rubyeyedowl Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Hi, I am looking at getting new laptop for Affinity Designer and Photo as I am looking to get back into design, rebuild my portfolio and get a Graphic Design job (a position I held 7 years ago but had to leave for various reasons). The two laptops I am looking at are: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-FX504-15-6-inch-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07C7DYS5V/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 and https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-vivobook-core-i5-8250u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-nvidia-geforce-gtx-940m-s510uq-bq517t/version.asp#/specs Can anyone advise which would be the better choice? I want to have this machine for at least a few years, and your help would be appreciated. Thanks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toltec Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 52 minutes ago, rubyeyedowl said: Hi, I am looking at getting new laptop for Affinity Designer and Photo as I am looking to get back into design, rebuild my portfolio and get a Graphic Design job (a position I held 7 years ago but had to leave for various reasons). The two laptops I am looking at are: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-FX504-15-6-inch-Gaming-Laptop/dp/B07C7DYS5V/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 and https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/asus-vivobook-core-i5-8250u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-nvidia-geforce-gtx-940m-s510uq-bq517t/version.asp#/specs Can anyone advise which would be the better choice? I want to have this machine for at least a few years, and your help would be appreciated. Thanks, How good is your eyesight? I have an Asus i7 with a backlit keyboard (like option 1) and it is very hard to read the keys. The backlighting isn’t very good and the keys are much harder to read than a standard keyboard. It seems to be more designed for youthful gamers who like pretty lights than for actual people who need to type. I often use the laptop it subdued lighting or outside in bright light and in each case, the backlit keyboard is almost impossible to read. I ended up buying stick on letters. Looks a bit naff on an £1000+ laptop, but I do need to type stuff. I don’t think the specifications are different enough to matter. rubyeyedowl 1 Quote Windows PCs. Photo and Designer, latest non-beta versions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarryP Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 If you're going to be doing a lot of design work then the 256GB SSD on the Vivobook will be fast but you might end up running out of space sooner than you want (unless you archive things to an external drive, which is a sensible idea anyway, as long as it's also backed up). The differences between an i5-8250U and an i5-8300H are probably negligible for most people. You probably wouldn't notice much difference between a GeForce 940MX and GeForce GTX 1050 either. As for the rest of the internal hardware, you could compare each individual item for days on end and come to no real conclusion. E.g slightly faster memory vs. slightly slower graphics, or slightly faster hard drive vs. slightly slower processor, etc. etc. It just goes on and on. My best recommendation would be to try and find one of each - or very similar - in the real world and try and use it for a few minutes. If the screen just doesn't look right to you then it doesn't matter how fast it will be, it will just keep annoying you. Similarly, you will be using the keyboard a lot; if it doesn't feel right to you then that will bug you for the life of the machine. Both machines seem to be about the same specification/price-wise so the best test is how they actually feel to use them. You should choose what feels right when it's in your hands and you'll be happy you made that choice. Of course, this doesn't help if you can't actually get them in your hands before handing over the cash. P.S. Have you thought about getting a custom-built laptop? In the UK we have https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ who make really nice machines and the cost isn't nearly as much as you might think. You can specify exactly what you want and swap the specification round until it's within your price range without making any commitment. One downside of this is that - unless you can find someone with a laptop with the same chassis - you won't be able to get the feel of it in the real world before you buy. rubyeyedowl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubyeyedowl Posted August 8, 2018 Author Share Posted August 8, 2018 Thanks for the information guys. I'll have a loo at https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ and see if it offers any better value - this £600 range seems to be pretty standard regardless of what machine I look at. Like you say GarryP, you could compare each individual item for days on end and come to no real conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toothfood Posted August 8, 2018 Share Posted August 8, 2018 Both will get the job done just fine. I wish you didn't live across the pond because I am selling my gaming laptop with slightly better specs for a lot less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubyeyedowl Posted August 9, 2018 Author Share Posted August 9, 2018 I ended up going for the first one of the two - slightly better machine in terms of power should i want to do any video/gaming. Thanks for your help guys. Mods, this can be closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Somebody Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 I ordered today hp 15 pavilion cs0004nj. laptop's specs If you not in a hurry for a new laptop i let you know in a short period of use how suitable it for a beginner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.