College Laptop Help: i5 vs Core M?

The Skylake Core M is a Jekyll and Hyde deal.

If you're only doing short tasks, it performs like a mobile dual core i7. It uses the same core as the Core i processors, but has 4MB cache like a mobile dual core i7 instead of 3MB like a mobile i5. All three have hyperthreading (missing on the Pentium), and all three turbo boost (missing on the Pentium and i3). So if you compare CPUs with similar top turbo boost speed, the Skylake Core M will actually beat a mobile i5 on short benchmarks. (The Broadwell Core M would only turbo on one core, so perform significantly worse. Avoid them. But the Skylake Core M turbo boosts on both cores.)

But Intel only specifies a 4.5 Watt TDP for the Core M. TDP is how much cooling they recommend. The mobile i5 has a 15 Watt TDP, so it can vent a lot more heat. Consequently, the Core M will thermal throttle a lot more quickly than a mobile i5. And on longer benchmarks the i5 (and i3) will beat the Core M.

So it really boils down to what you're going to do with the laptop. If all you're doing is using Office to write reports, browse the web, email, Facebook, and watch YouTube videos, the Core M is not a problem. I got the UX305CA for my dad and spent 3 days prepping it for him. The only time it felt slow was when it was uncompressing large files for installing programs. (My regular laptop is a i7 quad core.)

If you're going to do something that needs more CPU power for an extended period of time and thus will heat the CPU up - programming (compiling), video editing, heavy photo or audio editing, gaming, encoding videos, etc. - then the i5 will work better.

If you're not in any rush, the Microsoft store has been running sales on the Core M UX305CA for $599 for everyone, $539+ if you can get it via their educational portal. It comes and goes every few months. There are usually a few higher configurations available as well when a sale is on.
http/slickdeals.net/f/8666398-asus-ux305ca-13-3-laptop-539-for-m3-6y30-8gb-256gb-fhd-629-for-m3-6y30-8gb-256gb-qhd-touchscreen-microsoft-store-edu-portal?v=1&src=SiteSearch

And just for fun, I did look at this but it just seems to bulky and I think I want a 13.3" screen: http/www.amazon.com/Dell-15-6-Inch-Quad-Core-i5-6300HQ-Processor/dp/B015PYYDMQ?ie=UTF8&colid=3DFYI38VSXMO8&coliid=IMXHHJ2U0G66&psc=1&ref_=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl

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The mobile quad cores (i5 and i7) have a 45 Watt TDP, so they consume significantly more power than even the regular mobile Core i processors (15W and 11.5W TDP). So the battery life on the quad cores tends to be substantially worse. The one I have (Gigabyte P34W) has one of the larger batteries (63 Wh) and it can't even hit 5 hours.