Recommendations for a workstation laptop?

[neokaiheng4yt]

Currently looking for a new laptop used for graphic work. Won't be playing much games on it. Use Photoshop on an everyday basis and sometimes Adobe Illustrator too. Probably wont need a max specs top notch laptop but one that can handle the above-mentioned programmes well will do.

Not too fussed about which brand and the budget would be £800+-
Also please advice me on what specs I should look for e.g is 8gbs ram enough, i5 or i7 processors etc. as I am not too much of a tech guy.

 

[buggaby]

Whenever I'm buying a new laptop, I consider a few things - basically, CPU, GPU, RAM, then other things like weight/size, screen, and so on. If you plan on using it in desktop mode with external monitor and stuff, you can go cheaper and heavier. If you want to travel a lot, you need to pay more for good quality keyboard, screen, battery, and lightness.

I don't have much experience with using either of your applications, but it looks like the requirements of Photoshop and Illustrator depend a lot on how you use them. If you're doing 3D Photoshop work, you'll see speed with a good GPU. Others seem to say that Illustrator generally benefits from GPU strength. At the least, though, you might benefit from a discrete GPU.

If you're using large Photoshop or Illustrator files, you'll want higher amounts of RAM (not cheap to get more than 16GB of RAM). If you're doing a lot of lighter things, though, I bet a typical 8GB would be fine.


So, you might want to consider a machine with 8GB RAM and a discrete GPU. I would also not go slower than a Core i5. Knowing this should help you figure out what you want based on the other aspects (weight, cost, screen quality, touchscreen...). Now all you have to do is search the big laptop names.

This might do you well. It has 8GB RAM, Core i5 and a discrete graphics card.
https/www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/legion-laptops/legion-y-series/Legion-Y520/p/80WK01A8UK

I have used a Lenovo Y-series laptop in the past, and it was certainly adequate. Got me the specs and more cheaply, though the screen quality was lower, battery life was shorter, and it was a bit heavier. To me, that was worth the $1000 savings... Easy to read reviews, though.

EDIT:
You might even be able to get away with an integrated GPU and a faster core i7.
http/rwillustrator.blogspot.com/2009/08/learn-to-make-illustrator-go-faster.html