Really tempted great spec for price, but just discovered battery built in and its a nasty machine to upgrade (I'd have wanted to fit a proper ssd ) you have to lift keyboard to get at base screws and then remove base to access HD and ram. Keyboard is connected via 3 ribbon cables which are reported to be difficult to disconnect/reconnect as they are very short .

great price for the specs. heat added!

I'm tempted, but interested to know what people in the know think about it's specs.

Great little laptop for the money. Heat from me.

Could this edit with sony vegas 12 without lagging.

Good spec- battery life is low at 4hrs.

Watch for the heat from the device as much as the deal. Lenovo laptops in the last few years have been running very hot in my experience.

specs are good for the price, but apparently let down by dull screen with poor viewing angles, battery life is poor to, this seems like a very similar deal to the £350 Acer at pcworld a few weeks ago, which now seems to have disappeared from shops and website

Could anyone tell what I can add to this laptop as these are my favourite parts of any PC/Laptop deals on here :stuck_out_tongue:

Was very tempted at £430, but have gone for it now with TCB, great spot by the OP :wink:

Really tempted great spec for price, but just discovered battery built in and its a nasty machine to upgrade (I'd have wanted to fit a proper ssd ) you have to lift keyboard to get at base screws and then remove base to access HD and ram. Keyboard is connected via 3 ribbon cables which are reported to be difficult to disconnect/reconnect as they are very short .

Been watching this one since Black Friday but wasn't sure if the specs were worth the price. Might take a punt

How would it handle casual games? Football Manager, The Sims (for the Mrs of course).

Good price

be careful, these clowns sent me a totally different laptop to the one I ordered. very bad customer service, be prepared to spend hours on the phone.

op have you tried the 20% off yet I don't think it would work ???

The 20% discount cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer codes, and cannot be used on the following ranges: iPhones, audio, gaming, computers, projectors and tablets. Sale items, financial services products and delivery charges are also excluded from the offer.

why does this even have a dedicated GPU? its apparently on par with a GTX920M, which is apparently only 5-10% better than the integrated graphics. an extra 50w of power consumption for less than 10% extra performance? hmm..

too bad no longer has £100 cashback

what a stupid way to spend wasted money here. The integrated card is more or less same power as the dedicated card. Both rubbish for gaming even at very low settings. At £415 can build a proper powerfull gaming machine

I can't actually see the specific CPU on the very website, which always makes me suspicious, but the op quotes the 5200, the 'game debate' website rates the dedicated GPU circa 35% better than Intel 5500 graphics, but only circa 10% better than the 6200 graphics,

Still I'm keeping my money in my pocket until I see a good deal on a fhd IPS machine

If you click on "Technical Specification" the 5200U is listed on Very, which has the 5500 graphics and would make this GPU 35% better if what you're quoting is accurate.

no sense in what you saying, this is not trolling, GPU in this system is only 600+passmark. Can build a system for £415 with a proper GPU rated at 6-8 times more powerful, does not need to be an expensive one to play games at a decent level.

Again though, nobody's really mentioned they're buying this for playing anything more demanding than The Sims, so a powerful gaming rig isn't needed.

It's a 1080p screen with an i5 processor, quick internet networking and (from my brief time with it in John Lewis) decent build quality.

then whats the point of having that gpu if its only for light gaming? I'd rather it be not included and save battery life

It'd be nice to have the choice, for sure, but there doesn't seem to be anything comparable without the GPU around at the moment. Would you not be able to turn off the GPU in one of the power management settings?

It's a similar story with the likes of PC Specialists, who a few people keep harking on about, but they don't let you take no GPU with your build, so you're forced to pay a good deal more than you'd like if they'd let you configure your spec completely.

Can anyone help me....I'm looking for a laptop. I will be using it for working from home from time to time, playing football manager and then just storing media and regular everyday use.

What do I need? I'm not the most technical and all this talk of full HD and Intel processors goes straight over my head. Is this lenovo one a good deal or will something more basic do? I'd want it to last a few years too...thanks for your help

In all fairness though, you'd be building a desktop and not a laptop. I think that's the point that kitkatShuffler is trying to make.

Just realized, desktop of course.

great deal, hot

Although I posted the deal I haven't decided whether to go with it or not.

I've currently got the same model with an i7 4510U waiting for me at John Lewis for £499, but with this being a newer architecture I'm guessing it would perform similarly despite being only having an i5 CPU?

If so then I just need to decide if having the extended JL warranty (and physical store if anything goes wrong) is worth the extra cash. Plus some people have claimed to have received a newer CPU when they've picked theirs up from JL.

Decisions decisions. :confused:

Both are ultra low power (they're 15 watts TDP each), dual core parts any way. You're not going to be setting the world on fire with either. It's basically an ultra-portable class CPU in a full size laptop chassis.

For a comparison even the i7 is only marginally more powerful than Intel Pentium G3470, which is a roughly £80 budget CPU.



I'd stick with the i5, you're making a fairly big saving for not much reduction in performance.

the benchmarks of these cpus is ridiculous , if you want power hq mq mx processors

All Intel processors that have U after their model name are crap. This is cold from me because of i5-5200u and graphics card. This is suitable for internet browsing, networking, hd pr0n (cause of the screen) and basically that's it - you won't be able to play decent games and software like Photoshop/Lightroom won't be blazing fast. Just my 2 British Dollar cents.

i'd have the jl one, not much diff between the cpu's but worth having especially if you keep your laptops for a long time, but the game changer for me us jl's returns policy, 3 months with everything present and correct, don't know about very but be surprised if it exceeds the statutory 14 day internet purchase rule. so gives you three months to decide if you like it and/or see a better bargain

Obviously JL are great for returns but I doubt I'd be able to use it for 3 months and then decide to take it back.

Their T&Cs say you can return unused items within 90 days.

Even the ordinary mobile line (m in the name) are fine. Avoid U unless you're buying an ultraportable is my advice. This machine certainly isn't an ultraportable at 15.6 inches and 2.3 kg!

these cpu`s have not increased performance since 2nd 3rd gen , they have just made them more power efficient in laptop guise anyway

I think it's obviously true that these "u" processors aren't anywhere near as powerful as the HQ ones, but I think people can go slightly overboard about how terrible they are. If this is the kind of budget you have to spend on a laptop and you want a FHD screen, you're not going to get a non-u processor, at least as far as I've seen during my recent search for a new laptop.

If anyone can point me in the direction where such a thing can be had though then I'd be dead grateful and that. :wink:

I was looking at pcspecialist.co.uk and to get an i3-6100H CPU (not sure how that would compare to the i7-4510U from John Lewis) with FHD screen would cost £541
Is that i3 really going to perform so much better for the extra £40?

Hit the nail on the head there for me. If you're wanting a high-end, top spec laptop, then this obviously isn't for you. If you're looking for a decent/good spec laptop, for every day use and the (very) casual bit of gaming, for under £450, then you can't really go wrong with this... Surely?

The problem I have is that the U class chips are for ultra portables, this thing is a full size laptop - 15.6 inches and 2.3kg? That's enough for it to have a proper M chip rather than a U. As far as I'm aware they don't cost any more.

The Intel Core i3-6100H is marginally faster than the Intel Core i7-4510U.

This is the thing that is most annoying, people see i5 or i7 and reckon they are getting a proper CPU - they're not!

Totally with you on how many laptops recently seem to have opted for these LV CPUs, which is a bummer but it's so rife that it's tough to find anything else without spending much more money.

In my case I'd rather waive the marginal gains for the sake of saving over £40 and benefiting from a brand name machine backed by a 2 year JL warranty.
In the case of this laptop, the saving is over £125 so again there's plenty of incentive to accept the reduced performance.

Do not know if Z51 has better quality compare to Z50.

Z50 is not good quality.

Z50 with i3, SSD, FHD, but German keyboard for £250 in the past, people still complained about the quality.


Do not be fooled by the FHD.

Z50 has FHD too, but most of people complained how poor the FHD is. The screen despite been FHD, it is actually one of the weak point.

So do not value this FHD too highly, and do not think you should pay a lot more for this FHD. It is not worth it.

Recommendations:
1. Not FHD, Lenovo business laptop, i3, SSD, £280

2. Not FHD, HP business laptop, Probook 450 G2, i5, £300
People who bought and received it, confirmed it is very good built despite the Windows is Windows 10 Home, not Windows 7 Professional.

3. If really want budget laptop with FHD, go for Lenovo Flex 2 which comes with FHD IPS screen.

4. The HP Envy 13 for £400 which ended few days ago, now it is £450. It is very nice, has quite few features only premium laptops have. It is
Ultrabook,
10 hours battery life
FHD IPS Anti-glare screen,
Backlit keyboard,
B&O speakers
i3
SSD

Do not buy this one because of its FHD, both the build quality and FHD of this laptop are not good.

Fhd is better than HD because if nothing else everything looks sharper, the next step is a IPS screen where the viewing angles and colour depth improve dramatically, think how smartphones have evolved, firstly pixels per inch were increased and then the IPS screens introduced, at the very top you now get amoled screens, likewise TV's, for some reason manufacturers of PC's have been able to resist this until the move to ultra books, albeit much more expensive

My personal opinion is that PC/laptop manufacturers have been able to operate a cartel on this because there are relatively few of them compared to other types devices

Do not know what exact are your points.

What you said are so general and basic, which my comments already show I am fully aware of them. I do not know what are you trying to add or comment on.

What my opinion was based on the particular FHD of Z50, and Z51. I am not talking about non-FHD version.

Go for Flex 2 if really want FHD IPS and do not want to pay too much.

would this be good to play dota2 at highest settings and gta v at medium settings? buying a pc is not any good for me as i am mostly away from home for work thus require a pc. i am looking for a laptop around £400 with a 15.6inch screen that can play these games...any help is much appreciated.

does anyone know if this supports m.2

You last point is exactly what I against.

Do not buy this one simply its states it has FHD. Its FHD screen is bad. There are better choices.

Thanks for the suggestions.

So that's 2 alternatives with below FHD screens, one with a titchy 13" screen and one with a 14" screen, half as much storage and a poor keyboard from the reviews I've read.

It's nice to have options, but these ones don't tick the same boxes.

The 13 inch Envy is a Ultrabook, it is suppose to be small, 1.3kg. If anyone want bigger screen, do not go for a Ultrabook. Did you only stopped at Envy 13. The list down below the title are what make it good. A lot of them you will only find in premium laptops cost a lot more than £400.

You recommended Z51, I cannot believe that you are complaining about Flex 2 keyboard.

Seriously, Any of them would be better quality than Z51.

Did you only read the specification sheet? And thinking as long as specifications looks similar, they are as good as each other.

There are reasons why business laptops and premium laptops charge higher price. I found 4 laptops, some of them are business laptops. And I can say any of the 4 are higher than Z51 which is a budget consumer laptop. And the 4 I found do not have to be more expensive than you Z51.

I do not disagree with the specifications. I do not complain with the i5, RAM, SSHD, they are as good as the price can get you. (you may be able to get SSD in different models, but SSHD is a good compromised for both speed and storage.) (I actually do not mind U version, U version offer less performance, but they can handle any tasks not CPU intensive, they consume less power, generate less heat)

I think the quality of Z51 is not good, and its FHD does not live up to expectation and not as good as alternatives. You should not be fooled by Z51 just because it states FHD. And also you should not pay a premium on Z51's FHD, it is not worth it.

Here was the Z50, i3, FHD, 1TB HDD for £250 with French keyboard.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-z50-70-250-60-1080p-screen-haswell-i3-1tb-hdd-8gb-ram-amazon-fr-using-code-2259150

Read the reviews to see some people still have problem with it even at £250.

Googled Z51, do not think much improvement over Z50, still similar problems.

Still think this Z51 for £415 a good deal?

Just avoid models where people already reported problem even at much lower price, go for an alternative.

I think that you may simply recommended Z51 based on the specifications without realising that it is not a good model to have.

Now you are trying your best to back it up.

None of Lenovo B, G, Z series are good quality. If your budget can buy something else, do not go for them.

I was trying to explain why people are (often) fooled when the specs list fhd, in many cases this is also an IPS screen and people don't always appreciate the difference when its not, my position is if it doesn't say so then it probably isn't, I did not appreciate you were already aware of the difference as you did not refer to IPS

Then, I am with you.

In my second comment before your reply, I made the point that Flex 2 FHD would be a better option for budget FHD laptop as it has FHD IPS screen, you may missed that.

Z50, Z51 FHD screens are TN panels. And not only that, they are bad within TN panels too.

As the FHD screen is not good, if anyone can consider non-FHD, please go for the i3, SSD thinkpad for £280, or the £300 i5 Probook. they are business laptop, good quality, people who bought them confirmed that they are good build.

Weird; a budget consumer laptop at a budget consumer price.

I don't doubt that the alternatives you've posted are good quality but you're comparing apples with oranges. I don't want the smaller screen, the low storage nor a glossy touch screen. I've seen the Z51 in the flesh and found the screen to be plenty acceptable, so I've only got myself to blame if I end up hating it.

Not as cheap as you may like to think.

The alternatives I give do not charge more than your budget consumer laptop.


And you got the fact wrong completely.

Your Z51 is glossy,, with low brightness, and not touchscreen. Sign of cheaper and bad quality, it has non touchscreen screen with glossy display.

Envy 13 FHD is non-touch screen, So it can be Matte and it is. It has anti-glare display. So as the other two business laptops.

Flex 2 FHD is glossy because it has tablet mode which touchscreen is necessary and touchscreen has to be glossy. However it is IPS panel. Do not attack the FHD display of Flex 2 when you suggest Z51. Flex 2 FHD screen is way better than Z51 FHD screen.

You got way over your head, Z51 has the worst FHD. Glossy, non touchscreen, TN, bad colour, bad view-angle, low brightness. If you actual think the other FHD screens are worse than your Z51. You do not have a clue what you are talking about.

Imagine the day when everyone on HUKD agrees a laptop is worth buying.

I dislike when manufacture put in a bad FHD and charge £100 more. And the FHD is so bad, not offer improvement over good non-FHD.

That is a con.

And some people do not have much knowledge in the details. See FHD and instantly think it is a good laptop worth a lot more.

1. You could have a good quality business laptop which is non-FHD for less than £300. Why spent £100 more to get a bad quality laptop just because it states FHD.

2. I would think a lot people like this deal simply because it states FHD. Why not pay the same, get better FHD screen laptop and better build?

Really? Every review. Here's literally the first one I found...

"Although Lenovo continues to add too much border around its display, unlike competitors such as Dell, the Z51's Full HD (FHD), 1,920 x 1,080 resolution screen is a delight to view. Images are crisp and detailed. With the screen brightness turned up you get a dynamic, cinematic feel."

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/lenovo-z51-1301659/review

On top of that review, I've seen the laptop in the flesh and agree that the screen is far from terrible. But you crack on with your condescending "I'm right, everyone else is wrong" posts.

Ok.

Let me change to most reviews said rather than every review. It was the same problem with Z50 FHD too. People who bought Z50 FHD complained about its screen.

One of the biggest selling point of this deal is FHD laptop. I would like to warn people this FHD is not good, do not be fooled to buy this laptop because you want good screen.

Likewise, the reviews I have read on this screen are pretty negative.

And I would make one more point about TN screens, if your going to have one HD or FHD your probably better of trying to get a glossy one, you probably can't do anything about the viewing angles but a dull anti-glare TN panel makes the colours even more washed out.

I agree with your point regarding glossy has better colouring than Anti-glare.

My XPS 13 is touchscreen, and therefore Glossy. I felt my XPS colour are so much better than the new Asus Zenbook UX305 when I saw it in John Lewis. It was to my surprise as UX305 got a lot of reviews comment it has good screens. Then I realised that I felt that way is most likely due to UX305 is Matte display.

There are reviews saying XPS 13 matte display are good too. I am interested to see XPS 13 glossy and Matte side by side comparison in person.

This is from my personal experience, not relevant to Z51 as XPS 13, UX305, and Z51 all at a different price range.

XPS 13 has always been appraised by how good its screen is.

The info on the i7 Z51 on the John Lewis website is incorrect, it has a 5th gen 5500U not a 4th gen 4510U, both the demo model in-store and the machine I bought had the newer CPU. It also has AC wifi which isn't in the description along with a back-lit keyboard, unfortunately the build quality the keyboard isn't great and I need to return mine for another one - brand new out of the box with key clips broken. The screen however isn't as bad as stated, but there are some issued with viewing angles!

Also doing a quick Google shows the dedicated GPU in this machine won't set the world on fire, however it is a definite improvement over the onboard Intel graphics.

Glad it wasn't just my eyes that thought the screen looked alright. I've also read reviews on a couple of 15" IPS screens that come anywhere close to this price (the £699 Dell 15-7000 and an MSI one for around the same price) and both reviews were saying how dim the screens are. So while a good IPS is definitely the way to go, I'm not convinced you can get a 15" one for a good price.

Does anyone know if the i5 model from very has the backlit keyboard?

ok here is one, though its up for £550 at the mo, i have seen it for long periods at £450, and for one day at least for £430, and it would not surprise me one bit if it didn't come down again before the end of january, go have a look, my son has one and the screen is great, the sound is great, the battery life is good, the keyboard is good though not backlit, he uses it for online gaming, runescape etc and is well satisfied with performance, though it would not be good enough for high end 2015 games

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/toshiba-satellite-l50-c-22l-15-6-laptop-white-10137862-pdt.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiA7rmzBRDezri2r6bz1qYBEiQAg-YEtlkIS0lVOV2Y8twwKrkeU1FoyIBFsU-JIzq2VpvSnqwaAlCJ8P8HAQ&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~1011+%28LTC%29+WINDOWS+LAPTOPS+%26+CONVERTIBLES+-+NO+SAVING~10137862+-+Toshiba+L50C22L~Exact&mctag=gg_goog_7904&s_kwcid=AL!3391!3!82403426420!e!!g!!toshiba%20l50-c-22l&ef_id=VjaORQAABc2yXw9I:20151214133902:s

This Z51 is not worth £400, do not compare it with even more expensive laptops.

Why do you keep making this kind comment when I told you Flex 2 has FHD IPS much better than your Z51 at the same price or lower?

You only read what you like to see.

I give you a list, so you can stop making non-sense comment.

brand new, Flex 2 14, i5, 500GB SSHD, £400
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/59422751-Lenovo-Flex-2-14-FHD_1667436.html





If do not mind refurbished, those three can save you further.
15.6 inch, i5, 8GB RAM, 500GB SSHD, £330 refurbished.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-IdeaPad-FLEX-2-15D-15-6-1080P-Touch-Laptop-Intel-Cr-i5-4210-Ram-8GB-W8-1-/161859933276?hash=item25af9a945c:g:wroAAOSwYaFWgZmR


£250 with Pentium
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-Flex2-14-Inch-Intel-Pentium-1-7Ghz-4GB-500GB-Windows-8-Laptop-Black-/331706805451?hash=item4d3b442ccb:g:fzQAAOSwiwVWRVxa

£270 with i3.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lenovo-Flex-2-14-Laptop-Black-6gb-1tb-Win8-1-73ghz-Convertible-Touchscreen-/351584026086?hash=item51dc0a7de6:g:IQUAAOSwiwVWTvYm

Since yourself so convinced this is good, I wish you actually buy and keep your Z51, and have good luck with it.

As long as I stop other people falling into your Z51 FHD trap, and made them aware the bad screen and general bad build quality, and there are better laptops for the same price or cheaper, my purpose is achieved.

Hi Huangxq2

I have been reading the comments in this laptop with interest and it seems you know your stuff. Can you suggest other similar 15" screen alternative laptops but not the flex one you mentioned. I want something midrange spec for photo editing so quite fast. Have been looking for a while but can't find anything suitable in my price range of £350-400. Any suggestions please?

You're an utter nugget, mate. Just pipe down with your confrontational tripe, yeah? I said I hadn't seen a 15" IPS screen of good quality within this price bracket, so you post a link to a 14" screen. Amazing.

Posting smaller screened laptops with much smaller hard drives and RAM allocation, including ones that, good screen aside, seem to be atrocious quality and with much worse CPUs than the Lenovo.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc-mac/laptops-portable-pcs/laptops-and-netbooks/lenovo-flex-2-15-1260196/review

You'll be pointing me in the direction of 6" mobile phones with great screens soon.

Wanted intel i5, 1TB storage, possibly FHD

In my list, there is also a 15.6 inch too.

You can fixed as much as requirements as you like. At the end of the day, there are people who can go with 13.3, 14, 15.6 inch fine.

People already heard, no need for me to convince you because of your ignorance.

I am completely fine with U version of i5 as per your Lenovo, they are fit for the purpose as a multimedia laptop. You strongly defended your i5 5200U. I cannot believe that you think i5 4210U per Flex 2 is "much worse than" i5 5200U. You really do not know what you are talking about, do you?

You laptop with i3, SSD, 15.6 inch FHD, people who bought it did not like it and returned it even at £250. Why is your i5, SSHD, 15.6 inch FHD worth £415?

Go play with your Z51, do not talk to me about it. I have nothing more to say about it.


I am very happy with my XPS 13, I have no interest in buying a FHD budget laptop.
My comments are only to warn people that do not simply look at the title with "FHD screen" and thought it is worth £415. Z51 is certainly not.

Thank you for getting back to me.

Yes I know I don't have a big budget for my requirements. My priority is a fast processor that can multitask as I create websites. The graphics are secondary.
What do you think about Dell Inspiron 5000 laptops. I've seen a few refurbished with my specs around £4000. They are not SSD though, but could I have that added later?

I meant £400 lol

have a look at this, the cheapest i5 new laptop i'm aware of, you should have 14 days to return if you don't like, and i think medions come with 2 yrs warranty, don't know about this model but medions i have previously owned are easy to get at hdd for upgrade, ram is to

https://www.medion.com/gb/shop/multimedia-laptops-medion-akoya-e7416-laptop-md99312-30019027a1.html?searchTerm=e7416

I have seen M version i5, not U version laptop around your price before, I cannot find it now.

Any laptops within £400 I just found are all U version.

I also found HP Probook 455 G3 with A10-8700P for £340, but it is only as powerful as the i5-5200U too.

Do not know how much processor power will be enough for you. I never need very much processing power, not a lot of experience.

Inspiron 15 5000 per Dell website all come with U versions, not powerful too.

HP Pavilion 15-ak085na comes with i7-6700HQ which is powerful, but it is £550 and people complaint about its FHD screen too.

If you really need high processing power and even i5 U version not good enough for you, given your £400 budget, you either consider
1. 2nd hand laptop
2. HP Probook 640 G1 - F1Q66ET or 650 G1 - F1P85ET at slightly less than £600, they qualify for trade-up cashback £250, work out £350. They comes with i5-4210M, more powerful than i5 5200U, but not a world difference. If still not enough, you will need to consider i7 non-U version.
3. a brand new desktop.

I think the HP Probook 455 G3 Laptop with A10-8700P at £340 would be better than this one. Do you agree?
http://www.ebuyer.com/723849-hp-probook-455-g3-laptop-p5t06ea-abu

Or the HP Probook 450 G2 with i5-5200U at £300.
http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/P5S40ESABU-HP-ProBook-450-G2_1836114.html

Probook has good quality. I know this particular one actually comes with Home edition Windows. But people bought confirmed the build quality is still good. It seems only Windows system downgraded to Home edition, the underline laptop is still the same.

None of them have powerful CPU, SSD, or FHD, they only have good quality.

hdd and ram aside the medion has the noticeably better cpu and the hp a noticeably better gpu, so if the photo editing is going to be gpu intensive then your right go for the hp, if not the medion might well be the better buy in this instance,

don't know much myself about how photo editing would utilise a cpu/gpu combo, i have always thought a gpu is mainly for gaming, but if you or others have some expertise in this area i bow to your wisdom

as for the 'saveonlaptops' machine, the spec looks virtually identical to the medion, but at a lower price, i might go for it given that hp probably has a better rep than medion but i think medion have always tried to be better value for money than the main manufacturers, its also worth saying i have been keeping an eye on that lenovo flex 2 14 for several weeks with a view to buying if it goes on sale, but then i live within striking distance of the retailer and would pick up from their depot, again something that only the purchaser can decide on

oh yes, and if you sign up to the medion newsletter on their website you can get a tenner of your first purchase

I really hope you don't, I get that you don't like the panel on this laptop (you have mentioned it enough times), but your comments have been condescending to put it mildly.

would this be good to play dota2 at highest settings and gta v at medium settings? buying a pc is not any good for me as i am mostly away from home for work thus require a pc. i am looking for a laptop around £400 with a 15.6inch screen that can play these games...any help is much appreciated.

Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Here is the spec for the Dell one I was considering:
Inspiron 15 - 5559
Processor: Intel® Core™ i5-6200U (3M Cache, up to 2.80 GHz)
Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8 GB DDR3 Memory 1600MHz (2 DIMMs)
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
8X DVD+/- RW Drive
15.6 inch LED Backlit Display with Truelife and HD resolution (1366 x 768)
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-AC 3160 + Bluetooth 4.0
LCD back cover for Non-Touch Screen-Silver
40 WHr, 4-Cell Battery (removable)

It's £415

Any thoughts on it?

TBH I don't think I'll need a huge amount of processing power, just so that I can multitask and use photoshop. It's not for gaming. I want something that will last. I think i5 U version should be fine (what is U?!) I also read bad reviews on here for build quality of HP laptops, so now I'm confused!

The HP Probook 455 G3 you suggest looks like a fab deal for the price, but it has AMD processor. I thought Intel would be better. What is your view on this?

for what its worth, 'which' tables of laptop brands

Read more: http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/laptops/article/best-laptop-brands - Which?

Wow Thanks for posting that useful info... It's changed my mind about many of the brands out there... A lot think about.

What was the 'best' brand? Also where did you find the dell Inspiron at 415? I'm in the hunt for a laptop but can't settle on one

HP business laptops have good quality, mainly Probook and Elitebook.

Sometime, you will be able to find Probook at cheap price (same or cheaper than budget consumer laptops) which is good deal for its quality. And HP constant do cashback and trade-up cashback, if the specific model qualify for those cashbacks, the deal would be even sweeter.

HP consumer laptops do not have good reputations, at least the budget lines not have good reputations.

I bought my wife a Dell Inspiron 17 inch 3 years back. The quality is ok as a consumer laptop. It's quality is not as good as Probook.

If you are willing to go for £415 with a non-FHD laptop, I think you should go for the Probook 455 G3 at £340 or Probook 450 G2 at £300. Save the price difference for a 4GB 1600Mhz DDR3L RAM and a 240/250/256GB SSD upgrade, and you will still got some money left.

I understand the Dell has a i5-6200U which is better than i5 5200U, it will give you probably 10-15% more power. I do not think it is worth the £115 price difference, not to mention you get Probook instead of a consumer laptop.

I think mrrog explain the difference very well.

Between HP Probook 455 G3 with A10-8700P, and 450 G2 i5 5200U

450 G2 i5 5200U has stronger CPU, I think it is marginally stronger than A10-8700P, but power consumption is only half of A10.

455 G3 A10-8700P has better on-board GPU.

I remember you mentioned GPU is not important to you. If that is the case, go for Probook 450 G2 with i5 5200U for £300.

Yes I think I will probably go for the HP Probook 450, thank you so much mrrog and huangxq2 for taking the time to explain everything - it's greatly appreciated. I will find out at my local computer shop if they can put the extra 4GB RAM and SSD upgrade you mentioned. So much useful info, thank you! :smiley:

But just a few questions regarding the HP 450 laptop: it is a dual core processor- will that make much difference to the speed? I multitask when working on my website and use photoshop etc, and want something that is quick.

Maybe the HP Probook 455 G3 then? But that has an AMD not Intel processor, which I wasn't too keen on. Is Intel actually better?

Sorry to keep bugging you for your computer knowledge, but It's so hard to choose the right one!

I think you should youtube and do the upgrades yourself.

We use Probook 650 at work, it is screwless, click one button, the back come off, slot the memory in, put the back cover back. It takes less than 10 seconds, I have done this on more than 30 of them.

For 450, you might have one screw to upgrade the RAM.

Upgrade to SSD, if you do not have much knowledge in it, go for Samsung Evo 850, it comes with CD which has software to migrate your system and files. Please note that you will need to be able to link the SSD to your laptop to copy the system, so a 2.5 inch USB enclosure for £5 would be handy.

455 G3 will not give you more processing power over 450 G2.

Thank you for another informative reply! Ok it's the 450 G2 then. If it's that easy, I can do the upgrade myself and save a few quid there too! And thanks for the SSD recommendation and advice- greatly appreciated. :smiley::smiley:

you are welcome.

Just to add to Ollie's confirmation, I've also picked one up from John Lewis (the i7 version of this Very offer) and it has the newer i7-5500U 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.

Just been reading reviews for the HP pro book 450 g2 and they all say the screen on this laptop is terrible! Do you have this laptop and if so, what do think of the screen?

I guess I'm back to the beginning! I think FHD is the way to go?

It also has a Intel RealSense Webcam which allows you to utilise Windows Hello which is surprisingly good!

We use 650 at work due to docking requirement. It is also a standard HD screen.

450 G2 has a HD TN panel Matte display.

Read two reviews was saying, for 450 G2 cost €800, the price creates higher expectations, it should come with FHD which it does not and etc.

At that price, you have some choices of good FHD screens.

But you are paying £300 for a i5 Probook. £300 is a i5 budget consumer laptop price. It does not cost any extra for its good quality, nor the screen. I think Probook HD screen will be better than a HD screen of any budget consumer laptops of that price, average Brightness (225 cd/m²) and contrast (353:1)

You want good processor, good FHD screen, you have a budget of £400, and you do not want Flex 2.

Mission impossible. I cannot help you further. Let me know if you find something good.



Seriously, for your requirements and budget, get a desktop. They are much more powerful for the same or lower price. And spent £120-150 in your budget you can have a very good 24 inch IPS FHD monitor.

If you really want FHD, and stick to your budget, give this a go.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/hp-envy-15-j151sa-15-6-inch-notebook-amd-radeon-hd-8650m-8750m-quad-core-a10-2-5-2367004

Very good specifications for the price £285, Refurbished, but from amazon directly. It is 1TB SSHD, not HDD.

HP Envy is a higher series than Lenovo Z, it is slimer, high-end materials and stylish design, and better quality overall than Z51.

Its AMD CPU A10-5750M is not far behind i5 5200U. It has 4 cores which is better for your multi-tasking.

It has dedicated graphic card AMD Radeon 8750M. It is a low end, but it is more powerful than Z51's amd meso XT 2gb.


Downsides:
1. The FHD is low quality TN panel too. I think it will have the same problem as this Z51.
2. slim design, AMD CPU, dedicated graphic card, I can foresee overheat.


Given it is £130 cheaper than Z51, more attractive design, better build quality as a whole and directly from amazon. This is more promising for people has small budget and want FHD.

I bought a way more expensive Envy back in March from John Lewis and returned it due to the poor screen and less that stellar build for the money.

The Z51 is at least on a par for build quality and has a better screen.

You bought an expensive Envy, it does not mean the one you bought is better than this Envy. Give us the details then we can tell.

I am not convinced that this Z51 will have better screen than this Envy.

All detailed tests with statistics do not suggest that. Envy has better brightness, Z51 has better contrast. Colour are the same. View angel both poor.

Anyway, they both have poor screens. We really do not need to argue about that.

It is £130 cheaper, and return to Amazon Warehouse is so easy, you can just say you do not like it.

when you say FHD is the way to go i think you probably mean IPS FHD, in which case if you don't like the lenovo flex 2 14 for £400 the next one that i am aware of is:

http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-x360-13-s150sa-13-3-2-in-1-silver-10137882-pdt.html

ok its £500, but a better processor and, albeit small, ssd, if you can live with the size, which i think is a trade of with portability and higher ppi, and no dvd drive, which i think is old technology anyway, then the only thing against it is its a single 8gb stick of ram, i.e. you lose the benefit of dual channel performance, upgrade later if necessary, about £30

just a suggestion to think about, if you intend to keep for any length of time go for the best you can afford

It was this one - http://www.johnlewis.com/hp-envy-15-k209na-laptop-intel-core-i5-12gb-ram-1tb-8gb-ssd-15-6-silver/p1821643

Then it is more powerful than this £285 Envy.

Stronger CPU and more powerful GPU, not a lot, but still better.

The price is crazy, in light of the reviews and known problems.

For £750,
if portability is not a issue, the price could buy some entry level gaming laptop.
if portability is required, it can buy good premium Ultrabook.

Thank you for the suggestion mmrog - the HP Pavilion looks like a great laptop for the price but it is a tablet and laptop - like the Lenovo Flex. I would just like a good spec laptop and not pay extra for the tablet feature.


This HP Envy does look like a good machine but the reviews on here have now put me off, and you mention overheating too. I think the HP ProBook 450 seems like the better option, maybe I will have to take a chance on the screen. But I want to add the extra 4GB RAM and SSD. How much do you think that will cost? I want to know know whether it's maybe worth paying a bit extra for a laptop that already has it?

Thanks again for all your fantastic suggestions and help :smiley: It's truly appreciated.

Expired, now gone up in price.

Probook now use Samsung 4GB DDR3L (1.35v) 1600Mhz RAM, it is pricy at £26. You could buy other models with the same specs at half price £14.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-memory-PC3-12800-1600MHz-laptops/dp/B00AAVSM18/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451995207&sr=8-2&keywords=samsung+ddr3+4gb+ram+1600mhz

It also use WD black version Hard drive which is the highest series.

That is why I say Probook use good components too. They do not go for the cheapest options.


I think for RAM, buy the one below for £14. RAM compatiablity nowadays quite good now, but it is never 100%. If the two do not work together well, you always have amazon's return cover your back.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Crucial-CT51264BF160B-PC3-12800-Unbuffered-NON-ECC/dp/B005LDLV6S/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1451995476&sr=8-7&keywords=ddr3+4gb+ram+1600mhz


For SSD, as you want the easiest option, go for Samsung Evo 850 250GB for £56.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Solid-State-Drive/dp/B00P736UEU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451995616&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+evo+850
Do not waste your time to wait for the other 240GB models comes £40, they all have shortcomings, not as good as Samsung Evo 850, and not as straight forward.

To migrate your system, buy a 2.5 inch hard drive enclosure. Pick a cheap one with good review. USB 3.0 will be a lot of quick. But if you do not plan to use the enclosure for other things, USB 2.0 for this one time will do also.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=2.5+inch+hard+drive+enclosure&sprefix=2.5+inch%2Caps%2C129

Thank again for the useful info and links! So I am looking at £85-£100 to upgrade the laptop, depending on the type of RAM and hard drive enclosure I get.

OH NO! Just went to buy the Probook 450 and it's gone up in price! It's now £330! I don't want to pay that much if I have to do the upgrades too :disappointed::disappointed:
Just seen this one on the same website: what do you think? http://www.saveonlaptops.co.uk/NX.MZSEK.009-Acer-Aspire-ES1-731_1849816.html

I do not know how do you do your calculation, 14+56+6=76.

Where do you get 85 to 100 from????

And this upgrade is an actual upgrade, have you found any laptop comes with 250GB SSD at your £400 budget?

You are paying the extra to get something extra which could not be bought at your budget.

It is worse than every laptop we have talked about, only go for it if you want its 17 inch screen, but only want to spend £300.

I know the one you found is 17 inch. I thought you want good screen. HD on 17 inch will be worse than on 15.6 inch. And its screen is not going to be a good one.

I thought processor is important to you. This one is worse than a i3 U version.

And this one is a budget consumer laptop with a budget consumer laptop quality, and with a very low specifications.

This one, the 15.6 inch version, was £230. I still do not recommend it at £230, just because better quality and better processor can be found at not much more. The Pentium CPU is ok for normal use if put in a SSD.

You keep bouncing between ideas, I would like to think it was because you gradually understand more.
You said that you want this, you want that, and you do not want a particular model, then you consider a laptop which does not match any of your own requirements. I am speechless now.

I'm so sorry if I sound like a complete moron. I am just being cautious because I don't want to buy something and then find that something else much cheaper comes along. But I am definitely starting to understand more and more... I understand that the HP Probook is a better quality machine which will last so is actually a bargain at that price. And adding stuff to it will still make it a steal. Btw I added 56+15+15 = £86 (I used 15 for the hard drive enclosure because that one seemed to have lots of good reviews). I added the extra money in case I will need the Samsung RAM.

But I have rang up saveonlaptops.com where the ProBook was on offer and they said that they can't reduce the price for me but it's likely that it will be reduced again to £300 so I will keep and eye out and get it once it is reduced again, hopefully soon.

Yeah- it was a stupid alternative suggestion laptop! I didn't realise it was only i3. I did initially want a17" screen but after looking at the extra price you are paying just for a slightly bigger screen, I changed my mind.

Thanks for your patience with me... I am starting to understand more about this stuff all thanks to your help and I do know what I want now. Really!

You are still mistaken.

The one you just asked is not a i3, A lot worse than even a i3 U version. It is a Pentium N3700.

Only buy it if short of money and you can get it at really cheap price, less than £200.

I said Pentium N3700 is ok for normal tasks today if with a SSD. I think CPUs today are overpowered, the bottle neck of a computer is the HDD. But your photo editing would actually require some power which it will be too slower.

You are still mistaken.

The one you just asked is not a i3, A lot worse than even a i3 U version. It is a Pentium N3700.

Only buy it if short of money and you can get it at really cheap price, less than £200.

I said Pentium N3700 is ok for normal tasks today if with a SSD. I think CPUs today are overpowered, the bottle neck of a computer is the HDD. But your photo editing would actually require some power which this Pentium will be too slower.

Then go with the other Lenovo business laptop I recommended. i3, SSD for £280.
Spend another £14 to buy a 4GB RAM if you need.
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-e50-70-15-6-laptop-i3-4030u-4gb-ram-win8-1-128gb-ssd-for-260-500gb-hdd-for-2328562

E50-70 actually have better screen than Probook if you check out the statistics in the review below.
I can only find review for E50-80, the difference is 80 comes with i5, 70 comes with i3.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-E50-80-Notebook-Review.149372.0.html

You do not want Flex 2, but you do not object to HP Pavilion x360.

Did you think Flex 2 is a tablet + detachable keyboard?

And is the above the reason why you do not want Flex 2?



If that is the case, you made the wrong decision. Flex 2 is a laptop like Pavilion x360. Its hinges allow you to turn the screen 300 degrees and called it tablet mode.

It is not a tablet + detachable keyboard. tablet + detachable keyboard are normally for screen 11 inch or smaller, e.g. Lenovo Miix, Asus transformer, Toshiba Click.

Flex 2 is like Lenovo Yoga, Yoga Pro, HP Pavilion x360, HP Spectre x360. Except Flex 2 is 300 degrees, the others are 360 degrees. The other are more expensive, and Yoga Pro and Spectre X360 are premium Ultrabooks.

I'll take a look... but what do you think about the spec I sent you in a private message? That seems like a good deal- its the same ProBook 450 you suggested but with SSD and 8GB RAM. It seems to have everything for £400. What do you think?

I have seen it before Christmas.

As the HDD version increased to £330.

It is a good deal now as it can save you the effort to upgrade yourself. Just to point out, this comes with 128GB SSD, not 250GB SSD as per the upgrade I suggested.

128GB SSD when used as system drive, its performance is completely same the 250/256GB, only difference is storage.

When run test 128GB has a lot slower sequential read/write speed than 250GB, but it makes no difference when used as system drive. You only see the difference when run tests.

if i3 will do for you, get the Lenovo for £280, save £120.

I do not want to talk about this anymore. It is too much efforts to save merely this little money.

Lol yes I agree it's becoming tedious now! But I have one more tiny question... please?

Regarding SSD, as you explained, this has a smaller drive. But on the spec it said this laptop also comes with a 1000GB Ext HDD
How does this work? Can the laptop use both drives?

Also, if I did get 256 SSD, this is obviously less storage that a 1TB HDD. SO would I need to get a separate HD too, for storage?

The upgrades you gave will work out cheaper and better, but my hubby won't let me do the upgrades myself - he said it will invalidate the warranty. I told him I won't be able to find anything cheaper for the spec we want, so I'll have to convince him to spend more for a better laptop. It has to be i5.

I really appreciate your time and help trying to educate me! :smiley:

The speciations is quite clear, it is a 128GB SSD inside the laptop, you get a seperate removable 1TB hard drive.

You could take out the DVD-rewrite, buy a caddy and put the HDD in as the 2nd drive. I suggest you do not try as you do not know what to do. To do this, buy HDD laptop and upgrade to SSD will be easier option.


Depends what you need, have at least one removable hard drive is handy.

There is no straight answer. Some people say yes, some people say no. I have never claimed warranty repairs regarding computers in my life. So I could not say.
If you are afraid just go with the SSD +1TB removable hard drive option then.

Yes I have decided to get the removable hd version of the probook for £400.
I don't know why this laptop is not more popular on here- it seems like a much better deal than the Lenovo z51 on this thread.

Thank you for explaining everything and for your time and help. :smiley:

Khaleeji where did you find the pro book with SSD?