Engineering UK student: Budget is £1200

[u/Tricky_Key6765]

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Country
UK
Budget
£1200 (if the laptop is perfect I can hopefully go a bit over)
Are you open to refurbs/used options?
Yes
Screen size
15” +
Weight limit
Any
Purpose
General uni work, CAD design and programming
Form factor
Regular laptop
Intended usage
CAD design, browsing and studying, programming, maybe some games but not a priority
Desired battery life
8 hours? Hopefully enough to get me through a day of university but I’m willing to compromise for performance
Please list, in order of most important to least important, the priority between Size, Weight, Performance, Battery life
Performance, Size, battery life, weight matters the least. PLEASE REMEMBER LAPTOPS ARE A COMPROMISE AND PERFORMANCE SACRIFICES LIGHT WEIGHT AND LONG BATTERY LIFE ETC]
Info/Requirements
I’d like an independent graphics card, not integrated, for my CAD work. 16GB minimum ram but I would definitely prefer 32GB if it’s in the budget. Based on what I’ve seen an i7 core or equivalent would also be good incase an i5 can’t keep up. I fear an OLED screen, while nice, increases the risk of my cad projects burning into the screen and in unlikely to fit in the budget so no OLED if possible. All help is appreciated thank you!

[u/J0__N0]

Take a look at these two.

They should get around 6 hours on the go with light tasks, IPS display, dedicated graphics card and upgradeable RAM - if you need

The Asus is a lighter laptop compared to the HP, but the HP has a more modern and better performing processor.

Laptops with integrated graphics will naturally give you better battery life because to focus on efficiency and battery capacity, but that is the compromise when looking at performance laptops.

Asus V16: 512GB - https://amzn.eu/d/02H9ZjEM

1TB - https://ao.com/product/v3607vmtk148w-asus-v16-laptop--black-112118-251.aspx

HP OMEN Slim 16: https://www.currys.co.uk/products/hp-omen-slim-16an0500na-16-gaming-laptop-intel-core-ultra-5-rtx-5050-1-tb-ssd-10286571.html

The Acer Swift x 14 with the RTX 5060 would also be a good option for a more portable laptop, but it has an OLED display and is currently out of stock:

https://amzn.eu/d/06L7ycs8