Tossing up between these two laptops for student use

[petrou58]

I need a laptop for student use. It will be mainly be for word processing, multi-tab browsing and basic image editing. Maybe with the occasional movie, no gaming tho.

I need to buy from this website due to discounts and such (about 50%), I narrowed it down to these two:

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/computers-tablets/computers/laptops/hp-15-ba031au-15-6-laptop.html

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/acer-aspire-s5-371t-35pd-13-3-modern-pc-laptop.html

HP Pros: 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, dedicated graphics, larger screen

Acer Pros: 1080 resolution, lighter

I feel like not having 1080 is a dealbreaker, but that might be just my lack of knowledge talking. Would 768 res be noticeable on a 15.6" monitor?

 

[HDMI703]

I need a laptop for student use. It will be mainly be for word processing, multi-tab browsing and basic image editing. Maybe with the occasional movie, no gaming tho.

I need to buy from this website due to discounts and such (about 50%), I narrowed it down to these two:

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/computers-tablets/computers/laptops/hp-15-ba031au-15-6-laptop.html

http://www.harveynorman.com.au/acer-aspire-s5-371t-35pd-13-3-modern-pc-laptop.html

HP Pros: 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, dedicated graphics, larger screen

Acer Pros: 1080 resolution, lighter

I feel like not having 1080 is a dealbreaker, but that might be just my lack of knowledge talking. Would 768 res be noticeable on a 15.6" monitor?

The acer laptop is better for you because of the 1080 screen, it fits much more text on one page. But if you start any gaming or power hungry programs the hp is gonna be better.

 

[petrou58]

Yeah thats what I was thinking about the screen but wasn't sure.

Also been looking at off-lease laptops particularly:

https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP4320/HP-Probook-430-G1-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i5
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP8474/HP-Elitebook-8470p-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i

They're much cheaper and seem to have decent parts, and are probably built to last due to the professional nature of them.

EDIT:

An old lenovo thinkpad has 900p res
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKLEN440/ThinkPad-T440-SSD-Notebook-OFF-LEASEIntel-Corei5-4

so it's currently between this and the Acer

200 dollars cheaper refurbished vs new

 

[HDMI703]

Yeah thats what I was thinking about the screen but wasn't sure.

Also been looking at off-lease laptops particularly:

https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP4320/HP-Probook-430-G1-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i5
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP8474/HP-Elitebook-8470p-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i

They're much cheaper and seem to have decent parts, and are probably built to last due to the professional nature of them.

EDIT:

An old lenovo thinkpad has 900p res
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKLEN440/ThinkPad-T440-SSD-Notebook-OFF-LEASEIntel-Corei5-4

so it's currently between this and the Acer

200 dollars cheaper refurbished vs new

I would take the lenovo because the older models are real tanks. I had a T420 fall 2 floors and it survived witha few scratches. I have the 8470p and the screen is really bad, its normal only if you look straight into it and the black is gray.But the hp is not much better and if it was me i would be between the T440 and 8470p, decide yourself. I would buy the lenovo IMO.

 

[petrou58]

Yeah thats what I was thinking about the screen but wasn't sure.

Also been looking at off-lease laptops particularly:

https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP4320/HP-Probook-430-G1-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i5
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKHP8474/HP-Elitebook-8470p-Notebook-OFF-LEASE-Intel-Core-i

They're much cheaper and seem to have decent parts, and are probably built to last due to the professional nature of them.

EDIT:

An old lenovo thinkpad has 900p res
https://www.pb-tech.com.au/product/EXNBKLEN440/ThinkPad-T440-SSD-Notebook-OFF-LEASEIntel-Corei5-4

so it's currently between this and the Acer

200 dollars cheaper refurbished vs new

I would take the lenovo because the older models are real tanks. I had a T420 fall 2 floors and it survived witha few scratches. I have the 8470p and the screen is really bad, its normal only if you look straight into it and the black is gray.But the hp is not much better and if it was me i would be between the T440 and 8470p, decide yourself. I would buy the lenovo IMO.

Thanks heaps for your insight, I'll most likely be buying the Lenovo but will continue looking.