Which one to go for? £50 difference, want most bang for buck

[pufut]

Hello, I have been looking for a new laptop simply for college purposes, which would include word processing and internet browsing.

I have found two that appeal to me, however I do not know which one to buy. The extra £50 does not bother me but I'd rather get the cheaper one if they are the same in performance, obviously.

Cheaper laptop - http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/5092109.htm

More expensive laptop - http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product/partNumber/5066496.htm

I could not tell whether or not the 8GB RAM 2TB laptop was actually any better or quicker than the 4GB 1TB. They both have 1.9GHz dual cores but would the extra 4GB of RAM make any difference to the performance?

If anyone could provide any insight as to which laptop gives the best performance I would be very grateful!

Edit: and could anyone tell me if they will actually be that fast? I'm not looking to do any gaming, but sluggish computers seriously bother me. I will not be able to go in-store to try them out so if anyone could let me know that'd be great.

 

[cosmoji]

well its seems they're identical beyond the amount of ram and storage. honestly, 50 more for another tb of storage and more ram? i would personally think thats worth it.

as for performance, they'll likely be identical in most tasks. the 1 or 2 tb of storage will not affect performance, thats just how much stuff you can have saved or installed at once. the difference is the ram. 4 gigs is really running minimum for a lot of systems these days, while 8 is much more common to see.

you will see better performance with more ram in situations where the computer has to have more and more stuff running at the same time. gaming can cause this when theres a lot of stuff going on with textures, models, ai, etc. you may even see this come in to play when you have a lot of tabs open in your browser at once, or many programs and folders open at the same time. also, if you intend to do any kind of content creation, more ram is always a good idea.

like i said, 50 is pretty cheap for that kind of an upgrade, and it would seem that the storage and ram is the only difference between the two models. in my opinion, go with the 8gig 2tb model. hopefully it doesnt break your budget, but you'll spend more than that to upgrade them at a later date(those being the 2 components most laptops can have changed with relative ease).

if you're just going to be using this to type up some papers, or browse facebook...well, you might not feel the limit of only 4 gigs. but im going to guess you will use it enough that you will benefit from the extra ram.

 

[RARRAF]

just a quick one this one is same price better cpu still HP http://www.ebuyer.com/724984-hp-250-g4-laptop-n1a92ea-abu

 

[pufut]

well its seems they're identical beyond the amount of ram and storage. honestly, 50 more for another tb of storage and more ram? i would personally think thats worth it.

as for performance, they'll likely be identical in most tasks. the 1 or 2 tb of storage will not affect performance, thats just how much stuff you can have saved or installed at once. the difference is the ram. 4 gigs is really running minimum for a lot of systems these days, while 8 is much more common to see.

you will see better performance with more ram in situations where the computer has to have more and more stuff running at the same time. gaming can cause this when theres a lot of stuff going on with textures, models, ai, etc. you may even see this come in to play when you have a lot of tabs open in your browser at once, or many programs and folders open at the same time. also, if you intend to do any kind of content creation, more ram is always a good idea.

like i said, 50 is pretty cheap for that kind of an upgrade, and it would seem that the storage and ram is the only difference between the two models. in my opinion, go with the 8gig 2tb model. hopefully it doesnt break your budget, but you'll spend more than that to upgrade them at a later date(those being the 2 components most laptops can have changed with relative ease).

if you're just going to be using this to type up some papers, or browse facebook...well, you might not feel the limit of only 4 gigs. but im going to guess you will use it enough that you will benefit from the extra ram.

Thank you for the v. detailed and comprehensive answer. I'd agree that an extra TB and 4GB of RAM isn't bad for £50 more, I think I'll go with the more expensive model. Do you think the laptop will be sluggish at all? The 1.9GHz clock speed does worry me slightly, as my gaming desktop is 3.2GHz and still has its moments, even when I'm not gaming. Or is this just the average for a laptop CPU? Thanks again

 

[cosmoji]

laptop grade cpus tend to be in the 1-2ghz range. there are much higher end(and thus much more expensive!) laptops with desktop grade cpus in them, some even with desktop gpus now, but as i said they're much more expensive. thing is, you dont always use that horsepower. your cpu rarely is at 100% use and most dont even run at their listed speed until its needed. why waste the power and make all the extra heat if they dont have to?

your desktop having its moments as you mention...im going to guess taking a bit to open a program or folder? moving stuff from folder to folder or pc <-> removable storage? thats not always a cpu issues. sometimes you have to wait on the drives, or some other component. it happens. even the highest end things you can buy will hang on something for a sec once in a while. perfect instant action on everything you ever try is kinda science fiction. i wouldnt worry about it.

i think the 1.9ghz clock speed will be fine for you. i would suggest googling up some reviews of the models, see what other people think of it based on their use. not just to assuage your concerns, honestly thats a good idea for any purchase.

 

[pufut]

laptop grade cpus tend to be in the 1-2ghz range. there are much higher end(and thus much more expensive!) laptops with desktop grade cpus in them, some even with desktop gpus now, but as i said they're much more expensive. thing is, you dont always use that horsepower. your cpu rarely is at 100% use and most dont even run at their listed speed until its needed. why waste the power and make all the extra heat if they dont have to?

your desktop having its moments as you mention...im going to guess taking a bit to open a program or folder? moving stuff from folder to folder or pc <-> removable storage? thats not always a cpu issues. sometimes you have to wait on the drives, or some other component. it happens. even the highest end things you can buy will hang on something for a sec once in a while. perfect instant action on everything you ever try is kinda science fiction. i wouldnt worry about it.

i think the 1.9ghz clock speed will be fine for you. i would suggest googling up some reviews of the models, see what other people think of it based on their use. not just to assuage your concerns, honestly thats a good idea for any purchase.

Okay, thank you, you've been super helpful!