U5600 vs. i3-380UM - worth the $70 difference?

[william.c]

Hi all, I need some quick advice.

I'm torn between two almost-identical Acer laptops. The only differences between them are:

• U5600 vs. i3-380UM
• 320GB vs. 500GB HDD (I really doubt I will fill 500GB)

The price difference is $70, or 15% more.

The second will take me over my $600 spending limit, but I will bite if it is worth it. Is it?

Many thanks, kind ladies and gentlemen.

 

[996GT2]

Hi all, I need some quick advice.

I'm torn between two almost-identical Acer laptops. The only differences between them are:

• U5600 vs. i3-380UM
• 320GB vs. 500GB HDD (I really doubt I will fill 500GB)

The price difference is $70, or 15% more.

The second will take me over my $600 spending limit, but I will bite if it is worth it. Is it?

Many thanks, kind ladies and gentlemen.

Performance between those 2 CPUs should be similar for the most part. The biggest differences between the 2 are that the i3-380UM supports hyperthreading and virtualization.

Neither CPU is going to be particularly fast. Both are designed for low power consumption. If you want to save $70, I'd just get the U5600.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Go for the i3. Plus you get a bigger drive--you never know if you are going to fill it or not.

 

[fffblackmage]

I would probably save $70 with the U5600/320GB.

Both the U5600 and i3-380UM are going to be similarly slow, and both are similarly uber low power CPUs. These CPUs are meant for basic use, so I don't think hyperthreading will offer much benefit.

320GB versus 500GB doesn't matter much to me; I'm content with my laptop's 60GB SSD. I wonder if the 500GB HDD is a bit faster though, if it has higher density platter(s), but it wouldn't be worth $70 more. My laptop originally had a 7200rpm HDD upgrade for $20 more, but I think it was a total waste of money.