Looking for a Windows 10 laptop

daviec

Estimable
Sep 14, 2014
2
0
4,510
Hey,

I'm thinking about getting a new Windows 10 laptop. The main requirement of my laptop is that it must be able to run Game DVR on Windows - the graphics cards which are suitable are listed here: http://support.xbox.com/en-IE/xbox-on-windows/system-requirements/pc-hardware-requirements-for-game-dvr

1. What is your budget?

My budget is £400 but ideally I'd like to get something a bit cheaper than that.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

Any

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Any

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

Any

5. How much battery life do you need?

No real preference, it'll be plugged in a lot of the time anyway

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

I won't really be playing any high-spec games, probably only Football Manager. But I will be using the Xbox app to play Xbox games.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)

I produce some Youtube videos of Xbox gameplay, and I'm looking to buy a laptop which I can run the Windows 10 Xbox app on. Here's the thing - Game DVR is only compatible with certain graphics cards, here's the list:
AMD: AMD Radeon HD 7700 series, HD 7700M series, HD 8500 series, HD 8500M series, R9 series, and R7 series or later.
NVIDIA: GeForce 600 series or later, GeForce 800M series or later, Quadro Kxxx series or later.
Intel: Intel HD graphics 4200 or later, Intel Iris Graphics 5100 or later.
It seems to be tricky to find out which graphics card the Intel ones have, most websites just seem to list "Intel HD" and don't tell me whether it's 4200 or later.

I wouldn't be editing the videos on the laptop (apart from basic editing on Movie Maker)

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

Pretty low, 500gb or above would be fine.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

I've had a look at Amazon and eBuyer and found these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-Z50-15-6-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B01GCNYXR4/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01BFV8HQ6/
http://www.ebuyer.com/754034-lenovo-essential-b50-50-laptop-80s2004auk
http://www.ebuyer.com/744835-acer-aspire-es1-731-laptop-nx-mvrek-004
http://www.ebuyer.com/758978-exdisplay-dell-vostro-3558-laptop-ebr1-0n8kd

Anyone have any opinions on these?

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?

As long as possible really, I would hope to get at least 5+ years out of it.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

USB port and DVD RW preferably, but no major issues if they're not available.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

No preference

13. What country do you live in?

Scotland

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

As long as it meets the requirements of being able to run Game DVR, the deciding factor will be the price. I may be willing to pay a little more for a big jump in specs, but really I'd be looking for the lowest price.

If there are any sites you'd recommend checking then I'd appreciate if you could tell me which ones.

Thank you in advance for any help!
 

daviec

Estimable
Sep 14, 2014
2
0
4,510


Thank you for the response. Any particular reason you'd pick that over the others I mentioned, or any others on the market? It looks like that one has a better graphics card, is the difference significant enough to justify the price difference considering what I'll be using it for?