GRcade

My aunt and uncle are wanting to buy my cousin a laptop as a surprise before he starts his degree in September. Being the "techie" of the family (apparently) they've asked for my advice. Unfortunately I think they've over estimated my credentials and rather than admit my ignorance I thought I'd ask here. Then take the credit and adulation of my family. So, the pertinent information:

He's doing a physics degree
Apple products aren't on the cards
Budget is £500+ (I have to admit I'm not sure if you can get a laptop for programming at that price point. If not I'm happy to feed that back to them).

Any advice would be appreciated!

Get as much RAM as possible in the budget and an SSD.

I found this Lenovo one for £450, but their reputation as a brand has sank quite a lot in recent years I believe,

Processor
AMD® Ryzen™ 5 2500U (2 GHz)

Operating System
Windows 10 Home (64 bit)

Display Type
15.6" Full HD (1920x1080)
IPS AntiGlare 250Nit

Memory
8GB (2x4GB DDR4)

Storage
256GB SSD

Graphics
Integrated AMD® Radeon™ Vega 8 Graphics

Battery
Up to 3 hours

Would they consider a refurbished one? You can normally get some pretty good deals from Dell's own refurbished Outlet store and your money goes a lot further,
£485 gets you this one

Inspiron 15 - 5567
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-7500U (2 Core,4MB Cache, up to 3.5 GHz)
Windows 10 Home (64bit)
8GB (1x8GB) 2400MHz DDR4 Non-ECC
256GB 2.5 inch SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive
Tray load DVD Drive (Reads and Writes to DVD/CD)
4GB AMD Radeon R7 M44x
Software
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165 802.11ac, 1x1, 2.4 & 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.2
LCD Back Cover for Non-Touch Screen with HD Camera-Sparkling White
Battery : 3-cell 42WHr Battery
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Non-Touch Anti-Glare LED-Backlit Display
Internal UK/Irish Keyboard

Thanks guys, it's given me something to work on. Refurbished would definitely be on the table and I should have thought of that so thanks for reminding me that it's an option.