feedback on these two laptops

[dana1]

I am needing a mid-range laptop for heavy school work- multi-tasking research and word processing (in my Masters program) and light gaming (mostly facebook type online). I'm currently trying two different laptops and like them both for different reasons:

Acer Aspire E15
i5 processor
4 gb ram
500 gb hard drive
HD touchscreen
5000 mah battery
15.6' screen

What I like: the battery is a beast, lasts forever. Touch screen is easy to use and responsive.
What I don't like: the placement of the keys on the keypad. Spaced funny and they are just awkward.

HP 15
AMD A8 processor
8 gb ram
750 gb hard drive
HD touchscreen
2800 mah battery
15.6" screen
CD/DVD drive

What I like: the keyboard- the keys are in more natural places, easier to adjust to. However, the flatness of the keys hits my wrist somewhat funny. The screen quality is much nicer than the Acer. Has a DVD/CD rom drive, is slightly lighter and thinner than the Acer.
What I don't like: the battery is not very good- runs out in half the time that the Acer does. The touchscreen is not quite as responsive as the Acer.

Any thoughts on either machine? They are both exactly the same price so I just want to get the best value for my money.

 

[digitaldoc]

Powerful laptop, and long battery life are often mutually exclusive when it comes to notebooks.

If you want to do multitasking research, than the HP 15, with its 8 GB is RAM is what you need. The larger hard drive is a plus as well if this is going to be your main machine.

 

[dana1]

Any thoughts on the touchscreen? The HP touchscreen is incredibly non-responsive. Not sure if it's a defect or if it's normal... I wish the HP had the Acer battery then it would be a no brainer...

 

[IInuyasha74]

I disagree with the both and think you should get the Acer. While the 8GB of RAM might help, the CPU which is the most important feature when it comes to performance is much faster in the Acer than in the HP. That makes it seem an easy pick to go Acer. It will literally be twice as fast probably.

 

[digitaldoc]

http/cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4200M-vs-AMD-A8-5550M

The Core i5 is not twice as fast, and the graphics on the A8 are better.

More RAM is important for large Excel spreadsheets that are used in some research projects.

 

[IInuyasha74]

CPUBoss is like the absolute worst for comparing hardware, and we don't know for sure which units are in question. If it is the two on that page:
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A-Series-A8-5550M-Notebook-Processor.89639.0.html

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-4200M-Notebook-Processor.93558.0.html

notebookcheck is much better much more reliable.

Comparing the two the Core i5 gives this amount of performance in each test relative to the AMD:
Cinebench 11.5 Single-thread = 173%
Cinebench 11.5 Multi-threaded = 157%
Geekbench 3 - 32 Bit Multi-Core Score = 129%
Geekbench 3 - 32 Bit Single-Core Score = 160%
3DMark (2013) - Fire Strike Standard Physics 1920x1080 = 177%

If you would like to continue down the list feel free. You are right its not twice as fast, just 59% faster on average based on the first five benchmarks.

While he might be doing some light gaming he said, he is going to be doing it online. The GPU inside of the i5 will do fine. In fact:
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-8550G.89651.0.html
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html

If you would like to compare FPS scores, the GPU in the i5 outperforms the GPU inside of the APU, probably because it runs hotter and has such a weak CPU.

Long story short, the i5 is a much better system. Regardless of RAM. Not to mention the RAM is the most easily upgraded and changed piece of hardware in basically any laptop outside of the battery. That could be upgraded later if need be by any novice, while upgrading CPUs is much harder.

 

[digitaldoc]

CPUBoss is like the absolute worst for comparing hardware, and we don't know for sure which units are in question. If it is the two on that page:
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A-Series-A8-5550M-Notebook-Processor.89639.0.html

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i5-4200M-Notebook-Processor.93558.0.html

notebookcheck is much better much more reliable.

Comparing the two the Core i5 gives this amount of performance in each test relative to the AMD:
Cinebench 11.5 Single-thread = 173%
Cinebench 11.5 Multi-threaded = 157%
Geekbench 3 - 32 Bit Multi-Core Score = 129%
Geekbench 3 - 32 Bit Single-Core Score = 160%
3DMark (2013) - Fire Strike Standard Physics 1920x1080 = 177%

If you would like to continue down the list feel free. You are right its not twice as fast, just 59% faster on average based on the first five benchmarks.

While he might be doing some light gaming he said, he is going to be doing it online. The GPU inside of the i5 will do fine. In fact:
http/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-8550G.89651.0.html
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-HD-Graphics-4600.86106.0.html

If you would like to compare FPS scores, the GPU in the i5 outperforms the GPU inside of the APU, probably because it runs hotter and has such a weak CPU.

Long story short, the i5 is a much better system. Regardless of RAM. Not to mention the RAM is the most easily upgraded and changed piece of hardware in basically any laptop outside of the battery. That could be upgraded later if need be by any novice, while upgrading CPUs is much harder.

Agree that the i5 is the better chip, just not twice as fast. The gaming he mentions with those in browser Facebook games use little GPU power.

Just speaking from experience, I did a research project with a spreadsheet of over 4000 subjects, with multiple datapoints on each one. Some of this research was done on a CULV with only 3 GB of RAM, and the thing kept crashing, and it was oh so painful. Yes, RAM is simple to upgrade, but better to get what you need up front, and not plan for the rebuild before it is already out of the box.

Oh, and the CULV was an Acer that was tossed into the garbage after just two years as the MB died, for no apparent reason. Still annoyed with Acer for that one!

 

[IInuyasha74]

Yea so it will be enough GPU power regardless, just was mentioning that the APU doesn't really have a leg to stand on anymore. Its a sad state AMD is in.

Well that Acer you had then might of had troubles, but not all are the same. My parents each have an Acer laptop that have been in use for over 5 years now, they just do web browsing basically, but it all just depends the system. I have an Acer desktop still running for about 7 years now or more. I've had a lot worse experiences with HP, basically any HP desktop or laptop I have ever had, or anyone I know has ever had, has died in a very short amount of time.

Not to mention, we don't know if he will be running spread sheets. He said research, but that could just be literary research online, in e-books, writing papers, power point presentations, etc. If he has open a dozen tabs online, a word document or two, PDF reader, and some folders he likely will only be using about 3.5-4GB of RAM. Granted that is feeling up, but since he has that much he isn't going to notice much of any slow down at all.

Even if he does do a massive spreadsheet, the CPU is still more important. You can look up on tests, sometimes they do spreadsheets to test CPU performance. RAM might play a factor then, but the i5 is still going to finish way before the APU even if it just has half the RAM.

There is no good argument to get the HP over the Acer really.

 

[dana1]

So far the HP has a much better screen quality of picture and a better keyboard. The touchpad is much easier to use. However, it is definitely slower.

The Acer has a much better touch screen but low quality. I'm not a fan of the keyboard and the touch pad. However, it is a little faster than the HP and has a much better battery.

Right now it's a toss up because I like them both.

 

[digitaldoc]

It all depends on how much you value the battery life. These days I like Lenovo for laptops better than HP or Acer.

 

[dana1]

Here is a link to the exact processor comparisons:

http/cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i5-4210U-vs-AMD-A8-6410#comments

Looks pretty close. Thanks everyone for the feedback so far.

 

[dana1]

I returned the Acer due to problems with the touchpad. I'm also looking at a Dell i3 with 4 gb of memory.

HP AMD A8 6410 with 8 gb memory 750 gb hard drive
I3 4030 U with 4 gb memory 500 gb hard drive

 

[digitaldoc]

Can't stand Dell. I often answer issues related to their poor quality. In short, get anything else!

 

[dana1]

Interesting, last my two laptops have been Dell, and I've had good luck with them. I'm leery of HP because the last HP I owned was horrible. They seem to have the best prices, though.