Wife Bday Laptop split decision

[BigEric420]

So, i may not consider myself a "Guru" when it comes to computers, but i am well versed in the ways of building and teaching the ways of PC. I have built a few PC's, soon to get into watercooling, and converted many from the console to the masterrace.

BUT! when it comes to laptops, i dont know jack! I have an HP Envy M8? i used in college and at home afterward, but the screen is coming apart (known issue, found out too late) My wife doesent listen when i tell her to be careful with the screen, and how to properly shut it gently... so its getting worse. Its time for her own laptop, that she just so happens to want.

Her bday was this past Wednesday, we are celebrating with movie, drinks, bowling, fun day tomorrow Saturday. I was shopping around and found a good super low budget (if it breaks i wont be mad) laptop on sale at bestbuy.. Im a man, i procrastinate, i know i should have shopped online like 2 weeks ago. either way i was looking again today and saw another laptop... so these 2 laptops are within her bday budget since valentines is right around the corner, but i need some advice.

First, i found this Asus w/ i3-5020u 4gb/1600 for 300bux.
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-intel-core-i3-4gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-spin-pattern-in-black/4352000.p?id=1219735415083&skuId=4352000

Then i saw this today, Lenovo AMD A8-7410 8gb/1866 for 320.
http/www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo-g51-15-6-laptop-amd-a8-series-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/4475100.p?id=1219751165592&skuId=4475100

They have these available, but not at the same BestBuy. I live in Houston, so i need to figure out which one to hit up on the way home from work and plan my route accordingly. Any advice is greatly appreciated, and again, i am torn if i should snatch another AMD laptop, or go with Intel. (i will of course be stealing this from her from time to time, as a man should =])

Ps. I leave work in ~5.5hrs

Thanks,
BigEric

 

[jhall18]

What will she be using it for?

 

[Dulith1118]

the i3 does out perform the amd actually but if u can get 8gb ram cuz for web browsing and all as u know it requires more ram....

 

[BigEric420]

jhall18, she will be using for web browsing and bills, maybe streaming netflix. she is not as PC abusive as i am.

Dulith1118, i concidered that as a tipping point as well, but i see that laptop 1600 sodimm's are super cheap now. If i wanted to upgrade the Asus i3 to 8gb ram, it would come out to the same price as the AMD since 4gb is only 20bux now.

 

[jhall18]

jhall18, she will be using for web browsing and bills, maybe streaming netflix. she is not as PC abusive as i am.

Dulith1118, i concidered that as a tipping point as well, but i see that laptop 1600 sodimm's are super cheap now. If i wanted to upgrade the Asus i3 to 8gb ram, it would come out to the same price as the AMD since 4gb is only 20bux now.

Both will perform fine for what she will be using it for, it's just up to you whether you want to pay more for the i3.

 

[BigEric420]

jhall18, she will be using for web browsing and bills, maybe streaming netflix. she is not as PC abusive as i am.

Dulith1118, i concidered that as a tipping point as well, but i see that laptop 1600 sodimm's are super cheap now. If i wanted to upgrade the Asus i3 to 8gb ram, it would come out to the same price as the AMD since 4gb is only 20bux now.

Both will perform fine for what she will be using it for, it's just up to you whether you want to pay more for the i3.

"technically" the i3 Asus 4gb is 300, the Lenovo AMD 8gb is 320. so if i bought the i3 and $20 4gb sodimm, they are the same price for 8gb i3 vs AMD a8.

Again, i have not had the pleasure to delve into Intel yet, so i was not sure if the dual core /w hyperthreading will perform the same as the quad amd.

 

[jhall18]

jhall18, she will be using for web browsing and bills, maybe streaming netflix. she is not as PC abusive as i am.

Dulith1118, i concidered that as a tipping point as well, but i see that laptop 1600 sodimm's are super cheap now. If i wanted to upgrade the Asus i3 to 8gb ram, it would come out to the same price as the AMD since 4gb is only 20bux now.

Both will perform fine for what she will be using it for, it's just up to you whether you want to pay more for the i3.

"technically" the i3 Asus 4gb is 300, the Lenovo AMD 8gb is 320. so if i bought the i3 and $20 4gb sodimm, they are the same price for 8gb i3 vs AMD a8.

Again, i have not had the pleasure to delve into Intel yet, so i was not sure if the dual core /w hyperthreading will perform the same as the quad amd.

the AMD has more cores but they are weak, the intel has hyperthreading which will allow it to be recognized as a quad-core cpu.

 

[BigEric420]

thanks for the quick input, i think ill go with my first instinct and grab the ASUS i3 and just snag an extra stick of ram. The location that has that for pickup is easier to get to on the way home anyways, which also helps lol.

 

[jaguarskx]

the AMD has more cores but they are weak, the intel has hyperthreading which will allow it to be recognized as a quad-core cpu.

Not exactly true.

It will be recognized as a dual core CPU with the ability handle up to 4 thread of instructions. Performance will depend on the load and it will not have as much performance of an Intel quad core CPU that is capable of handling 4 threads.

Overall the Core i3-5020u will have better CPU performance than the A8-7410. The Intel HD 5500 graphics core is also more powerful than the Radeon R5 (Carrizo) graphics core. Performance of the A8-7410 can only somewhat approach close to the performance of the i3-5020u if all 4 cores are utilized. Most programs people use do not make use of more than 2 cores.

The i3-5020u also consumes less power than the A8-7410 so technically speaking it should allow for longer battery life.

 

[BigEric420]

the AMD has more cores but they are weak, the intel has hyperthreading which will allow it to be recognized as a quad-core cpu.

Not exactly true.

It will be recognized as a dual core CPU with the ability handle up to 4 thread of instructions. Performance will depend on the load and it will not have as much performance of an Intel quad core CPU that is capable of handling 4 threads.

Overall the Core i3-5020u will have better CPU performance than the A8-7410. The Intel HD 5500 graphics core is also more powerful than the Radeon R5 (Carrizo) graphics core. Performance of the A8-7410 can only somewhat approach close to the performance of the i3-5020u if all 4 cores are utilized. Most programs people use do not make use of more than 2 cores.

The i3-5020u also consumes less power than the A8-7410 so technically speaking it should allow for longer battery life.

thanks for the input. i think the Asus will do well with the i3, and /w 8gb ram i dont think she will push it past the limit. the only downside is that the ASUS does not come BlueTooth enabled, but again you can get a BT usb adapter for like 10-20bux. and its not a complete necessity right now.