Please help me critique my custom PC Specialist laptop specs!

rjph91

New Member
Hi all, first post. :icon_smile: Sorry to add another of these to the pile, but I'd appreciate any help before I splurge the cash!

Over the last year or so, I've progressed from teaching myself the Adobe Creative Suite to designing book covers, marketing material, logos and web graphics within my role at a publishing house. Unfortunately, the laptop I'm currently using just isn't cutting it; it's slow as hell, has awful colour accuracy and screen glare, and is close to dying on me anyway, and as a result, I'm seeking to construct my first dedicated graphic design/photo-editing laptop. I obviously use Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign CC (2013), usually concurrently, on a daily basis. I do no 3D modelling, video editing, modern gaming or anything else ridiculously intensive, at least at this point in time.

A laptop is my only option, as I have to be able to ferry it back and forth my office every day. My budget is at most £1000.

Rather than buy pre-built, I've decided instead to approach PC Specialist (I've heard good things, particularly while reading a few threads on here) and construct a custom model using my own specs. The following build was suggested to me (actually tweaked from a spec list I got from this website - thanks to hankscorpio) on the forums over there, but figured that before I plonk down a grand, it was worth getting a second opinion!

I'm just wondering if there's anything that isn't enough for my needs, or indeed is too much and can be downgraded to save cash.

Many thanks for any advice! :icon_smile: If I've missed out any obvious info that would help you make your recommendations, let me know and I'll try and help. I'm not the most technologically knowledgeable when it gets down to the nitty gritty of computer specs (hence why I'm asking on here!)

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-4710MQ (2.50GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON SODIMM DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 950M - 2.0GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD BLACK 2.5" WD7500BPKX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
mSATA/M.2 SSD Drive
240GB Kingston SSDNow mS200 mSATA (upto 540MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD + BT 3.0 (RTL8723BE)
USB Options
3 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT AS STANDARD
Battery
Cosmos Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (48.84WH)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 120W AC Adaptor
Keyboard Language
COSMOS SERIES UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £963.00 including VAT and delivery.
 
That looks great - a 15 inch screen I find too small - but it's good enough for you then fine.

I'd hold out for a while - there's 6th gen processors on the way.

Hold out if you can - if you can't then go for it.
 
That looks great - a 15 inch screen I find too small - but it's good enough for you then fine.

I'd hold out for a while - there's 6th gen processors on the way.

Hold out if you can - if you can't then go for it.

Hi hankscorpio, thanks for the response. It was actually one of your comments which prompted me to consider PC Specialist, so thanks for that, too!

I've spotted that PCS are already using Skylake processors on a few of their laptops. For not much more money than the laptop above, I actually managed to configure an Optimus VII 17.3" laptop with a 6th gen i7 6700HQ and otherwise identical specs to the above, but unfortunately the configurator still only lets you select DDR3 RAM, despite this no longer being compatible with the new processors.

When you say, hold out for a while, how long do you reckon is 'a while'? I'm unfortunately going to need a new laptop for work imminently the way things are looking, so just need a ball park figure!

Thanks again for your help.
 
You can contact pc specialists with your query. I was under the impression there would be dual IMC support in ddr 3 and 4.
 
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