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I am a software developer, who's Core I7 laptop suddenly died, and I urgently need a replacement.

  • screen, at least 17" (I like to view code & documentation side by side)
  • Core i7, or better (despite the following, I do need a reasonable response speed)
  • I do not need fancy graphics; I don't do image manipulation or on-line gaming
  • minimum 16gB RAM, but I would love 32gB if it didn't add too much $$$
  • I don't care about battery life, as it is tethered 99% of the time
  • low spec on hard drive is fine, as I can provide my own 2tB drive & 1tB SSD from the one that just died
  • unless the main HD is > 2gB
  • slight presence for UK keyboard, although I am equally at home with German and US keyboards (in the worst case, I can replace and/or stick on new keycaps (I have done this before :-))

The main criterion is price (I am currently on contract in the UK, although that might change again soon). I can wait a few days for shipping, but the laptop is my breadwinner, actual "shipping by ship", just to save a few bucks, is out of the question.

Alternatively

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Since you didn't specify an exact budget and were willing to accept a few substitutions, along with the huge variety of choices and preferences it seems best to suggest websites that have what you want; and can click checkboxes for features and sort of a few preferences. These are all in the UK:

There's a few hundred choices for under £1K.

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  • Thanks. I bout one from Laptops Direct when I was working in England some years back and liked their prices. Curry's and PC World I consider to be ridiculously overpriced and under-spec'ed. I don't mind as I will transfer my HD and SSD, but they tend to sell with 4gB RAM, with a few having 8gB. I currently have 16gB and am considering upping that to 32gB. I will check out SaveOnLaptops. I might also consider a small, portable, desktop
    – Mawg says reinstate Monica
    Sep 10 '18 at 6:35
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    You're welcome. I saw higher prices than those, so I left off a few places. I prefer a desktop for: upgradability, keyboard, dual screen, graphics (which is useful for programming, such as openCL, DirectCompute and CUDA), and price - portability is usually not so good but there are a few portable desktops (which are more portable is you don't have to lug the screen and keyboard too, but can use one where you are going. I'm waiting until 2019 to get bleeding edge, and hold off on upgrading a year or two. Best of luck. Don't forget to factor in a long warranty and a low priced extended warranty.
    – Rob
    Sep 10 '18 at 6:53
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    Then feel free to post an answer on my "shcleptop" question ;-) Yup, I am thinking that core i7 laptop == core i9 desktop; hard drives are cheap and large & I can have more of them; easier to add specialist cards (I sometims have to do serial port coding; I can use USB to URT on the laptop, but one project requires true 9-bit data (no bit-banging). Hmm, now you have me leaning toward a small form-factor desktop...
    – Mawg says reinstate Monica
    Sep 10 '18 at 7:04

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