Decent laptop for the price. Typically quite hard to find a good all-round spec for this money. The big compromise at this price point are usually the screens (which are almost always dreadful), but this surprisingly has a respectable display.
Intel Core i5-7300HQ Quad Core Processor
15.6" Full HD Screen
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64-bit
8GB DDR4 RAM
128GB SSD
DVD Rewriter
Dedicated GeForce GTX 960M 2GB Graphics
USB3 | HDMI | Bluetooth | DisplayPort
It's marketed as a gaming machine, which is a bit of a push given the GTX960M, but for business use or as a multimedia machine it's ideal.
There's bound to be someone who votes cold because of the 128GB SSD. Not a huge concern IMHO since portable external storage is so cheap these days it shouldn't be an issue.
All comments (53)
puddles9999
20 Aug 17#1
Heat shame it’s not 1050 but at that price? Should I bite?
korny2 to puddles9999
20 Aug 17#2
1050 be better but you probably have to add another 200 pound to it, specs seem decent should run most games 1080p medium settings fine.
kitana8 to korny2
20 Aug 17#13
I posted this deal just over a month ago from Ebuyer but came with MSI bag as well. Good deal but think others deals are round the corner although could wait forever on that point.
Not actually true as I got the HP Omen with simlar spec for same price but a 1050 in it for the wife. Obviously that deal isn't on from john lewis anymore but could come back again as it has done twice since.
korny2 to kitana8
20 Aug 17#26
That's amazing value if you got a i7 with a 1050 for 600 pound was that posted on this site.
kitana8 to korny2
23 Aug 17#52
Was same spec as this but with 1050 and no dvd but who uses CD's anymore anyway hehe plus makes it a lot thinner
plewis00
20 Aug 17#3
GTX 960M is still pretty good - it is a 'gaming' laptop in the sense of having mid-high end discrete graphics and at that price it's pretty hard to ignore. 1050 is better but noticeably or worth a lot more? I'd say that's debatable as this'll still do what you want with settings turned down a little
zaax
20 Aug 17#4
very small ssd
unohu
20 Aug 17#5
Any good for video editing? Currently using a laptop with a 3rd gen i7 which is struggling. Is this quad core i5 better than a dual core i7 you often find in many laptops??
SrsJoe to unohu
20 Aug 17#6
You will notice a difference but generally for video editing you'll want more cores/threads so a 4 core i7 would be way better than a 4 core i5
unohu to SrsJoe
20 Aug 17#7
Ok, thanks, looks like I will have to increase my budget then!
ScoobyStoo to unohu
20 Aug 17#34
Don't mess around if you are editing video. Get a display with good colour rendition, a CPU with 4 cores and hyperthreading, and as much RAM as you can afford.
jstromecs1
20 Aug 17#8
I have a similar Lenovo laptop with the same processor and video card , its great, but in 2017 I would totally go for at least GTX 1050.
P.S. I bought it for 700 euros two years ago, so buying a similar laptop for 600 pounds today doesn't seem like a great deal to me.
dealdex to jstromecs1
20 Aug 17#9
This cpu only came out January of this year?
jstromecs1 to dealdex
20 Aug 17#10
My bad, I have an i5 6300HQ and GTX960m. Still, it's better to go with the next gen gpu.
ScoobyStoo to jstromecs1
20 Aug 17#25
Exchange rate has significantly dropped since then. Pointless comparing prices two years ago.
CUFC01
20 Aug 17#11
I have similar GL552J model. Battery life is terrible. Has the Gtx950m handled the few games I've played on it fine. With the i7 I Paid £750 for it back in January. It does have blu ray drive and 750GB hDD as well as 128gb SSD
would never spend that much on a laptop again only slightly better than my £350 i3 acer
TheButler83
20 Aug 17#12
Good specs for the price
coventgamer
20 Aug 17#14
Will buy when I get my benefits
phizzy
20 Aug 17#15
I see there are options for getting this with SSD + HDD. Does that mean the version with just an SSD has a spare hard drive slot? Looks like it would be cheaper to buy the extras separately.
Andaho to phizzy
21 Aug 17#43
I don't know where they have put the ssd in this one, but my girlfriend bought the 1tb hdd version, and I added a 250gb ssd in the m.2 slot: scan.co.uk/pro…iop
EDIT: Actually, it says it has "128GB PCI-E SSD" - I assume that must be the m.2 slot - so it should have an empty 2.5" drive space in it for a hdd. - but it would probably be better to buy the hdd version, and then add a decent ssd of your choice.
I'd say it's a pretty decent laptop for gaming - others above have slated it for only having a 960M, but as long as you accept you can't run games with all the graphics options turned on high, most games run and look fine with the graphics options turned down a little.
krisb1701d to phizzy
21 Aug 17#45
Yes I put a standard 2.5" HDD in mine, I bought this back in Feb for the same price. There is space for another M.2 SSD as well.
phizzy to krisb1701d
21 Aug 17#49
Ah good, thanks for letting me know. The small SSD should be enough for OS and the most important software.
alienbats
20 Aug 17#16
IPS or TN and backlit keyboard?
mmb76
20 Aug 17#17
Good price for spec hot
Slinkeh
20 Aug 17#18
eBuyer has this deal but with 1Tb hard drive and with free MSI backpack...
Will take more than a free backpack for me to ever consider dealing with eBuyer again. :wink:
Slinkeh to ScoobyStoo
21 Aug 17#48
If you look at the original posted deal closely you'll see the 1Tb hard drive needs additional cost of £100 for it to be included :wink:
The eBuyer deal I posted includes the 1Tb HDD at £599.99!
Destard
20 Aug 17#19
Bloody good price for a budget gaming laptop.
Picard123 to Destard
20 Aug 17#21
You'll have to budget for a replacement SSD though as 128GB for a gaming machine is pretty hopeless.
Picard123
20 Aug 17#20
"There's bound to be someone who votes cold because of the 128GB SSD. Not a huge concern IMHO since portable external storage is so cheap these days it shouldn't be an issue."
That SSD size is ridiculous though for a gaming machine. Windows probably takes up 25-30GB. You install your Steam library and you've wiped out the remaining storage. There are games for example that have an installation size of 30-40GB. GTA V for example is a 68GB download. Stick a few 1080p/H265 films on there as well and you've wiped out your storage in a blink of an eye.
I actually thought there was a listing error and it was 128GB+1TB HDD, because 128GB SSD only on something like this is ridiculous!
ScoobyStoo to Picard123
20 Aug 17#27
Like I said, they market it as a gaming machine but it's not really. For a true gaming machine you're looking at north of a grand. This is a competent multimedia and business machine.
Take your point about the SSD. Let's be honest though, it's an OS and core app drive, nothing more. Gamers tend to be tech savvy and can easily source a fast external SSD if they want for games and media. For people like me though who have a NAS and dont want an internal HDD weighing the thing down and draining power, it's ideal.
Picard123 to ScoobyStoo
20 Aug 17#29
Its mostly fine as a gaming machine, it's just that they hamstrung it with the tiny SSD. A 256GB is going to cost £80 or so, in which case you'd probably be better going for a 1050 based laptop. Does this have two 2.5" bays?
Picard123 to ScoobyStoo
20 Aug 17#30
But they've got a DVD writer in there which weighs as much if not more (as well as adding unnecessarily to the overall cost). What sort of interface does it connect into? Is it SATA III? Or an older/slower standard?
ScoobyStoo to Picard123
20 Aug 17#33
Yeah, the optical drive is an odd addition. MSI probably just shoved it in because the chassis can accommodate it, and they are practically free to manufacture. No idea about the interface to be honest. Can't remember the last time I used optical media. Dead technology these days.
Agharta to ScoobyStoo
20 Aug 17#36
A 960M is not needed for business and multimedia so the dGPU is aimed at gaming mainly. It was a decent mid-range cards 2 years ago when released.
ScoobyStoo to Agharta
21 Aug 17#40
It's not needed but it doesn't hurt. Main advantage is it frees up the RAM. And you'd be surprised at how many applications can make use of CUDA cores these days.
Agharta to ScoobyStoo
21 Aug 17#42
Hardly makes any difference as if you don't require a dGPU your iGPU will use very little RAM, maybe 128MB!
ScoobyStoo to Agharta
21 Aug 17#44
Yeah, I know the point you are trying to make. If you only ever run Outlook, Excel, Word and a browser then yes...the eDRAM will suffice (I don't know offhand how much the Kaby Lake dies provide). But are there seriously any people with usage patterns that limited? Even something like Google Earth benefits massively from a dGPU.
The iGPUs on recent Intel offerings are indeed very good. But to suggest that the average user will see hardly any benefit from a dGPU is, I think, somewhat misleading. Trying multi-tasking whilst playing a high quality 1080p video and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, each to their own of course, but at this price I'll snap up a machine throwing in a GTX960M.
Agharta to ScoobyStoo
21 Aug 17#46
Very few Intel CPUs have any eDRAM.
From experience there are plenty of people with very limited
usage patterns on PCs. I have friends and family who treat PCs more like a
tablet in that they do minimal multitasking and don’t run demanding software.
Maybe you are confusing gamers and enthusiasts with
mainstream usage patterns? Most people don't play games at all and that's the number one use for a dGPU. The average person doesn't require CUDA cores so curious to know what you think the average 40 to 70 year old is using them for?
Agharta
20 Aug 17#22
At £600 they had to cut corners somewhere and the storage had the snip.
saintagnes
20 Aug 17#23
Good spec for the price. Stick your own hard drive in I would suggest, given the range seems to come with additional disks.
patrick_000
20 Aug 17#24
I bought an MSI gaming laptop recently - not for gaming. Performance wise it’s fine.
The main things i dislike about it are that it doesn’t have an IPS screen (you have to get quite an exact angle with the screen to be able to see it properly). My previous laptop did have IPS and I can’t believe the difference it makes.
The keyboard layout is terrible with the enter key not double height and having the # key directly above enter is really annoying. Everyone who has used it comments on how bad the keyboard layout is.
I also find the DVD player annoying as it is easy to touch the eject button and it pops out when you least expect it.
ScoobyStoo to patrick_000
20 Aug 17#28
Yeah, but you'll rarely see an IPS screen on a gaming machine due to their slower response rates.
I like IPS screens a lot, but the decent examples usually only appear on much more expensive machines. There are also some reeeeeally crap IPS screens around so be wary. Great viewing angles, hopeless colour rendition.
To my mind the screen is the most important thing about a laptop. It's the thing you continually interact with, so always get the best screen you can afford. This looks like a decent screen, will feedback upon arrival if it isn't.
REAL_DEAL
20 Aug 17#31
would this be ott to use for uni,
any recommendations??
korny2
20 Aug 17#32
Well I was thinking that on the John lewis website similar spec with a 1050 is 879 pound so he managed to save 279 pound that's some saving, can't seem to find this posted on the hot UK site. There was a argos deal yesterday with a 1050 but looks like a mistake with argos it's a 950m.
bonzobanana
21 Aug 17#37
Realistically how long do you get for gaming on the battery. I had a laptop with a discrete gpu and got 4hrs for browsing and barely over 1hr for gaming.
getknk
21 Aug 17#38
If they removed dvd writer and put 512gb SSD!! Hmm..
Lonyo to getknk
21 Aug 17#39
Then it would be at least £150 more?
getknk to Lonyo
21 Aug 17#41
Shouldn't be. It should be approx £40-£50 more after deducting £50 for 128gb and £40 for dvd writer
Spod
21 Aug 17#47
You don't need to actually replace the 128GB SSD - there is space for a second drive. (You can see that from some of the options which are SSD + HDD). So just keep the 128GB for Windows and a few programs and stick in a second 128GB or a 256GB SSD for the rest.
supascoop76
22 Aug 17#50
Same specs but with a 1050 for £150 more if that's good for anyone? Comes with a back pack and Game too
![Fresh Breakfast Meat Box (Using code) @ Campbells Meat [Haggis / Lorne Sausage / Bacon / Black Pudding & More]](/images/topics/208684_1.jpg)
![[Xbox One] Q. u. b. e: Director's Cut on Deals with Gold](/images/topics/208716_1.jpg)
Opening post
It's marketed as a gaming machine, which is a bit of a push given the GTX960M, but for business use or as a multimedia machine it's ideal.
There's bound to be someone who votes cold because of the 128GB SSD. Not a huge concern IMHO since portable external storage is so cheap these days it shouldn't be an issue.
All comments (53)
Not actually true as I got the HP Omen with simlar spec for same price but a 1050 in it for the wife. Obviously that deal isn't on from john lewis anymore but could come back again as it has done twice since.
P.S. I bought it for 700 euros two years ago, so buying a similar laptop for 600 pounds today doesn't seem like a great deal to me.
would never spend that much on a laptop again only slightly better than my £350 i3 acer
EDIT: Actually, it says it has "128GB PCI-E SSD" - I assume that must be the m.2 slot - so it should have an empty 2.5" drive space in it for a hdd. - but it would probably be better to buy the hdd version, and then add a decent ssd of your choice.
I'd say it's a pretty decent laptop for gaming - others above have slated it for only having a 960M, but as long as you accept you can't run games with all the graphics options turned on high, most games run and look fine with the graphics options turned down a little.
ebuyer.com/770…672
The eBuyer deal I posted includes the 1Tb HDD at £599.99!
That SSD size is ridiculous though for a gaming machine. Windows probably takes up 25-30GB. You install your Steam library and you've wiped out the remaining storage. There are games for example that have an installation size of 30-40GB. GTA V for example is a 68GB download. Stick a few 1080p/H265 films on there as well and you've wiped out your storage in a blink of an eye.
I actually thought there was a listing error and it was 128GB+1TB HDD, because 128GB SSD only on something like this is ridiculous!
Take your point about the SSD. Let's be honest though, it's an OS and core app drive, nothing more. Gamers tend to be tech savvy and can easily source a fast external SSD if they want for games and media. For people like me though who have a NAS and dont want an internal HDD weighing the thing down and draining power, it's ideal.
The iGPUs on recent Intel offerings are indeed very good. But to suggest that the average user will see hardly any benefit from a dGPU is, I think, somewhat misleading. Trying multi-tasking whilst playing a high quality 1080p video and you'll see what I mean.
Anyway, each to their own of course, but at this price I'll snap up a machine throwing in a GTX960M.
From experience there are plenty of people with very limited usage patterns on PCs. I have friends and family who treat PCs more like a tablet in that they do minimal multitasking and don’t run demanding software.
Maybe you are confusing gamers and enthusiasts with mainstream usage patterns? Most people don't play games at all and that's the number one use for a dGPU. The average person doesn't require CUDA cores so curious to know what you think the average 40 to 70 year old is using them for?
The main things i dislike about it are that it doesn’t have an IPS screen (you have to get quite an exact angle with the screen to be able to see it properly). My previous laptop did have IPS and I can’t believe the difference it makes.
The keyboard layout is terrible with the enter key not double height and having the # key directly above enter is really annoying. Everyone who has used it comments on how bad the keyboard layout is.
I also find the DVD player annoying as it is easy to touch the eject button and it pops out when you least expect it.
I like IPS screens a lot, but the decent examples usually only appear on much more expensive machines. There are also some reeeeeally crap IPS screens around so be wary. Great viewing angles, hopeless colour rendition.
To my mind the screen is the most important thing about a laptop. It's the thing you continually interact with, so always get the best screen you can afford. This looks like a decent screen, will feedback upon arrival if it isn't.
any recommendations??
saveonlaptops.co.uk/9S7…tml