Tell me I am stupid and help me decide

Ok, I have the choice of two laptops (both the same price), never owned or used either line, so I don't know build quality etc from them. First is a XPS 12, it has a i5-3337U, 4GB ram, 128GB SSD, and I believe it is a 1080 panel, which is a nice and it is also touch, but I don't like finger prints so I will probably never use it, the SSD doesn't really matter, as I have a spare SSD I will put in whatever laptop I end up getting anyway.

The second is a Pavilion, While the XPS probably has a far better build, the Pavilion has a 4702MQ, 8GB ram, 1TB HDD (will replace with the spare SSD I have) and a HD 8670M 2GB.

The geek in me is just screaming "MORE POWER" when really the older Lonovo I have with a i5 460m does everything I want it to and the 3337U is more powerful than it is and also has updated 4600 iGPU. I don't do gaming on my laptops, it is used for travel and watching movies in bed, some photoshop (the quad would rape the U processor here) and data logging for my car. How far off is the HP build over the Dell? If it is a large gap I would rather take a performance hit for something made like a tank, but if it is more for looks (carbon fiber body) or size/weight, that matters little for me, as I don't go for looks and I don't carry it around.

Anyone have hands on with these two? I don't know anywhere local that has these two so it is a bit hard for me to get hands on myself, but I am still looking.

as requested you are stupid also consumer crap? look at workstations!

maxius said:

look at workstations!

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Not sure if serious....

what do you do? Do either of these laptops meet your recreational or professional needs? If it were me, I'd go with the more capable laptop. If you are going to replace the disk drive to be faster, you already have your answer.

And oh, you're stupid

They both meet the needs, the XPS however has a great build, metal and carbon fiber and a 1080 IPS panel, something that would be nice for watching movies (something I do often with my laptop). While I agree about the more capable laptop, often times all the more powerful stuff being added (for the same price) the laptop takes a hit in build, while I don't carry it around often and my current laptop is coming up on 3 or 4 years of use and it still looks brand new, so I take care of my stuff, I don't want to have a cheaply built laptop that might give me problems down the road.

yup, u already have your answer.

Is there a reason it is between these two specifically?

The i5-3337u has a HD4000. The difference is also Ivybridge vs Haswell not just the number of cores.

In terms of actual real world Photoshop performance it will be workload dependent, I wouldn't just assume a Quad will provide a noticeably better experience just by the theoretical performance advantage. The ram difference between the two would likely come into play more. But also again 4gb ram/ULV processor is already in practice very suitable for Photoshop for most usage scenarios.

Also for graphics work you need to consider the display quality unless you are primarily going to use an external.

The XPS 12 has a known common issue regarding screen burn with its display. Try searching about this first.

Not sure what HP model you are referring to specifically. The XPS 12 is very portable and usable on the go at 12.5inches and convertible to a tablet.

The HD 8670M GPU in the HP by the way has very poor performance and I can suspect is mainly included as a check box feature, don't expect much out of it.

The quad will without a doubt do better in PS, we are talking newer CPU with 2 extra cores and twice the ram, the GPU does not matter to me, as I don't game on laptops. I don't do graphics work, it is more just messing around when I am bored and away from home, if I am going to do any real work with photoshop, like with gaming, I get on my desktop. Price is the only reason for looking at these two, looking to keep it under $700.

I'd go with the Dell. Laptops in general aren't exactly "resilient" and going with HP means sacrifices to quality that's already taken a massive hit.

Anecdotally, never really liked any of the HP laptops I've had to repair. Felt very cheap and relatively harder to fix compared to Dell.

Been a while since I have done computer repair, but I remember when I did it, they all felt cheap. But then again most people buy the cheapest ones they can find. Most MFGs out there now make nice laptops....But they also make cheap ones as well, which are the ones most people buy. I think my price range is still on the cheapish/mid range area.

BlueFireIce said:

The quad will without a doubt do better in PS, we are talking newer CPU with 2 extra cores and twice the ram, the GPU does not matter to me, as I don't game on laptops. I don't do graphics work, it is more just messing around when I am bored and away from home, if I am going to do any real work with photoshop, like with gaming, I get on my desktop. Price is the only reason for looking at these two, looking to keep it under $700.

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The quad will be faster but I said you should keep in mind what the actual real world performance difference will be between the two for you as opposed to the theoretical benchmark differences.

For instance how much of your current time is actually spent waiting for the computer? The faster CPU is only going to help with that portion of your workflow, and even then only to a limited degree.

Just something to keep in mind.

limitedaccess said:

The quad will be faster but I said you should keep in mind what the actual real world performance difference will be between the two for you as opposed to the theoretical benchmark differences.

For instance how much of your current time is actually spent waiting for the computer? The faster CPU is only going to help with that portion of your workflow, and even then only to a limited degree.

Just something to keep in mind.

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Oh this I know. Which is why I brought up my old laptop that has a i5 460m, which the i5 in the XPS is already faster than, yet it still does everything I need just fine.

It has been so long since I looked at laptops, it is taking a good bit of research to find out what models are worth a damn from each MFG. Found a few Asus in my price range that seem quite nice such as this one or this one.

BlueFireIce said:

Not sure if serious....

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Not a workstation in the desktop sense, but a mobile workstation. The higher end business class laptops.

If all you need is general computing, I'd direct you to business class as well. I've had a few laptops, and handled several others. My current Dell Esomething or other is the most solid feeling computer I've owned. It doesn't feel "premium" but it does feel robust if that makes any sense. Since I graduated I rarely use it though.

For example:
http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...x?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb&brandid=2801&fid=9489

I had looked at some business class, but most were well over 1k for more basic newer gen models, found some open box/refurb ones, but still well over 800 for the cheapest ones.

I did find a new option however, the IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro, Microcenter has a few open box ones for 570, its an 4200U i5, so still more than enough power for what I do, 4GB ram...sadly soldered to the mobo, but 4gb is fine for just about anything other than PS, a 128GB SSD, best part being a touchscreen IPS 3200x1800 panel, and it is local so I can go and see it in person.

There's one in that link for high 700s.

My budget however is $700, which is allot for what I will be using it for. They are great builds, and lots of ports, and long battery life, and they really do seem to be built like a tank, however that good of build quality is a bit over the top to bust my budget for. If I was still doing pipeline and all my PC use was mobile, I would have no problem justifying 1k+ on a laptop, but those days are over. The IdeaPad seems to have a really good build, and all the reviews talked about how solid it was in feel and build, with the 4th gen i5 it gets good battery life, far more than I will ever use though a good bit short of the Dells. It also has Win8.1 which I have been meaning to try out with more than just 10mins at a store, kinda annoying on laptops, a bit less so on those with touch, but I think most of the problems will be solved with me getting use to it. The SSD should make it feel snappy and from all the reviews I have seen the screen is just beautiful. And, the kicker of all is it is under budget, so I can use the extra money on something else.

Is there something wrong with the old Lenovo you reference that just not spending money isn't an option?

Parents old computer went bust, after a storm rolled in and killed all sorts of stuff, so I built them a computer from left over parts I had and put linux on it, didn't go so well, but they started to learn even though I still get calls often about something, however my mothers health has not been so great and spends allot of the time in and out of the hospital and traveling from specialist to specialist and the last time I was over for a visit she commented about how nice it was and how much more she liked Win7, so I told her to keep it, and I am now in the market for a replacement.

Edit:

Going to look at the laptop tomorrow...Err, today, God I hate working nightshift. Any luck I might have my new laptop!

Well, I have a new laptop. Went to MC and looked at the Yoga 2 Pro and it was awesome, biggest first impression was the screen, my first IPS on a laptop and it is so nice looking, everything is so crisp, and the touch screen is better than any phone or tablet I have used. When I picked it up first thought was how light it was compaired to my old laptop, and then second thought was how heavy it was for the size, but maybe "heavy" is not the right word, more like heft, it felt from the weight well made, and everything feels solid, with no flex at all which was something I was worried about on the keyboard for something so thin. Performance is very snappy, not as fast as my old laptop with opening things, but I also had a much faster SSD in it...Might buy a nice M500 for it since I saved so much already on the laptop.

The ability to use as a tablet I don't think I will use much, other than maybe movies, but it is there none the less. The keyboard is flat as well as the touch pad, so nothing will hit them when is tablet mode, but still feels a bit odd hitting the keys with my palm. Over all, so far, with limited use, I like it allot, and for $616 after tax I think it was a steal.

$600ish for an ultrabook styled machine is indeed very good.