HP Laptop i3 vs AMD APU

cazkins

Morning all


I'm looking to buy a new laptop and, despite the arguments for/against HP (as you get with every manufacturer!) I think I'm going to go for them. I've just returned a Lenovo Yoga 2 for faulty use after 2 days so I want to get this one right. I'm looking for 15.6" preferably, decent battery life, reasonable amount of storage (500GB absolute minimum) and speedy with multi-tasking on web pages, some use of Office etc. I've found two I quite like so if anyone can offer any thoughts on what may be fastest that would be fab. I've looked at reviews and CPU benchmarks but can't seem to make a decision.


HP
Pavilion 15-n271sa £329 :
AMD A4-5000M APU 1.5 GHz, 2 MB
Windows 8
Memory: 4 GB
Hard drive: 750 GB
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-n271sa-15-6-laptop-red-21832011-pdt.html


HP Pavilion 15-n299sa £349
Intel® Core™ i3-3217U processor 1.8 GHz, 3 MB cache
Windows 8.1
Memory: 4 GB
Hard drive: 500 GB
http://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/laptops/laptops/hp-pavilion-15-n299sa-15-6-laptop-blue-21862545-pdt.html




The first is a tad cheaper with more storage, but AMD. I've always gone Intel so I'm a bit weary of what this will be like as I don't know as much about the newer chips, ie. with the different speeds & cache. It looks like the better buy but I just need a bit of reassurance about the AMD processor, or someone to tell me to steer clear!


Thanks very much for any thoughts!

GunJack

the apu family are decent, and you'll probably have slightly better graphics on the amd. Benchmarks are only part of the story, can you get into somewhere and try both before deciding?

Cisco001

i3 for your use.

gonzo127

amd for better graphics but slightly slow cpu or i3 for weaker graphics but faster cpu

cazkins

Thanks for the input
I went to check them out (again) in PC World & Currys today as they're next door to each other. I was leaning towards the i3 but then all models in both stores seemed to have something wrong with them. One felt very plasticy, with the battery fallen off the back and a hinge that'd come undone. Lots of laptops, different brands and models included, seemed to be not working in some way. It was rather off-putting... I'm back to the drawing board I think!

BertieBark

I'd recommend you stay away from the HP Pavilion range. There are issues with the lead from the motherboard to the display. Too much open/close and the screen stops working.

agrinnall

BertieBark wrote: »

I'd recommend you stay away from the HP Pavilion range. There are issues with the lead from the motherboard to the display. Too much open/close and the screen stops working.

And I'd recommend that you don't listen too hard to sweeping generalisations - I'm well into my fifth year of daily use on my HP Pavilion laptop and the screen is absolutely fine.

grumpycrab

The lid on my HP Pavilion is getting stiffer to open - but no sign of any graphics problems (2 years old laptop).

EDIT: This Lenovo is a better make and better specced and cheaper?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lenovo-G500-15-6-inch-Laptop-Integrated/dp/B00H3AV8QU/ref=pd_ts_zgc_computers_429886031_2?ie=UTF8&s=computers&pf_rd_p=430271987&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-right-4&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=429886031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=0KYZM118MKPMVSSJH78F

Lenovo G500 15.6-inch Laptop - Black (Intel Core i3-3110M 2.4 GHz, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, DVDRW, Webcam, BT, Integrated Graphics, Windows 8)

Don't worry too much about Windows8; you could leave it as Windows8 but probably better to go straight for the 8.1 upgrade, install all updates, and then image it.

EDIT2: I see you had problems with the Lenovo Yoga 2. Sorry if I've waisted your time with the above.

BertieBark

agrinnall wrote: »

And I'd recommend that you don't listen too hard to sweeping generalisations - I'm well into my fifth year of daily use on my HP Pavilion laptop and the screen is absolutely fine.

I'm basing this on personal experience. Last company I worked at bought around 100 of them and about 30 of those needed display cable replacements. These were G6 series Pavilions which look identical to the one posted above so I would assume the screen cable takes the same kinked route through the hinge (I'm pretty sure that style of Pavilion wasn't available 5 years ago).

Ianh82

i brought 2 of the lenovo G500's and they are good units for the cash. try laptops direct for good deals but the amazon deal is hard to ignore.

Annie1960

BertieBark wrote: »

I'd recommend you stay away from the HP Pavilion range. There are issues with the lead from the motherboard to the display. Too much open/close and the screen stops working.

Another major problem with HP laptops is they tend to overheat. I discovered this when mine did this in month 13 (one month after the warranty expired).

When I googled it, this is a known problem HP have had for a long time, and have never bothered to fix it.

I would not recommend HP laptops, although the HP desktop I have is fine.

A final point - I get my laptops now from John Lewis. They will match other prices, and they usually do a 2 year warranty as standard (and a while ago I noticed they were giving 3 year warranties).