Which to buy? Don't know how much spec I need

L

Lookin2Learn

New Member
I'm currently typing on my new(ish) Inspiron 11 3000, 4GB RAM, Pentium N3700 processor, 500GB HDD, 2 in 1 laptop/tablet. I like the form factor a lot, but whenever I open multiple tabs or even one tab with a lot of content it's just SOOOO SLOWWWWWW.

I've done a small bit of googling and thought that I didn't need more than a budget processor (I don't do much more than MS Office and/or multi-tab browsing with music playing in the background, or video streaming). I'm not very educated on what makes one computer better than another, but I'm regretting whatever mistakes I made in purchasing my current machine and looking to replace it. Was the processor speed my only mistake, or do I need more RAM as well? Would SDD be worth the money for me if I'm not constantly powering my laptop on and off or opening new programs?

I'm willing to spend $900 if that's what it'll take to get a laptop that will perform my above described duties for the next few years as quickly and seamlessly as I'll reasonably notice, but I'd prefer to not spend more than I need to if I can get away with a $500 machine (obviously). I'm not playing demanding video games or editing videos or anything
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, the problems you have I feel are the following.

1. Pentium processor - even though this model is a quad core its only at 1.6 ghz at stock. Should get an Intel I5
2. Only 4gb of ram - Should have 8gb.
3. Standard 5400 rpm hdd - get an SSD drive.


So you should be able to get something great for less than $600. Just have to look around. What you can try doing first though is get a 250gb Samsung 850 EVO and clone your original drive to the SSD and see how the system reacts then. Spend the $90 for the SSD first to see if that helps alot. If not, then you know you need more ram and more cpu. What web browser do you use? If you use Chrome it will use a decent amount of ram for every tab/window you have open.
 
FuryRosewood

FuryRosewood

Active Member
Going to suggest the inspiron 7559 off dell's site, check for rebates and stuff, I was able to sneak another 250 off the price off my 7559, its a big laptop...but its pretty powerful, and comes standard with a i5, 8 gigs of ram and a 1tb harddrive and 1080p screen. with some tweaks to the way some apps use the nvidia card (to not use it) you can get in excess of 5 hours on the battery. (ive seen mine go to nearly 10 hours)

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15-7559-laptop/pd?oc=fncwpw5715h&l=en&s=dhs

i added an additional stick of ram and a samsung 850 evo to mine for less than 120 bucks, and it screams, takes about 10 seconds to boot.
 
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L

Lookin2Learn

New Member
What are you doing that requires more than 8 gigs of RAM? Aka, would 8 be insufficient for normal use in my case?

How does this model look? Am I missing any downsides? It seems to fit the bill, as it has the 8gb RAM, new i5, and SSD (big enough? I figure that if I accumulate too many files I can buy an external drive. Side note/question: what does the 8gb of flash cache on the 7559 hard drive in the link you posted do to improve performance?)
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron...9527&sr=1-10&keywords=inspiron+15+7000+2+in+1

Thanks for all the help guys
 
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