$800 Dell XPS 14-3182sLV (i5-3317U + GT630m), or wait for an A10-5750m laptop?

A Bad Day

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I found the Dell laptop for $800 (originally priced at $1,150): http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/pd/Dell-XPS-14-3182sLV-Notebook/productID.256223300/vip.true?ClickID=cazqxwekesxq7peakliiqxqas47eqfezzzzk

The question is, do I buy it before the sale expires, or wait until back-to-school season for a Richland A10 laptop? If I buy the A10, I will undervolt it (hopefully reducing power consumption), assuming it's still compatible with PSCheck.

I am going to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale or University of Iowa for engineering, so battery life and weight is important. I also prefer at least 1600x900 resolution since using two Word documents at the same time on a 1366x768 screen is a pain.

I also plan on doing light gaming, TF2 and Total War Rome 2 (or Civ 5 with the One World expansion pack).


EDIT: I find the 32 GB SSD pitifully small. I'd much prefer at least 64-80 GB, though I've read that replacing the SSD in the XPS is difficult.
 

A Bad Day

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I also have two slightly related questions.

-Business, semi-ultrabooks (battery life and weight, but not the thickness), or the ultrabooks?

-What about the hardware config? Would the A10 match the i5-3317U + GT630m?
 

robjon70

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Wait for the A10. It's a little better than the Intel processor, and the graphics card is a little better than the 630M.

Business, semi-ultrabooks (battery life and weight, but not the thickness), or the ultrabooks? It really depends on you. I don't really care how thin or thick my laptop is, and you have a much more up-gradable laptop, so I would get the semi ultrabook. But hey, that's just my opinion.

-What about the hardware config? Would the A10 match the i5-3317U + GT630m? - Yes, as stated above, both the processor and the graphics card is slightly better than the Dell configuration.

Here's my suggestion: Buy a custom build Vaio laptop. I already built you one. I will send you the link to build one yourself. Feel free to change whatever I have suggested. Here's the link: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666519899



Here are the specs:

AMD Radeon™ HD 7670M (1GB) hybrid graphics
3rd gen Intel® Core™ i5-3230M (2.60GHz / 3.20GHz with Turbo Boost)
No touch screen
Kaspersky® Internet Security (30-day trial)
Windows 8 64-bit
Microsoft® Office 2013 trial version
No Fresh Start
Imagination Studio™ VAIO® Edition software
14" LED backlit display (1600 x 900)
No keyboard skin
750GB (5400rpm) hard drive
8GB (8GB x1) DDR3-1600MHz
CD/DVD player / burner
Black with Burgundy Red
No engraving
Large lithium-ion battery (7950mAh)


 

whyso

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I agree with your suggestion about the sony. it will be better.

The a10 will not beat the i5 ULV in cpu performance (for example cinebench r11.5 a10 ~2 i5 ULV ~2.4). Likewise, the a10 is not better than the 630m in actual games (outside of 3d mark).