I'm now seriously looking at getting a laptop for photo editing, and with the potential for post christmas deals to be had now is probably the time to get a bit more clued up.
Desires:
15" Full HD screen (I have a 23" external monitor I would use for serious editing, but would still like a high resolution on the laptop screen too).
8GB RAM (preferably 16 for future proofing).
Min 500GB HDD. Even if I keep my photo library on external drives, I have a fair amount of music and films so anything less just won't be enough I think.
The ability to easily get rid of the bloatware that Microsoft/laptop makers insist on providing.
Cost: no more than £750 (ideally it will be nearer the £600 mark), this rules out any kind of Macbook. The one I would like is close to £1500 so isn't even vaguely achievable.
What i5/i7 processors should I be looking for or to avoid? Same for graphics processors/cards?
I'm open to the idea of refurbished, but it'd have to be as new basically, and I'd need to see it before purchasing to be happy.
Currently I'm using my parents Dell desktop for all computer duties which has the following spec:
AMD 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+
2GB RAM
NVidia GForce 8400GS
Its just slow, old (it was cheap in 2005/6 when we got it), a full HDD doesn't help but I can't delete anything as the files aren't mine and its just inconvenient. I have a desktop myself but the spec isn't much better (3GB RAM, woo) and there is nowhere for me to set it up, hence my desire to have a laptop despite the premium in price for the spec.
All help is appreciated.