New laptop for uni student - which of these?

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nadz77

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#243535 16-Dec-2018 23:05

Looking to purchase a new laptop for a uni student - studying health science/ medicine. He would probably prefer 15" and am looking at intel i7, 8gb, 256ssd minimum - would this be sufficient? Usage would be mainly lecture notes, assignments, and watching netflix etc - he already has a gaming desktop.
Can anyone please offer advice on which would be the best one out of the following?.... budget max $1500. Thank you.

Will post links below...

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14 posts

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#2146332 16-Dec-2018 23:06

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN8006ISSR/Lenovo-Remanufactured-Edge-15-Deluxe-Flip-2in1-Hom

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKDEL53798550I/Dell-Remanufacture-Inspiron-5379-Convertible-2-IN

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKHNB360156I/HP-Envy-x360-15-aq273cl-Remanufactured-Flip-2in1-P

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKLEN30185/Lenovo-V310-15IKB-Business-Laptop-156-Intel-i7-750

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKHNB15593/HP-15-bs593TX-Entertainment-Laptop-156-1080p-FullH

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKHNB3944687/HP-Probook-430-G5-Business-Laptop-133-Intel-i7-855

heapsort

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#2146342 17-Dec-2018 06:25

Following assumes Windows or Linux OS; I have no experience with Apple.

I think you should assess important preferences beyond the CPU/RAM/Storage stats, like these:

* Matte or Glossy screen?

* Touchscreen or not? (Usually touch is glossy, I prefer non-touch matte.)

* Screen resolution? (I'm happy with 1920x1080 or higher but I would get frustrated by 1366x768 within a few minutes.)

* Keyboard quality? (Often largely ignored, but important for comfort.)

* Weight range? (Some 15" laptops would feel rather heavy carried around uni all day.)

For non-gaming, we are all Dell Latitude (business range) laptop users in my family. I've found Latitudes to have strong build quality, nice keyboard (many people don't think about that enough when buying a laptop; Lenovo business grade tend to have quality keyboards too) and good value - provided they are purchased refurbished not new, because new Latitude prices can get ridiculous in NZ. Although there are often specials, so it's worth checking the dell.com/en-nz "Laptops / For Work" section.

I have a Latitude 7370 and so does my oldest who just graduated university, and he liked its combination of light weight and small size (it's an infinity edge screen, effectively a 12 inch chassis) with good keyboard and large enough screen for him. But 13" would be too small for some.

My wife recently bought a Latitude E5550 from shop.remarkit.co.nz - i7 CPU, 16 GB RAM, 120 SSD with upgrade option available. They are still selling the same for around $650 (plus $50 if you don't want to install Win 10 Pro yourself) and it suits her preferences very well: matte screen, non touch, good keyboard with numeric keypad. Same site is also selling a Latitude 7470, i5, 8 GB RAM, 512 SSD for $850. If my laptop snapped in half this morning, I'd probably be on their website buying that one myself this afternoon.

You'll find lots of other reasonable ex-lease/used Latitudes from computer shops, with varying warranties (that's the biggest downside of buying refurbished) on Trade Me.

P.S. For reviews of business-grade laptops, notebookcheck.net is an excellent site.

EDIT: I just noticed the links in the first reply are by the topic author, and cover a wide variety of options: there are 13 to 15 inch, glossy and matte, touch and non-touch, 1920x1080 and 1366x768, 2-in-1 flip and non-flip, all in there. I'd reinforce my first suggestion: narrow down those preferences as much as possible first, to avoid disappointment.

timmmay

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#2146346 17-Dec-2018 07:06

Welcome to Geekzone :) If you'd like to make it easier for people to help you you could do a couple of things:

Make your URLs links people can click on, or at least so they don't span lines and make it really difficult
For each link give the make, model, and key specifications (CPU, RAM, disk size and type)

In general, Lenovo tend to be good quality, with their thinkpads being extremely robust but quite heavy. Dell are a good brand. You're best with a SSD disk. i5 is probably sufficient, and 256GB of SSD is fine unless someone wants to store a lot of media on the hard drive.

michaelmurfy

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#2146369 17-Dec-2018 08:03

timmmay:

Welcome to Geekzone :) If you'd like to make it easier for people to help you you could do a couple of things:

Make your URLs links people can click on, or at least so they don't span lines and make it really difficult

New members can't post URL's because spam reasons. I've added the URL's here.

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Andib

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#2146380 17-Dec-2018 08:28

Take a look at Dell, They have a good deal on their Ryzen Laptops at the moment

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/laptops-ultrabooks-notebooks/inspiron-15-5000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-5575-laptop

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2146393 17-Dec-2018 08:53

nadz77: Looking to purchase a new laptop for a uni student - studying health science/ medicine. He would probably prefer 15" and am looking at intel i7, 8gb, 256ssd minimum - would this be sufficient? Usage would be mainly lecture notes, assignments, and watching netflix etc - he already has a gaming desktop.

An i7 with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is significantly over-spec'd for this task. I expect some medical applications could require significant resources, and it may be wise to plan ahead for future requirements.

Purely for notes and assignments (or Netflix), I'd probably go for an i3 with a smaller SSD. That would allow you to buy a new unit, not a remanufactured one.

Batman

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#2146398 17-Dec-2018 09:05

Andib:

Take a look at Dell, They have a good deal on their Ryzen Laptops at the moment

https://www.dell.com/en-nz/shop/laptops-ultrabooks-notebooks/inspiron-15-5000-laptop/spd/inspiron-15-5575-laptop

Get this. I have not had trouble with Dell laptops and their warranty service is excellent anywhere in the country.

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k1w1k1d

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#2146407 17-Dec-2018 09:25

Recommendations from daughter who has just finished her third year at Otago.

Health Science is TOUGH!

If you want a good result that lets you choose the path of medicine that you want to follow, then you probably will be too busy studying to watch much Netflix.

Need large screen.

Must be light to carry around all day.

Must have good battery life.

Must have good keyboard.

shk292

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#2146457 17-Dec-2018 10:05

I can't imagine why anyone would buy a laptop with a 1366x768 screen these days, especially for student use where screen real estate (web pages, notes, spreadsheets etc) is going to be at a real premium. Especially not for $1500, as some of those PB Tech ones are.

For student use, I would be prioritising FHD screen, lightness, battery life and SSD. Then 8GB RAM. CPU power as a last factor if all else is equal.

Batman

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#2146462 17-Dec-2018 10:15

the dell linked has 1080p screen. the 768p screens are rubbish.

sbiddle

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#2146470 17-Dec-2018 10:27

For basic requirements such as that have you considered a Chromebook?

Unless you need Windows applications they're great devices, and performance and battery life of the higher end units beats most Windows laptops.

cyril7

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#2146488 17-Dec-2018 11:04

+1 for a Chromebook, weight, battery life and overall ease of use make them stand out.

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NBKHNB4119076/HP-Chromebook-14-G5-Education-Notebook-14-FullHD-T

Cyril

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#2146500 17-Dec-2018 11:39

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

cyril7

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#2146502 17-Dec-2018 11:45

Finewine, you missed one of the key requirements, budget $1500 max.

Cyril

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#2146504 17-Dec-2018 11:55

cyril7:

Finewine, you missed one of the key requirements, budget $1500 max.

Cyril

Being a retired nurse and having Doctor & Surgical relatives. When she/he qualifies they will be able to pay back and then some especially if they go into Orthopedics or one of those surgical specialties.

But good luck. My great nephew (19yr) has just completed premed at Auckland Uni with over 98% pass for the year and even then no guarantee he will get into medicine next year.

Whilst the difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a bit longer. However, miracles you will have to wait for.

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