Looking for a laptop, graphics and drawing, lightweight (UK)

[Anakonda]

Hello.

I am currently a student on the illustration degree, and I was considering picking up a notebook for myself that I could bring wit me to the uni and back, that together with a tablet would allow me to draw digitally at the uni.


While I would be somewhat decent at choosing a desktop, I am quite clueless when it comes down to laptops due to low level of experience. The notebook I currently have is VAIO aw-11z, and while it's performance is quite decent, it weighs a TON.


So here I am asking for people's input into what I should get




1. Not a mac
2. Available in UK (I live in London)
3. Not a mac
4. Lightweight (I don't want a brick to carry with me every day)
5. Not a mac
6. Performance - it will be used 99% for drawing in photoshop and sai, and a bit of Internet browsing etc. it will not be used for gaming, but I don't want it to freeze when working in photoshop etc.
7. Yeah, you guessed it. Not a mac.


Any recommendations? What characteristics to look for? Any good models you know?


I have used overclockers.co.uk before multiple times and really like their service... Anything there that you would recommend?


I have also heard about a new Laptop, Gygabyte X11 I think? It has a weight of less than 1 kilo, but is it any good?


Thanks in advance,
-Ana

[Deleted]

check asus zenbooks (ux32vd r4002v got a GPU) and it's really portable + good ips screen perhaps what you need?

got a screen size that you'd prefer or battery life minimum?
abit more specific (dedicated gpu or not at all?, storage ssd/hdd?)

[Anakonda]

check asus zenbooks (ux32vd r4002v got a GPU) and it's really portable + good ips screen perhaps what you need?

As I said, I'm not particularly good with laptop configurations etc. How would to say it performs?

Edit: after viewing a few reviews, it seems like people don't really recommend that model - short battery life, SSd cache issues, etc.

---------- Post added 2012-10-11 at 10:09 AM ----------

got a screen size that you'd prefer or battery life minimum?
abit more specific (dedicated gpu or not at all?, storage ssd/hdd?)

screen size - well I think 13 and lower
GPU - I will be using the laptop 99% for photoshop and SAI. If that requires a GPU, then yes, I need it. No gaming will be done.
Storage - not fused too much. Can live with hdd, or both. Just need a total of around 500gig or so I guess, maybe a bit lower
Battery - I'm not looking for something that will last weeks between charges. Just also not something that runs out in 2 hours

[Deleted]

define short? im usually managing whole day of school without charging. (can't comment on caching issues since i swapped my HDD to SSD and swapped ram for more)
kinda forgot that you likely want an out of the box product instead of tweaking it self or by local pc shop right?
Also a external HDD likely is more effective with a SSD laptop instead of just having a big HDD.
if you keep searching for a laptop high resolution is better for what you intend to do with it ? (or is that a moot point?)

[Anakonda]

define short? im usually managing whole day of school without charging. (can't comment on caching issues since i swapped my HDD to SSD and swapped ram for more)
kinda forgot that you likely want an out of the box product instead of tweaking it self or by local pc shop right?
Also a external HDD likely is more effective with a SSD laptop instead of just having a big HDD.
if you keep searching for a laptop high resolution is better for what you intend to do with it ? (or is that a moot point?)

One day should be fine, I was talking more of "I don't want it to last two hours and then turn off".
The caching issues are what people report having with its SSD, on multiple reviews I've read.
Yes, I want a preface notebook that I wouldn't have to personally tweak.
I don't need a huge hard drive, but I would prefer having enough storage for some images, references, photoshop etc. 500 gb total, including system, will be more than enough.
I would obviously prefer higher resolution, but I'm not TOO fussed about it, as long as other parameters fit well.

[Deleted]

well problem with laptops is this pretty much.
screen/gpu
storage
mobility
with default laptops there is always a 2 out of 3 present while the 3rd isn't there or is just severly lacking and needs a solution elsewhere. (for example storage with external one etc)
this is why laptops still got a tricky side.