Help me decide between 2 Labtops

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DakAttack

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Hi everyone, Im in need of your help. Im buying a labtop for my wife within the next few days and have narrowed the choice down to 2 that I can purchase locally. I know nothing about computers so thats why I've come to ask.

http://www.bjs.com/toshiba-satellite-c67....product.195984
oshiba Satellite C675-S7212 17.3" Laptop with AMD Dual-Core C-50 Accelerated Processor, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD - Black

Or
http://www.bjs.com/asus-x53e-xr2-156-lap....product.192686
ASUS X53E-XR2 15.6" Laptop with Intel Pentium B940 Processor, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD - Grey

I would like to know which out of the 2 you would recommend, She will using it mainly to video chat with her family and web surfing and online socializing. Im sure anyone of these 2 would fit her needs, but is one considered better than the other. Im looking at a budget of under $400 and these fit it locally. If you recommend one from best buy that would fit her needs and be a better buy in regards to hardware please post it. Thank you everyone!!
 
The Asus would be my choice. It will do everything you need it to.
Laptops now have more memory and speed than 95% of users will use.
I buy one every year during our tax free weekend in August. $299 $350. Pass the old one down to the kids or nephews and nieces.
 
Neither, this one

Best Buy- Toshiba L755-S5218


Edit: Note that the spec page on that is wrong. It is 1.5Ghz Quad Core, not 2.3. I'll have to call helpdesk and have them fix that. But the Pentium Dual Core is 2Ghz, and though faster clock for clock, I'd take the Quad core, with the much faster graphics chip that it comes with (6550 equivalent)

If you wanted to go with Intel, there is also this one
Best Buy- Toshiba L755-S5217

In terms of case design, both of these are much nicer than either of the others. The C series Toshibas I'd almost call hateful.
 
Last edited:
ASUS. I always choose Intel over AMD if the cost and features are close. My preference, YMMV. ASUS has been making solid products for a while now.
 
Chip preference today would be intel; fastest, coolest running and most energy conserving. ASUS has been around a long time and has always made great products.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R
Neither, this one

Best Buy- Toshiba L755-S5218


Edit: Note that the spec page on that is wrong. It is 1.5Ghz Quad Core, not 2.3. I'll have to call helpdesk and have them fix that. But the Pentium Dual Core is 2Ghz, and though faster clock for clock, I'd take the Quad core, with the much faster graphics chip that it comes with (6550 equivalent)

If you wanted to go with Intel, there is also this one
Best Buy- Toshiba L755-S5217

In terms of case design, both of these are much nicer than either of the others. The C series Toshibas I'd almost call hateful.


I side with nick on this one. Although toshiba isnt as great as they once used to be because they bundle tons of spam with their laptops but most mfrs. do now anyways. and they are still a decent machine and they build them well for the money usually. (I still have a bad taste in my mouth from early asus motherboards and voltage regulator issues and the customer support.. or lack thereof back then)
 
If you want 17.3" laptop then Leveno G770 with Intel Core i5-2410 Dual Core for $500 at Fry's is a better buy.

If you like to spend $400 (a little more after tax), then Acer Aspire AS5733-6607 with Intel Core i3-370M at $398 at Walmart is a better buy. This is what I bought for my daughter 2 days ago.
 
I have a feeling Asus is somewhat overrated.
Take a loot at Lenovo and Toshiba offerings before you decide.
Our Lenovos have been rock solid for over 9 years
 
Asus & Toshiba have been sharing the top spots in reliability for some years now with Asus barely in the lead. I am a Toshiba fan through and through but of the two you have asked about I would choose the Asus.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
I have a feeling Asus is somewhat overrated.
Take a loot at Lenovo and Toshiba offerings before you decide.
Our Lenovos have been rock solid for over 9 years


You'd be surprised at how many companies use ASUS as their OEM.....
 
Just that Asus seems to be surrounded by a lot of fan- boy'ish people (not All of them).
Companies using a brand as OEM also has to do with what they get for the lowest amount of $$, right? May not necessarily be an indication of quality.
 
Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Just that Asus seems to be surrounded by a lot of fan- boy'ish people (not All of them).
Companies using a brand as OEM also has to do with what they get for the lowest amount of $$, right? May not necessarily be an indication of quality.


Basically: They've built more laptops than anyone. And what they've learned NOT to do OEM'ing for other companies (HP and Compaq for example.... Sony, even Apple) they apply to their own laptops.

That is why there have been numerous significant design changes on their laptops over the last few years: They know what DOESN'T work, and are working on figuring out what DOES.

And yes, there are a lot of ASUS fans out there. They are the world's largest motherboard manufacturer, and one of the oldest. They have a reputation for making very good enthusiast-type products such as any of their "coloured" PCB motherboards, and the G-series Notebooks.

They've had their issues in the past too. Bad capacitors come to mind on certain boards, but that affected every motherboard manufacturer I can think of, and if anything, ASUS was the least affected.

Their customer service/support is also excellent in Canada*. I've heard it is not as good in the USA. I'm also a big fan of their Accidental Damage Warranty, having used it numerous times for clients who have buggered their laptop in one way or another.





*I have a reseller account with them, so my customer service experience may not necessarily be representative of what somebody who bought an ASUS Notebook at FutureShop is going to receive. I am also only about two hours from the repair depot, so the turnaround is excellent. Consumer or reseller, they will pay shipping both ways and send you a box to RMA the device in, complete with packing material.
 
I've likewise only had extremely positive experiences with them. Their design and implementation on their laptops really are second to none.

I was a fanboy of AMD stuff in highschool, but that's the only company I've ever been a fanboy for.
 
Hi guys thanks for the responses, I have not forgotten about this thread I just cant post up whenever I want cause of working 7 days a week and taking care of my toddler in between. I am keeping current with it through my smartphone. Thanks Nick for the best buy suggestions I passed it by her and she said if the labtops at bestbuy are significantly better than the ones I mentioned than yes we will spend the extra $$ for it, But I could answer her ques as too whether they were significantly better.. Are they??

And thank you HTSS for mentioning walmart, I completely forgot they had labtops. Ill be checking out that acer aspire that you mentioned. Does everyone believe that acer through walmart is better than the ones I posted up??

Thank you everyone!
 
Originally Posted By: DakAttack
Hi guys thanks for the responses, I have not forgotten about this thread I just cant post up whenever I want cause of working 7 days a week and taking care of my toddler in between. I am keeping current with it through my smartphone. Thanks Nick for the best buy suggestions I passed it by her and she said if the labtops at bestbuy are significantly better than the ones I mentioned than yes we will spend the extra $$ for it, But I could answer her ques as too whether they were significantly better.. Are they??

And thank you HTSS for mentioning walmart, I completely forgot they had labtops. Ill be checking out that acer aspire that you mentioned. Does everyone believe that acer through walmart is better than the ones I posted up??

Thank you everyone!


Yes. The Processor in the S5217 is significantly better than the B940. The 2310m and the B940 are both Sandy Bridge processors, but the i3 is like the V6, and the B940 is the N/A 4 cylinder. The minimum Intel chip I'd take is the i3.

The S5218 has a good processor, Quad core if a bit lower clocked, but it's still going to be nearly as fast in every day stuff as the 2310m. The biggest advantage with the AMD chip is the Fusion APU, comes with the Radeon 6550 graphics chip integrated onto the processor, which absolutely blows the Intel GMA out of the water.
 
Originally Posted By: Nick R

The S5218 has a good processor, Quad core if a bit lower clocked, but it's still going to be nearly as fast in every day stuff as the 2310m. The biggest advantage with the AMD chip is the Fusion APU, comes with the Radeon 6550 graphics chip integrated onto the processor, which absolutely blows the Intel GMA out of the water.


Yeah..... about that:

PCMark Vantage
http://3dmark.com/compare/pcmv/464715/pcmv/440602

AMD/Intel
PCMark: 4542.0 7467.0 PCMarks
Memories: 2992.0 4748.0
TV and Movies: 3252.0 3823.0
Gaming: 3570.0 6900.0
Music: 4416.0 8988.0
Communications: 3794.0 5619.0
Productivity: 3622.0 9894.0
HDD: 3359.0 24410.0


3DMark 2011:
http://3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/1716071/3dm11/1395412

AMD/Intel
GraphicsTest1: 8.74 6.75 FPS
GraphicsTest2: 7.74 6.49 FPS
GraphicsTest3: 8.76 8.64 FPS
GraphicsTest4: 5.2 4.87 FPS
PhysicsTest: 6.51 7.22 FPS
CombinedTest: 5.94 4.83 FPS

In JUST graphics (3DMark), the AMD entry is only SLIGHTLY faster than the Intel offering, whilst in PCMark, the Intel CPU absolutely DOMINATES the AMD entry.
 
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