Help with laptop for college

[Zaven]

I am a senior in high school and I am looking for a laptop for college. It will be used for studying and gaming. I have around a $1300 budget and the two I am very interesting in are these:

http/www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP780Z5E-S01UB
http/www.samsung.com/us/computer/laptops/NP770Z7E-S01UB

They are both from the same line of laptops, but different variants. I am looking for a balance of useability in the classroom and gaming. I fear the 15.6" one is not powerful enough, but I also fear that the 17.3" one is too large for college. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Zaven]

Also, battery life in a laptop is a HUGE factor to me and both of these laptops claim to be 8+ hour batteries.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Looks like the 780 gives you more bang for your buck, with a bigger screen and better GPU. You lose out on some portability though.

A word of advice: Make sure you're okay with getting an AMD GPU. Their Enduro has suffered poor implementation and aggressive driver updates to circumvent it. It's a lot better than it was, but there are still some hiccups they're working on. An NVidia GPU would be ideal, but of course, at a higher premium.

Also, battery life in a laptop is a HUGE factor to me and both of these laptops claim to be 8+ hour batteries.

Where do you see that?? I see 8 cell, but 8 hours? Even with a li-polymer battery, it will never happen; especially with a dedicated GPU.

 

[Zaven]

Looks like the 780 gives you more bang for your buck, with a bigger screen and better GPU. You lose out on some portability though.

A word of advice: Make sure you're okay with getting an AMD GPU. Their Enduro has suffered poor implementation and aggressive driver updates to circumvent it. It's a lot better than it was, but there are still some hiccups they're working on. An NVidia GPU would be ideal, but of course, at a higher premium.

Also, battery life in a laptop is a HUGE factor to me and both of these laptops claim to be 8+ hour batteries.

Where do you see that?? I see 8 cell, but 8 hours? Even with a li-polymer battery, it will never happen; especially with a dedicated GPU.

I'm fine with AMD, and it says how long it can last on the second tab. The 'Features' tab. I know for a fact it won't last that long while gaming, but I think idle/in class it would suffice fine.

 

[Prostar Computer]

I'm fine with AMD, and it says how long it can last on the second tab. The 'Features' tab. I know for a fact it won't last that long while gaming, but I think idle/in class it would suffice fine.

Idle/power saving, maybe. Sleep, definitely.

 

[Zaven]

I'm fine with AMD, and it says how long it can last on the second tab. The 'Features' tab. I know for a fact it won't last that long while gaming, but I think idle/in class it would suffice fine.

Idle/power saving, maybe. Sleep, definitely.

Thanks

 

[Prostar Computer]

Thanks

Anytime!