Need Advice....i3 or i5

[TracyBug]

Hi,

Hope someone out here can help steer me in the right direction. I currently have a good old cheapo Acer and to be honest with you in has been an incredibly reliable machine! It has a i3 330M processor (2.13 ghz) 4 GB Memory and a 320 GB Hard Drive. It is still working perfectly almost a year later....my only problem is my 3 teenage children who will never get off it!!! So I'm looking to buy myself a new laptop and thinking if I'm going to buy something new should I upgrade???

I was wondering if I upgrade to a i5 and 6 Gb will I notice any difference, other then the extra money out of my pocket?? I only use the computer for web browsing & social networking, but I still love speed and a nice display.

Any suggestions on what specs I should be looking for??
Is upgrading to an i5 the best way to get more speed??

Thanks!

[mrt9888]

An SSD drive will make a bigger difference, I would add the SSD into the budget and then look to see if I could also get the Core i5. How much disk space do you need? it shouldn't be that much if you just use the laptop for web browsing.

[Molotov]

Hi there
If internet related tasks are literary all you are looking for going i5 is not necessary at all and even less so getting 6gb ram. An investment like that simply wouldn't be worth the return.

In addition ,at least to the best of my knowledge ,even for more demanding users going i5 over i3 isn't always worth the investment if the price difference is over 50 quid. Fact is however in most cases same laptop upgrade from i3 to i5 is often in the region of 100 pounds.
Going i5 will also inevitably increase power consumption and temperature of the laptop (although with i5 it still shouldn't be too hot i3 is still likely to be cooler).

Spec is tied to the budget so would be nice if you were to provide at least rough idea about that.
I've been on the market for a new laptop earlier although my needs are a bit higher, however if you were to tell the price range I may be able to come up with something, alternatively I wouldn't be surprised if Cat contributes something that's a far better deal than something I know

Edit: As suggested above SSD really would be a better way to spend the money - having the OS and more used programs on it will often dramatically improve the boot times ... SSDs are not cheap though ... again budget ?

P.S. you also mentioned the screen - how good exactly does that have to be (good or outstanding ?) and size... obviously again tied to budget

[TracyBug]

Thanks for the input. I'm in the USA so I'm not sure how to convert the difference in $$$ but I'm looking to spend roughly $750 to $850 Us Dollars
What specs should I look for to get the most out of my money??

[Molotov]

Im afraid im out of my depth here then - I only know Dell and Newegg being 2 places where Americans can get laptops from. Dell is considered decent by some people in the UK but that's a lot to do with preferences and own experience ... their US website also doesn't let you add ssd to inspirion which is the range I'd consider in your position. They are still decent laptops as far as I know though.

If I was looking for a laptop purely for internet browsing I personally would go i3, 4gb and even normal hard drive and pay more attention to weight and decent screen and speakers. I also wouldn't pay more than 450-500 pounds and considering it's almost 1 to 1 when it comes to pc prices I'd not pay more than $550-600 for the kind of tasks you have for the laptop

[TracyBug]

Im afraid im out of my depth here then - I only know Dell and Newegg being 2 places where Americans can get laptops from. Dell is considered decent by some people in the UK but that's a lot to do with preferences and own experience ... their US website also doesn't let you add ssd to inspirion which is the range I'd consider in your position. They are still decent laptops as far as I know though.

If I was looking for a laptop purely for internet browsing I personally would go i3, 4gb and even normal hard drive and pay more attention to weight and decent screen and speakers. I also wouldn't pay more than 450-500 pounds and considering it's almost 1 to 1 when it comes to pc prices I'd not pay more than $550-600 for the kind of tasks you have for the laptop

When it comes to weight is lighter considered better??? How would I know if the speakers would be considered good?? What about the video card...what should I be looking for??

[Molotov]

well I'd prefer something light just so i can run around the house with it.
Speakers and screen quality is something that you can find in reviews of actual laptops all over the internet.
I would create a similar post on toms hardware - there is plenty of US people there as far as I know so you should be able to get some better advice when it comes to shopping.
Graphics card is not particularly important for your needs - it is mainly difference with integrated graphics and dedicated ones but you really shouldn't need a dedicated card for what you need.

[TracyBug]

well I'd prefer something light just so i can run around the house with it.
Speakers and screen quality is something that you can find in reviews of actual laptops all over the internet.
I would create a similar post on toms hardware - there is plenty of US people there as far as I know so you should be able to get some better advice when it comes to shopping.
Graphics card is not particularly important for your needs - it is mainly difference with integrated graphics and dedicated ones but you really shouldn't need a dedicated card for what you need.

Ok Thanks so much for all of your help!!!

[pp05]

Hi,

Hope someone out here can help steer me in the right direction. I currently have a good old cheapo Acer and to be honest with you in has been an incredibly reliable machine! It has a i3 330M processor (2.13 ghz) 4 GB Memory and a 320 GB Hard Drive. It is still working perfectly almost a year later....my only problem is my 3 teenage children who will never get off it!!! So I'm looking to buy myself a new laptop and thinking if I'm going to buy something new should I upgrade???

I was wondering if I upgrade to a i5 and 6 Gb will I notice any difference, other then the extra money out of my pocket?? I only use the computer for web browsing & social networking, but I still love speed and a nice display.

Any suggestions on what specs I should be looking for??
Is upgrading to an i5 the best way to get more speed??

Thanks!

If you're happy with the old one then get the same spec and maybe consider a ssd drive if your budget allows it. Just avoid Asus with that same spec.

[DeeBrad]

well I'd prefer something light just so i can run around the house with it.
Speakers and screen quality is something that you can find in reviews of actual laptops all over the internet.
I would create a similar post on toms hardware - there is plenty of US people there as far as I know so you should be able to get some better advice when it comes to shopping.
Graphics card is not particularly important for your needs - it is mainly difference with integrated graphics and dedicated ones but you really shouldn't need a dedicated card for what you need.

Agreed. Save yourself some money and stick with integrated.