Vaio Flip 14 SSD + i5 vs HDD with "nand flash" + i7

[Hunter Jones]

I'm wanting to upgrade from a dual booted mbp 2011 to a touch PC with active digitizer support (for taking notes in school mostly with onenote). Basically i'm trying to keep it in the $1200 dollar range, and therefore I have to choose between an 250gb SSD and a 750gb HDD + nand flash. I understand that the hard drive is the most likely performance bottleneck in modern computers, but I'm not sure if the 16gb cache drive can compensate for that.

The 250gb SSD is expensive enough that I would be forced to go with an i5-4200u instead of the i7-4500u. My question is whether the SSD will increase performance and quietness by a large enough margin to be worth downgrading an already lightweight dual core CPU. I have already opted for 8gb of ram so that shouldnt be a bottleneck at all. Besides the note-taking previously mentioned, my usage will be pretty variable and taxing, but no serious rendering/video editing. I'll list my common computer activities below.

Note Taking
Software Development (Visual studio, git, python, maybe some directX/openGL, etc)
Multiple remote desktop connections, also remoting into Unix servers over SSH
Visio UML modeling
Light to moderate gaming (Minecraft, Civilization 5) but I do most of that on a desktop anyways.
Obviously web browsing, office, email etc

 

[armapker]

I would get the i7 model, you could always change to an SSD later, you can't upgrade the CPU in a laptop

 

[jaguarskx]

SSD just means quicker boot / shutdown / load / save times because the read / write speed is faster than hard drives. It will not increase the performance of the CPU. Let's say you do something very CPU intensive like video encoding. Assuming the same CPU is used, the time it takes to encode a video is the same whether the laptop has a SSD or a HDD.

 

[armapker]

SSD just means quicker boot / shutdown / load / save times because the read / write speed is faster than hard drives. It will not increase the performance of the CPU. Let's say you do something very CPU intensive like video encoding. Assuming the same CPU is used, the time it takes to encode a video is the same whether the laptop has a SSD or a HDD.

He did say it would be for light use, however even for light use the i7 will do better than the i5

 

[PinchedNerve]

you can't upgrade the CPU in a laptop

No idea where this comes from. The only laptops where the CPU can't be replaced or upgraded are the ones that are soldered in like my i7 4750HQ. Most laptops I've repaired (mostly HP) can very easily replace the CPU or even upgrade it providing the socket is the same IE (775, 1150, and so on). Most of the HP's I've repaired I had to replace the Motherboard thus removing the CPU and installing it to the new Motherboard. Unless this Vaio has a soldered in CPU it most likely can be replaced or upgraded.

According to this page http/www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i5/Intel-Core%20i5-4200U%20Mobile%20processor.html the i5-4200u mobile is soldered.

According to this page http/www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core%20i7-4500U%20Mobile%20processor.html the i7-4500u mobile is soldered.

To the OP. SSD's are fantastic. You should find out if you can install a mSSD in the Vaio and keep the HDD for storage/extra space rather then replacing the HDD with a 2.5" SSD. One shouldn't only consider their current needs but also consider the value of the LT when you want to upgrade to a new LT. Obviously the better the current LT is equipped to handle future needs the more resale value (money) you can put towards your future upgrade.

You'll have to balance price vs hardware and IMO Sony's are overpriced.

 

[armapker]

you can't upgrade the CPU in a laptop

No idea where this comes from. The only laptops where the CPU can't be replaced or upgraded are the ones that are soldered in like my i7 4750HQ. Most laptops I've repaired (mostly HP) can very easily replace the CPU or even upgrade it providing the socket is the same IE (775, 1150, and so on). Most of the HP's I've repaired I had to replace the Motherboard thus removing the CPU and installing it to the new Motherboard. Unless this Vaio has a soldered in CPU it most likely can be replaced or upgraded.

According to this page http/www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i5/Intel-Core%20i5-4200U%20Mobile%20processor.html the i5-4200u mobile is soldered.

According to this page http/www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/Intel-Core%20i7-4500U%20Mobile%20processor.html the i7-4500u mobile is soldered.

To the OP. SSD's are fantastic. You should find out if you can install a mSSD in the Vaio and keep the HDD for storage/extra space rather then replacing the HDD with a 2.5" SSD. One shouldn't only consider their current needs but also consider the value of the LT when you want to upgrade to a new LT. Obviously the better the current LT is equipped to handle future needs the more resale value (money) you can put towards your future upgrade.

You'll have to balance price vs hardware and IMO Sony's are overpriced.

Most ultrabooks are extreamly difficult to get open, even if the cpu is not soldered