Best laptop at £800?

[sathanansarvaharman]

I already have a computer for the bulk of my work ect but I'm in need of a laptop for portability. I'm a chemistry student so I will need to do programming as well as running various softwares however that isn't too intensive. I have a budget of £700-800 and was confused as to which laptops are the best value for money at this price point. Thanks in advance

 

[Secret-Squirrel]

A couple of questions for you:

1) Do you have a preference for screen size? 13.3, 14, and 15.6 inch sizes are available. The smaller the screen, the more portable it will be.

2) Do you need masses of hard drive space or will 256GB suffice?

 

[sathanansarvaharman]

A couple of questions for you:

1) Do you have a preference for screen size? 13.3, 14, and 15.6 inch sizes are available. The smaller the screen, the more portable it will be.

2) Do you need masses of hard drive space or will 256GB suffice?

1) I'd prefer a 14inch screen but I'm happy for a smaller screen if the laptop is more powerful.

2) in terms of storage I won't need lots of space as I'm planning to get an external ssd anyway

 

[Secret-Squirrel]

Although they're unlikely to win any beauty contests, UK-based company PC Specialist make very good custom-built laptops and their new Fusion Pro 14 would be an excellent choice. Click on "Features" and "Detailed Specification" for full details then click on "Configurator" to select the components. You'll need to upgrade the RAM to at least 2X 4GB, and if you want the fastest SSD available, choose the "250GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus". That will give you a very fast laptop for £707.

Or if you prefer to buy from one one of the big companies, and don't mind something a lot slower than the above, then Dell's mid-range Inspiron 5000 series would be an option. Here are the Intel models and here are the AMD models. Note that the AMD CPUs are significantly faster but the laptops have smaller batteries.

Whatever Windows laptop you buy, be prepared for disappointing speakers and webcam but hopefully you'll be satisfied.