Laptop recommendations and questions around £400-500

[Skirrow]

Hi, I'm looking for a new laptop for my daughter. She uses it for light gaming which includes the odd 3D game, but graphics aren't too important to her as long as the games run OK. (she was happy with her ASUS X555YA with AMD A6-7310 2.2 GHz Processor, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD but it packed up)


Looking for 1TB hard drive, 8GB ram. Probably 15" screen but she might consider a 17"

I've seen this 15" @ £399 - Lenovo IdeaPad 310 i3 6100U -

and this 17" @ £499 - Lenovo IdeaPad 320 AMD A10-9620P

The A10 seems to be the better chip on paper but it's older and seems to perform worse in benchmarks according to random sites on google. Any thoughts on this?

Also, any other recommendations or other laptops I should consider?



Second question, she stores loads of stuff and installs loads of games from steam, hence the 1TB HD. I notice that SSD drives are popular these days. Is it a stupid idea to buy her a laptop with 256GB SSD and then put her games etc on an external 1TB drive?

Thanks!

** No Competitors **

 

[DraxDomax]

1. I've had lots of AMD's, they do indeed do better on paper than they do in real life. Give me two machines, both same level, one AMD, the other Intel - I will always guess the Intel one.
I would go with the intel machine.
2. I would go for a 'new-other' laptop on ebay. The prices are drastically reduced and some of the laptops are practically brand new. Read carefully.
3. I wouldn't say stupid but you are gaming on a budget here so let's think how to squeeze the most value.
a. Why does she need an SSD?
b. Why go external rather than internal? They are slower, more expensive and, in some ways, less reliable.
I would say: get her a 1TB and ask her to manage it the best she can. Teach her to make do with what she has, not what daddy will buy (bit of parenting advice as well! ) and if she does indeed more storage, adding it up would be easy and it's a cost I believe you should be able to postpone for a few months.

 

[coupe69]

b. Why go external rather than internal? They are slower, more expensive and, in some ways, less reliable.
I would say: get her a 1TB and ask her to manage it the best she can. Teach her to make do with what she has, not what daddy will buy (bit of parenting advice as well! ) and if she does indeed more storage, adding it up would be easy and it's a cost I believe you should be able to postpone for a few months.

There's no way I'd ever want a mechanical drive over a SSD for a boot drive, especially in a laptop where it'll no doubt be a slow 5400RPM drive.

It's possible on certain laptops to replace the optical drive with a HDD caddy, therefore enabling internal storage to be added later on.

 

[DraxDomax]

"There's no way I'd ever want a mechanical drive over a SSD for a boot drive"
No way, really?
How did we manage for decades before the SSD made it inside laptops?
We somehow survived!

Of course "there's no way I'd ever want a beetle over a Ferrari" but remember this guy has 400/500 quid to play with.

Therefore, it's obvious to prefer a good 1TB HDD over some el-cheapo 128GB SSD
HDD's boot just fine and perform just fine.

 

[coupe69]

"There's no way I'd ever want a mechanical drive over a SSD for a boot drive"
No way, really?

Yes, no way! Why struggle on with a poor performing mechanical drive when a SSD can be had for a few quid more? His budget of £400-£500 should easily be enough to incorporate a SSD.

Therefore, it's obvious to prefer a good 1TB HDD over some el-cheapo 128GB SSD
HDD's boot just fine and perform just fine.

Obvious, really? The benefits far outweigh the loss in space. Not only will you experience far better performance, you'll also gain better battery life, lighter weight and silent operation. SSD's and laptops were made for each other. If you really need a load of space then there's either cloud options, an external USB hdd or as I mentioned before convert the optical drive into another hdd.