Which laptop to buy ??

John Young

John Young

Senior Member
I have the option of two computers (specs below) one is only 16" but has a better graphics card and looks like the CPU is faster (although reads as same model - maybe over clocked ?) The other has a 17" screen but slower graphics card but larger hard drive. I could go for smaller screen laptop and add my own second screen or screens

Should I go for option 1 or 2

Option 1

HP Pavilion 16”


Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor with Intel® HD Graphics 4600
• 2.6GHz, 6MB Smart Cache (Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz)
• Windows 10 Home 64-bit ● 8GB DDR3L SDRAM
• 1TB 5400 rpm SATA; 128 GB M.2 Solid State Drive ● SuperMulti DVD Burner
• 15.6-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M dedicated 4GB DDR3L graphics card
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
• Bang & Olufsen sound with 2 speakers ● Multi-format SD media card reader
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated dual array digital microphone



Option 2

HP Envy 17

Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor
• 2.4GHz, 4MB L3 Smart Cache (Turbo Boost up to 3GHz)
• Windows 10 Home 64-bit ● 12GB DDR3L SDRAM ● SuperMulti DVD burner drive
• 2TB 5400 rpm SATA hard disk drive + Dropbox + HP Connected Drive
• 17.3-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit display (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX940M dedicated 2GB DDR3L graphics card
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
• Bang & Olufsen with 4 speakers and 1 subwoofer ● Multi-format SD media card reader
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated dual array digital microphone
 
Spottydumplings

Spottydumplings

Senior Member
John Young said:
I have the option of two computers (specs below) one is only 16" but has a better graphics card and looks like the CPU is faster (although reads as same model - maybe over clocked ?) The other has a 17" screen but slower graphics card but larger hard drive. I could go for smaller screen laptop and add my own second screen or screens

Should I go for option 1 or 2

Option 1

HP Pavilion 16”


Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor with Intel® HD Graphics 4600
• 2.6GHz, 6MB Smart Cache (Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz)
• Windows 10 Home 64-bit ● 8GB DDR3L SDRAM
• 1TB 5400 rpm SATA; 128 GB M.2 Solid State Drive ● SuperMulti DVD Burner
• 15.6-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M dedicated 4GB DDR3L graphics card
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
• Bang & Olufsen sound with 2 speakers ● Multi-format SD media card reader
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam (front-facing) with integrated dual array digital microphone



Option 2

HP Envy 17

Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Quad-Core Processor
• 2.4GHz, 4MB L3 Smart Cache (Turbo Boost up to 3GHz)
• Windows 10 Home 64-bit ● 12GB DDR3L SDRAM ● SuperMulti DVD burner drive
• 2TB 5400 rpm SATA hard disk drive + Dropbox + HP Connected Drive
• 17.3-inch Full HD IPS anti-glare WLED-backlit display (1920 x 1080 pixels resolution)
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX940M dedicated 2GB DDR3L graphics card
• Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo (Miracast compatible)
• Bang & Olufsen with 4 speakers and 1 subwoofer ● Multi-format SD media card reader
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam with integrated dual array digital microphone
Click to expand...

Of those two I think that I would go for the first. Although the second has got a larger hard drive it is quite slow (5400 rpm) as it is on the first. The advantage that the first has here is that it appears to be a "hybrid" drive in that it has 128GB of solid state disk built in. If this is where the operating system and any applications are installed it will run a lot quicker than the second; as it is reading from SSD and not waiting whilst the disk spins.

If you intend to do most of your image processing at a desk you can add external monitor as you say - you could probably even hook it up to your TV:encouragement:.

The first will probably be lighter, so when you do want to take it out-and-about it won't be such a weight to lug around.
 
John Young

John Young

Senior Member
Spottydumplings said:
Of those two I think that I would go for the first. Although the second has got a larger hard drive it is quite slow (5400 rpm) as it is on the first. The advantage that the first has here is that it appears to be a "hybrid" drive in that it has 128GB of solid state disk built in. If this is where the operating system and any applications are installed it will run a lot quicker than the second; as it is reading from SSD and not waiting whilst the disk spins.

If you intend to do most of your image processing at a desk you can add external monitor as you say - you could probably even hook it up to your TV:encouragement:.

The first will probably be lighter, so when you do want to take it out-and-about it won't be such a weight to lug around.
Click to expand...


Thank you - I have a chance of two Dell 2209WA IPS monitors I could hook up to the first laptop. Just wondering also how better the first laptops graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M) over the seconds (NVIDIA GeForce 940M)

I wish the first laptop had a 17" screen and more hard drive space and I would not even be asking this question
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I have a HP Envy with the hybrid drive (250SSD/750HD) Here are the other specs

specs.PNG

I run Lightroom and Photoshop on it and it works great. My main post processing is done on my desktop but I do use the laptop for travel and I do some work on it when I don't really need the big dual screens of my desktop.

I may be blind but I did not see the memory installed and the max memory. There are a few systems out there that have 8GB installed but there is no way to install more. Motherboard limits. Make sure that you have at least 16GB with a max of at least 32GB so if and when you need more you can upgrade.
 
John Young

John Young

Senior Member
Thank you - the first has 8 GB of RAM the second has 12 GB of RAM - My current laptop has 8 GB and works well with photoshop to be honest
 
R

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
I had to like the MacBook Pro reference, but then I'm a guy working for HP carrying a MacBook Air on a daily basis.

Both the quoted laptops have slow drives as mentioned. I like the slightly faster processor in the first one, and more memory on the graphics card. The problem with the first one is that the display is smaller, and it has less memory.

The biggest question I would have on either of these are how easily memory and drives can be replaced, and assuming that both are replacable on both systems, I would probably go with the larger display and drop in a SSD for speed and external HDD for storage.
 
John Young

John Young

Senior Member
RocketCowboy said:
I had to like the MacBook Pro reference, but then I'm a guy working for HP carrying a MacBook Air on a daily basis.

Both the quoted laptops have slow drives as mentioned. I like the slightly faster processor in the first one, and more memory on the graphics card. The problem with the first one is that the display is smaller, and it has less memory.

The biggest question I would have on either of these are how easily memory and drives can be replaced, and assuming that both are replacable on both systems, I would probably go with the larger display and drop in a SSD for speed and external HDD for storage.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes its a tuff one as ideal would be a mixture of both laptops. I do have the chance of a second screen but would then need to move my location to fit the monitors in. Just wish they had put a 17" on the first laptop and I would take it.

Why put a 15.6" screen on a gaming laptop ? surly gamers want bigger screens ??

Another thing is on the second laptop it says GTX940M - and that is directly copied specs from the sales sheet but I cannot find a GTX 940M just the 940M so that must be a mistake
 
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