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i3-380m vs i3-2310m for daily computing/photo editing

A

angry hampster

Diamond Member
I'm a professional photographer looking for a laptop. It will mostly be used by my wife for web surfing, playing hi-def movies, etc..

However, I'd like to have something that I can do some photo editing with using Lightroom 3 or Photoshop. I would consider using it to offload files mid-shoot and set up slideshows on the go for my clients. Obviously this will not be my primary rig, so elite speed is not a huge concern.

My wants:
- Reasonable photoshop performance
- Low heat (I had a Pentium 4 HP that would nearly burn my hand)
- Good enough graphics to play high-bitrate h.264 video at 1080p or higher resolutions.


From what I understand, both of these processors should be adequate for my needs. However, is the Sandy Bridge chip worth the extra $30-50 over the Arrandale? They're both 35w TDP so battery life should be comparable, correct?

Here's a computer I'm strongly considering.

I also have a 10% off coupon for BB, so that makes it even more enticing. Around the $400 price point, will I notice a difference between a SB or Arrandale-based laptop for my usage and needs?
 
For photography, your going to want something much much better. You should be looking at something with a much Higher Quality Screen and an SSD. For Photoshop the CPU won't matter to much but your going to want at LEAST 4 gigs of ram, preferably 6 or 8.
 
gmaster456 said:
For photography, your going to want something much much better. You should be looking at something with a much Higher Quality Screen and an SSD. For Photoshop the CPU won't matter to much but your going to want at LEAST 4 gigs of ram, preferably 6 or 8.
Click to expand...

I don't think you read my entire post, and your suggestions are irrelevant to my questions. I understand that the things you mention would benefit me as a photographer, but I will not be spending more than $450 on this laptop as 95% of its use will be for web surfing and playing video through my TV.

For my purposes, would I benefit any from Sandy Bridge over Arrandale?
 
angry hampster said:
I don't think you read my entire post, and your suggestions are irrelevant to my questions. I understand that the things you mention would benefit me as a photographer, but I will not be spending more than $450 on this laptop as 95% of its use will be for web surfing and playing video through my TV.

For my purposes, would I benefit any from Sandy Bridge over Arrandale?
Click to expand...
Not really no. But Sandy Bridge will be more efficient and give you better battery life. Something that might be of importance when out on the field. Thats your call though.
 
angry hampster said:
is the Sandy Bridge chip worth the extra $30-50 over the Arrandale? They're both 35w TDP so battery life should be comparable, correct?
Click to expand...

No. Sandy Bridge has power gating, meaning it can idle with super low power draw. Browsing web pages is mostly idling. All else being equal, a Sandy Bridge based notebook will have much better battery life than an Arrandale based notebook, as well as better CPU and better GPU performance. $50? I'd hit it. :awe:
 
I just received my sandy bridge laptop (i5 2410), and the battery performance is absolutely worth it. It's just on the edge of being and all day solution, using integrated graphics of course. And the fact that it's only a max of 50 bucks more makes this a real no brainer.
 
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I wound up picking up a Dell 14R with the 380m today. It was an open box item at Best Buy, and I had a coupon for $100 off. Out the door after tax for $343. I'm very satisfied. Battery life looks like it will be around 4.5 hours.
 
Zap said:
You could have gotten 6 hours. Still, $343 is super cheap.
Click to expand...

For my needs, 4.5 hours is plenty. It'll be on the charger most of its life serving as the living room computer.

Would I have preferred the 2310? Yeah probably, especially for the better GPU. However, I couldn't argue with the price when I saw it sitting on the open box rack. Wife loves the blue as well.
 
To update -- I LOVE this computer. It looks gorgeous with the blue lid and the wife loves it. I'm installing windows on a Seagate XT hybrid drive right now to try to get a little speed boost out of it. My cameras' 18 and 22mp RAW files are pretty taxing on the little i3, but it works out alright if I take it slow and am only editing a few at a time. Looks like it should work out pretty well for me.
 
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