Advice in Selecting Laptop for Home Use

akd on 22/07/2016 - 08:47
Last edited 22/07/2016 - 09:18 by 1 other user

I am planning to buy a new laptop (my first). I have used desktop only in past.
Its use will be basic home use - browsing (3-5 sites at a time), Microsoft office and some programing (Visual Studio, C#, R, python). No gaming but some youtube movies.

I have finalised two laptops:
Lenovo-B4130-14-Intel-Celeron-500GB-8GB-USB-3-0-HDMI-Windows10 $295 after code
HP 250 G3 15.6" Intel Core i3 500GB 4GB USB 3.0 HDMI DVDRW Windows 8 $440 after code

My personal preference is 14" screen. I question is - Can 8 GB RAM compensate the processing power of i3? Any other suggestion?

Thanks for help in advance.

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  dasher86 on 22/07/2016 - 09:18

  If it is for home use may I ask why you prefer the smaller screen?

  • 

    akd on 22/07/2016 - 09:22

    I believe it will be easy to handle and less weight. 1.6 in screen should not make much difference or will it?

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      dasher86 on 22/07/2016 - 10:26

      well in regards to weight the 15.6" is actually lighter in the two listed above.

      In terms of handing both be the same at home. only difference would be if you were planning to make it more portable.

      I prefer the larger screen myself not only because the screen itself but because usually the smaller the screen the smaller the foot print of the over all laptop. This usually means smaller keyboard. I like a full set including numerics.

      I wouldn't go any higher than a 15.6 for home if so you may as well stick with a desk top…

      • 

        akd on 22/07/2016 - 10:44

        Thanks Dasher.
        Back to main question - can extra 4 GB RAM in Lenovo compensate for i3 processor (compared to celeron).

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  donnot on 22/07/2016 - 14:41

  The N3050 is a very low-power CPU- you'll be struggling to perform the tasks you need to on it. It might be alright for general programming, but once you load up any medium-heavy websites, be prepared to wait a few seconds for it to respond to any scrolling. Only dual-core with 2 very weak cores, so the 8GB RAM won't be able to compensate unfortunately.

  The i3 will fare much better.

  Just a couple of notes about the G3 as I own one: It has quite soft keys, and a shallow travel distance when typing, and the screen has very low contrast.

  I'd much rather spend an extra $40 to get something a bit more 'premium'- better screen, build quality, keyboard etc. Like this. You can add an extra 4GB of RAM in the future for ~$25 if you need to.

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    akd on 22/07/2016 - 17:17

    Thanks donnot, it is good advise. I will order Asus one.

    • 

      donnot on 22/07/2016 - 17:22

      Another option: If you don't mind refurbished products, this comes in at ~$312 and you get a 5th gen i5, so isn't too old. Also has 12 months warranty. One left.