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Question

High Spec Laptop - £1200 Budget

May 15, 2015 6:50AM PDT

I'm looking to purchase a new laptop and I have around £1200 to spend, I could raise this slightly if necessary, but from what I've seen there's a lot out there within this price range.

I am a travelling photographer, so I have some rather specific requirements as to what I want from the machine.

It needs to be:
Lightweight
Good battery life
Fast, capable of running Adobe suite and various often numerous Chrome tabs etc
Maximum screen size 15" due to needing to fit in a specific bag
Ideally the screen would be well suited to photography and be useful outdoors in strong light situations

Now, everyone I've asked has recommended that I go for a Mac, however I've been Windows/Android since day one, so I'd prefer to stick with this for the time being. I don't really have the time or the energy for learning something new right now, and everything is pretty much set up how I want it so seems silly to change.

After looking around, the initial suggestion seems to be the Dell XPS 13, while 13" feels a little small to me, I'd much rather have a 15" screen in a 13" chassis than a 13" in an 11", it does seem like an incredible little machine.

Having read quite a lot of user comments with regards to the QHD+ screen, it almost seems like I might be better off going for the FHD (1920x1080) screen instead. Seems weird with photography but the compability of the QHD+ and the amount of issues that people have noted with them, I think it's maybe one step ahead of itself right now and I could do without light bleed etc affecting my images.

Here's the current Dell that seems best suited to my needs:
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/xps-13-9343...13-9343-laptop

If anyone else has any other suggestions, I'd be more than happy to listen, I'm also very interested in personal experiences with the QHD+/FHD differences.

Thanks in advance!

Discussion is locked

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Answer
Doesn't seem to exist.
May 15, 2015 7:00AM PDT

The good battery life fails. Why? Every laptop I check seems to take a 6 hour battery down to 1 or less hours when gaming. Similar reductions seem to happen with heavy use. The XPS 13 is a favorite, CNET likes this one for more battery time. Then the light bleed seems to be on all LCDs. Maybe you have to wait for OLED.

http://www.cnet.com/products/dell-xps-13-non-touch-2015/

It seems to meet your price goal.
Bob

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Compromise?
May 16, 2015 5:30AM PDT

Thanks for your responses, however - when the impossible isn't achievable, surely you move on to a compromise?

I'm not saying I NEED these, they'd be preferable, if nothing is suitable for sunlight, then I'll have to get one that's better with it. Surely a matte screen would be better than gloss for instance?

All of the XPS 13's fall within my price goal, the QHD+ seems to suffer from worse light bleed than the FHD which is why I was curious as to what people would recommend given my tasks.

Thanks

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Sunlight is a no go.
May 16, 2015 5:35AM PDT

There are thousands of posts about sunlight readable. After years of hearing this I have to write no. You won't get a display that is good in the sun and be good enough for Photoshop/Adobe work. The sunlight readable display exchanges properties such as color correctness for sunlight readable.

I suggest you take another look at the XPS noted. It's not going to meet your wants but it may be as close as what the market offers.
Bob

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Fair!
May 16, 2015 8:06AM PDT

I can't argue with that, however if nothing can handle sunlight then so be it. I'll be honest that about 5% of my work would be done in sunlight, I wouldn't want to be doing crucial editing or anything so as long as it's visible it'd be handy. I've had a matte laptop previously that was visible, however a gloss one that acted like a mirror.

I agree that the XPS seems closest to my requirements, I'm still stuck with the QHD+/FHD screen decision though!

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I didn't write there are no sunlight readable displays.
May 16, 2015 8:13AM PDT

But these displays would make any photo editing person cringe. As to the screen, I still give the nod to the one in the article. Here's why.

You wrote as if you'll use the battery on a regular basis. Since these are only rated 300 cycles you could wear it out in about a year. Makers define wear out when the battery drops to 50% of it's rating. So at one year with daily battery use, charging at night you could need a battery every year. At the office we rarely use the battery since we are cheapskates. We use the battery on exception, not as the rule.

This model has some very high hours so that 300 cycle rating is stretched further to a lot more hours of battery life.
Bob

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Answer
I didn't mention the strong light issue.
May 15, 2015 7:01AM PDT

That again means there is nothing on the market for you. There were some attempts at sunlight readable displays but the colors are so far off on those.

Sorry but this reads like the hunt for the Unicorn.
Bob