Help me Choose a Laptop

[Scaramorey]

1. What is your budget?
<$500. However, this is of low importance. If you know of a laptop that would serve me better for more money, recommend it. I just don't want to buy a laptop more powerful than I need.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
Any

3. What screen resolution do you want?
720p or better

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable, I already have a powerful desktop.

5. How much battery life do you need?
At least 5 hours.

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)?
No

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
I want this laptop mainly for use in school (first year computer science major), and so I can work and code anywhere in my house (mainly my bed lol). So I will be using Visual Studio along with other IDEs.
I would also like to play around in Unity and Photoshop, however, this is of low importance.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
500GB would be nice, less would be fine. I would slightly prefer a larger HDD over a smaller SSD, but either would be fine.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
I will buy from any reputable site.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
I will keep it until it dies, but I would like it to last at least 2 years. By that time I will want to upgrade again anyway.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
I don't need one.

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.
No preference.

13. What country do you live in?
US

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Right now I am seriously considering 2 laptops
Acer Aspire ES 15, 15.6" HD
ES1-572-31KW
i3 - 6100u
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
1366x768
PRICE: ~$350 w/ tax

and

Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6"HD
E5-574-53QS
i5 - 6200u
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
1366 x 768
PRICE: ~$400 w/ tax

Either one of these I would want to upgrade the RAM to 8GB, which I believe would cost me ~$20 (I think they are both able to be upgraded).

With the RAM upgrades in mind, is the i5 upgrade worth the extra $50?
From what I read there isn't much difference other than the turbo clock of the i5.

Of course I would love to hear any other laptop suggestions, or personal recommendations.

Thanks for reading

 

[Scaramorey]

I would recommend you to go with
Acer Aspire E 15, 15.6"HD
E5-574-53QS
i5 - 6200u
4GB RAM
1TB HDD
1366 x 768
PRICE: ~$400 w/ tax.
It's in between your budget as well as it has good specs.

Thank you for the recommendation nicholasporison.

Yes it has good specs, they both do. They are essentially the same laptops, one with turbo boost and one without. Would the extra performance turbo boost provides be noticeable in the programs I listed above?

I know how turbo boost works, I would just like to know if during intensive tasks will it be noticeably faster? Some people say like 20% boost in processing power? If that is the case I will get the i5.

I also should have stated that my budget is a very loose budget. If you think there is another laptop that will serve me better for more money, recommend it. However, I do not want to spend money on a super nice laptop I do not need.

 

[velo3100]

The laptop with the i5 is great for the first year for your course, I should know as I used an intel core due on my laptop during the first year, I say get the i5 as this saves you from getting a new laptop in the second year. It was only the second year I needed something a lot more powerful to run Unity and other 3d programs. I would look for a better laptop during mid - term during the second year as thats when you will need a laptop with a good gpu.