Advice please - which Laptop? - Lenovo Ideapad 120 v Lenovo Ideapad 320

vccox on 17/02/2018 - 14:57
Last edited 17/02/2018 - 16:49 by 1 other user

Two options in my price bracket – please help, it makes my head hurt.
Will be for school use, one year only (gr 6) then it will be a home shared laptop for watching shows, playing Sims, drawing and design (with a wacom tablet) and word processing and general browsing.

Lenovo Ideapad 120 -s 3B 14"
Key Features
dual core Intel Celeron dual core N3350 processor and 4GB RAM.
built-in 128GB SSD storage.
14" screen and 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity
$418 (with a voucher from HN and I would get another $50 voucher with their current offer)

Or this one which I can get for $495 straight up (not using any voucher).

Lenovo IdeaPad 320 15.6" Laptop [N4200]
Model: 80XR0091AU
15.6" HD screen Display (1366x768)
128GB SSD 802.11 ac WiFi Display
Intel Pentium N4200 Quad Core Processor
8GB RAM

From what I can tell the 320 seems a better buy, processor? Can someone confirm this? Thanks :)

Computing

Comments

  • pennypincher98 on 17/02/2018 - 15:03

    Definitely the 320. Absolutely no contest.
    Double the ram and a Pentium vs Celeron processor.

    But would you consider looking on eBay/online somewhere for a better deal? You aren't exactly going to get blazing speeds from a Pentium and ~$500 is quite a bit. The 1366x768 resolution on a laptop that big will get to you.

    • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 15:07

      Yes I'm open to looking online, ebay or even 2nd hand. I'm just a bit overwhelmed as to what to look for? Better screen resolution obviously…what kind of processor should I look for?

      • pennypincher98 on 17/02/2018 - 15:15

        Depends on what you want to use it for. What you want and what you need are two different things.

        watching shows, playing Sims, drawing and design (with a wacom tablet) and word processing and general browsing.

        That is a lot of things you want it to do.

        Watching shows - you'll want at least a FHD screen (1920x1080) to be able to enjoy what you are watching.
        Playing Sims - no idea how demanding this is, but could imagine it would be more than a Pentium could handle. Perhaps an i3 would do? Not sure here.
        Word processing - Pentium will do this just fine.
        General browsing - how many tabs? It may or may not be fine depending on how many tabs, the content (eg Facebook, YouTube vs Google) etc.

        Drawing and design - that's a whole different playing field there..

        Take advantage of the 10% site wide discount (PRONTO) and the 20% back to uni - PAPERS (lots of laptops/2 in 1's here) on eBay :)

        • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 15:26

          The drawing/design is not too sophisticated - it's my child doing this.

        • pennypincher98 on 17/02/2018 - 15:31

          @vccox: You can't do drawing/design on a meaty 15.6 display using just a cursor. At any level.

          The most complex you could get with the above setting is Paint if your child has really steady hands to control the mouse.
          For $498 consider maybe this? Still comes with a terrible screen though.

        • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 15:47

          @pennypincher98:

          She draws on a tablet that connects to the PC. But her old laptop was awful to use with whatever program she uses. My work Lenovo is fine when she uses that. Maybe I should get her a 2nd hand Lenovo…

        • Kurohayabusa on 17/02/2018 - 15:47
          +1

          @pennypincher98:
          Drawing on a wacom tablet usually means screen size isn't nearly as much of an issue. You can map the entire drawing surface of the tablet to the screen, which makes things much easier.

          That being said, it is always nice to have a larger screen for design work. Maybe pick up a second hand monitor to use at home?

        • jace88 on 17/02/2018 - 15:49
          +1

          @Kurohayabusa: I have a Wacom tablet and using it with a laptop which has a low-res or low-refresh rate screen is not pleasant. That being said if it's for a kid who has no serious artistic expectations/aspirations (yet) then maybe MS Paint and the Wacom tablet is fine (since the more hardcore software, even the bundled Corel Draw suite, would not run well on lower spec PCs).

        • pennypincher98 on 17/02/2018 - 15:50
          +1

          @vccox: My tip: spend the extra $100-$150 to get a smooth pleasurable experience or consider eBay - GraysOnline have good deals at times. And pay with discounted gift cards unless you have a better offer (credit card points/offers or what not)

  • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:32
    -1

    Get a desktop. Stand out from the ordinary.

    [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:32 (Collapsed - Offtopic. Show)
    • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 15:45

      Not too portable…

      • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:46
        -2

        No Shit, sherlock.

        • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 15:48

          thanks for your input

        • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:49

          @vccox:
          Welcome, looking forward to you carrying your desktop around.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:34
    -3

    MacBook pro

    • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 15:37
      +5

      Best comment ever.

      • [Deactivated] on 17/02/2018 - 16:54
        -2

        thanks can i have a medal?

  • jace88 on 17/02/2018 - 15:48

    Just to clarify when you say "gr 6" do you mean for a student in year 6 at school?

    IMO a $500 PC with those specs isn't going to be a pleasant experience, and unless you're talking about the original Sims/Sims 2 if you're lucky, you probably aren't going to get much use out of it (vs. Sims 3 vs. Sims 4). Even drawing/design with a Wacom tablet may be painful with latency/lag and the low res screen.

    If you must get it now, then go with the latter option as suggested by others, but keep in mind it will have a very limited useful life. I feel that unless you're spending a bit more, you won't hit the sweet spot of getting good value (as opposed to buying the cheapest laptop someone could put together).

    • vccox on 17/02/2018 - 16:02

      Yep - year 6 (in year 7 they have to lease a MAC :-/).

      Sounds like I should fork out a bit more for the sake of longevity and to avoid frustration.
      Is the low screen res the biggest negative? If I can find something with better res but similar processor etc will that be fine do you think?

      • Banana on 17/02/2018 - 16:34

        If she would be getting a MAC next year, would it better for you to hold off buying a new laptop, as she might find switching between 2 OS hard and eventually uses one exclusively?

        • jace88 on 17/02/2018 - 16:41

          This too. Efficiencies from keyboard shortcuts and general use won’t be had, but then longer term, it isn’t so bad to be comfortable in either environment. But if she isn’t someone who would like multiple OS environments, maybe you should just get a MacBook now - on the plus side they hold resale value really well so you could just sell in a year assuming it’s in good condition (may be hard if it’s being used by a kid though!).

      • jace88 on 17/02/2018 - 16:38

        Some people may be fine with it but it annoyed me greatly every time I’ve bought a laptop with that mindset. If you are fine replacing every year then buy cheap buy for me I learnt my lesson after a few sub $500 laptops over the years. Even with the trendy 2 in 1 form and decent online reviews, they ultimately all were just plastic junk which annoyed me when I used them and were a waste of money when I had to replace them.

        Especially if you want to be able to play sims and do drawing, I would suggest trying to get an i3/m3 at a minimum and decent scren and RAM so that it’ll last a bit longer eg lots of chrome tabs, multitasking, etc. There are always decent deals posted on OzBargain in the $600-$1000 range and they usually will have much longer lasting specs. But that’s just my view - others might be fine with something slower and as you pointed out, they’ll be leasing a Mac next year (can’t be cheap!).

  • HeWhoKnows on 18/02/2018 - 16:00

    Dont ask us. i think the choice is clearly yours. They are clearly quite different.
    The 320 is much more powerful for the small difference in cost

  • vccox on 18/02/2018 - 18:38

    Thanks for all the thoughts, was helpful and stopped me making a rash decision. I'm going to hold out for something with better specs and pay a bit more, or get something reconditioned I think.

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