Reasonably Priced ($2000) UHD 15+" Laptop

aik on 09/11/2020 - 13:17
Last edited 09/11/2020 - 14:42 by 1 other user

I am trying to find a big nice laptop to work on backyard with a bunch of remote Linux terminals. So, I need a big screen, really want UHD (fullhd makes me very sad), 8GB RAM/256GB SSD are enough, no NVIDIA/ATI-AMD is needed either. I looked around and found nothing reasonably priced, even $3000 won't buy these specs, and I really hope for $2000.

The potential options are:

Chuwi Aerobook plus for less than $1000 but … it is out of stock everywhere, and it is Chuwi - not very bright screens, and the maker is rather dodgy.

Dell XPS 17 from Dell/USA has the specs I need for $1800USD which is ok but they do not ship to Aus and Dell Aus does not offer such "crap" - all Aus UHD configs include at least core i7, 16gb ram, 1tb ssd and nvidia which brings the price to $4500.

The same story with Lenovo or HP.

I am going to run Linux on it so really want to avoid discrete video as it is bad for battery and bad for Linux (constant fight with binary drivers and no benefit at all). So no Macbook pro either (besides the price).

What would a true OzBargainer do? Shipito/Shopmate + GST? Other vendors? Thanks,

Computing

Comments

  • Zarlia on 09/11/2020 - 14:11
    +2

    Have a look at the surface laptop, they aren't quite UHD but might be worth looking at. The 15" is $2500 for 8gb/256gb not on sale so is fairly expensive but they sometimes have 20% off sales.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2020 - 15:11

    Dell XPS 15 7590 for $2,633 @ Dell Australia

    15.6-inch 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) OLED Anti-Reflective InfinityEdge Non-Touch Display
    9th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-9750H (12 MB Cache, 6 Core, up to 4.50 GHz)
    16GB RAM
    512GB SSD
    NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5

  • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2020 - 15:18

    I am going to run Linux on it so really want to avoid discrete video as it is bad for battery and bad for Linux

    Sorry, I missed this part before posting the XPS 15 above.

  • plmko on 09/11/2020 - 16:08

    Choose a Lenovo P series on their website and spec it to 4K.

    • aik on 09/11/2020 - 16:12

      4k 15.6" will come with nvidia and i7 only and the price goes up a lot

  • toomuchdogfur on 09/11/2020 - 16:13

    Oof that's a tough one… 15" UHD is expensive, but 17" UHD is niche (relatively speaking) and expensive. Hence those displays are only put in:

    • "Gaming" laptops with beefy GPUs
    • "Creator" laptops with beefy CPUs and workstation-grade GPUs

    Both of which are super expensive, as you have already seen.

    Dell Outlet has a XPS 17 for $3,159 - would still be cheaper than importing your specced model after shipping and GST is taken into account. Still overpowered, but I can't think of anything else in Australia closer to your requirements unless you're willing to drop to FHD.

    • aik on 09/11/2020 - 17:52

      Well, price wise the outlet has two reasonably priced options:
      https://www.dell.com/en-au/outlet/refurbished-inspiron-15-75…
      https://www.dell.com/en-au/outlet/refurbished-xps-15-7590-la…

      I am new to Dell, what is the main difference between inspiron and xps? The cheaper one seems to be better in every way.
      that xps comes with OLED screen, niiiice. Now I am wondering which one is brighter on a bright backyard - IPS 500nits or OLED 400nits?

      • toomuchdogfur on 09/11/2020 - 18:30

        XPS is the "premium" line, with generally better build quality, materials and thermal solutions. I can't really quantify it beyond that though… I can say the XPS feels solid as I have one, and I've heard that the Inspiron 7000 series is pretty good (but I don't own one).

        Between the two you've found, the XPS has:

        • A better CPU (One generation older but 6 cores instead of 8)
        • A better GPU (Not that it matters for you)
        • An OLED screen over an IPS screen - OLED screens are widely considered the best type of screen

        I thought you wanted a 17 inch screen though?

        • aik on 09/11/2020 - 18:35

          I want at least 15.6" - it is in the topic :) About OLED, I know it is better in colors/contrast but not so sure about how it performs under sunlight.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2020 - 18:46

    Do you really need UHD, at 15 inches there's no way you could discrene the difference between it and a lower resolution because the pixels are so small. You can certainly make out 1080p pixels on a 23/24 inch screen, and possibly a 15 inch screen, but surely there is a resolution in between that will be indistinguishable from a 4K screen. I know I absolutely cannot see pixels on my Macbook Pro screen.

    • aik on 09/11/2020 - 18:58

      This is not about seeing pixels, this is about seeing sharper letters even when the font size is really small. These days it is impossible to disable antialiasing in pdf viewers without puking eyes out; and with enable antialiasing it is just too blurry, like not wearing glasses.

      And I would consider 3072x1728 or similar but this seems to be every more rare, 2560x1440 seems to be the next step up which is not popular either and imho not worth upgrading.

  • andy911 on 10/11/2020 - 23:22

    FWIW I use an ageing MBPr for managing a large number of Unix hosts mostly with terminal sessions.
    When I purchased my first MacBook it was for the hardware and I intended to install Linux on it just as I had done with various dells and IBM think pads before it.
    However I found that the terminal (iterm2) was brilliant and all of utilities that I use (nmap, curl, awk etc) came standard or were easy to install with brew.
    So my older Mac has proved really cost efficient over time, and fits all your other criteria.
    You might find the same.

    Given the imminent release of the new ARM macs tonight there might be some deals coming down the pipe.

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