HP Stream 14 vs Dell Inspiron 15 3000

[scotty220]

Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy my fiancee a new laptop for christmas and was hoping for some advice between the HP Stream 14 (£229) and Dell Inspiron 15 3000 (£170 after discounts)

The HP Stream comes with a 14" 1366x768 screen, AMD Quad-Core A4 micro-6400T (1Ghz) 2 GB RAM and 32GB eMMC drive HP Stream 14 Laptop http://store.hp.com/UKStore/Merch/Product.aspx?id=K3G99EA&opt=ABU&sel=PCNB

The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 has a 15" 1366z768 screen, Intel Celeron N2830 (2.16Ghz) 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD Inspiron 15 Affordable http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-15-3531-laptop/pd?oc=cn53105

Both run Windows 8.1

Correct me if i'm wrong but the pro's of the HP are the better processor and graphics, plus it comes in her favourite colour (purple 😛). The pros of the Dell are the slightly larger screen, HDD, more RAM and the ~£60 saving.

My question is which would you imagine feels better quality and would perform better? Her main tasks will be web browsing, Office tasks and the odd game of The Sims (original). I know that HP build quality hasn't been all that great recently, and I haven't bought a Dell for about 10 years so no idea what they are like anymore!

Thanks for all your help.

 

[Titillating]

Neither really builds a quality product from what I know, but if you had to choose from the two, I'd go with the Dell. Don't know the CPU comparison off the top of my head, but I don't see it being too dramatic of a difference. Deciding factor in this, at least for me, is the 4GB RAM. 2GB RAM really is not adequate in most real world situations, particularly if you want to multitask.

The HP is also pretty much a Chromebook. It has no storage drive (unless the specs are hidden) and relies entirely on cloud storage. You really only have enough room on there for the OS and maybe a few word docs. Go for the one with an actual HDD, particularly if she plans to install any games on it at all. You can always get a laptop cover in her favorite color.

 

[digitaldoc]

Build quality is similar between these brands, and both of these are disposable machines. I would vote for the Dell as it has more RAM, and a much larger hard drive. On top of that, it is cheaper from the prices you provided.

 

[scotty220]

Awesome thanks guys. I've been thinking about it a lot and I tend to agree the Dell is the better option. I've heard that you can't upgrade the components on the HP (or at least not very easily) whereas the Dell's HDD and RAM is easily accessible. I have a spare Samsung Evo SSD lying around which I could bung in the Dell to make it that bit faster, plus I'll be £60 compared to the HP.

Before I go ahead and buy, can anyone else recommend a decent Laptop with a sizeable screen for around the £200 mark? I'm tempted to see what Black Friday/Cyber Monday throws up before buying.