Buying Advice: Core i3 vs. E-350

[RampantMjolnir]

I'm in the market for a sub-$600 laptop for school - screen size in the 11 to 13 inch range.

I'll be using it primarily for Office software and web surfing, but I also dabble in 3D modeling (obviously at this price point I'd leave the rendering to my desktop), and some light Photoshop work. Gaming is a lowish priority - if it can run WoW at a playable framerate with medium-low settings I'll be more than satisfied.

The machines I've narrowed my search down to all include either the new AMD E-350, or an Intel Core i3 with integrated graphics. Reviews I've read put the CPU performance of the i3 ahead of the E-350 at the expense of graphics performance (PC Mark 3600ish, 3D mark 1100ish); while the E-350 seems more balanced (PC Mark 2300ish, 3D Mark 2200ish).

Synthetic tests are great and all, but in practice, which is going to offer me a better user experience for what I will be using it for?

Right now I've got my selections narrowed down to the HP dm1z, HP dm3t, and Lenovo x120e. I'm open to suggestions tho if there's anything out there in my price range more suitable.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

The E-350 will easily handle everything you describe, though of course the i3 will be faster for everything except perhaps WoW and the 3D modeling depending on the software you use. Having used both an E-350 as well as a Core i3-540, the i3 will offer a better user experience overall, but the question is whether or not it's worth the cost increase. In my opinion it is not, especially if you do not need much storage space on the laptop - then you could take the savings of going with an E-350 and put an SSD in your laptop, and an E-350 + SSD is a much better experience in my opinion than an i3 + mechanical HDD for roughly equivalent total cost.

FWIW I prefer the X120e to the DM1Z for a number of reasons. First I like its keyboard better, second I like its build quality more, third I love the trackpoint, and fourth, I think it looks better.

 

[BurnItDwn]

What kind of timeframe are you looking at?

LLanos is coming, but might be a month or two before you see it widespread.... should be better performing than E350 and more energy efficient.... I suspect lower end llanos will be well under your $600 budget....