Laptop Advice

[IssiAmd]

Considering this Laptop for a student (online schooling), perhaps some light gaming on occasion.

Takealot

Seems to tick most boxes for me.

TA also has this one.

Takealot

For 2k less the difference seems to be the CPU

How much of a performance difference will there be with the hexa-core Ryzen in day to day usage?
Or should I ask, is it worth the 2k premium?

MTIA

 

[UrBaN963]

They're both fine as student laptops. Hard drives are very small though.
As for gaming... Solitaire? Those aren't going to be playing any recent games very well, but older stuff or emulated games would be fine.

 

[IssiAmd]

They're both fine as student laptops. Hard drives are very small though.
As for gaming... Solitaire? Those aren't going to be playing any recent games very well, but older stuff or emulated games would be fine.

eSports titles, Rocket League etc.
You reckon save the 2k then?

 

[mr_norris]

They are both fine as school laptops, great value for money those.

As for gaming, you will get the best gaming experience out of the AMD notebook. But when I say best, it is relative to the i3. You are looking at 720p->1080p low for most games, with framerates probably anything between 0 and 60.

There are plenty of vids on Youtube which have gaming benchmarks for the 5500U. Probably the i3 as well, but I didn't bother looking at that - Intels iGPU's have a lot of catching up to do. Here is an example:

 

[zll]

Considering this Laptop for a student (online schooling), perhaps some light gaming on occasion.
Takealot Seems to tick most boxes for me.

Acer for the same price with double the storage.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-45-R7Q7 AMD Ryzen 5 | 512GB SSD | Windows 11

The highly versatile Acer Aspire 5 empower your workflow and finish projects quickly with a powerful AMD Ryzen 5 processor, and plenty of high-speed storage WiFi and memory. The narrow-bezel 15.6

www.computermania.co.za

 

[zll]

Asus 4600h machine. Faster CPU but chows more power.

ASUS Vivobook 15 M1502IA-58512BLOW AMD Ryzen 5 | 512GB SSD - Quiet Blue

Stamp your style on the world with ASUS Vivobook 15, the feature-packed laptop that makes it easy to get things done, anywhere. Everything about Vivobook 15 is bold and improved, from its powerful AMD Ryzen™ 5 mobile processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD for faster load times to its crisp and clear...

www.computermania.co.za

You should shop around a bit more before settling on buying from TAL. There are more options around the 10K price range that could offer you more bang for your buck.

 

[RedViking]

I won't get anything under 15K, or get good condition Second Hand on Carbonite with dell on site warranty

 

[IssiAmd]

Asus 4600h machine. Faster CPU but chows more power.

ASUS Vivobook 15 M1502IA-58512BLOW AMD Ryzen 5 | 512GB SSD - Quiet Blue

Stamp your style on the world with ASUS Vivobook 15, the feature-packed laptop that makes it easy to get things done, anywhere. Everything about Vivobook 15 is bold and improved, from its powerful AMD Ryzen™ 5 mobile processor, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD for faster load times to its crisp and clear...

www.computermania.co.za

You should shop around a bit more before settling on buying from TAL. There are more options around the 10K price range that could offer you more bang for your buck.

Thanks, I'll have a look.

TA cause eBucks and I'm confident in their after sales.
How's computer mania's?

 

[zll]

Thanks, I'll have a look.

TA cause eBucks and I'm confident in their after sales.
How's computer mania's?

I've never had an issue with them, but I've only purchased smaller items.

My main point was to shop around and see what other smaller stores have on offer. TA's deals aren't always that great.

 

[StuckInSouthAfrica]

OP, how long do you plan on keeping the laptop? If it's around 5 years, I'd strongly suggest paying a little extra to get something that's more future-proof.
These budget laptops generally disappoint in one or more key areas.