i5 4th Generation: Which processor and additional RAM?

[Brian777]

I'm shopping for a new laptop/ultrabook. First place is the Lenovo ThinkPad T440s i5.

Should I pay extra for a 4300U vs. 4200U?

Should I pay $80 more to upgrade to 8GB RAM from 4?

I'm mostly a business user, spending most of my time with MS Office, Email, and Web-based applications. I'd like the laptop to last 5 years, so if I can get another year of service before it becomes obsolete by paying a bit more, it's worth it to me.

 

[Junit151]

For a laptop, the processor is vastly more important than any other part. I would definitely go for the more premium option as it is likely to outlive the cheaper one. The same is true for desktop CPUs. An i7 from a few years ago beats a low-end i5 from today.

 

[Deathreaper610]

4300U: 1.9GHz while 4200: 1.6 GHz. Go for the 4300U.
The 8gb or more RAM is a waste in my opinion as only heavy video editing softwares and games require that much RAM. But if you run many background applications and open many tabs in your web browser simultaneously and stuff like that then go for 8gb RAM upgrade.
PS: You will need a 64 bit OS to utilize over 4 gb of RAM