Advice for new home laptop

[sm230519]

I am looking a new laptop to replace my current Asus N56V which has started to get very slow and the battery no longer works. It will mainly be used for browsing internet, storing and editing photos, streaming Spotify and use of MS Office apps. I have no intention of using it for playing games. It would mainly be used at home with very occasional use elsewhere so weight and size isn't really a factor. I am currently looking at either the Cosmos or Lafité. The 1TB HDD would be for storing photos as I assume using SSD wouldn't really be worth the additional cost (correct me if I'm wrong) ?, and I would use the 256GB SSD for the OS and applications.

Are there any advantages the Lafité has over the Cosmos to warrant the additional cost given what I would be using it for? Are there any suggested changes I should consider?

Chassis & Display
Cosmos Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS 60Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 8300H (2.3GHz, 4.0GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3210MB/sR | 1315MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 90W AC Adaptor
Battery
Cosmos VII Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
SINGLE COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £764.00 including VAT and Delivery

OR

Chassis & Display
Lafité Series: Aluminium Chassis: 15.6" Matte Full HD IPS LED (1920 x 1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor i5-8265U (1.60GHz, 3.9GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEL® HD GRAPHICS (CPU Dependant) - 1.7GB Max DDR4 Video RAM - DirectX® 12
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB INTEL® 760p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (upto 3210MB/sR | 1315MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 65W AC Adaptor
Battery
Lafité Series 3 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (36WH)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
15" LAFITÉ SERIES MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £844.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Flo]

The lafite is 800 grams lighter than the cosmos and because it uses an U processor with a lower TDP, I would say the battery life will be a lot better. It also has the better screen. Otherwise, the Cosmos should be marginally faster at the expense of a higher power consumption. For the uses you describe both laptops should do the job however, I would suggest getting faster dual channel RAM(2 x 8GB) as this can help with performance. If you are not bothered about size/weight, battery life and screen quality then go with the Cosmos. If the extra £80 is justifiable, pick the Lafitte.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I would second what @Flo has said and just add that the Lafitte is a much more premium chassis being mainly aluminium (aimed at business) whereas the Cosmos is a budget chassis made of plastic (aimed at gaming).

 

[sm230519]

Thanks for comments. I will look into the suggested change to RAM. I wasn't aware 2 lots of 8GB would be faster than a single 16GB. In what way is the screen quality better on the Lafite?

 

[Flo]

Thanks for comments. I will look into the suggested change to RAM. I wasn't aware 2 lots of 8GB would be faster than a single 16GB. In what way is the screen quality better on the Lafite?

There is a decent explanation about the NTSC standard and color gamut in this link. To summarize, the NTSC score is showing how well a monitor is displaying colors.

 

[sm230519]

Think I'll go with the Lafite. I'm now thinking about changing the 7200rpm HDD and going for a 5400 rpm HDD instead and maybe the 2TB one. Given this is mainly for storing of photos I assume this won't cause any noticeable performance issues?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Think I'll go with the Lafite. I'm now thinking about changing the 7200rpm HDD and going for a 5400 rpm HDD instead and maybe the 2TB one. Given this is mainly for storing of photos I assume this won't cause any noticeable performance issues?

It will be slow to retrieve info, but at the benefit of increased space.

 

[ubuysa]

Think I'll go with the Lafite. I'm now thinking about changing the 7200rpm HDD and going for a 5400 rpm HDD instead and maybe the 2TB one. Given this is mainly for storing of photos I assume this won't cause any noticeable performance issues?

It really depends on what you do with the photos. You are likely to see much more screen painting with a 5400rpm drive.

High res photos are one of the few types of user data that really benefit from being on an SSD. Putting them on a slow HDD will have a performance impact.

 

[Oussebon]

Agreed with the above, If you're sticking to a 1TB drive, go with the faster 7200rpm drive. Only reason to get a 5400rpm one would be for the 2TB capacity if you need that.