i3 or dual core?

gingerchick

I'm looking for a new laptop and have set my sights on the fujitsu ah530.

But my question is, should I go with the i3 or dual core processor.

I've found these two and wondered if the i3 is worth the £70 more?
I'd been initally looking at just the i3, but then saw the dual core one.

i3

dual core

I'll be using the laptop for the usual emails/surfing/etc. No major gaming.

I'm still undecided. There have been a few other laptops I've seen, but keep coming back to the fujitsu.
Any advice would be gratefully received.

gavpowell

First, the i3 is dual core.

Second, the two chips are almost identical.

However, the i3 packs a bit more punch in multitasking thanks to its use of hyperthreading(each core can run 2 processes at once)

If you feel you'll benefit from the extra power of multitasking, buy the i3. If you don't, buy the Pentium and spend the money saved on upgrading the warranty - I've never been keen on Fujitsu's after-sales support, though the hardware has always been decent enough.

gingerchick

Thanks for you reply.
Think I will go with an i3 processor, it is the main one I've been looking at.
Now that you've mentioned about fujitsu aftersales though, I'm wondering about going with a different make!
I've been seen quite a few all around the same price.(£320-340)
It's just trying to decide which is the best one to go with.
Decisions, decisions lol

gavpowell

Well I like Toshiba, Samsung and Dell(though I can't really sell Dell stuff myself), closely followed by Acer and then the rest of the field. Asus make laptops as well, and although I've never used them, Asus are such a solid hardware manufacturer that I'd trust them implicitly.

Some people may rank them in different order, though!

I would personally avoid the cheap and nasty makes(emachines, eisystem, Advent, Clevo), and also HP/Compaq, because HP is a company in turmoil at the moment and their aftersales support has included posting a blank replacement hard drive to a customer instead of recalling the machine under their warranty.

Also avoid Sony, whose pricing is insane and whose tech support team have the worst attitude I have ever encountered.

I usually suggest buyers at least consider a manufacturer extended warranty, because if the hardware goes on a laptop, you haven't a leg to stand on - if you have a warranty, you can more or less make them do your bidding.

If you can, google the model numbers and see if you can find personal reviews from existing owners.

robmar0se

Samsung & Lenovo are the best in my experience, however at the £320-£340 end of the scale don't expect top notch products as they have to skimp somewhere - Dell have now moved away from the bargain basement end, however you can find examples in Dell Outlet stores - (but for heavens sake avoid the Dell M5030 - prone to fail after about 12 months - many cases reported onthe Dell forums). IMO some of the Acer stuff sold at the lower end isn't good, I wouldn't touch it, but as I say thats just IMO.

i3 or dual core? might not make much difference now, but if you're lucky to get it to last 5-6 years i3 would hold you in better stead.