The 2 reviews on the website make me laugh though. A 5* then a 1* just because it has Windows 10 instead of Windows 8. :laughing:

Good deal this is. However if you look at Hot UK deal a few weeks ago it was on with the 3 year warranty for free (for the same price as this).

Worth the money :wink:

What warranty do you get at John Lewis?

similar thing with i5 for 429 at Very
http://www.very.co.uk/lenovo-z51-intelreg-coretrade-i5-processor-8gb-ram-1tb-8gb-hybrid-storage-156-inch-full-hd-laptop-with-amd-meso-xt-2gb-graphics-includes-mcafee-livesafe-and-optional-microsoft-office-365-personal-white/1600022423.prd

Got from JL during last sale and used it for few weeks. Well worth the money for the spec, only downside is the viewing angle is not great.

Especially since it's from one of the best retailers as opposed to what is quite possibly the worst.

Amazon warehouse have the Asus N550JK for ~£513 after the automatic 30% discount.
Intel Core i7-4710HQ (quad core), 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 1080P IPS screen, GeForce GTX850.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NWE0YMK/
https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/N550JK/specifications/
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Asus-N550JK-CN109H-Notebook-Review.117726.0.html

haswell cpu, so 2 generations old :disappointed:

How do you get the discount on the Asus one please? Is this better than the Lenovo?

Depends what features are important to you.

Difference is that this one has ssd

I was comparing the above with this one on JL: Lenovo U31 Laptop, Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM, 128GB, 13.3", Red (@529.99)
http://www.johnlewis.com/lenovo-u31-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-ram-128gb-13-3-/p2295701?colour=Red
It is mainly for academic use. Any suggestions / recommendations please

Shame its not a pure ssd. I had a hybrid and was no difference really, had to change to an ssd and everything was so much quicker.

I don't trust the hybrids are smart enough to make much of a performance improvement.

Which features are better on each? I bought the Lenovo for my nephew and will be opened today. I had seen the Amazon Asus and was debating whether to go for it... but I saw this on the net

http://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-GTX-850M-vs-AMD-R7-360/m9138vsm30045

which seemed to indicate the Lenovo may be better for gaming. However, actual reviews for the Asus have comments saying runs some quite new games. I realise the screen is better on the Asus though. If the Lenovo is going to handle at least as many games as the Asus then I will stick with that as a) I'd rather have the John Lewis 3 year warranty b) it's brand new - you never know what you are going to get from Amazon Warehouse

Anyone know if this has 1 stick of 8gb ram or 2 of 4gb?

Can anyone confirm if the keyboard is backlit on this? :smiley:

Thanks OP bought one for the wife. Heat added.

how does the hybrid drive perform? also are the speakers any good? i had a dell xps a few years back which had JBL speakers and they were awesome! still not used a laptop which has come close to them sound wise

Yes it is......need to press function button plus spacebar.......lights up all the keys

Do you have this exact model? Does it also have AC WiFi? Advert says on BGN which would unfortunate.

After reading your questions i had a closer look on the John Lewis website, zooming in on the pictures i can see no indication of the orange icon i have on my taskbar which when pressed in conjunction with the function key lights up my keyboard, also the F function keys on mine are orange.......regarding all the other specs they are identical which is wierd, why have one model with backlit keyboard and an identically specced one without.
Regarding the wifi it is b/g/n

Hope that helps

Thanks man. I'll click and collect it, and double check the spec before accepting it.

The WiFi's a bit of a bummer but does it at least have gigabit Ethernet? Also, how do you find the screen to peform in terms of viewing angles and whatnot?

The info's much appreciated by my lazy butt! :wink:

Don't know about the ethernet port, only use it on wifi so not an issue for me, screen viewing angles are pretty good side to side but you do need it at the correct angle for up and down viewing, but again not an issue for me as it sits on a table or dashboard in my truck......but once it's where i want it it's crystal clear

That's because the keyboard shown on the JL website is a US style one which is confusing, that's why I had my doubts it was backlit. I went and picked one up this morning from them, and I must say I'm really impressed with it.

So you've picked up this model from JL and the keyboard is backlit?

Yes it's backlit, just hold down the function key and press the spacebar to turn it on and off, looks really nice too good brightness. Love mine so far very impressed, the viewing angles aren't great but that doesn't bother me tbh.

Thanks for the info. Are you able to check the networking capabilities, like whether it has gigabit Ethernet or AC WiFi?

Just picked one up, awesome machine. Info on John Lewis site is incorrect, it has an i7-5500U CPU and not a i7-4510U CPU, even better!

I can confirm it is using an Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160 Card

Just to add to Ollie's confirmation, I've also picked one up from John Lewis and it has the newer processor, AC WiFi, gigabit ethernet, backlit keyboard and a perfectly good 1080p screen. Limited viewing angles but not sure why you would be moving the screen all over the place, so should be fine in normal use.

The unit itself feels very nice, with soft touch keys that are lovely to type on, plastic construction but solid feeling with little or no flex and nice texture to the touchpad.

Chuffed with the purchase so far, just need to weed out all the bloatware and I'll be good to go.

Hi,
anyone know how easy it would be to upgrade to 16gb ram and add 256 SSD?

My friend who ordered one a few days ago picked his up yesterday and can confirm it has the better specs than what was originally advertised.

It does appear that they've now updated the description on the website with the newer specs though.

Shall I get this or stick with the Dell Outlet laptop I have on order £602 delivered? Thanks

Inspiron 15 - 7548,
15.6 inch 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) Truelife LED-Backlit Touch Display with Wide Viewing Angle (IPS),
i7-5500U,
4 GB DDR3 AMD Radeon R7 M270,
256 GB Solid State Hard Drive
8 GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory (1x8GB)
Intel 7265AC + BT4.0 [802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.0, Dual Band 2.4&5GHz, 2x2]