Which is the better laptop between these two?

[matt321]

Hello,

I'm looking for a 15" laptop for college. My budget is around $400. I'm thinking about these two laptops, they're priced similarly, the Dell is a little more.

Asus A54C-TS31:
- 2.2 i3-2320M
- 4 GB DDR3
- Intel Graphics 3000
- 320 GB HDD
- 4 Cell Battery

Dell i15RN5110-7126DBK:
- 2.1 i3-2310M
- 6 GB DDR3
- Intel Graphics 3000
- 640 GB HDD
- 6 Cell Battery

There are also other difference like Dell having a blu ray player and bluetooth, and the Asus having USB 3.0, but I don't care for these features. The hard disk also doesn't matter I will not use a lot of space.

My main concerns are reliability and performance. The Dell seems to have more RAM and a 6 cell battery otherwise they're basically the same with the CPU (.1 GHZ difference) and integrated video power. The brand Asus seems to have better record of reliability. I can get the Asus for $50 less.

Which one do you experts think is a better buy?

Thanks in advance!

 

[matt321]

Actually nevermind. Amazon seems to have increased the price on Dell.

If you go to Google Products and type in the model number you see the old price $430, but when you go to Amazon it's much more.

That's OK, I was looking forward to an Asus laptop anyway for the reliability.

 

[inanition02]

Too bad, I would have recommended the Dell - a 50% greater battery is an awesome feature.

That said, USB 3.0 is great if you move any sort of big files.

 

[hpfreak]

The Asus will perform great, you won't be disappointed with your purchase.

Good luck,

 

[airanp]

There is a deal on newegg, http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246322 , but not sure if you have your heart set on Asus and an intel chip or if you are open to an AMD APU and another laptop brand.

 

[hpfreak]

There is a deal on newegg, http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246322 , but not sure if you have your heart set on Asus and an intel chip or if you are open to an AMD APU and another laptop brand.

I would not recommend the AMD CPU, mainly because the OP is concerned about performance.. and the Core i3 performs MUCH better compared to AMD's APUs. If the OP wants a little bit more graphics capabilities, than the AMD system would be better because of the intergrated GPU.

 

[inanition02]

I would not recommend the AMD CPU, mainly because the OP is concerned about performance.. and the Core i3 performs MUCH better compared to AMD's APUs. If the OP wants a little bit more graphics capabilities, than the AMD system would be better because of the intergrated GPU.

He didn't say performance at WHAT. So, if he's looking for gaming, that's the AMD, for sure. And that AMD's a quad-core, so if he's looking at apps that scale well across cores, then it's the AMD too.

Single or dual threaded pure processing? That's the Intel.

 

[hpfreak]

He didn't say performance at WHAT. So, if he's looking for gaming, that's the AMD, for sure. And that AMD's a quad-core, so if he's looking at apps that scale well across cores, then it's the AMD too.

Single or dual threaded pure processing? That's the Intel.

Fair enough, but I took into account based on my experiences on the Tom's hardware forum.. that usually when the OP is asking about laptops for gaming, they'd specify it.. General performance is an entirely different thing.. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt considering that I don't know for certain either.

 

[matt321]

Yes I'm open to non-Intel non-Asus laptops too. Lower cost the better.

No, I'm not looking for a laptop for gaming. It will only be used for school work, so as far as the performance goes, it just needs to run Windows 7 and Word/Excel/PP fine, playback videos fine, and not lag much (although I hear I can replace it with a SSD if it's too annoying).

Edit: After searching for a while, the cheapest laptop I've come across is this for $254+tax:

www.frys.com/product/7057231

Would that be OK for me?

Or should I spend a bit more and get something better? My budget is around $400, but of course I don't want to waste money either since I'm not going to game or watch high def or anything like that.

Here's the specs on that machine without going to the link:

AMD® C-60 Processor
2 GB DDR3
ATI HD 6290G
6 Cells Battery

 

[whyso]

Yes I'm open to non-Intel non-Asus laptops too. Lower cost the better.

No, I'm not looking for a laptop for gaming. It will only be used for school work, so as far as the performance goes, it just needs to run Windows 7 and Word/Excel/PP fine, playback videos fine, and not lag much (although I hear I can replace it with a SSD if it's too annoying).

Edit: After searching for a while, the cheapest laptop I've come across is this for $254+tax:

www.frys.com/product/7057231

Would that be OK for me?

Or should I spend a bit more and get something better? My budget is around $400, but of course I don't want to waste money either since I'm not going to game or watch high def or anything like that.

Here's the specs on that machine without going to the link:

AMD® C-60 Processor
2 GB DDR3
ATI HD 6290G
6 Cells Battery

The intel computer (either the asus or the dell) you listed before is roughly 3-4 times more powerful for about $150 more. I'd definately go with it. The c-50 is a netbook processor. Its slower than the intel core 2 duo t5270 in my 5 and a half year old dell laptop.

http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i3-2310M-Notebook-Processor.45318.0.html Review for the i3 2310M
http/www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Core-i3-2310M-Notebook-Processor.45318.0.html Review for the c-50

The GPU is also about 3-4 times slower than the HD 3000. (its based on the 4330 core which is a really old architecture).

I'd honestly see that amd computer struggling with simply tasks that the i3 2310M simply laughs at.

 

[matt321]

Thank you for the feedback, I'm glad I didn't go ahead with the purchase of that one.