Laptop customization

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arcon

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#223053 10-Sep-2017 13:12

Are there any online laptop manufacturers that lets you customize a laptop any more? Or a smaller shop that would do custom laptop builds? (and support them).

When I bought a Dell Precision workstation laptop 5 years ago you could do this. That was a good laptop but I wouldn't buy a Precision now - in some cases the new range is actually worse than gaming laptops for professional CGI work... which makes them hilariously overpriced. But you can't customize anything with Dell's website, its just useless, I even tried online chat and they wouldn't upgrade the 256SSD to 512 on an Inspiron Gaming laptop.

So keen to hear anybody else's recommendations on what to do in this situation... there are certain minimum specs I need but I'm flexible on the brand.

Jase2985

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#1861904 10-Sep-2017 17:36

what do you actually want to customise on it?

arcon

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#1861953 10-Sep-2017 20:06

512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, nVidia 1050Ti or 1060, any CPU over i5 doesn't really matter, Windows 10 Pro. Funnily enough after posting that I found an Alienware which has those specs. Its $3K which is doable but seems a bit expensive for only 13.3" screen.

gzt

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#1861955 10-Sep-2017 20:15

Have you looked at Lenovo?

arcon

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#1861973 10-Sep-2017 21:01

Thanks for the reply - I didn't know about them, I wouldn't buy through eBay but I checked out Lenovo's site and the Legion Y520 looks good but is more expensive than Dell... a shame.

Batman

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#1861980 10-Sep-2017 21:13

arcon:

512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, nVidia 1050Ti or 1060, any CPU over i5 doesn't really matter, Windows 10 Pro. Funnily enough after posting that I found an Alienware which has those specs. Its $3K which is doable but seems a bit expensive for only 13.3" screen.

There is a laptop called Dell Gaming Laptop (Inspiron 15 7000) with exactly the same specs.

Unfortunately crap wifi.

arcon

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#1862175 11-Sep-2017 10:37

Batman:

arcon:

512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, nVidia 1050Ti or 1060, any CPU over i5 doesn't really matter, Windows 10 Pro. Funnily enough after posting that I found an Alienware which has those specs. Its $3K which is doable but seems a bit expensive for only 13.3" screen.

There is a laptop called Dell Gaming Laptop (Inspiron 15 7000) with exactly the same specs.

Unfortunately crap wifi.

That only has a 256GB SSD and Dell don't let you upgrade it, so I'd have to buy a second SSD. They include a 1TB HDD... blows my mind they are still offering mechanical hard drives, which are really only used these days for archiving, something I'd do externally.

I don't know much about wifi tech how is their's bad?

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timmmay

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#1862179 11-Sep-2017 10:42

Spinning hard drives are still very widely used for online data storage. I have hundreds of GB of family photos and videos online in a two disk 4TB RAID mirror. SSD price would be prohibitive.

Lenovo make decent laptops that are somewhat configurable. You'll probably have to compromise though.

xpd

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#1862183 11-Sep-2017 10:47

I know Clevo used to do custom spec laptops, workmate years ago had one, was hell of a beast built to his specs. Dunno what costs were tho.

XPD / Gavin

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lxsw20

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#1862188 11-Sep-2017 10:58

Few guys at work have Razer Blades they seem to like. Would fit your spec, but might be over budget.

arcon

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#1862218 11-Sep-2017 11:21

lxsw20:

Few guys at work have Razer Blades they seem to like. Would fit your spec, but might be over budget.

Checked pricespy and these don't seem to be selling in NZ. Can get them through the Asia|Pacific Razer store online but those models are way below spec...

Batman

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#1862300 11-Sep-2017 12:27

arcon:

That only has a 256GB SSD and Dell don't let you upgrade it, so I'd have to buy a second SSD. They include a 1TB HDD... blows my mind they are still offering mechanical hard drives, which are really only used these days for archiving, something I'd do externally.

I don't know much about wifi tech how is their's bad?

You could put a 2TB ssd in place of the 1tb :)

Wi-Fi is 1x1 ac Wi-Fi it's not too bad if you don't use it to transfer TBs of data.

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#1862326 11-Sep-2017 13:25

Most devices can be built to order.

arcon

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#1862336 11-Sep-2017 13:38

Batman:

You could put a 2TB ssd in place of the 1tb :)

Wi-Fi is 1x1 ac Wi-Fi it's not too bad if you don't use it to transfer TBs of data.

That wifi would be fine for me... Yeah I could buy a second SSD and install it, but it seems a hassle to pay for a 1TB HDD and sell it. Another problem that makes the Inspiron a no go is it only comes with Windows 10 Home, not Pro. Dell told me they only allow customization on the Alienware or Precision range.

Mod Edit MM: Please don't over quote.

darylblake

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#1862372 11-Sep-2017 14:56

Yeh just buy one with a cheap hard disk, and buy a 512GB or 1TB SSD yourself.

I have a 17" 1080p laptop that has a 256GB SSD, and 1TB spindle drive, (has a Quadro M2000M 4GB) too. Which performs about the same as a GTX960 :D