Help with laptop choice, i3, any good?

[geluda]

So my last laptop went out with a bang, literally, and it's time now for me to get another one. My last processor was an intel dual core t6400 and I'm wondering how an i3 would compare to it. I'm guessing an i5 would be closer to what I used to have but I'm not really sure. I don't really use a PC for gaming so graphics cards aren't much of an issue but HD video is nice. I guess I just want it to perform well. So how is the i3? Any good? Or should I look at getting an i5? If I were to use it for anything I guess it would be for HD video editing, image editing, music production, and stuff like that, can't really afford to spend more than £500 so I'm on a budget.

[Cyantist]

It's going to be difficult, Laptops for video editing are generally pretty crap especially HD because it can be difficult to get a good GPU, if you're editing AVCHD £500 is NOT enough, I was looking around and the best I could do for 500 was an i3 that had a GPU equivalent to an 8800.

Are you dead set on a laptop? You could build your own PC and it would be far better than any laptop at that price and do far more.

[Hedgeyourbets]

With what you want to do, I'd suggest going for an i5 if you can afford it, but I'm pretty sure an i3 would still be a step-up from your previous set-up anyway. As I recall there are at least a couple of i5 laptops on the market for less than £500 though. But you sacrifice GPU power for a better CPU

Are you dead set on a laptop? You could build your own PC and it would be far better than any laptop at that price and do far more.

Also this

[Borman]

Like the others are saying, if you want to do any sort of editing, you want at least an i5 prcoessor. Graphics card doesnt matter much as he isnt gaming.

[geluda]

Thanks, sounds like i5 is the way corward. Yeah building a rig is a possibility it just depends on how much money I've got. We get 10% discount from some stores so it's probably a matter of seeing what's available. I guess this is the time I'm having a think about it before I go ahead and buy. I know the only games I'll be playing are old PC games from the PSX era, I think that's probably all I'd want to play. But you can't get it all, sometimes got to make sacrifices and I'm not sure what that is. I got pretty used to watching HD video on YouTube, of anything just being able to do that would make me happy, editing HD video from my camera is something I wanted to do but again that's something I could sacrifice.

My old laptop had T6400 dual core with intel GMA4500HD, if i could equal that, that's what I'm aiming for.

[Zetrox2k]

A small suggestion? It may be worth your while to spend a little bit extra for a low end nVIDIA GPU. Basically, MANY video editing applications are now starting to take advantage of the CUDA technology embedded in nVIDIA GPU's, which can result from a 30-60% performance increase. Im using a couple on my ageing GTX-280 setup, and I'll swear by it.

[DefectX11]

Ivy bridge has HD4000 integrated into the CPU- and has higher performance than HD3000. I had a laptop with HD3000- was surprisingly powerful for an integrated chip. I was able to run games like Portal, HL2, TF2, and emulators perfectly.

From that, I can assume HD4000 is going to be a snappy chip, and so if you're not in serious need of a laptop, hold out for a couple months until budget i5+HD4000 laptops start rolling out.

[retro]

You say graphics card doesn't matter, then you say you want it for video editing (which needs a decent graphics card ideally) and photo editing (ditto - CS6 bitches if you use a shitty graphics card).

I would get a desktop for that if you can avoid getting a laptop - you do want a decent spec, so you'd be shelling out a fair bit on a laptop. Plus it's easier to upgrade when you decide that you DO need a decent graphics card after all! ;)

[geluda]

You say graphics card doesn't matter, then you say you want it for video editing (which needs a decent graphics card ideally) and photo editing (ditto - CS6 bitches if you use a shitty graphics card).

I would get a desktop for that if you can avoid getting a laptop - you do want a decent spec, so you'd be shelling out a fair bit on a laptop. Plus it's easier to upgrade when you decide that you DO need a decent graphics card after all! ;)

Well when I say graphics card doesn't matter I'm talking about some super end card for playing Crisis 2 or something like that. Integrated graphics is pretty mid level and I'm happy with that, as long as I can watch HD videos at a minimum of 720p I'm good.

[Zetrox2k]

Going by a 500 pound budget, im going to take a stab in the dark and say you're in the UK. Found a deal on ebay you may be interested in:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-ACER-A...item3f1725d0c6

Decent specs, i5 CPU, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, 1GB GT610m

[sneakypeanut]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-Lenovo...ht_6231wt_1163 if it was my cash and i had a £400 budget... ive been hunting for a new laptop for Kiff for the last week and i can onistly say there is nothing new i would buy for my own money that costs less than 500 new. although there is a nice quad core amd hp at pcworld right now for £420 that caught my eye momentarily

[LeGIt]

Mobile i5 doesnt have much over i3 other than a few mhz as AFAIK all are dual core + HT. You want a quad core i7 but you can't afford it.

In that case as there is only 2-300mhz difference between i3 and i5 is it worth an extra £100? not really.

So do the next best thing - buy a sandy bridge i3 machine, gut the HDD and drop in an SSD.

http://www.ebuyer.com/288874-toshiba...sc1me-01g00ken + http://www.ebuyer.com/268239-ocz-60g...gt3-25sat3-60g = £405 delivered.

[Zetrox2k]

Scrap my last ebay recommendation, check this out:

500 pounds get you:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Acer-A...ht_5658wt_1139

i7 CPU, 4GB RAM (Very Cheap to upgrade, $40ish for 8gb) 500gb hdd, usb 3.0, and NVIDIA 630m GPU

[geluda]

Thanks for the suggestions people! Keep them coming! So is it conclusive that i3 > T6400? Because if the i3 is superior to my old processor then I'm confident I'll be happy with it.

[Yakumo]

I use an i3 desktop (quad core) and that will play 2 HD 1020p videos at once without any issues. This is a desktop mind you with 2Gig of memory. The PC doesn’t have any special graphics cards in it but will play Model 2 emulation full speed and even runs model 3 at 45fps. So, I’d go for a desktop i3 if you are on a budget and don’t really need a laptop. Personally I use a shitty laptop for work (Celeron 2.5ghz with 1gb ram) which does everything I need in work including photoshop and a bit of YouTube.

Yakumo

[HEX1GON]

Nope, laptops are never good for video editing or anything like that, unless you spend a lot, which I'm guessing you don't.

If mobility is a key thing for you I'd suggest saving up a little longer. I've never liked laptops at all mainly for the fact I can't build my own, and they're known for failure after a while chargers and what not...

Even if you did buy an i3 laptop, video editing is going to drain your battery like a motherfucker, and you'll find yourself plugged to a wall anyway, so get a desktop for this sort of stuff ;)

[Shadowlayer]

Video editing?

On a budget?

AMD A8 quad: you get 4 cores plus a very nice GPU

The i5 would actually be better for gaming, but with video it's all about the cores

And BTW AMD laptops are dirt cheap, I would choose this over Intel any day

[Segata Sanshiro]

I use an i3 desktop (quad core) and that will play 2 HD 1020p videos at once without any issues. This is a desktop mind you with 2Gig of memory. The PC doesn’t have any special graphics cards in it but will play Model 2 emulation full speed and even runs model 3 at 45fps. So, I’d go for a desktop i3 if you are on a budget and don’t really need a laptop. Personally I use a shitty laptop for work (Celeron 2.5ghz with 1gb ram) which does everything I need in work including photoshop and a bit of YouTube.

Yakumo

Aren't i3 dual core with HT, thus dual core? I've got a i3-2100T, 8GB RAM and a 6850 and it's blisteringly quick for what I use it for.

My girlfriend is looking at a new laptop and there's some nice spec Thinkpads on eBay. Looking at a T420 with i5 / 6GB RAM / HD3000 / 7 hour battery.

[Yakumo]

I'm pretty sure mine is quad core. When I get home tonight I'll screen grab the PC info screen. I have a dual core laptop (I own 3 laptops) in the house connected to the TV which I use for MAME and other emulation. That's pretty good with anything under Model 2. It will play Model 2 but needs the frame skip on. You'll see that in my next Retro Core when I do the Saturn VS Arcade versions of Last Bronx.

[7Force]

All i3s are dual core.