Budget Laptop for video watching

[drew73186]

Quick question: Frequently use computer so want great performance. Most use is watching videos on computer and attached 32" LCD - streaming TV show, Netflix, DVD etc alongside normal web use. No gaming. Looking for best use of money that will run these and Win7/8 well without performance lags. Looking at these two vs an i3-2 or A6/A8, but want minimum effective product (HD space, screen size is less relevant to me). Will also pop an SSD in.

2) $360 Fujistu AH532 i3-3110M
Windows® 8 (64 bit)
Intel® HD Graphics 4000
6 GB DDR3 1600 MHz SDRAM memory (4 GB + 2 GB)
Gigabit Ethernet LAN 10/100/1000
Intel® Wireless Display (WiDi) and integrated Bluetooth v4 +HS
HDMI port,
3 USB 3.0
1 USB 2.0 connector (one with Anytime USB Charge capability)
Lithium ion (6-cell, 10.8V, 4400 mAh, 48Wh)

3) $410 Dell I15-2728BK i5-3210M
Windows® 8 (64 bit)
Intel® HD Graphics 4000
4GB DDR3 RAM
Bluetooth 3+HS
USB2.0 x 3
HDMI
6 Cell Battery.

Love price of B820 if it will suit my needs, love WiDi, bluetooth and USB 3.0 of Fujistu, but if I need the i5-3 of the Dell, esp to potentially run BluRay, then so be it. Thanks

 

[-Fran-]

The extra 2GB of RAM will be more noticeable for you down the road (unless you plan to get more RAM right away). So, I'd say the Fujitsu is a better buy. Also, the mobile i3 and i5 are NOT that far away from each other in performance. The i3 only lacks turbo boost and a little cache (I think).

Cheers!

 

[jaguarskx]

The primary difference between the core i3 and i5 is that the i5 has Turbo Boost which is basically an automatic overclock depending on the CPU temperature and how many cores are being used (1 or 2). Both CPUs are dual core mobile processors.

The i3 will be fine for watching Blu-Ray movies since that format takes the most processing power to decode the video so that you can watch it. The Intel HD 4000 will be doing most of that decoding.

The AMD APU A6/A8 are also good alternatives. The Intel HD 4000 would be more powerful than the integrated core in the A6, but less powerful than the integrated core in the A8. This info should not make a difference unless you intend on playing games. Since all iGPUs are capable of handling video playback.

Cost wise, an PC built around the A6/A8 may cost just as much or less than a PC with the i3, but you need to look into that for yourself.

 

[jaguarskx]

6GB vs 4GB of RAM won't make any difference based on what you want to do. Even if you decide to play games, there will not be an impact.