$900 laptop vs $500 one?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Hi there everyone, so recently I've been trying to convince my mom to let me get the sony vaio S series, it weight about 3.8 lbs, 13.5" screen, super thin, comes with 4gb ram, I was gonna upgrade it to an i5 processor (2.3 ghz), with a 500gb 7200 rpm hardrive. The total cost of the unit is going to be around $950. </p>

<p>However, my mom is convinced that I shouldn't be spending that much of my money on a laptop that she believes will not last me throughout all four years of college. Instead she told me to go ahead and just buy an average $500 laptop which is the sony vaio E series, and upgrade again in another two years. My only beef with the E series is that the unit I bought on sale is about 15.5" screen and about 6lbs so the portability isn't as preferred as the other unit. The processor for this is an i3, the batter life lasts about an hour less so no biggie, 500 gb 5400rpm hardrive. </p>

<p>I'm mostly on the computer surfing the internet, doing some digital art on adobe products such as illustrator or photoshop, and I do very very casual gaming (just enough to run League of Legends).</p>

<p>So what I'm asking here is, is it wise to have gotten the cheaper laptop with the option to upgrade in another two years? Or should I just have invested in a nicer one? To be honest, the specs on either laptop are very similar my worry was the mobility of it all as I know my classes are mostly back to back so I'd be carrying my laptop and a couple of school books with me. But I know that technology is always changing and in two years, I probably could buy a better laptop than the one I bought now for cheaper the price. BAAAAH, I really don't know what to think of it all! Q____Q</p>

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<p>Mom is right tho Photoshop on an i3/integrated graphics may be a bit of a lost cause.</p>

<p>Look at other brands except Sony, for $600-700 you may find an i5 + discrete graphics. No reason to pay for the coolness factor :-)</p>

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<p>Instead of focusing on two laptops, expand your search to a maximum budget of $1000 (+50 from your original laptop cost). Personally, I invested in a laptop that’ll last me through all of college, and perhaps grad school too. But you’re right, technology is constantly changing. I thought I maxed out my options when I purchased my laptop, only to find slightly better specs a few months after.</p>

<p>You can narrow your search down by determining the following:</p>

<p>*Weight: Since you’re lugging books around, you need a lighter one.
*Screen Size: 13.5 seems fine for you.
*Hard Drive: Do you really need 500GB? I took a 128GB SSD over a 500GB 7200RPM. Still haven’t filled it, and I just put all of my movies on an external hard drive.
*Processor: Let’s look at an i5 and an i7.
*RAM: 2-4GB should do you fine.</p>

<p>Don’t forget to factor in the cost of accesories (mouse if you don’t like the trackpad, headset/headphones, case, etc.), and “legally” purchasing applications.</p>

<p>Now, go to NewEgg.com and do a search based on your preferences. Once you find a few that you like, eBay it, Google Products it and find the cheapest price available. Remember to ensure warranty is provided.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t fork in an extra $450 for:</p>

<p>*2 Pounds Lighter Weight
*+ 1800 more rpm</p>

<p>You could use that $450 for, let’s say, paying someone to hold your laptop around campus for you ;]</p>

<p>Only think I might even look at is the processor difference.</p>

<p>Anywaaays, good luck!</p>

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<p>If a laptop is lasting you only two years, your doing it wrong…Look for a decent laptop in the 600-700$ catagory. Look for Toshiba.</p>

<p>Anecdotal evidence alert:
My first toshiba was $500 and lasted me through tech school and a deployment to Iraq. After two years it was still in good enough condition to sell. I got 200$ for it.
My second toshiba was $1400 and lasted 4 years and two deployments, in fact I still have it. I’d still be using it if my dog didn’t chew threw the power cord.</p>

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<p>You get diminishing returns the higher up you go for laptops, I wouldn’t spend more than $600 on one especially for your uses.</p>

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<p>Vaio S would have been better.</p>

<p>The problem is that intel integrated graphics are still out of reach of good performance on league of legends.</p>

<p>Also as for what people are saying about spending less and upgrading in 2 years, the answer is no. Intel’s roadmap is a processor update every year, which offer pretty modest performance gains over the previous generation. So, the performance gain is exponential, but over a short period (such as 2 years) is very insignificant. At best, a $500 computer in 2 years can hope to be equal performance to a $900 in 2 years.</p>

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<p>Your mom is right. Buy a cheap laptop and get another one in half the time.</p>

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<p>I registered just to post this.</p>

<p>The laptop I won from my scholarship has the core i3 with the Intel HD graphics core inside it. It is NOT the same as the Intel x4500. I can run League of Legends and HoN fine with no fps lag with all low settings. (40-60 fps constant)</p>

<p>The latest generation of Intel graphics paired with the core i3/i5/i7 can handle light gaming fine.</p>

<p>[Fujitsu</a> America - LIFEBOOK&reg TH700 Tablet PC](<a href=“http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=TH700]Fujitsu”>http://store.shopfujitsu.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=TH700)</p>

<p>^^ Link to my exact model that I will be playing LoL + HoN on when I start school in the fall.</p>