Broadwell or Skylake laptop?

[euskalzabe]

Hey guys,

Context: I'm buying an Asus UX305, it'll be used for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, internet browsing, music and Netflix. Maybe occasional light gaming (think Mark of Ninja or Trine)

Main question: I have a $75 discount that'll expire on 10/20 and I don't know if I should buy the Broadwell based one now or wait until the Skylake upgrade.

Would the better battery life or performance be worth losing the $75 discount? Getting the i5+8GB+256GB for $675 right now seems like an incredible deal that'll last me at least 3 years.

I'm not sure what to do. Any advice?

 

[Justinus]

Speedshift in Skylake is bound to give significant gains in speed and battery life, but Asus has been silent and slow in releasing new versions of their zenbooks. There is no indication of when the new skylake core m ux305 will come out, and not even rumors of updated skylake i5 models.

Broadwell has been out several months and they just released the broadwell i5 a month ago, so it might be a long wait for the skylake i5.

 

[euskalzabe]

That's my worry. The discount I have is only valid for the next 10 days, so I'm trying to get opinions. Skylake will obviously be better, but is it worth throwing away 75 bucks? I mean, an i5, 8gb ram and 256 ssd is insane for $675. I just want to see what people think because I'd like this laptop to last for 3/4 years.

 

[corkyg]

If it were my choice, I would exercise the option and buy the Broasdwell.

 

[IntelUser2000]

Main question: I have a $75 discount that'll expire on 10/20 and I don't know if I should buy the Broadwell based one now or wait until the Skylake upgrade.

For a mere $75, I'd definitely wait for Skylake, if its really going to be a "3-4 year" system.

Laptop gains per Tick/Tocks are still pretty good, and I do believe Speed Shift will do some nice things as well.

Dare I say the latter might actually make Core M's finally usable? :awe:

 

[euskalzabe]

Well, I ended up going for it anyway. I'm sure Skylake will be better, but if I always keep waiting I could be waiting forever.

1080p screen, 10h battery, AC wifi, i5, 8gb RAM and 256gb ssd for $675... that's a wrap for me. I ended up deciding after seeing that the 5200u CPU was practically the same as my husband's 2015 Macbook Air. That machine performs excellently and only has 4GB/120gb SSD, so in essence the UX305 is like my husband's MBA but on steroids for half the price. Seeing it in that context, I the Asus is more than enough for what I need. Better is better, but it wouldn't be worth losing the discount.

Thanks for all your comments! They were very helpful in making a decision.

 

[corkyg]

IMHO, good choice. There is always something better coming down the road. As for a 3-4 year life, that exceeds the current technology turn around time by 1 to 2 years. As long as what you have does what you want, it will keep on keeping on.

 

[stateofmind]

1. Not sure at all you'll see good gains from Skylake, but the iGPU should have full hardware 4K decoding

2. Why $675? it usually sells for $600 and sometimes less - check : $580 at newegg with rebate, but I saw it for $600 on Amazon and others

3. Can you buy anything else with these $75?
And, in the worst case, you can sell it for $60 on eBay