New laptop purchase...Advice needed

[grayilm245]

I want to buy my girlfriend a new laptop. Hers is on the way out and not very upgradeable. My personal laptop is a Dell Inspiron 15 3000 series with a core I3 and I replaced the factory HD with a 500gig Samsung Evo SSD. I am very happy with my laptop. It is fast, lightweight, and is capable of doing everything I need, which isn't much. She doesn't need anything that's really high performance as she mainly uses the computer to surf the Internet, edit and store photos and videos, and some word processing with Microsoft office. I am considering buying her the same Dell 15 3000 with I3 core and putting in a Samsung SSD. The laptop is $349 and the Samsung Evo 500gb SSD is $177 or I could get the 250gb for $93. So the total cost will be between $440 and $540 for what I feel like is a great laptop for her needs. Does anyone see anything wrong with going this route? Does anyone have any suggestions for a different system in that price range? Two must haves are a full keyboard with numbers on the side and an optical drive, and also a 15" screen. Thanks for reading. I am curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

 

[kookie3010]

judging on her usage,why not.i would drop the ssd though if disk speed doesn't matter to her an opted for a bigger storage.

 

[grayilm245]

Thanks Kookie. A SSD is something I definitely want. My 1TB HD failed in my Dell after only 6 months. It was actually a Toshiba hard drive that Dell had installed. That is the reason I decided to put upgrade to a SSD. I have been told by numerous computer professionals that conventional hard drives in new laptops are now failing more than ever. I thought my laptop was fast before I put in the SSD but looking back all I can say is wow! For the price I will be spending on buying a Dell for my girlfriend and installing a SSD I could also buy an Asus that already comes with the SSD installed. I have read mixed things about Asus. I'm curious if everyone on here thinks I would be better off going the Dell or Asus route...

 

[kookie3010]

Thanks Kookie. A SSD is something I definitely want. My 1TB HD failed in my Dell after only 6 months. It was actually a Toshiba hard drive that Dell had installed. That is the reason I decided to put upgrade to a SSD. I have been told by numerous computer professionals that conventional hard drives in new laptops are now failing more than ever. I thought my laptop was fast before I put in the SSD but looking back all I can say is wow! For the price I will be spending on buying a Dell for my girlfriend and installing a SSD I could also buy an Asus that already comes with the SSD installed. I have read mixed things about Asus. I'm curious if everyone on here thinks I would be better off going the Dell or Asus route...

depends on the model of the Asus notebook.my experience with asus are mixed.their Rog line up have very good built quality and i still have my g46vw which lasted for 3-4 years now.and that is on regular hdd.Their regular line up is kinda mixed bag.but in my country a lower spec dell is a bit more expensive than a mid spec asus/acer.so we always go for the cheaper one.in your case if the asus is cheaper and faster in terms of processing power/ssd i would go for it.

 

[alceryes]

SSD's makes a huge performance difference. Definitely go with an SSD.
The only issue you may experience is running out of space. If she does A LOT of work (fun) with photos and videos than you're better off going with the 500GB SSD. Does she currently have a laptop? Has she been using it for a while? If yes, check out how much space she is currently using for a good estimation of needs.

 

[kookie3010]

SSD's makes a huge performance difference. Definitely go with an SSD.
The only issue you may experience is running out of space. If she does A LOT of work (fun) with photos and videos than you're better off going with the 500GB SSD. Does she currently have a laptop? Has she been using it for a while? If yes, check out how much space she is currently using for a good estimation of needs.

thats why i suggest getting an external hdd if he goes ssd route.just like my alienware 13 which i opt for 2x 256gb m.2 ssd.some of my larger files and games are store on my external hdd.