell UK site & it came to over £1800!!! with only 8GB ram not 16 as my PCS version.
Alienware 17 Gaming Laptop Built for Virtual Reality | Dell UK
@stearman65 Thanks for that. I feel like the spec I can save money on is the GPU, I don't really need a gaming level of GPU performance. And GPU's tend to be expensive.
I wish there was a little bit more info on the screens on their website though. I might give them a call to discuss my options.
@mushii It looks like either Dell or custom built laptop would be my two best options. MBP's are just too expensive for me and purchase like that would not make sense from a business point of view. Maybe further down the line.
@stearman65 Out of curiousity, and I apologise if you have already mentioned it, which screen out of their options have you went with?
If you mean PC Specialists, this link should take you to my spec I created on their site.
PCSPECIALIST - Configure the OptimusVIII 17 to your ideal requirements.
Off to Holland later this morning so will be out of internet access for 10 days. Good luck with deciding what to get.
If you are considering using PC Specialists check out the other custom laptop sellers like Scan.co.uk, Cyberpower, eurocom etc... you may (or may not) be able to save a few quid, at the end of the day they will all be the same as they are clevo resellers and all builds will be based on the same selection of chassis even if each company gives them a fancy name.
cheers
If you’re looking at Dell then keep an eye on their outlet listings. Mostly unimpressive machines but sometimes you get an absolute bargain. Watch out for vat and delivery charges.
My last 3 laptops and 3 desktops have all come from there.
Back a good few years we used to hire in top spec MacBook pros for presentation work at big sales conferences etc. It was expensive but you always got the latest spec and full support. Worth it for a paid gig where it’s essential everything runs right. Probably not worth it to fill in a couple of hours in the evening.
It has actually crossed my mind to hire one, but I thought it would be too expensive. Especially that it is 2 weeks, not just a weekend. I might as well put those money towards buying my own a laptop instead.
When you say Dell outlet, do you mean Ebay or do you have a specific website in mind?
We used hire because it was cheaper to us than buying show equipment and having it sit unused tying up capital and depreciating in a cupboard for most of the time.
Dell's site does loads of wacky redirects but start with http://www.dell.co.uk/outlet and follow the links and you'll get there.
The inventory is refreshed periodically, sometimes several times a day so you just need to keep an eye on it and be prepared to act quickly if you see a bargain.My last laptop was £850 new but I paid £350 all in data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7It was a discontinued and they were selling through the end of line a few units at a time.
The stock is a mix of refurbished models with minor damage, customer returns and cancelled orders - as lots of Dell stuff is built on demand to a customer order.