Question Two laptop sale options. Help

[richmond97]

I am a general user who leans more frequently into light than heavy usage. Will occasionally play Stardew Valley or some old OLD games that could run on a potato and use old video editing software, but most of my use will be web browsing, running vintage word processors and watching videos out of home, so battery life is important to me.

I have found two laptops on sale at Costco that I believe would suit my needs fine, and they are comparable (I THINK???) I have only ever owned Dells, I like the upgradeability and need to replace an Inspiron I bought new in 2011 that has finally bit the dust. I kept her going with multiple hardware upgrades over the years, but have not been as impressed by the performance and longevity of friends newer Dells. They are slow and buggy and become e-waste fast.
So I was looking at a Lenovo, because I have heard that their build quality is better. It is more expensive, but also on sale. I am willing to spend more for the better option, so that when I do want to run heavier processes, I can. And to have a machine that lasts.

I have become stuck, though. On processor. I hear this Intel can be a bit of a battery hog, and have heard GREAT things about the performance and efficiency from the AMD inside the Dell. On the other hand, I have experienced firsthand AMD's crashes and bugs due to sloppiness with their updates.

I would appreciate someone knowledgable to weigh in. Is the Lenovo's performance and quality substantial enough to justify the higher price, or is the Dell actually the better value here?

Thank you!

Dell 16 Touchscreen Laptop - 16.0" FHD+ 1920x1200 Touchscreen - Ryzen 7 250 - 16GB RAM - 1TB SSD - Windows 11 Home - Carbon Black​

Item 1951495 | Model LDC16255-A087BLK-PUS

On sale for $549.99

Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5i 16" Touchscreen Laptop - Intel Core 7 240H - 1920 x 1200 - Windows 11 - 16GB RAM - 1TB SSD​

Item 1940837 | Model 83J1002KUS

On sale for $699.99

Thank you so much! I cannot respond to your comment, it says my reply is spam. Do you think the Lenovo would be a better option for a power user? I am picking one up for me and my spouse. I just want something with good battery life and that will not be e-waste in five years, but they are a power user and could eat up that longevity faster.

 

[COLGeek]

Based on price, the Dell is the better deal. Both are going to perform similarly with your stated uses. From a "behind the keyboard" perspective, you'll see no appreciable difference in performance.

AMD devices are supported perfectly fine. I have both AMD and Intel devices and there really is no difference between them in terms of updates, etc.

Regardless of which device you go with, both will be loaded with more than a bit of bloatware when removed from the box. I recommend you perform a full, clean installation of Windows when you receive and then you manually install the OEM provided apps (from their support page) you intend to use, if any.

 

[richmond97]

Thank you so much! Do you think the Lenovo would be a better option for a power user? I am picking one up for me and my spouse. I just want something with good battery life and that will not be e-waste in three years, but they are a power user and could eat up that longevity faster.

 

[COLGeek]

Honestly, neither is a powerhouse. Fairly average. Battery life should be similar.

Aside from price, I would consider a toss-up.