Please guide this laptop noob
LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Total budget (in local currency) and country of purchase. Please do not use USD unless purchasing in the US: Scotland/ UK £££ My budget is around £500-600 (some wiggle room but I really don't want to spend more than my rent if possible).
Are you open to refurbs/used?
Yes but I would lean towards a new build for the sake of warranty and guarantees.
How would you prioritize form factor (ultrabook, 2-in-1, etc.), build quality, performance, and battery life?
Performance over everything. Build quality next and then battery life (I expect to hog wall sockets). After researching I think I'd rather stick with a laptop than an ultrabook or a 2-1. I feel I can get a lot better performance out of one for my price range.
I also need it to hold up well for a few years as I'm taking a year off between semesters.
How important is weight and thinness to you?
Not in the slightest. If it means I sit apart from students and colleagues to work then so be it.
Do you have a preferred screen size? If indifferent, put N/A.
13+ inches
Are you doing any CAD/video editing/photo editing/gaming? List which programs/games you desire to run.
GIMP, R, Raven Pro are the main drains. I'll have Word for writing and I'll probably want to play OSRS since it's my comfort game. But I'm doing my best to keep this as my work laptop.
If you're gaming, do you have certain games you want to play? At what settings and FPS do you want?
Just Old School Runescape
Any specific requirements such as good keyboard, reliable build quality, touch-screen, finger-print reader, optical drive or good input devices (keyboard/touchpad)?
A keyboard backlight would be helpful because it gets very dark very early here in the winter and I'm starting my masters in November.
Leave any finishing thoughts here that you may feel are necessary and beneficial to the discussion.
So far a few have caught my eye but I'm struggling to know if they have decent CPU's or if they're old. I'm still learning and have some powerful special needs so please be gentle if I have to ask things a few times.
[Lenovo V15](https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/lenovo-v15-iil-core-i5-1035-4gb-512gb-ssd-15.6-inch-full-hd-windows-10-home-82c500g4uk/version.asp) though I wish it had a better CPU. [Dell Latitude](https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/refurbished-dell-latitude-e7450-core-i7-5600u-8gb-256gb-14-inch-windows-10-t1-delle7450i78gb256gbw1/version.asp) [Acer E15](https://uk-store.acer.com/aspire-e-15-notebook-e5-523-black) [HP 250 G7](https://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/hp-250-g7-core-i7-8565u-8gb-256gb-ssd-15.6-inch-windows-10-pro-laptop-6bp88ea/version.asp#!#specs)
Thanks for taking the time to read! Let me know if there's anything I can explain better or anything I can add to help me help you help me.