HELP!: ASUS UX330UA vs ASUS UX430UA

[smalltownboy]

I am going into college next year and am in need of a laptop. I've been caught between these two Zenbooks for a while and would like someone's opinion on which one to get (so which one is more worthwhile).

In college, I am a science major and am going to be writing fairly often. I also plan to download some games, so I would like a laptop that is good enough to perform this task.

Here's a short description of both laptops:

UX330UA (~$750):
- 13.3 inches
- FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5
- 8 GB LPDDR3 (RAM)
- 2.6 pounds
- 256 GB
- around 9 hours of battery life
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075N1YHVK/?coliid=I3S7UZWVPJXMX4&colid=36XXBHME4QG7U&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

UX430UA (~$1,000):
- 14 inches
- FHD 1920 x 1080 pixels
- 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7
- 16 GB LPDDR3_SDRAM
- 2.9 pounds
- 512 GB
- around 9 hours of battery life
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0768M9KVY/?coliid=I3EHVBTVNBIJGK&colid=36XXBHME4QG7U&psc=0

Let me know, thanks!

 

[hang-the-9]

Neither of those will be good for games, of course the pricier one is better, double the RAM and double the drive size and a better CPU, larger screen. Do you want to save money or get a larger screen and faster system with more drive space? Up to you.

If you want a gaming system at a decent price, this is pretty good https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-7567-Laptop-i5-7300HQ/dp/B07793DRK9/ref=pd_day0_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07793DRK9&pd_rd_r=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&pd_rd_w=AlY2k&pd_rd_wg=M39EB&refRID=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&th=1 although a lot larger than the ones you are looking at.

A small system for gaming will be pretty expensive. This is OK but you have a smaller SSD so most things will need to be installed on the slower standard drive, unless you upgrade the drive yourself https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VLX5XV/ref=psdc_13896615011_t2_B01N0V9QP3

 

[smalltownboy]

Neither of those will be good for games, of course the pricier one is better, double the RAM and double the drive size and a better CPU, larger screen. Do you want to save money or get a larger screen and faster system with more drive space? Up to you.

If you want a gaming system at a decent price, this is pretty good https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-7567-Laptop-i5-7300HQ/dp/B07793DRK9/ref=pd_day0_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07793DRK9&pd_rd_r=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&pd_rd_w=AlY2k&pd_rd_wg=M39EB&refRID=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&th=1 although a lot larger than the ones you are looking at.

A small system for gaming will be pretty expensive. This is OK but you have a smaller SSD so most things will need to be installed on the slower standard drive, unless you upgrade the drive yourself https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VLX5XV/ref=psdc_13896615011_t2_B01N0V9QP3

Are neither of the computers I listed at least okay for gaming? Of course gaming isn't my main focus, so I wouldn't mind playing on low quality settings. Also, which one is better for multitasking (having multiple tabs open, doing different stuff)?

 

[hang-the-9]

Neither of those will be good for games, of course the pricier one is better, double the RAM and double the drive size and a better CPU, larger screen. Do you want to save money or get a larger screen and faster system with more drive space? Up to you.

If you want a gaming system at a decent price, this is pretty good https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-7567-Laptop-i5-7300HQ/dp/B07793DRK9/ref=pd_day0_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07793DRK9&pd_rd_r=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&pd_rd_w=AlY2k&pd_rd_wg=M39EB&refRID=33MV6B9FS34EC69Z962X&th=1 although a lot larger than the ones you are looking at.

A small system for gaming will be pretty expensive. This is OK but you have a smaller SSD so most things will need to be installed on the slower standard drive, unless you upgrade the drive yourself https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VLX5XV/ref=psdc_13896615011_t2_B01N0V9QP3

Are neither of the computers I listed at least okay for gaming? Of course gaming isn't my main focus, so I wouldn't mind playing on low quality settings. Also, which one is better for multitasking (having multiple tabs open, doing different stuff)?

Multitasking is hugely overused, any modern system with 8 GB of RAM or even 4 can handle working on several things at once, within reason. The second one is clearly better, is it $250 better is for you to decide. The cheaper system will do any basic task with no issues.

Neither is good for games outside of older ones and less demanding things like Diablo 3 or SIMS. It may run a decent amount of games on low settings with maybe lowered resolution but to check which ones, you need to check the games you are looking to play and check on some benchmarks.