Please help me choose

Adahn

Junior Member
Mar 4, 2014
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I found a couple good deals locally and am wondering about these two in particular:


  • Dell i3 3227U 1.9Ghz $300
  • Lenovo i5 4200U 1.6Ghz $400

I expect the best decision would be to spring a little more for the i5 for longevity's sake, but the idea of saving $100 is pretty tempting. Is there enough of a difference between the 3227U and 4200U to be worth it?
 

fralexandr

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Apr 26, 2007
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i3 3227U vs i5 4200U
1.9GHz vs 2.6GHz (36.8% higher clock speed)
hd4000 vs hd4400 (the 4400 is slightly faster)
17W TDP vs 15W TDP (12% lower TDP)

the i3 could be good for a few years, since core 2 duos are still useable for generic uses such as web browsing. Future flash ads might be a problem, but some people use adblock/etc to circumvent that.

whether or not it's worth it is up to you though.
for a generic browsing device, I would probably care more about keyboard/touchpad feel/layout, screen quality, battery life and weight.
 
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Adahn

Junior Member
Mar 4, 2014
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Future flash ads might be a problem, but some people use adblock/etc to circumvent that.

Flash is dead, so this isn't really a concern. But even if it wasn't, is the i3 really so weak that it can't handle Flash ads?

for a generic browsing device, I would probably care more about keyboard/touchpad feel/layout, screen quality, battery life and weight.

I narrowed my search down to these two after posting on Tom's Hardware, so I didn't think I would need to give all the details here. But here they are anyways in case it helps:

1. What is your budget?
$200 - $400, preferably closer to $200 but I can spend closer to $400 if it makes a huge difference.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
14" - 16".

3. What screen resolution do you want?
No less than 1366x768.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Low weight preferred but not required. Not replacing my desktop.

5. How much battery life do you need?
I don't really care.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
Yes - mostly old games (1985 or so through early 2000s) but it would be nice if I could play some newer games as well on medium to high settings.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Web development - Gimp, Visual Studio.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
200GB minimum. Can go lower if solid state
smile.gif


9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Amazon, eBay, Newegg, Craigslist.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
Forever.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
CD reader a must, writer bonus. DVD reader bonus. No DVD writer or Bluray necessary.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.
I don't care for Apple products (but with my price range that must be obvious).

13. What country do you live in?
US.
 
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fralexandr

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Apr 26, 2007
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ok, then i'd probably go with the i5 lenovo
gimp is pretty much single threaded, and cpu dependent. the ~35% faster cpu should help a bit.

you won't be finding much other than integrated on a $400 budget
theoretically, based only on EU count and clockspeed
the 4400 should be 13.6% faster than the i3 3227u's 4000

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4400.91979.0.html
notebookcheck says the 4400 is 20-30% faster than a ulv hd 4000
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7072/intel-hd-5000-vs-hd-4000-vs-hd-4400
anandtech says the difference isn't that drastic, but those results are on early drivers

If you're keeping the laptop forever, might as well go with the faster option I guess, hah.
 
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Adahn

Junior Member
Mar 4, 2014
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Cool, thanks. I was leaning that way too.

By the way, the model I'm looking at is a Lenovo G510. Anyone care to share their experience with those? I can't find a decent review anywhere - just users complaining that it lacks a touch screen, or they can't play Skyrim on it, etc. One fairly consistent complaint that seems legit is the touchpad, but I'm not sure what to look for when it comes to that.