Looking for a powerful but quiet laptop

deadkenny

deadkenny

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Tim
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Any recommendations for a desktop replacement kind of laptop that's got a decent size and quality screen for photo editing, can run Capture NX fast (or be good enough for speedy Photoshop use though I'll be using NX but comparable in performance), some video editing, able to play HD videos out HDMI at 1080p, can play most modern games hapily (but doesn't need to be a massive gaming rig), and good for a bit of software development?

Needs to be sturdy, solid, not massively thick, not too ugly, not "cheap" quality (*cough* Acer, *cough* HP, *cough* any own brand crap from PC World, etc), and most important of all... quiet!

By quiet I mean not like my old Acer which sounded like a 747 taking off every time the processor throttled up. Doesn't have to be silent, but the fans need to be ideally at whisper level.

£1k-ish budget.

Looking at Dell and Levono in particular as I'm comfortable with them, and know their kit is sturdy (the business grade kit at least), but there are so many options and as always reviews always seem to pick out negatives no matter what you look at. Samsung is a possibility going by how I like my NC10 netbook, but not sure how good they are for full blown laptops.

Win 7 is fine for me.
 
Seems like it's been some time since you last had a look on current laptops :D
I can fully understand your critique against Acer and HP, as they used to be VERY loud and had so so build quality, but these days, most laptops, any brand, are quiet and more often than not sturdy.
You can't fault Lenovo atm, but for laptops, I wouldn't go for a Dell, as their really good quality ones are overpriced.

Personally, I can reccommend the ASUS X77JV. It has got quite powerfull hardware, a 17.3" screen of good quality, it's dead silence, battery lasts quite some time, and you should be able to find it for around 700 quid.

If screensize ain't too important, or you've got the possibility to dock, a 13.3" Macbook with ok specs is within your budget.
 
Yeah, other than my netbook, my last computer purchase was an old Sempron Acer from at least 5 years ago :D. Build quality was rubbish, it's been back for warranty repairs twice and still has faults, the screen is poor though big (low resolution though), and it's just way too noisy. Every time anything put the CPU above 50% the fan goes into overdrive.

Reason I like the Dells is because I've used them a lot for work and have found them to be good quality, but it's the Latitudes that are decent. Been using one of the XT Tablets and really like that, but the display is too small (albeit touch display), and it's *very* expensive for what you get. I don't need a tablet. Although the idea of photo editing with a pen on a touch screen is nice.

Screen size ideally in the 16 to 17 range though most seem to be 15.6 which would be okay. The old Acer was 15.6.

Seen a few HP ones about and still don't like the look and feel of them. The keyboards just don't seem as solid as Lenovo and Dell and the shell seemed a bit flimsy. Weird design too. Plus I've always felt HP were only any good at printers and then they took over Compaq who made awful PCs.

I like the Lenovos too but not done much research into what options there are.


Apple? - no. I'm not a follower of the church ;).
 
I've been using a Dell M1330 for two years and I'm really happy with its performance. It's powerful, quiet and I like the screen, and although I use a desktop for 90% of PPing it's small and easy to carry out and about when needed.
 
Yup the M1330 is epic. I've had mine for almost 3 years and it's pretty much as new, even after a lot of bashes. It's in no way a desktop replacement though and you can't really buy anything like it any more. Closest you can get is either a VAIO X-series or a top end 13" macbook pro... :(
 
The Dell XPS Studio stuff is tempting, especially those with the RGBLED screens which I believe is a wider gamut (possibly same as Adobe RGB ?) which is great for photos.

But looking at £1300-ish for a top end set up!

One thing I'm out of touch with is the Core i5 and i7. Obviously the i7 is better, but how much better, and is the i5 fast enough anyway?
 
i5 will be plenty fast enough really. Also unless you want a really special specification have a look at the Dell factory outlet, where I got my XPS from and I saved about £400 on the price. It was still brand new in the box so they normally aren't bashed around repaired models, I think most don't leave the factory...
 
I've got an Acer Aspire 7735Z and it's so quiet. I'm really happy with it. It does everything I need it to do and even though it's cheap, it's good :D
 
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